Haley Bartel | Jewish News

New strategic plan for UVA’s Hillel

Haley Bartel — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 19:27:24 +0000

The Brody Jewish Center (Hillel at the University of Virginia) announced a new strategic plan for 2026-2029, which will support the nearly 1,000 students who engaged in educational programs at the Center last year, more than 90 students in leadership development positions, and six full-time staff.

The new plan will give students more ownership of Jewish life on campus, offering at least one cohort-based Jewish learning experience each semester, building connections for students from their first year through graduation, and opening the Hillel building to graduate students.

“The students are just incredibly inspiring to me,” says Gwen Goodkin, a member of the Brody Jewish Center’s board of directors. “Their enthusiasm for Judaism and for Jewish community on campus, their vision, their motivation, all of the ideals where UVA’s culture and Jewish culture at UVA come together. That’s why I’m here – because the students just blow me away.”

The strategy follows nearly two decades of growth at the Brody Jewish Center and comes as Jewish student engagement is on the rise across the nation. Hillel International reported that nearly 190,000 students engaged in its programs during the 2025-2026 school year, and the Center’s new plan is designed to meet that demand while deepening students’ connection to Jewish life.

Several students say the Center has become a meaningful part of their college experience, and for some it has opened the door to Jewish identities they hadn’t always felt connected to.

“It wasn’t a big part of my identity, but by happenstance, I just ended up here, and I’ve never been so involved in a Jewish community ever in my life,” says Allison, a member of the class of 2029.

Part of what makes the Center so special is its welcoming environment and ability to help students build community from the moment they arrive on campus. Hagit Lewis, vice president of the board of directors and a parent of students in the Classes of 2026 and 2029, recalls how quickly her son was embraced when he first visited.

“He came knowing nobody,” she says. “Right away they saw it, and they brought him together with other students. When we left, he was spending time with other students. You want your kids to be in a place where they will be exposed to other Jewish people in a warm environment. And it is beautiful.”
Through its new strategic plan, the Brody Jewish Center aims to build on those experiences, strengthening Jewish learning, leadership development, and community connections.

Havdalah at the Brody Jewish Center.

Services at Brody Jewish Center.

Milestone anniversaries worth celebrating

Haley Bartel — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 19:22:26 +0000

Anniversaries are measured in years, but these couples say the real story is in the small things: a question about basketball, a slice of cheesecake, a paper on Herbert Marcuse. Married from five to 50 years, these four area couples share how they met, what they have built together, and what keeps them going.

Prue and Mike Salasky
50th Anniversary

Michael Salasky was a law student at William & Mary, and Prue was on a graduate exchange from Exeter University in England, working on a master’s degree in U.S. history, when they met in the campus coffee bar. Mike knew the law student Prue was with at the time – but that didn’t stop him. “I thought I could do better than him, and it turned out I did,” he recalls.

Also, at the front of his memory from that day is the first time he heard her full name, Prudence, noting he “felt sorry for anyone who had to go through life with it.” Pity aside, Mike lent her a paper he had written on Herbert Marcuse, and that’s how it started.

Prue prefers to call it “a youthful mistake.”

After dating for about two years, they married when Prue was 23 and Mike was 26, both nervous.

They came from very different places. Mike grew up in Norfolk in a large extended family and attended Beth El. Prue grew up on a farm in the south of England, 60 miles from London, attending the local parish church. “We really have absolutely nothing in common,” Mike says, “except that we both happen to have studied Russian.” Their working knowledge of the language came in handy when their daughters were small. “We could speak Russian and they didn’t know what we were talking about,” he muses.

Mike was a solo practitioner who worked six days a week for decades. He retired in 2020 but still maintains his license. Prue taught history, Latin, and ESL at schools and colleges throughout Tidewater, including Norfolk Academy, Tidewater Community College, and the Williams School. She spent the bulk of her career as a writer and editor at the Daily Press in Newport News, much of it part-time while raising their three daughters. After retiring, she earned a master’s in linguistics. A Fulbright scholarship took her to Bulgaria to teach English, though COVID cut the stay short. Today she produces a linguistics podcast, languagingHR, and Mike is immersed in the study of music. Mike is quick to brag on her impressive professional and academic careers. “She can blow the horn for me,” he says, “but I’ll blow the horn for her.”

