Southeastern Virginia: Chesapeake • Norfolk • Portsmouth • Suffolk • Virginia Beach
Archives
A Virginia Beach native, Beth Koonan Dorsk retired as a hospice nurse in 2025. She agreed to share with Jewish News some of her reasons for retiring and how it’s working out. Jewish News: Where were you educated? Beth Koonan Dorsk: Flagler Medical Assistant...
Camp JCC wrapped up another successful Winter Camp to conclude a fun-filled 2025. More than 45 children attended the camp during the two weeks of school holiday closures, enjoying the “Camp JCC Winter Lodge,” with each day featuring a special theme, including Snow...
February 15 - 25 The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film returns for its 33rd year with a fresh slate of films that spans history, suspense, and true‑life heroism—from the Yom Kippur War saga The Stronghold to the international sports thriller Tatami, the October 7th...
An informative program, Israel in Focus: Hamas’ War – Truth and Consequences, featuring internationally respected scholar and military analyst MAJ. John W. Spencer, USA (Ret.), took place on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at the Sandler Family Campus. Presented as part of the 15th...
The spirit of Hanukkah was alive and glowing at Aviva Pembroke on Thursday, Dec. 18, as seniors and their families gathered for a celebration filled with food, laughter, and togetherness. The Hanukkah party was a collaborative effort hosted by Beth Sholom Village,...
In conjunction with Community Impact Day, and as part of Jewish Tidewater’s celebration of Jewish Book Month, community members and clergy gathered on the Sandler Family Campus to explore the importance of Jewish books, the distinction between books of a Judaic nature...
What do you do when a childhood friend asks if you want to go on an adventure with other cool Jewish women? And chocolate is involved? You say, “YES, I AM IN!” That is what I did, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. My dear...
Tuesday, Feb. 3, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus Internationally acclaimed photographer Joan Roth will visit Tidewater for an evening that pairs film and conversation witha new gallery exhibition spotlighting five decades of her art and activism. The program will begin...
Sunday, Feb. 1, 1 - 3 pm, Sandler Family Campus Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees, is a Jewish holiday that marks the “birthday” of trees and celebrates a connection to the land, nature, and renewal. Once tied to the agricultural calendar in Israel, it is now a...
Next session: Thursday, Feb. 12, 7 pm, Sandler Family Campus When I first heard about the Partners in Jewish Life program, I struggled to fully grasp what it was all about. From what I understood, it seemed connected to the idea of chevruta, a form of paired...
Saturday, Jan. 31, 6-8:30 pm Ohef Sholom Temple A lively island-themed evening featuring local restaurants, signature cocktails, and craft beverages, Ohef Sholom Temple’s Taste of the Tropics plans to be every bit as tasty and fun as last year’s Taste of the...
Thursday, Jan. 22, 5:30 pm Sandler Family Campus The next installment of the Judaica and the Arts series presented by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Konikoff Center for Learning, invites community members to explore Jewish tradition through both learning and...
Families gathered at Red Wing Park for a PJ Library Pumpkin Pop-Up on Sunday, Nov. 2. Parents and children spent the afternoon enjoying each other’s company and connecting with families who live nearby. Designed with local families in mind, the pop-up offered an...
Saturday, December 6, and Sunday, December 7 Temple Israel “When we are gone, who will tell our stories?” That’s a compelling question that the survivors of the Holocaust ask, as do the liberators and the Righteous Among the Nations of WWII. Now their children, the...
December 22, 2025 - January 2, 2026 Sandler Family Campus Although the chill is here and summer may seem far away, Camp JCC fun is right around the corner with the return of Camp JCC Winter Camp. Taking place over the winter break for local school districts,...
Israel in Focus: Hamas’ War – Truth and Consequences Modern Warfare and the Fight for Truth in the Age of Misinformation Wednesday, December 3, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus, Free MAJ John W. Spencer, USA (Ret.), is not only one of the world’s leading experts on...
A Story for Everything: An Evening of Stories, Laughter, and Inspiration Thursday, December 11, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus What makes a moment memorable? What turns an ordinary experience into something that connects, teaches, or inspires? This December, host of...
Begins Wednesday, December 10 during most JCC basketball games Children can join Siblings on the Sidelines — a fun new program led by Tidewater’s Shinshinim, Noga Yaniv and Yarden Lahan — while their siblings compete in the Simon Family JCC Youth Basketball League....
Thursday, December 4, 6 pm, Prince Books How and why did a beautiful “harlot” help Joshua conquer the idol-worshipping, walled Canaanite city of Jericho soon after the formerly enslaved Hebrews crossed the River Jordan? Surely a guardian angel must have been at her...
Sunday, December 14, at 2 pm Chrysler Museum of Art Samantha Baskind, PhD., distinguished professor of Art History at Cleveland State University, will speak on The Remarkable Journey of Moses Ezekiel's Norfolk Botanical Garden Artist Statues. Sir Moses...
The 29th Annual Elie Wiesel Writing and Visual Arts Competition, which invites students in grades 6 - 12 to reflect on the lessons of the Holocaust and explore how they might be able to rid the world of antisemitism, bigotry, and hatred, is now open. The Holocaust...
NORFOLK - David Bruce Jorgenson, age 83, departed this world on October 31, 2025. David lived a life full of love. Just before he was born, his parents – Minnesota transplants to Los Angeles – rode a train back to rural Minnesota to be surrounded by his first...
PORTSMOUTH - Richard Siff, devoted husband and father, passed away on November 11, 2025. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he was the only child of Leon and Doris Siff. Richard cultivated an early interest in electronics through amateur radio, which led to a...
MCLEAN, VIRGINIA - David Louis Taetle, 75, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on November 15, 2025. Born in Washington, D.C., Mr. Taetle attended Bryant University before embarking on a long and successful career as a financial consultant to...
Legacy 2025 L’ Dor V’Dor – From Generation to Generation Grand opening: Saturday, December 6, 6:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus Henri Matisse, Ben Shan, and Jacques Lipchitz were the names mentioned by Mia Laufer, PhD, the Irene Leach curator of European Art for the...
After experiencing vibrant and deeply moving Chaguim at Temple Emanuel, Pati, Lia, Ben, and I traveled to Buenos Aires, my hometown, to celebrate two very special occasions with our family there — my niece Martina’s Bat Mitzvah and my mother’s 75th birthday. We...
November 24, 2025, 11:00 AM–3:45 PM: Join the Simon Family JCC and Red Cross in the Jaffe Gymnasium, 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Virginia Beach, for a lifesaving blood drive. Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood, and one donation can save up to...
Begins Friday, November 21• 10 am - 3 pm, Sandler Family Campus United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is launching a new initiative to bring community members together: Monthly Volunteer Days. Volunteers will gather once a month to take part in meaningful hands-on...
Jewish News appreciates all who support the newspaper with generous contributions – whether in honor of or in memory of friends and loved ones or as a Friend of Jewish News. Friends of Jewish News Walter Fenska G-d Bless Israel Piotr and Charlotte Przyjemski Happy...
Israel in Focus: Hamas’ War – Truth and Consequences. An evening with MAJ John W. Spencer, USA (Ret.) Wednesday, December 3, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus, Free In an era where global conflicts are increasingly fought in dense urban environments, understanding the...
The day following the election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York City, Ted Deutch, CEO of American Jewish Committee, distributed the following email. The world’s attention is focused on New York City with Zohran Mamdani winning the mayoral election, and I...
(JTA) — The Anti-Defamation League is launching a nationwide legal service to connect victims of antisemitism with lawyers who can take their cases on a pro-bono basis. The initiative comes as the ADL has increasingly turned to litigation as a tactic — the...