Southeastern Virginia: Chesapeake • Norfolk • Portsmouth • Suffolk • Virginia Beach
Archives
A transformative $2 million gift from longtime Chrysler Museum supporter and former curator Brooks Johnson will establish an endowed Curator of Photography position at the Chrysler Museum of Art. The newly created Germaine Clair and Brooks Johnson Curator of...
This election season marks my 16th election with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Jewish Community Relations Council.Over those 16 election cycles, I’ve watched elections energize the community, spark debate, shape public policy, and help determine the...
On a beautiful September afternoon, just days before Rosh Hashanah, Tidewater’s Ruby Lions gathered at Jodi Klebanoff’s home for a luncheon celebrating friendship, philanthropy, and the impact of women’s leadership.Alicia London Friedman, Women’s Philanthropy chair,...
The High Holy Days just offered a time to pause, reflect, and think about the year ahead – how to do better, how to give more, and, hopefully, how to make a difference.Now it’s time to get busy!This is one of Be A Reader (BeAR) Literacy Project’s favorite times of the...
“Honor your father and your mother” is one of the most recognizable of the Ten Commandments – simple enough for a child to memorize, yet its sentiment sticks with many Jews far more into adulthood.Kibud av v’em, the Jewish obligation to honor one’s parents, doesn’t...
Attorneys, financial advisors, and other professional advisors often begin some of their most important conversations with clients with a simple question: What matters to you?For clients who are charitably inclined, that question can open the door to planning that...
In 2018, a gunman killed 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in U.S. history.In the years since, some Jewish writers have argued that congregants should be able to protect themselves. Rabbi Stuart...
A full house gathered at Temple Emanuel in Virginia Beach on Tuesday, Sept. 15, for the annual Cantors and Chazanim Concert, an evening that brought together cantors, rabbis, and musicians from congregations across the Tidewater Jewish community.Now in its fourth...
For more than 40 years, the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival has brought extraordinary voices to Tidewater. Bestselling authors, journalists, diplomats, physicians, judges, artists, historians, and thought leaders visit the community to share ideas,...
For 38 years, golfers, sponsors, volunteers, and friends of Strelitz International Academy have come together for a day that is about much more than golf. This year, that tradition reached a new milestone.The 38th Annual Bob Josephberg Classic & Strelitz...
More than 50 women gathered on the top floor of the Assembly building in downtown Norfolk for the Lev Sara Bikkur Cholim Inaugural Dinner in March. Lev Sara Bikkur Cholim is a committee founded by Shari Berman, Shana Danziger, Liba Eisenberg, Dee Slone, and Michal...
For the past 13 summers, Erica Ausch has led hour-long water aerobics classes for fellow residents at the Oceans Condominiums on Atlantic Avenue. “Raise hands, bring them over your head, then down to your sides,” Ausch calls out. “Kick right side, arms out, then left,...
“Unforgettable” is an appropriate way to describe Camp JCC’s 2026 summer. The season was packed with exciting field trips, spirited theme days, new campers, and an incredible staff team, including the additions of Christine Carnahan as camp manager, and Blake Sisler,...
Rosh Hashanah is a special holiday, offering observers a sense of renewal and the opportunity for a fresh start. It is a time for reflecting on the previous year and considering what to do differently in the year to come. The concept might not immediately...
The ritual of Tashlich is an all-encompassing symbolic representation of the High Holidays. This process of releasing sins into the river comes directly from the book of Micah, verse 19: “He will again have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou...
Monday, September 14, 5 - 6 pm - Sandler Family Campus Start the new year with Tidewater’s new Shinshinim, Liel Aisikowitz and Evyatar Olswang, along with PJ Library in Tidewater. Families are invited to a Rosh Hashanah Cookie and Craft Workshop, where children and...
Tuesday, September 1, 7 – 9 pm, Smartmouth Brewery United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s NextGen community gathers to kick off a month of holiday celebrations. Connect with friends, meet new people, and engage in friendly competition during a special trivia game...
Sunday, September 6, 5 – 7 pm Sandler Family Campus Get ready to celebrate a sweet New Year and prepare for Rosh Hashanah with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s NextGen community (ages 22–45ish). The event will honor Tikkun Olam—the Jewish value of repairing the...
Rosh Hashanah arrives each year carrying questions. What did I accomplish during the year that has passed? Where did I fall short? Whom did I help? Whom did I hurt? What needs to change? But beneath all these questions lies another, more...
The JCC Maccabi Games and Access were held August 2-7 in two different host cities—Toronto and Kansas City. The Team Virginia Beach delegation went to the Games in Canada, joining more than 60 other delegations from nine countries. Eight athletes...
A new school year at Strelitz International Academy began on Monday, August 17 with the school’s faculty and staff welcoming both new and returning students to SIA for the 2026–2027 school year. In a special surprise, the Virginia Beach Police Department...
Fleischmann Lounge was filled with music as Kehillat Bet Hamidrash (KBH) congregants, friends, and community guests – ages preschool to 90 – welcomed Shabbat to celebrate their first year on the Sandler Family Campus. Member Sid Bridge led a joyful...
Tuesdays, Sept. 22 – Dec. 1, 11 am - 12:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus American history is filled with Jewish stories that helped shape the nation, yet many remain largely unknown. As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, this 10-week course invites students to...
What if the Jewish community of Tidewater spent Shabbat together? That is what is happening when PJ Library in Tidewater and the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, in partnership with Congregation Beth El, Temple Israel,...
For many families, formal Jewish education ends after the bar or bat mitzvah party’s festivities are over. But that doesn’t mean that seventh and eighth grade students aren’t itching to make a difference and make their voices heard. Or that their parents aren’t...
Camp JCC is preparing for an incredible lineup of after school classes for the fall, including a few returning fan favorites alongside some new additions. Programs are tailored for children 3 to 10 years old. Soccer Shots returns for future soccer stars, while...
Saturday, October 10, 5 -7 pm Sandler Family Campus, Free Middle school students are invited to Game Night, an evening filled with games, laughter, friendship, and fun. Dinner will be provided. Whether challenging friends to classic favorites such as...
Thursday, September 10, 7:30 pm, CNU’s Ferguson Center for the Arts Sunday September 13, 2:30 pm, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts The Virginia Symphony Orchestra will open its 2026/27 Season with Mahler’s Titan Symphony. Music Director Eric Jacobsen, the Macon...
Norfolk – Diane Zaba Aftel, 87, of Norfolk, passed away peacefully in her home on August 15, 2026. She was born to the late Benjamin Zaba and Ruby Hillman Zaba. Diane was always very close to her late uncle, Sam Hillman, and her younger brother, Dr. Joel Zaba....
Burke, VA – Dr. Steven J. Becker, 78, died on August 9, 2026, in Burke, Virginia. Born on June 6, 1948, in Jersey City, N. J., Steven is remembered as a loving husband and father, a man with a wonderful sense of humor, and a dedicated dentist....
Virginia Beach – Barbara Rae Soroko Bowden died June 29, 2026, in her home in Virginia Beach. Born in Portsmouth, Va. She was the daughter of the late Oscar Soroko and Mildred Hilles Soroko. Barbara will be remembered for her kindness, warmth, and...
Baltimore, Md. – Lois (Cohen) Greenebaum passed away peacefully at the age of 95, surrounded her beloved family. A highly intelligent and thoughtful woman, she led her life with integrity, strong values, purpose, and wisdom. She was the definition of a...