Sunday, January 20, 2019 at 8:23 pm | י"ד שבט תשע"ט

Rabbi Yehiel Kalish was chosen on Sunday by the Democratic Committee members from the 16th Illinois State House District to represent the district, which includes the communities of Skokie and Lincolnwood on the northern border of Chicago as well as the West Ridge neighborhood in the City of Chicago.

The seat was vacated by Rep. Lou Lang on January 7 after Lang accepted a partnership offer from the lobbying firm Advantage Government Strategies.

Rabbi Kalish was a longtime employee of Agudath Israel of America. In 2002, he founded the Agudath Israel of America’s Chicago regional office and guided the organization’s expansion to several other states. In 2010, he was appointed vice president for development and state relations for Agudath Israel of America. In 2013 he founded the S4 Group, a premier consulting firm operating in states across the country including Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin. Rabbi Kalish currently manages the day-to-day operations of the S4 Group and the healthcare consultancy firm Resolute Healthcare Solutions, and is also a member of the board of trustees of Agudath Israel of America.

Rabbi Kalish, who lives in the Chicago area with his wife and six children, received his semichah from the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois. He is the first Rabbi to take office in the Illinois legislature.

“I am deeply honored and thankful to G-d and the committee members for this opportunity to be ‘osek b’tzarchei tzibbur’ — to serve the needs of my community,” Rabbi Kalish said in a statement released Sunday evening. “My top priorities as a legislator are advocating on behalf of my fellow Skokie, Lincolnwood and Chicago community members, as well as increasing educational options and quality for all Illinois families.”

In a statement on Sunday, Agudath Israel’s national director of state relations, Rabbi A. D. Motzen, said, “We offer him our most sincere wishes and heartfelt prayers for success.”