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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...
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...
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...
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....
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....
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...
A flurry of family-minded activity took place at the Simon Family JCC on Sunday, November 14. Parents and their children joined PJ Library in Tidewater for a special Sunday Fun Day that included a parenting workshop with Susan G. Groner, author of Parenting with...
November was a very big month for the Mitzvah Squad at Temple Israel in Norfolk. The congregation ended October by starting its Jewish Family Service Chanukah Gift Card Drive to benefit underprivilege children. Thanks to Temple Israel’s members, $3,737 in gift cards...
Jewish Military Families of Tidewater joined PJ Library in Tidewater for a Havdalah ceremony in celebration of Veteran’s Day at the Simon Family JCC on Saturday, November 13. The Havdalah ceremony was led by Navy Rabbis Yoni Warren and Aaron Kleinman. The families...
In honor of Veterans Day, the third and fourth grade class of Joanna Schranz at Toras Chaim School, under the leadership of Rabbi Yonah Lazar, held a special program to recognize the holiday. Craig Schranz a Commander in the United States Navy Reserve (and the...
In a first, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, Embassy of Israel & Community Partners’ 11th Annual Israel Today Series partnered with the Chrysler Museum of Art’s Perry Glass Studio to welcome...
Wednesday, December 8, 7:30 pm, online Adam Mansbach is mostly known for fiction writing. He is the author of a #1 New York Times bestselling “children’s book” series that is, in fact, meant for adults in the throes of parenting who need a good laugh. His dry comedy...
Sunday, December 5, 4–5:30 pm Congregation Beth El World-renowned a cappella singing sensations Six13 will perform at a community-wide, family-friendly, high-energy celebration at Congregation Beth El to mark the congregation’s 71st anniversary. The in-person event...
Friday, January 14 and Saturday, January 15 A commemorative and celebratory Shabbos Shira is planned for B’nai Israel Congregation’s 75th anniversary. This special Shabbos, featuring renowned singer and chazzan, Simcha Leiner, will be filled with memories, joy, and...
(JTA)—Aaron Feuerstein, who became known as the Mensch of Malden Mills for continuing to pay his workers even after the textile factory he owned burned to the ground, died at 95 on Thursday, November 4. The devout Orthodox businessman died at his home in Brookline,...
(JTA)—Justus Rosenberg, a professor whose long career teaching literature was preceded by a remarkable tenure in the French resistance during World War II, died last month at the age of 100. Rosenberg was a professor at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York...
Bellevue, Nebraska—Joni Ann Goodman Brooks 62, of Bellevue, Nebraska, peacefully passed away on Wednesday, November 3, 2021. Joni was born on February 25, 1959 in Norfolk, Virginia to the late Martin and Blanche (Scheinberg) Goodman. Joni was a child advocate for her...
Dear Readers, It’s been eight years since we celebrated Thanksgivukah…when the holidays of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah converged. Here we are again…almost. This year the first night of Hanukkah begins on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, which creates the opportunity...
Giving new meaning to the phrase “open tent Judaism,” United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s Division held its annual Lion Tikva Chai Lunch outdoors this year, under a big, wide tent in the “backyard” of the Sandler Family Campus. Utilizing new,...
It was a special day on Sunday, October 24 as the members of Nadiv, the Young Men’s Giving Circle through YAD, led the Jewish community in a cleanup of Mikro Kodesh cemetery in Chesapeake. Together with the Norfolk Kollel and community members of all ages, more than...
Seizing the moment Terri and Lonny Sarfan “We’re going to break the norms this year,” says Terri Sarfan. Playing with the calendar a bit, Terri and Lonny plan to begin their family’s Hanukkah celebration just after Thanksgiving dinner. Terri says they want to take...
For Noa Tishby, it has become a mission to educate and engage with the rampant antisemitism and anti-Zionist corners of Twitter and other social media platforms. On Wednesday, October 13, Tishby shared her expertise with Tidewater’s Jewish community as the first...
In sports terms, one might call Ron Koas a rookie. In rabbinic circles, the 60-year-old is just a late bloomer. He came to Congregation Beth El in July as his first senior pulpit. Raised as a secular Jew in Israel, his roundabout path to the rabbinate included IDF...
(JTA)—When Rabbi Lisa Gelber heard that the Food and Drug Administration had approved the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5–11, she couldn’t wait for the moment that her daughter would get the shot. But she also knew her daughter was scared of needles....
There is something very apropos and meaningful about the convergence of two beautiful holidays, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah—both of which represent a celebration of religious freedom and are centered on the theme of gratitude for the blessings in our lives. As you...
Congregation Beth El SIX13, a cappella singing group, in concert at Beth El Sunday, December 5, 4–5:30 pm, in-person and online Congregation Beth El is celebrating its 171st Anniversary and Hanukkah with a concert by the world-renowned male a cappella singing group,...