Young Israel of Skokie(YIoS) opened its doors parshas Breishis 1994. It was started by a small group of families who were looking to attend a synagogue that would be built on the principles of Torah, avodah and gemilus chassadim. Additionally, these families were interested in establishing and maintaining a strong emphasis on the younger members of the congregation, the children. With these principles in mind they chose to identify with the national Young Israel movement. YIoS began as a Shabbos minyan renting space from a local school. As the membership grew the school no longer could serve their needs and a storefront was chosen to house the shul. One storefront became two and two storefronts became three and finally in 1998 they moved to their current home at 3740 W. Dempster St. in Skokie Il.

As the membership of YIoS grew so did its programs. A Sunday minyan was started which led to a weekday morning minyan and eventually Mincha/Maariv in the summer and a Maariv minyan in the winter. With the addition of Rabbi Gershon Eliezer Schaffel as Rabbi in 1996, numerous classes were added to the weekly schedule. The chessed committee arranges meals for those in need as well as other chessed projects for the members of the shul. And throughout the synagogues growth they have never lost sight of their most precious possession, their children. The children’s programs on Shabbos morning are divided by age group to provide each child with the most appropriate atmosphere for them to learn about davening and the weekly parsha.

At YIoS we like to believe that we provide a warm environment for all people to come and become part of our family. The Davening and Torah reading are treated with great respect and we make a concerted effort to minimize conversation. We take great pride in hearing compliments from visitors who take note of the serious attitude the members take towards their davening. Baruch Hashem we have had tremendous success in achieving the original goals of the Shul and we pray that we should continue to grow and provide our membership and the rest of the community meaningful opportunities for Torah, avodah and gemilus chassadim.