Their daughters, Julia, Charlotte, and Vanessa, are all married with children. Julia lives in London, Charlotte in Dubai, and Vanessa in Philadelphia. Of their seven grandchildren, ages 7 months to 9 years, five are boys.

“As parents we spent countless hours on soccer fields,” Prue says, and they have savored the Bat mitzvahs, graduations, weddings, and births. They have also weathered sorrows, including the loss of parents.

For years, the Salaskys celebrated the Jewish holidays with Mike’s large local family, rotating among households. Since the children and their cousins moved away, gatherings are rarer, so the couple has become flexible. They savor any time together, “whether on the beach or at a seder,” and have enjoyed attending services with their children and grandchildren in Philadelphia and London.

What do they admire in each other? Mike calls Prue brilliant, independent, funny, and charming. Prue appreciates how self-sufficient (or in other words, stubborn) Mike is. He makes her laugh and lets her be her own person without judgment, and his curiosity means she learns from him about topics she might not otherwise pursue.

“We have been fortunate in many, many ways,” Prue says, “because when you make a decision at age 23, you simply cannot know what life will throw your way.”

June and Bo Saks
50th anniversary

June Saks was born and raised in Norfolk, while Bo was from Gadsden, Alabama, having moved to Richmond to be near his mother and stepfather. June and Bo were introduced by mutual friends, sharing small-town roots and a preference for informality over big-city life. When they began dating, Bo moved to Norfolk, where they settled.

Much of their courtship, June says, took place at Norfolk General Hospital, where she was recovering from back surgery.

June recalls their wedding day as “a beautiful April day” – cool but full of springtime. Friends and family came from out of town, including several of Bo’s college friends, who are still close with him today. “There was just a very warm, loving feeling,” she says.

Bo became part of June’s family right away. She has two brothers, and Bo easily fit in as the third. He worked in her family’s business and, she says, “did it beautifully.”

June’s paternal grandfather was one of the early leaders of Ohef Sholom Temple, and her mother, who moved from New York after marrying her father, became devoted to it, too. June volunteered at the temple and the Sisterhood, taught in the religious school, and served on both the temple and Sisterhood boards of directors. Bo supported all of it, handling carpools and play dates, and being home when the kids arrived on nights she had meetings. She also volunteered a lot at Norfolk General, which Bo supported just as fully.

The couple has two children, Lauren, who lives in Washington, D.C., and Michael, who returned from the West Coast to Richmond with his two sons, now 11 and 9.

The Saks’ are a sports-minded family. Bo attended the University of Alabama, and the rest of the family has adopted the Crimson Tide. The grandsons play several sports, swim, and fish.

Holidays were always a big part of family life. June’s parents hosted Rosh Hashanah, and she and Bo hosted the Break Fast. After 38 years in their home in Colony Point, near Wards Corner, they moved to Aviva Pembroke, where there isn’t room for large gatherings, so they now celebrate with friends at the family dinners there. “I loved having family and extended family to our home,” June says. “I miss that tremendously.” Still, she adds, “life goes on.”

According to June, there is a lot to admire about Bo. “He is a nice man, a good man who loves people,” she says. He stays in touch with his friends and has long helped newcomers to Norfolk get acclimated. She also treasures his continued love and support for her family.

The greatest gift of their marriage? “Family,” June says. “Being together, supporting one another through the good times and the bad times.” There have been “glitches,” she adds, and things aren’t always rosy, “but knowing that you have that support for one another” makes the difference.

Rachael and Michael Nusbaum
10th anniversary

Rachael grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and Michael is a Norfolk native. They met in Nashville at M.L.Rose, a restaurant and bar, during March Madness.

