United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s Philanthropy Spring lunch took place last month in the Fleischman Lounge on the Sandler Family Campus. This annual lunch serves as a ‘Thank you’ event for members of Women’s Philanthropy who are volunteer campaign ambassadors and solicitors, as well as Tidewater Lions of Judah and other major women donors. This year’s lunch was particularly special as it featured the food and stories of Israeli chef, Yaniv Cohen (aka the Spice Detective).
Betsy Karotkin, Women’s Philanthropy chair, opened the lunch with a brief welcome and campaign report, noting that this year, Tidewater’s Jewish community (along with a few non-Jewish friends, neighbors, and allies) raised $10 million across its campaigns, including about $5 million from the Annual Campaign (more than $1.5 million from the Women’s Division alone!), about $4.8 million from the Israel Emergency Campaign, plus approximately $1 million from other campaigns and revenue sources. Karotkin thanked the women in the room for their generosity and leadership in helping to achieve this amazing total. She then introduced Chef Yaniv Cohen.
In Tidewater for a variety of events surrounding the community’s Yom Ha’Atzmaut observance, Chef Yaniv did not disappoint anyone at the women’s lunch. Not only did Chef Yaniv share his knowledge of the medicinal and healing properties of herbs and spices, but he also charmed the group with personal stories of his food journey.
When introducing Chef Yaniv, Karotkin shared that his “love of food began at early age, cooking alongside his mother in their family kitchen. Growing up in a Sephardic Jewish family with North African and Middle Eastern roots, food was a passion and a way of life… with each holiday having a unique set of incredible dishes… beautifully spiced up.”
Among the childhood memories Chef Yaniv shared was one when he ran and fell in the courtyard of his neighborhood. In protecting his face, his hand became the victim of a sharp piece of glass. An elderly Moroccan neighbor ran out of her apartment with a jar of turmeric to rub into the wound, telling him in her heavily accented Hebrew, “Don’t worry. This will clean the wound and stop the bleeding.” To this day, Chef Yaniv keeps a bottle of turmeric in his pantry and another in his first aid kit. This neighborhood, filled with diversity – populated by Moroccans, Iraqis, Persians, Yemenites, Russians, and Jews of every stripe – is where his story began and where he developed his fascination with and love of spices.
Mona Flax, UJFT General Campaign chair, thanked Chef Yaniv, as well as the women in the room for their willingness to do the hard work of asking others to support the Federation alongside them. She also thanked the professional staff for their partnership in the fundraising and community building process.
Laura Gross, immediate past UJFT president, closed the event by encouraging everyone to attend the coming weekend’s Yom Ha’atzmaut observances at the Campus and to visit the Leon Family Gallery on the second floor of the Campus to see the moving HALL OF REMEMBRANCE exhibit, which lists the names and ages of all those killed by terrorists on and since October 7th in Israel.
Both Flax and Karotkin noted during their remarks that “We’re living in very tough times.” But, they said, it is gratifying to know that “we are all in this together and working hard to build a stronger, safer, more vibrant Jewish community.”
Women’s Philanthropy is working to make changes to allow everyone to strengthen one another, as well as all of Jewish Tidewater and the entire Jewish world. Am Yisroel Chai!
The Women’s Philanthropy is a volunteer fundraising committee of the UJFT Campaign. To make a gift or become involved with the Women’s Philanthropy committee, call or email Linda Ausch at 757-965-6105 or LAusch@ujft.org.
Photographs by Mark Robbins
