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I’ve been trying—unsuccessfully—to get Naomi Limor Sedek, president and CEO of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, to listen to this song for weeks now. Man Smart, Woman Smarter, by Grateful Dead, has always made me smile, not just because of its catchy tune, but because...
A small group of “exhausted-from-Passover-prepping” YAD women took time out on a Thursday evening to come together, swap advice, share stories, and create beautiful kosher for Passover dessert charcuterie boards.Combining classic sweets such as jelly rings, chocolate...
Earlier this month, Erica Reisner Ausch, with the assistance of her daughter, Linda Ausch, made Matzah Ball Soup with her grandson, Leo Woodward, and his family: Erika Woodward, and Ausch’s great grandchildren, Wells and Bridget Woodward. L’dor V’dor. Aunty Linda...
Eastern Region’s BBYO teens gathered for the annual Spring Cultural Convention at Camp Thunderbird in Lake Wylie, S.C. earlier this month. Eastern Region is comprised of three councils: Virginia Council (all of Virginia excluding Northern Virginia), North Carolina...
More than 60 active adults gathered for a meaningful Model Passover Seder on Tuesday, April 9. Led by Rabbi David Bockman of Congregation Beth El with Dave Flagler, Simon Family JCC’s camp director, on guitar, the event took place at the Sandler Family Campus. The...
It started with a simple question during a meeting of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Innovation Steering Committee: If children have the privilege of receiving Jewish-themed books monthly through PJ Library, why shouldn’t adults have their own version? PJ...
Wednesday, May 15, 7 pm Sandler Family Campus Jewish Family Service and NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) are partnering to bring something special to Tidewater—a screening of the film Orchestrating Change, about mental health and music.The film tells the...
Tuesday, May 13, 6 pm • Sandler Family Campus The first-ever Nadiv Poker Night is set for launch.Registrations are coming in as poker players prepare for a large-scale tournament in the Fleder Multipurpose Room on the Sandler Family Campus.Nadiv’s signature event of...
(JTA) — Almost all of the Holocaust survivors alive today will be dead in 15 years, a new projection by a leading organization advocating for their compensation finds.While the timeline is something of an actuarial inevitability — the Holocaust ended 80 years ago,...
Six-week course begins Tuesday June 17, 6:45 pm, online The Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is hosting a six-week course this summer, Understanding Zionism: The Return to the Jewish Homeland. The course will offer an in-depth...
Wednesday, May 21 - Wednesday, July 2 • Virginia Beach Public Library TCC Joint-Use Library As the world continues to grapple with the complexities of history and its ongoing impact on society, the Virginia Beach Public Library, at the TCC Joint-Use Library is set to...
The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center - JMCC (formerly Chevra T’Helim synagogue), United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and the Chrysler Museum, are collaborating to present a special series of events. A three-year project, L’Dor v’Dor (from Generation to...
An extraordinary culinary journey is planned with the second annual Israeli Chef’s Table Experience – part of the community’s Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) celebration, presented by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.Chef Moshe Basson, founder of...
Tuesday, April 8, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus In today's fast-paced digital world, social media is a powerful tool for shaping narratives, spreading information, and influencing public opinion. In the wake of October 7, however, it has also become a battleground...
NORFOLK - John Louis Bachman, aged 45, of the 200 block of E. 41st Street, passed away on March 11, 2025. After a brief and courageous battle with kidney cancer, he died peacefully surrounded by his family.Born in Norfolk, he was the beloved son of Gail Wasserman...
ROCKVILLE, MD - Stuart Alan Berman passed away at the age of 78 on February 25, 2025.Beloved husband of Beverly Berman; devoted father of Scott (Hillary) Berman and Rachel (Chris) Newman; loving brother of Judi Klass and Howard (Barbara) Berman; cherished Pop Pop of...
NORFOLK - With profound sadness, we announce that Charles Neilson Cooper, age 89, died on Tuesday, February 25, 2025.Charles was born on July 13, 1935, in Norfolk, Va. to Dudley Cooper and Mary Miller Cooper. He was raised in Norfolk alongside his older brother, Joel...
NORFOLK – Marilyn Miller passed away peacefully on February 18, 2025, at the age of 97.She is survived by two sons and her daughter-in-law.Marilyn Miller was born January 29, 1928, in Brooklyn, N.Y. She was the only surviving child of Helen and Louis Epstein. Her...
NORFOLK - Ronnie Hermelin Moscovitz passed away peacefully in her sleep at home, family by her side, on February 28, 2025.Born to Al and Bea Hermelin, of blessed memory, in Norfolk, Va., on May 7, 1940, she was the eldest of four children. Being diagnosed with...
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA - Robert (Bob) Oasis passed peacefully at home on March 6, 2025. He was surrounded by both family and friends.Bob grew up in West Hartford, Conn., attended Hall High School and earned a BA from Curry College in Milton, Mass. His career...
VIRGINIA BEACH - Dr. Louis O. Tonelson passed away on March 15, 2025.Dr. Tonelson was born to A. Rufus and Sara Tonelson on May 1, 1947, in Norfolk, Va.Dr. Tonelson is survived by his best friend and confidant of 54 years, his wife Anita. He is also survived by his...
Sunday, March 30, 12:30 – 2:30 pm, Torggler Center at Christopher Newport University In Judaism’s mystical traditions, the myth of the ‘breaking of the vessels’ imagines vessels of divine essence shattered at creation, left for humans to find and repair the...
8-week course begins: Tuesday, April 1 12:30 – 2 pm, Sandler Family Campus What happens after death? It’s a question as old as humanity. For Jews, the answer has never been a singular, fixed doctrine. Instead, Jewish thought has evolved over millennia, offering a...
Sunday, May 4, 12 - 3 pm, Sandler Family Campus Jewish Tidewater is making plans to celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s 77th Independence Day, with another vibrant and family-friendly afternoon filled with fun, culture, and community spirit.Attendees will have the...
The Israeli Embassy called for the lighting of buildings in orange in commemoration of the Bibas children, hoping that the illuminations would serve as a powerful gesture of remembrance and solidarity.The symbolic lightings were intended to honor the memories of Ariel...
(JTA) — Leaders in Israel, the United States, and worldwide expressed their sadness and horror as the bodies of four dead hostages returned to Israel from Gaza on Thursday, Feb. 20.Many of the messages focused on Shiri Bibas and her children Ariel and Kfir, ages 4 and...
(JTA) — The new banners hanging outside a public building in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, channeled the college town’s history of progressive activism.One depicted a member of the Chapel Hill Nine, Black activists whose 1960 sit-in at a local lunch counter kicked off...
The Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Don Leonard Scott Jr., spent a rainy afternoon last month with members of Jewish Tidewater at the home of Laura and Fred Gross. His recent trip to Israel with AIPAC was the focus of the conversation.Jeff Breit, a law...
My alarm went off on January 28 at 5:30 am. I was already up… It was at least 25 years since I had been a part of the Jewish Community Relations Council’s United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s team visiting our Virginia legislators to highlight the issues of...
Whether identifying as Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox, the Norfolk Mikvah enables every Jew in Tidewater to access the transformative, rejuvenating power of a mikvah.Brides before their wedding, those in the process of converting to Judaism, married women who keep...
“Love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage. It’s an institute you can’t disparage.”Frank Sinatra first sang these Sammy Cahn lyrics in the 1955 television production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.Here, in Tidewater, several couples celebrating special...
For the Kass family, giving back is more than just a value — it’s a responsibility. When their son Jonah was preparing for his Bar Mitzvah, Melissa and Aaron Kass knew they wanted to instill the importance of community and responsibility. The B’nai Tzedek: Youth...