“I asked his roommate, ‘What’s a field goal in basketball?’” she says. Michael was the one who answered, and he promptly asked for her number. “The rest is history!”

Early in their dating, a friend offered some reassurance. Michael’s sister had gone to college with one of Rachael’s oldest and dearest friends, and when that friend realized who Rachael was dating, she told her, “Whether this relationship lasts a week, a month, a few years or forever, Michael Nusbaum is the type of person who will show you how you deserve to be treated.”

Their wedding was “a blowout,” Rachael says. Almost every guest they invited attended, and the couple felt “the support and outpouring of love” as they began their marriage. Soon after, they relocated to Norfolk and bought their first house together. Rachael works as a travel agent for Seabreeze Travel and Michael works for S.L. Nusbaum Insurance.

The Jewish community welcomed the Nusbaums “with open arms” and has remained an important part of their village, they say. During her first years in Norfolk, Rachael helped Ohef Sholom Temple with its Harold Grinspoon initiative, and Michael now serves on the temple’s board of directors. They are excited for their son, Harding Parkes, (he’s called Parkes) and turns 3 in February, to grow up at the temple.

The couple waited seven years after moving to Norfolk to have Parkes. “We grew up together during those years,” she says, and Parkes’s birth in 2024 brought them closer still, as they “saw sides of one another we hadn’t before.” His arrival is also what they’re most proud of as a couple, along with the little man he is growing into. Their own family traditions are just beginning to take shape. What matters most, she says, is quality time with family, whether on a holiday or at a yearly tradition.

When things get hard, they return to their core values. “We are each other’s very best friends,” she says. “We are each other’s biggest cheerleaders, and we have the same hopes, dreams, and goals for one another, our life, our son.” The key to a happy and lasting marriage, in her view, is communication and respect.

They marked their 10th anniversary with a Rhine River cruise, and they’re looking forward to “many more adventures with each other and our family for many, many years to come.”

Ellie Cesario and Kevin Keltz
5th anniversary

Though they’ve been married five years, Ellie Cesario and Kevin Keltz met on Saturday, April 3, 2004, at the opening reception of an art show at Studio One-O-Seven in Norfolk. Ellie was one of the exhibiting artists. “Standing by my artwork and looking at one of my own paintings,” she recalls, someone behind her asked, “Have you tried the cheesecake? It’s delicious!” She turned around, met Kevin, and the two talked for the rest of the evening. They traded information, and soon they had their first date.

Kevin grew up in Miami Beach, Florida, and came to Norfolk in 1980 to become director of Residence Life at Old Dominion University, a job he held for 17 years. Ellie grew up in Uniondale, on Long Island, and moved to Virginia Beach in 1999. She was a public school teacher who later became a counselor. Now, they are both retired.

Ellie says she knew it was special as she got to know Kevin and was impressed by how genuine he is in his actions and relationships. Kevin says he knew Ellie was the one because he was willing to drive 45 minutes, almost to Pungo in Virginia Beach, for a date.

They dated for 17 years before marrying. “We joke about how it took a while for us to be sure,” Ellie says. They keep separate homes – Kevin’s in Norfolk and Ellie’s in Virginia Beach; he spends half the week in each, which gives both time for their own activities and for the friends Kevin has had for many years.

They were married five years ago, at the height of COVID, in a backyard with a small group of friends. They couldn’t invite everyone they would have liked, but “it was beautiful,” says Ellie, and a group effort: friends handled the flowers, food, photographs, and decorations, and made the chuppah by hand.

Since then, milestones have included a trip to Kevin’s hometown of Miami Beach, where Ellie saw where he grew up and met friends he has kept since childhood, and many outdoor art shows together “in all kinds of weather.” They also enjoy group activities with friends, including a movie of the month and holiday and neighborhood celebrations.

