Southeastern Virginia: Chesapeake • Norfolk • Portsmouth • Suffolk • Virginia Beach
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This Thanksgiving season, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater extends heartfelt gratitude to the many volunteers who stepped forward to ensure that individuals and families in the community did not go without a holiday meal. Thanks to the generosity and dedication of...
Nearly 250 members of Jewish Tidewater gathered at the Simon Family JCC for this year’s Community Impact Day on Sunday, Nov. 23. Students from Congregation Beth El, Ohef Sholom Temple, and Temple Emanuel attended Religious School at the event instead of their usual...
The opening of the 2026 legislative session in the Virginia General Assembly takes place in January. In anticipation, the Jewish Community Relations Council is preparing for one of its most impactful annual gatherings: Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day on Tuesday, February...
Wednesday, January 21,12 pm Sandler Family Campus JCC Seniors Club is for adults who are at least 55 years old who are interested in education, culture, and connections to others and the Jewish community.Join active seniors to learn what’s going on in the community...
Saturday, January 31, 2026 • 6 – 8:30 pm After last year’s Taste of the Town drew a wonderful crowd and received glowing feedback, Ohef Sholom Temple is “bringing it back – bigger, brighter, and even more delicious!”This year’s celebration will feature a festive...
Tuesdays, Jan. 20 – Feb. 24 • 4 – 5 pm • Sandler Family Campus Harness heat energy, explore the properties of light and color, and put your sense of smell to the test. Students in grades 1 and 2 will examine curious optical illusions and create amazing sound...
On Black Friday, November 28, registration for Camp JCC Summer 2026 opened.Opening camp registration on Black Friday is not an accident. Through the Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and New Year’s seasons, families travel to be together and often have their own traditions of...
Saturday, January 10, 2026, 7 - 11 pm, Temple Emanuel Giddy up and mark calendars for another fun night at the annual Temple Emanuel Casino Night. The event is riding into town with its Wild West theme – decorations, food, and attire.Cowboys and cowgals of all ages...
VIRGINIA BEACH - Kathleen Patricia Bronstein, 78, died November 23, 2025.Born on July 19, 1947, in Long Beach, California, she was the daughter of the late John Francis Adams and Kathleen Patricia Adams. Kathleen graduated from Granby High School and DePaul Nursing...
VIRGINIA BEACH - After 13 courageous years of fighting Scleroderma, Helene Berger Frost, 78, peacefully passed away on November 26, 2025, surrounded by her adoring family.Through unwavering perseverance, she defied the conventions of medical expectations with her...
Chesapeake - Matthew Arthur Krakower, age 88 and ¾, passed away on November 20, 2025.He was the best husband, father, and Papa his family could ever have hoped for, and he loved us all with unwavering devotion.Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Matthew was the beloved son of...
NORFOLK - Jay T. Lazier passed away after a six-month illness on November 28, 2025.He was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., to his loving parents, Joseph and Gertrude Lazier. He was 82 years old. He was a deeply caring, warm, and kind man who devoted his professional life to...
Every day, Tidewater’s Jewish agencies, synagogues, and schools dream up new ways to educate, inspire, and connect the community. Tidewater Jewish Foundation helps make those visions real through its Community Impact Grant Program — funding catalytic projects that...
While many people are making plans for gathering with family and friends for Thanksgiving, not everyone is anticipating the holiday with excitement. Others are anxious, concerned about the increasing cost of food and cuts to programs that help feed their...
Move over Purim. . . Hanukkah is staking its own claim on fun as a Jewish holiday that embraces a bit of silliness and play. From a banana shaped menorah – a Banorah – to Dinokkah the Hanukkah inflatable lighted dinosaur – which stands at six feet tall and...
At Strelitz International Academy, the fall season is filled with excitement and meaning as students celebrate the holidays from Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah. The spirit of the holidays continues to shine at SIA as the community eagerly anticipates the SIA Fall...
The annual United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s 2026 Lion–Tikva–Chai Luncheon is an opportunity to thank and celebrate the leading donors and volunteers of the Federation’s Women’s Division. This year’s lunch welcomed more than 70 women and featured an amazing...
The Cardo at the Sandler Family Camps was a whir of activity during the afternoon of Sunday, November 9. Roughly 40 volunteers – adults and children alike – busily prepared Thanksgiving meal kits for 350 families in need this holiday season. Jewish Family...
On Tuesday, October 28, alongside Aaron Shames, I had the pleasure of moderating an event for the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival showcasing the book Tiny Pep Talks. It was such a fun and uplifting experience! The evening was filled with laughter,...
The Mitzvah committee at Ohef Sholom Temple completed its annual Thanksgiving Drive to benefit Jewish Family Service’s clients on Sunday, November 16. The temple’s Religious School classes, along with other congregant’s generosity, made it possible to fill 30...
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...