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29th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film: It’s A Wrap

29th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film: It’s A Wrap

The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presented by Alma and Howard Laderberg, wrapped up its 29th year on Monday, February 28 with a screening of Hester Street, restored in 4K for its 40th anniversary, and presented at Naro Expanded Cinema in honor of longtime Festival...

The Jewish post-rescue era ended with the war in Ukraine

(JTA)—For the past 20 years or so I could write confidently that the Jewish community was in a “post-rescue” era. Following the exodus of Soviet Jews, and the airlifts of Ethiopian Jews, Jewish organizations had to adjust to a reality—perhaps the first in Jewish...

DR. STANLEY HOWARD LEGUM

Virginia Beach —Dr. Stanley Howard Legum, 77, died peacefully on July 27, 2017, at home after battling Alzheimer’s for several years. Stanley was the son of Buddy and Janice Legum and was raised in Norfolk where he graduated from Maury High School in 1957, University...

DR. HARVEY LEE AFTEL

Norfolk —Dr. Harvey Lee Aftel, 84, passed away at his home on July 14, 2017. Born to the late Samuel Aftel and Emma Goldsmith in Norfolk, Harvey graduated from Maury High School in 1950. Harvey attended The University of Virginia for two years and then attended...

Graduation

Mazel Tov to Jeffrey and Amy Brooke on the graduation of their daughter Chana Brooke from the Graduate Program at Touro College in Manhattan. Chana received her B.A. from Touro in 2015 and her M.S. in education in May of this year. She is also a graduate of BINA...

Achievement

Mazel Tov to this year’s Congregation Beth El’s J. Samuel Goldback Scholarship recipients: • Elliana Friedman, a rising senior at James Madison University, with hopes of entering a career in public accounting, she has been active in Jewish life locally and at JMU. •...

Ohef Sholom’s Katelynn McAraw wins national essay contest

Katelynn McAraw, 16, a participant in the Better Together Program, recently won its essay contest, earning her $8,000 toward a semester program in Israel. Better Together, a program that unites seniors and teens through monthly lunches and activities, is funded by a...

Jody Wagner elected president of The Norfolk Forum board

The Norfolk Forum, the nation’s oldest publicly subscribed speakers’ forum recently elected Jody M. Wagner, as its 2017–18 board president. Wagner is president of Jody’s Popcorn, which she and her husband, Alan Wagner, MD, founded in Virginia Beach in 2005. Wagner...

Painting, prayers, and noshing: JCC Seniors’ New Year celebration

Wednesday, September 13, 1 pm Simon Family JCC, free Seniors at the Simon Family JCC will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, with a Rosh Hashanah Paint Social featuring artist and art teacher Michele Barnes. The New Year ceremony will be facilitated by a...

Sigma Omega Pi sorority plans reunion

September 8 weekend The alumnae of Sigma Omega Pi sorority (SOPS) will celebrate their fifth annual reunion next month. SOPS was a national, Jewish social/ service organization for Jewish high school girls in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach. It flourished in...

Be A Reader literacy program seeks new volunteers

Monday, September 18, 11 am Sandler Family Campus Be A Reader kicks-off the 2017-2018 school year with a welcome breakfast and meeting next month. The event is an opportunity for potential new volunteers to learn more about the program, and for returning volunteers to...

Tidewater Chavurah names panelists for program on intermarriage

Sunday, Sept. 10 and Sunday, Sept. 17, 2 pm Sandler Family Campus Panelists for the second session of Tidewater Chavurah’s two-part program on marriage between Jews and non-Jews, “Making Jewish Choices,” will explore issues arising from intermarriage such as...

End summer with a bang at the JCC and YAD End of Summer Shabbat

Friday, August 18, 5 pm The annual End of Summer Shabbat dinner and pool party has expanded this year to include more games, more food, and more fun. Young at heart participants will enjoy a surf n’ slide, a water balloon challenge, and a tzedakah dive. For adults,...

Israel and the future of American Jewry

2017–2018 Israel Today series begins with David Hazony, managing director of The Israel Project Tuesday, September 12, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus After returning from an eight-month stint teaching English in Myanmar, I had to figure out my next move. I thought a...

Think Positive

For congregational rabbis, this is a season of anxiety, but also of hope. The arrival of the seven Haftarot of Consolation after Tisha b’Av reminds us that we have less than two months to get our sermons written and services planned for the High Holy Days. (Had I not...

Sunday School in the 21st century

In Spring 2017, the Ohef Sholom Temple board of directors unanimously approved a proposal to welcome independent households to one year of enrollment in the Temple’s Reform Jewish Sunday morning classes. An “independent household” is a family that expresses its Jewish...

Advocating for children in school

In preparation for the school year and the Jewish High Holy Days, it’s important to be proactive in communicating with faculty and administrators about these holidays so Jewish students have the opportunity to observe without penalty. While schools may try their best...

From Virginia Beach to the Middle East

CRC and local high school work together to ensure bright future for foreign policymakers In May 2011, the topic of conversation among my First Colonial High School students was international stability and the global nuclear system. I asked them to work together and...

ADL and Virginia Attorney General combine efforts to fight hate

Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring was the Keynote Speaker at the Anti-Defamation League Washington, DC Region 2017 Annual Meeting, earlier this summer. Attorney General Herring began his remarks by highlighting the importance of ADL’s work combatting and...

TJF welcomes Barb Gelb

The Tidewater Jewish Foundation (TJF) is “delighted to welcome Barb Gelb as the new development associate and Life & Legacy Coordinator,” says Scott Kaplan, CFRE, president and CEO, Tidewater Jewish Foundation. “Barb comes to our community with a wealth of...