Ellie admires how Kevin is a people person who is open-minded, kind, and gentle, with a devotion to family, friends, and animals, has a great sense of humor, and a talent for planning trips. Kevin, for his part, says, “Aside from her physical beauty, what I admire most about Ellie is her generosity, honesty, patience, willingness to go out of her way to help others, and her multiple talents.” Those include art, dancing, gardening, and cooking, and “she knows more about working on cars than I do.”

They both love the National Parks and take at least two trips a year. Kevin plans where they stay and finds the best places to eat, while Ellie drives. Kevin also meets faithfully with a coffee group, and the two enjoy watching college football and spending time with each other’s friends.

They marked their fifth anniversary by attending the milestone anniversary service at Ohef Sholom Temple. Looking ahead, they say, it’s about continuing to communicate with each other and spending time together.

Heroism on a ski lift:Major Metzger’s strong hold

Haley Bartel — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:58:16 +0000

Major Metzger, a student at Virginia Beach Middle School, was with family and friends at Wintergreen Ski Resort in January 2025, when he committed an act of bravery that saved another child from a 16-foot fall and earned him the Carnegie Medal for Heroism.

“All I could think about was how scared I was and making sure I didn’t drop him,” Major recalls, referring to the day of the incident. Major is the son of Amy and Mark Metzger.

Six-year-old Bryce Rader and Major, then 10 years old, were on the chairlift together riding to the slopes. When Major noticed Bryce was slipping, he grabbed his friend’s hand – even as Bryce continued to slip further off the lift. Major held onto Bryce, who was wearing a heavy helmet and skis, for about four minutes until ski patrol arrived with a safety mat and advised him to let go. Bryce landed safely on the mat, suffering only minor injuries.

“Something that helped me hold on to him was all the thoughts in my head of him getting hurt and how much pressure was on me to hold on until ski patrol arrived,” he says.

Major was awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism this past summer. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger presented him the award at his school on Sept. 16. The honor was presented by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, an organization whose mission is to “recognize and support those who perform acts of heroism in civilian life in the United States and Canada.”

For Major, the award was simply a bonus. “I am very honored to get the award,” he says. “But this was never about getting an award, it was saving my friend.”

Shari Dozoretz Friedman to be honored as Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer

Haley Bartel — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:56:29 +0000

Shari Dozoretz Friedman will receive the Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals Hampton Roads Chapter at its National Philanthropy Day Awards Presentation on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

“One of the biggest honors of my life is to be receiving this award,” Friedman says. “I grew up in a family that always gave back to those in need, and we were taught to always share in our good fortune.”

Friedman has worked with a wide range of local nonprofits, including United Way’s Women United 10 for 10 group, Achievable Dream, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. Most of her fundraising, however, has benefited the Dozoretz Hospice House of Hampton Roads, which is named for her late father, Dr. Ronald Dozoretz.

She served as capital campaign chair and board member for the 12-bed facility, the region’s first freestanding inpatient hospice house, and helped establish a major fundraiser to support it. Friedman credits the many people behind the project, each playing an instrumental part in its development.
“This is not the work of one person or one family,” she says. “I feel so grateful to our extraordinary board, generous donors, community partners, volunteers, and committed advocates to make this a reality and help expand compassionate hospice care in our area. It truly warms my heart to be involved in our first freestanding inpatient Hospice House that has helped so many people in our community during life’s most difficult moments.”
Philanthropy, Friedman says, is essential for organizations that could not otherwise survive. The Hospice House operates at a deficit every year because Medicare covers only part of the cost. An angel fund supports patients who don’t qualify for Medicare and can’t pay out of pocket.

“We deeply believe that every person deserves compassion, dignity, and comfort during life’s final journey,” she says, “but we need the help of the entire community for these organizations to sustain themselves.”

Friedman is one of six honorees this year. The others are Sentara –Health (Outstanding Philanthropist – Organization), Jane Batten (Outstanding Philanthropist – Individual), the Elizabeth River Project (Outstanding Nonprofit in Fundraising), Bert Schmidt (Outstanding Nonprofit Leader) and Brooks Lively, CFRE (Outstanding Fundraising Professional).

