VIRGINIA BEACH—Kitty Friedenbach Saks, 88, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 9, 2021 with her family by her side. Kitty lived an extraordinary life, challenged with hardship, struggle, and uncertainty as a young girl, and later as a young adult, blessed with...
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Harry Sandler
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA—Harry Sandler, son of the late Leo Max Sandler and Eva Sherman Sandler, died peacefully in Virginia Beach the morning of May 26, 2021 at the age of 95. He was predeceased by his brother Samuel and Sam’s wife, Reba. Harry was born in Norfolk,...
Marti J. Watchel
Portsmouth—Marti J. Watchel died on May 22, 2021. She is predeceased by a son, David William Silverstein. She is remembered by her children, Rabbi Lauren Silverstein Cohn and husband Matt Ruggles, and Jon Steven Silverstein and wife Jodie Knight, and her...
Bernard “Bernie” Weiss
Virginia Beach—Bernard “Bernie” Weiss passed away peacefully on May 25, 2021 at Sentara Hospice House. Bernie was the son of Sam and Louise Weiss, and was born in New York, eventually moving to Richmond, Virginia at the age of 13. He was a graduate of VCU and MCV....
Biden administration supports replenishing Iron Dome after Gaza conflict
WASHINGTON (JTA)—A Biden administration official said the U.S. government supports restocking Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system after it was depleted by last month’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Dozens of House members from both parties have said they would push...
Rise in antisemitism and an updated spelling
The Virginian-Pilot printed two political cartoons that I found stunning on Monday, June 7. Both were commentaries on the recent surge in antisemitism with messages that the prejudice has just been hiding in the United States…that it’s never really disappeared. What...
Jeffrey A. Swartz
Jeffrey A. Swartz, a partner at Swartz, Taliaferro, Swartz & Goodove in Norfolk, who was selected for Virginia Business magazine’s “Virginia’s Legal Elite” for 2014 in the category of Criminal Defense. Swartz was selected by his peers and members of the Virginia...
Rabbi Israel Zoberman
Rabbi Israel Zoberman who delivered the opening prayer on Thursday, Dec. 11, of the U.S. Senate session.
Relating the past to the present: Holocaust Commission announces 2015 student competitions
Earlier this month, the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater announced the official start of its 2015 Elie Wiesel Student Writing & Visual Arts Competitions. This is the 18th year the Commission has invited students to enter the...
Super Sunday Community Phone-a-thon
Be Part of Our Next Chapter! Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015, 9 am – 1 pm United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Annual Super Sunday Community Phone-athon takes place at the Sandler Family Campus. Volunteers are needed for two shifts: 9–11 am and 11 am–1 pm. Sign up at...
Author to speak about his book
Midnight At the Pera Palace Sunday, Jan. 13, 3 pm, Temple Sinai Georgetown University professor Charles King will speak at Temple Sinai about his new book, Midnight at the Pera Palace at Temple Sinai in Newport News. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed after WWI, so...
Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day 2015: A chance to meet elected officials
Date with the State: Wednesday, Feb. 4 Bus departs Sandler Family Campus at 8:45 am, returns by 6 pm CRC Briefing on Date with the State: Wednesday, Jan. 28, 6:30 pm Mix civic responsibility, democracy, political action, Jewish values and history with a healthy dose...
If it were 2014 they’d be CNN heroes: Holocaust film at Festival spotlights an otherwise ordinary couple
Sunday, Jan. 18, 2 pm, TCC Roper Performing Arts Center In their comfortable home in Philadelphia, attorney Gilbert Kraus and his wife Eleanor were far removed from Hitler’s tightening of control over Europe in 1939. Yet this young couple brought 50 children to live...
Who smiles more during Grandparents’ Day?
The last day of school before Thanksgiving break is always an exciting one, and not just because it kicks off the start of a long holiday weekend. It is also when all the students at Hebrew Academy and the Strelitz preschool host Grandparents’ Day, a cherished...
Young adult volunteers add helping Hands to Helping Hearts project
Fluffing teddy bears may sound like easy work, but when there are more than 1,000 of the small plush stuffed toys that need sprucing up, the job can be daunting. The Personal Affairs Management program of the Jewish Family Service of Tidewater was in luck on...
Ohef Sholom Temple takes Tikkun Olam to heart
On any Sunday when Ohef Sholom’s Religious School is in session, tzedakah is given, and mitzvah projects are set in motion. The Sunday prior to Thanksgiving, however, was unique because each of the 12 classrooms collected canned foods to be part of a larger community...
A bright road ahead at Tidewater Jewish Foundation
I am thrilled to join the outstanding team at the Tidewater Jewish Foundation and to have the honor to serve this community as its president and CEO. With a rich history and longevity of professional leadership in this position, I hope to build upon our success while...
Mini-mission brings home importance of Super Sunday success
Super Sunday, January 25, 2015 • 9 am–1 pm • Volunteers needed for two shifts Planning a successful fundraising event often involves many hours spent strategizing and meeting inside boardrooms or offices. In the case of Super Sunday, the largest, single Tidewater...
Business & Legal Society gets special briefing on Iran
Staring into Syria from the border of Israel’s Golan Heights last summer, Mark Dubowitz encountered an unnerving sight—the black flag of ISIL, also known as ISIS or the Islamic State. With civil war and humanitarian atrocities raging just a few clicks away in...
Highlighting campus sexual assault, Jewish groups have taken a lead
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (JTA)—Jewish campus groups were ready for the painful national dialogue that took place in the wake of murky rape allegations at the University of Virginia. That’s because organizations like Hillel and historically Jewish Greek houses such as...
Jewish Tidewater 2014
A look back at some of the notable activities of Tidewater’s Jewish community in 2014 Saturday, January 18 The Simon Family JCC’s Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Howard and Alma* Laderberg, held its Opening Night at the Sandler Center for the Performing...
22nd Annual Viginia Festival of Jewish Film
With multiple venues and times, there’s a show for everyone When the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presented by Alma* and Howard Laderberg opens next month, it will celebrate its 22nd year, one of the longest running festivals of its kind in the nation. In an...
Terror from Tehran: Iran as an international threat
On the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 3, the Community Relations Council and community partners presented the second of its Israel Today lecture series to a packed audience on the Sandler Family Campus. While additional chairs had to be set up just before the program...
Ira Forman to discuss Global Anti-Semitism
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus The increases in anti-Semitic acts taking place around the world have sounded alarms in both the Jewish and secular communities. Consider that just last week, Spanish prosecutors were investigating the actions of...
Am Yisrael Chai, The Jewish People Lives: Why today’s anti-Semitism is not the anti-Semitism of 1938
On September 21st, as the summer phase of the war with Hamas was coming to an end, respected author and The Times of Israel correspondent Yossi Klein Halevi published a column for the upcoming High Holidays entitled, “At Rosh Hashanah: Grief, fear, hope.” In it, he...
Everything they ever told you about Chanukah was a lie
You remember the old story, right? The evil Syrian Greeks sought to destroy Judaism by outlawing the practice of the mitzvot. The valiant Maccabeean freedom fighters fought back and won a great victory, recapturing Jerusalem and rededicating the holy temple....