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Craft a legacy, secure the Jewish future

Craft a legacy, secure the Jewish future

Naomi Limor Sedek Nestled beside one of the area’s fastest-growing congregations, a new playground gleams under the sun. While it may appear as just slides and swings, it’s much more for the young Jewish families of B’nai Israel. Funded through a Tidewater Jewish...

Shinshinim program is  successful and important

Shinshinim program is successful and important

Rabbi Ron Koas In the past month I was asked by my colleagues about our Shinshinim, and the secret of their success in our (Congregation Beth El) school, congregation, and community. I realize that not everyone is aware of this program, so please allow me to share a...

Moses Myers House: Local Treasure

Last fall, members of the Norfolk City Council discussed selling four city-owned properties in order to save the expense of maintaining them. Three of them are historic homes. One is the Moses Myers House. According to a November 29, 2022 article in the...

Ukrainian Humanity Center

In the summer of 2022, I took a Holocaust study trip to Poland, which I spoke about at Ohef Sholom and wrote about in the Jewish News. That article closed with the fact that I was working with some of my fellow travelers to “do something” for the Ukrainian mothers and...

AIPAC Political Student Leadership Summit: an enriching experience

Standing on the steps of the United States Capitol, I was filled with a sense of gratitude and awe as I thought about the generations of Jews who came before me. I imagined how they must have viewed the United States’ overwhelming support for Israel as an unattainable...

BeARS, books…and Coasties…OH MY!

Lieutenant Kelly Kuong and Chief Warrant Officer Melinda Skinner are part of a group of four United States Coast Guardsmen who serve as BeAR mentors at Chesterfield Academy Elementary School. From Jupiter, Fla., Kuong says of reading with her second grade BeAR...

Dear Readers: Celebrating Women

Dear Readers, Celebrating women - moms, mentors, colleagues, and friends - is always important, but especially appropriate as we approach Mother's Day next month. I’ve been fortunate to have had some pretty spectacular women in my life. . . starting with the first one...

Kim Simon Fink: Perpetual action. . . and motion

Kim is Mother. Kim is a season unto herself. Kim is a sister of perpetual action. She is always working on the next chapter and never plays by the book. She bore and broke out three children in her own image–a storyteller, a dancer, and a loyalist–mothered them,...

Marilyn Goldman: A mentor for life

With a personality as fiery as her signature red hair, Marilyn Wall Goldman was my first real boss and mentor, and then, my colleague and friend. In the summer of 1978, Dean Goldman suggested I call his mom, as I was looking for a summer internship and she was the...

Ellen Wagner: A generous example

If I had to sum up my mother in one word, it would be generous. My mom, Ellen Wagner, is generous with her love, her time, and her knowledge. She is always willing to open her home to anyone who might be alone for the holidays, she has a hard time saying no to...

Sherrill Hurwitz: Excuses not permitted

My mom raised me with help from her mom, my Bubbie, at a time when there were not as many successful single parent households as there are now. She always wanted me to succeed without regard for what I may have been missing  in my life and never wanted me to use what...

Israeli wildlife photographer captivates Tidewater audiences

Roie Galitz, renowned wildlife photographer and environmental diplomat, visited Tidewater last month as part of the 12th annual Israel Today series presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family Jewish...

Lisa Barr: ‘On Fire’ at Chrysler Museum of Art

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival hosted a successful event with New York Times bestselling author Lisa Barr, who discussed her latest book Woman on Fire at the Chrysler Museum of Art. The event was in...

Rabbi Panitz honored for 30 years at Temple Israel

More than 245 people packed Broudy Auditorium on Sunday, April 2 to celebrate Dr. Rabbi Michael E. Panitz's tenure of 30 plus years with Temple Israel. Pastor Craig Wansink of Second Presbyterian Church opened the program with a beautiful tribute to Rabbi Panitz....

Jewish Museum and Cultural Center in Portsmouth offers varied events

Steeple to Steeple: Saturday, May 13, 9 am - 3 pm The Zelma G. Rivin Wonderful Wednesdays Summer Music Series: Begins on Wednesday, July 19, 7:30 pm Dinner and auction: Sunday, August 27 Every May in Olde Town Portsmouth there is the event known as Steeple to Steeple....

Yom Ha’Atzmaut: a community celebration

Sunday, April 30, 1-4 pm, Sandler Family Campus On May 14, 1948, Jewish communities in Tidewater and around the world rea-lized their dream of securing a state that ensures Jewish safety and security. In the 75 years since then, Israel has become a beacon of...

Born to play Rachmaninoff: Pianist Olga Kern

Sunday, May 7, 2:30 pm, Sandler Center She was born to play Rachmaninoff” may seem trite, a well-worn phrase used to describe an artist with an extraordinary gift for interpreting the works of that composer. But for pianist Olga Kern, her first experience with...

Cantor Elihu Flax to receive award

Sunday, May 7, 10 am Rodef Sholom, Newport News Beth El Men's Club's Blue Yarmulke Person-of-the-Year is Cantor Elihu Flax. He, along with the honorees from Temple Israel in Norfolk and Rodef Shalom in Newport News, will be honored at a brunch followed by the award...

Barbara Ann Jones Amdusky

Norfolk – Barbara Ann Jones Amdusky passed away peacefully in her home on April 7, 2023. She was 86 years old. Barbara was born November 8, 1936 in (Berkley) Norfolk, Va., to the late John Paul Jones and Lydia Mae Wicker Jones, and was raised by her grandparents...

Stuart Engel

Norfolk – Stuart A. Engel, 76, passed away on April 15, 2023 in Norfolk, Va. He was a loving husband to his wife Nancy of 54 years, a caring father of two boys and proud grandfather of four granddaughters. Martin and his wife, Alison, Paige (14), and Elle (11) of...