The event celebrates the impact of philanthropists and fundraisers throughout Tidewater. Proceeds help fund scholarships and educational opportunities for local development professionals.

Dr. Ron Dozoretz, of blessed memory, and Shari Friedman

A first-of-its-kind Virginia Beach grant helps artist leap into glass

Haley Bartel — Thu, 05 Nov 2026 18:50:23 +0000

When Virginia Beach opened applications for its first-ever Individual Artists Support Grant, Rachel “RJ” Jaffe knew it was meant for artists like her.
“It was designed for people like me that are actively working and sharing their art and have these grand projects but just need the funding to help see it through,” she says.

Jaffe is the creative behind 23 Beans, where she sells and teaches ceramics and glass, though she got her start in the former. It was the grant that allowed her to expand into another medium.

The application asked for a proposal explaining how up to $4,800 would be spent, and how it would strengthen her artistic practice while contributing to the city’s cultural landscape. She was awarded the full amount.

The grant, run by the city’s Cultural Affairs office, is meant to help local artists build their practice, grow professionally, add to their portfolios, and engage with the community.

Her proposal changed along the way. Shortly after applying, Jaffe won a scholarship to a glassblowing workshop at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina, but it covered only part of the cost. The trip wasn’t in her original plan, so she amended her proposal, and the city approved using the funds to cover the rest.

“Craft schools are different from a traditional art school,” she says, describing Penland’s one- to two-week intensives where students live on campus and learn a specialized skill from a craftsperson.

The grant’s reach goes beyond her. Jaffe estimates 10 to 15 of her peers also received funding, and the recipients showed work made with their grants in a joint exhibition at the Virginia Beach Arts Center last May. A friend of hers applied after hearing about her experience and also attended Penland.

Today, Jaffe teaches ceramics and glass fusing at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, including a current six-week wheel-throwing course on vessel making, and leads workshops at the Hermitage Museum & Gardens and the Chrysler Museum of Art’s Perry Glass Studio. She also belongs to 757 Create, an artist-run collective that shares exhibition opportunities and practical advice, such as how to price a commission.

The grant shaped the work she’s making now: a collection of goblet-style stemware that references the kiddush cups and cut glass she grew up around at her grandparents’ home. “I really learned to value functional art in that way, and so that led me to create a collection of Judaica,” she says.

Artists Support Grant are currently closed. Artists can email ArtsInfo@vbgov.com for updates on future rounds.

Jaffe’s Judaica collection.

60 Photographs byElise Melnick Simon on display

Haley Bartel — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:57:10 +0000

Elise Melnick Simon led a vibrant, creative life as a painter, photographer, performer, and educator. The mark she left on the local community was reflected in the group that gathered last month to celebrate the opening of 60 Photographs by Elise Melnick Simon, on display at the Leon Family Gallery through the end of October.

The exhibition features the original prints made for her 1989 exhibition at Eastern Virginia Medical School, wherein she examined the role symmetry plays in nature and in its interaction with the structures around it.

Attendees enjoyed refreshments, mingled and viewed the photographs before Britt Simon and Kim Simon Fink said a few words about their late mother’s work and legacy.

Alene Kaufman, Naomi Limor Sedek, Rabbi Israel Zoberman, and Ron Kaufman.

Kim Simon Fink speaks about her mom, standing between brothers Ben Simon and Britt Simon.

Passing the torch: Succession in family businesses

Haley Bartel — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:40:54 +0000

In Prime Video’s hidden-camera comedy Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, which began streaming in March, the founder of a family-owned hot sauce company, Doug, announces his retirement and subsequent handing over of the business to his astonishingly unprepared son, Dougie. It’s played for laughs – most of the employees have been with the company for years and lovingly acknowledge that Dougie is in no way fit to run a company.

The alternative, however – being purchased by an outside group with unclear motives – poses a real-world question: when a transition of power occurs within a business, what happens to everyone else who depends on the company?

The goal for most business owners is to keep their company in the family – a desire shared by 72% of business owners, according to PWC’s family business research.

But hoping and planning are two different things, says Robert Goodman, an attorney at Kaufman & Canoles who advises families on succession. The transition of a family company to the next generation might appear like the clearest path forward, especially from the outside, but the reality is always far more complex.

The conversation about these transitions should focus “primarily on the ability and willingness of the next generation to run the family business,” Goodman says. “It works best when the next generation wants to be part of it, takes pride in the values and culture, and gains experience with mentoring from the older generation.” Each generation, he adds, should leave its own mark on the business.

Yet even willing heirs can create tension when there’s more than one child on the receiving end. In these cases, the conflict is not only over what is right for the business, but what is right for each child given their skills, their careers, and the lives they want.

“In many cases only one of the children is involved in the business,” Goodman says. “At the same time, the parents want all children to be treated fairly.” When it comes to succession planning, equal and fair can be opposing ideals.

If one child is more involved in the business to help it grow, the ownership, or at least the increase in its value, often goes to that child. The other heirs generally receive other assets, which may not add up to the same amount.

Ultimately, there are decision-making factors that extend beyond family dynamics. Most family businesses, to varying degrees, have employees outside of their family structure whose livelihoods they take into consideration.

“Parents often want to look out for loyal, longtime employees,” Goodman says, a reality that he believes is true to Jewish values. He says some of his happiest clients took his advice to provide for those employees.

Goodman encourages families to carry that level of generosity. He also points families toward giving. A donor advised fund created in the name of the parents or the family can honor the work they have done, while giving the next generation a push towards a role in charitable work and community service.

Naomi Limor Sedek, president and CEO of Tidewater Jewish Foundation, describes a donor advised fund as “a charitable checking account.” Donors get a tax deduction when they add money, and they recommend grants to charities. For families with a business and several million dollars in assets, she says, a supporting organization may be a better fit, with the foundation acting as “a family office” that convenes the generations to discuss their mission and run a grants process together.

Russ Cronin, TJF’s vice president and COO, says families name successor advisors, typically children or grandchildren, in the fund agreement, and those successors must be living during the original donors’ lifetime. They may also be limited to granting the income the fund produces rather than the principal. But Sedek says the next generation can extend a fund’s reach: if they contribute their own resources to the fund, they can name successor advisors in a modified fund agreement with the Foundation.

That opportunity for the next generation to contribute something of their own echoes Goodman’s biggest piece of advice: for parents not to deprive children of the pleasure of their own success. “If one or more of your children are involved in the family business, look for ways for them to add new value so that they may take pride in what they are accomplishing,” he says.

Norfolk Academy grad is building network for athletes to transition to careers post playing days

Haley Bartel — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:38:59 +0000

Every athlete eventually plays a last game, and Jack Gross, a Norfolk Academy graduate and senior at Tulane University, wants to make sure there’s a plan for what comes next.

Gross is a founder and the chief operating officer of Second Half Network, a free mentorship platform that connects college student-athletes with professionals who can help them move into careers.

Gross leads business development, including partnerships, mentor recruitment, and corporate relationships. The idea grew out of his own experience. He played baseball at Norfolk Academy, started college at Sewanee, then transferred to Tulane, where he now works as a bullpen catcher for the baseball program.

“When my own college baseball path changed, I started asking what comes next,” he says, and soon realized thousands of other athletes were asking the same question.

Gross met Scott Venancio, Second Half Network founder and chief executive officer, in an entrepreneurship class at Tulane’s A. B. Freeman School of Business, where Gross is studying legal studies in business with a minor in entrepreneurship.

“Looking back, it’s pretty cool that a classroom conversation has turned into a real company with a team, mentors, athletes, a corporate partner, and conversations with universities,” Gross says.

The platform is currently in beta. Athletes build profiles around their interests and career goals, then apply to mentors, who hold an introductory call before deciding whether to work together. Athletes pay nothing for the service – the company plans to rely on partnerships with universities and organizations to fund the platform.

Gross says the network has more than 125 mentors from industries including finance and sports administration, and its first cohort of student-athletes began working with mentors this fall. In September, CK1 LLC, an executive advisory and sports technology firm designed to help collegiate athletic departments and professional sports franchises navigate modern operational challenges, became the first participant in the Corporate Mentorship Program, which lets employees volunteer as mentors.

Two of the network’s mentors are from Virginia Beach, and Gross hopes to bring in more from the area. “Virginia Beach shaped how I build,” he says. “It’s a community where relationships matter, and I’ve seen how willing people are to help when you ask.”

Gross strongly encourages interested mentors, companies, former athletes, coaches, and universities to contact him. “You don’t need five hours a week,” he says. “A 20-minute conversation with the right person can change the direction of a young person’s career.”

Gross may be contacted at SecondHalfNetwork.com.

Pots, pans and people: Joel Feldman celebrates 50 years of Kitchen Barn

Haley Bartel — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:35:43 +0000

It doesn’t take much to keep Joel Feldman motivated to go into work every day. His store is his sanctuary, a culmination of half a century of hard work. “When my car pulls in the parking lot, I’m excited,” he says. “Sometimes I get chills. I’ve also broken down in tears.”

Feldman, founder of Kitchen Barn, has been selling cookware in Hampton Roads for more than 50 years. He considers his business, lifestyle, and the people it has brought into his life to be nothing short of a blessing.

Feldman grew up in Norfolk, around grandparents who spoke only Yiddish and kept kosher. His parents spoke it too, and he picked up “every expression you could think of,” even if he never learned the language itself. His father, [Louis] Feldman, was “an amazing salesman” who taught him “how to talk to customers, how to be a mensch.”

His first jobs were cutting grass, shoveling snow and delivering the afternoon Ledger-Star, collecting payment door to door. Those gigs taught him the value of “a regimen, something you had to follow,” he says. He then went on to work at Esquire Naval Tailor, where he worked for Jake Friedberg, a “master businessman.”

Eventually, he began cooking meals for people in their homes, with his wife, Phyllis, handling cleanup. He found that the pans folks kept in their homes, Club Aluminum, were “maybe a little bit of a poison,” noting that they “discolored and flavored food.” Then, in 1972, when a friend introduced him to stainless steel cookware, he realized he had work to do beyond just cooking.

Feldman wanted to spread the knowledge he’d uncovered, so he started selling the pans at cooking parties. “People would invite friends over, and I’d cook a dinner with these amazing pans,” he says. Eventually, he decided he wanted to open a store. “My main objective was to have better quality cookware.”

Before opening his store, a tip sent him to Washington to see Kitchen Bazaar on Connecticut Avenue. He walked in with a pen and paper and started taking notes. When the owner, Sherman Shapiro, arrived, Feldman introduced himself and explained his plan. Shapiro let him look around, took him to lunch, and told him exactly where to go in New York to find vendors.

“I was there the following week,” Feldman recalls. “That’s how it started.”

His first store opened in Pembroke Meadows on Independence Boulevard, and at the start, he had dreams of expansion. In 1976, developer John Ray Potter walked him through a staked-out lot at Hilltop and offered a 2,000-square-foot space.

By the time the 80s rolled around, he had three stores, including one in Coliseum Mall in Hampton, and had plans to open stores in Charlottesville and Washington, DC. Then, in 1983, interest rates hit 26 percent. “All I could do was pay the interest, forget paying on the principal,” he recalls. He closed Hampton and Independence Boulevard, designating his Hilltop store as the pièce de resistance.

He called every vendor he owed and asked to buy merchandise COD while paying down his debt monthly. With his wife’s agreement, he took a second mortgage. “Everyone said, ‘We’ll do anything we can.’” The remaining store thrived, and he paid everyone back, though he quickly realized 2,0000 square feet wasn’t enough for his extensive inventory. After 35 years in his original Hilltop North location, he moved to a larger spot just across the parking lot.

His setbacks taught him much about the keys to success. “Never give up. Work smarter. Learn from your mistakes. Listen to people, and always want to be better,” he says.

Feldman also attributes Kitchen Barn’s success to his staff, who spend six months learning before they talk to customers about cookware or knives. “I could never have done it without the wonderful people who work for me,” he says. “They all love what they do. They’re knowledgeable. Our idea of helping somebody with an item is to teach them the importance of the item.”

Kitchen Barn, Feldman says, offers an in-person shopping experience Amazon can’t match. “I’m a little mom-and-pop shop paying a fair amount of rent, and I pay my employees very handsomely,” he says. “I might be a few dollars more expensive, but when you buy from someone local, the money stays in town.”

He attends trade shows in Atlanta and Chicago each year, “always looking for a better mousetrap.” He offers cooking classes and always contributes to local schools’ raffles. His focus on maintaining a high-caliber inventory and remaining involved in the community easily sets him apart from other options.

“We have things that have been tested and been around for years, and we get better all the time,” Feldman says. “We’re good to our customers. We strive to have the best that we can have. And we always make sure we have good quality merchandise on the shelf.”

Such dedication has put Feldman in a place where he has served generations of families, a feeling he can only describe as heartwarming. One woman returned 15 years after he gifted her a child’s apron her mother couldn’t afford. “I’ve never forgotten you,” she told him, a memory he recalls with tears in his eyes. That kindness and generosity plays a big part in Kitchen Barn’s staying power.

With half a century under his belt, Feldman is over the moon about the future of Kitchen Barn. “We do a little better every year. Our figures are positive,” he says.
His granddaughter, Lauren, is expected to take over someday. During the 50th September sale, she noted that she would be 80 years old at the 100th September sale. “How sweet is that?” he asks rhetorically, beaming. No response needed.

Feldman’s advice for business owners starting out is simple: “Listen to that inner thing inside of you when you’re doing something. If it doesn’t make you feel good, don’t do it. It needs to be something that comes from your heart.”

Art talks with the Center for Active Living

Haley Bartel — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:11:05 +0000

Members of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Center for Active Living, a group for older adults offering fitness, lifelong learning, and cultural programming, spent the morning of Tuesday, October 13 at the Chrysler Museum of Art. Attendees enjoyed a conversation on faith and community through the lens of Baroque art, paired with a guided tour of the museum’s Ilse Bing exhibit.

The morning began with Civic Salon: Faith, part of a museum series that uses works from its collection to prompt discussion about civic life. In a conversation moderated by Drew Lusher, Rabbi Michael Panitz and Father Noah Van Niel connected four biblical paintings to four themes that show up in secular community life.

The panel first addressed the topic of narratives – personal stories told and history – by looking at Jacopo Palma’s The Finding of Moses. Next was Bonifazio de’ Pitati’s Lot and His Daughters, which prompts the question of norms with its taboo subject matter. Then, the panel discussed habits through the lens of The Virgin and Child with Angels Appearing to Saints Anthony Abott and Paul, the Hermit by Paolo Veronese. The talk wrapped up with an exploration of rituals in the context of Giovan Filippo Criscuolo’s Adoration of the Magi, comparing rituals of the day to those practiced now.

Participants then toured Ilse Bing: Between Paris and New York led by Harry Graber, former UJFT executive vice president, who is a docent at the Chrysler Museum. The exhibit, which closed on Sunday, October 18, followed the German-born Jewish photographer, who began taking pictures as an art history student in Frankfurt and went on to work in Paris and New York with a handheld Leica. Graber guided the group through the exhibit, providing insight into her location throughout history and artists she worked with throughout her lifetime.

For more information about future events with the Center for Active Living, visit jewishva.org/Adults or contact Sarah Cooper at SCooper@UJFT.org.

Father Noah Van Niel, Rabbi Michael Panitz and Drew Lusher during the panel discussion.

Docent Harry Graber explains the context of one of Ilse Bing’s photographs.