As one of the longest‑running Jewish film festivals in the country, the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film continues its mission of engaging Jewish and non‑Jewish audiences through world‑class cinema inspired by Jewish history, culture, and values. This year’s festival featured six films screened at various venues, including Virginia Wesleyan University, Cinema Café Kemps River, Naro Expanded Cinema, Cape Henry Collegiate, and Cinema Café Pembroke Meadows. 

 Two Israeli films anchored the festival in real‑world history and urgency. 

 The Stronghold, a historical narrative set during the Yom Kippur War, followed an Israeli army company trapped in the Sinai Desert, forcing viewers to confront the human cost of war and the moral dilemmas faced under siege. Actor Michael Aloni, known for his roles on the Netflix series Shtisel and We Were the Lucky Ones attended and was interviewed following the film by Mark Robbins, festival screening committee chair.

 The following Sunday, audiences watched The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue, a documentary chronicling a harrowing, real‑life rescue mission following the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel, preceded by a message from the film’s director and producer, who helped set the stage for the screening.

 The festival’s signature event, the Big Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film, featured Tatami, a political sports thriller centered on an Iranian judo champion and her coach facing an impossible choice during an international competition. The screening, followed by a dessert reception, embodied what has become a hallmark of the festival: films that spark conversation long after the credits roll.

 This film, while featuring no explicitly Jewish content and only a short scene featuring an Israeli character, was chosen by the film screening committee because of its relevance to today’s world. It is the first film to be directed by Israeli and Iranian co-directors, and highlights the strict pressures placed on Iranian citizens by the oppressive regime. It proved especially meaningful given the real-world events that quickly followed.

 Both the Road Between Us and Tatami were attended by special guests from the Embassy of Israel. Michal Ofek, director of Cultural Affairs, was joined by Efrat Hochstetler, Counselor for Public Diplomacy, who spoke before each film about how meaningful it is to see Israeli art shared in the U.S. during such a tumultuous time, and about the universality of art.

 The festival’s narrative features offered a wide emotional and geographic range. The Ring explored the lingering echoes of the Holocaust through a father and daughter’s journey to uncover their family’s past, while For the Love of a Woman wove together romance and historical mystery across decades in Israel. In The Blond Boy from the Casbah, audiences were transported to Algiers, where memories of a vibrant Jewish community unfolded through the eyes of a filmmaker reconnecting with his childhood roots. 

 Beyond the films themselves, what set the 33rd festival apart was the collective experience of watching together. In an era when films are often consumed alone on small screens, the festival reaffirmed the power of shared storytelling and the importance of gathering in community. 

 “Thank you to our wonderful community for your enthusiastic support,” says Beth Scharlop, festival co-chair. “It’s not a festival without your attendance, conversation, and feedback. It motivates us to continually improve our programming.”

Virginia Festival of Jewish Film is presented by the Alma & Howard Laderberg Virginia Festival of Jewish Film Restricted Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation and funded in part by the citizens of Virginia Beach and Norfolk through grants from the City of Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission and the Norfolk Arts Commission.

For information about the festival, contact Hunter Thomas, director of Arts + Ideas at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater: HThomas@UJFT.org or 757-965-6137.

A groundbreaking exhibition showcasing works by two pioneering female artists, Architects of Being: Louise Nevelson and Esphyr Slobodkina, is on view through May 31 at Chrysler Museum of Art.  

 Organized by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA), this exhibition brings artists Louise Nevelson and Esphyr Slobodkina in direct dialogue for the first time. Both artists were Eastern European Jewish immigrants who worked in mid-century New York and developed distinct visual languages and identities within a male-dominated American art world. While Nevelson is known primarily as a sculptor and Slobodkina as a painter, both explored cubism, surrealism, and constructivism, with assemblage as an essential unifying theme throughout their careers.  

 Featuring 77 works, including sculptural assemblages, abstract paintings, collages, and garments they designed and wore, Architects of Being reveals the parallel journeys of women who helped transform American abstraction.

 Programming for Architects of Being invites visitors to explore the exhibition’s central theme: how identity is constructed and expressed. By examining material choices, personal style, and visual composition, these programs provide audiences with a deeper understanding of the artists’ evolving voices, creative processes, and the social and historical contexts that shaped their work.

For information about exhibitions, programs, and events, visit chrysler.org or follow the Chrysler Museum on social media @chryslermuseum.

The Chrysler Museum of Art is located at 1 Memorial Place in Norfolk. 

Louise Nevelson (American, b. Russia (now Ukraine), 1899–1988), Dawn’s Presence, 1972–1975, painted wood, Chrysler Museum of Art, Gift of Walter P. Chrysler Jr. 77.1241

Few works have transformed Holocaust storytelling as profoundly as the graphic novel Maus. When Art Spiegelman won the 1992 Pulitizer Prize, it was the first time a graphic novel earned that honor, signaling a cultural shift in the literary world, and new manner to convey memory, trauma, and history. Art Spiegelman: Disaster is my Muse is a documentary that explores the mind of Spiegelman, the artist who reshaped Holocaust literature and brought the graphic novel genre into public view.  Art Spiegelman: Disaster is my Muse, is presented by the Chrysler Museum of Art in partnership with the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film and the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

 Through archival footage, interviews, and behind-the-scenes access, the documentary examines Spiegelman’s creative process, artistic influences, and the personal history that informs his work.

 Published in two volumes beginning in the 1980s, Maus recounts Spiegelman’s father’s experiences during the Holocaust, portraying Jews as mice and Nazis as cats in a stark black-and-white visual style. Its impact extended beyond literary recognition, elevating the graphic novel form and expanding public understanding of how visual storytelling can convey complex historical trauma.

 The documentary situates Maus within the broader arc of Spiegelman’s career, highlighting his experimentation in underground comics, his commentary on contemporary events, and his ongoing engagement with themes of catastrophe and memory. The film also addresses the complexities of his identity as the child of Holocaust survivors and how that generational inheritance shaped both his artistic voice and his lifelong engagement with history.

 Following the screening, the documentary’s co-directors will participate in a discussion about the making of the film and the challenges of portraying Spiegelman on screen. Known for his intellectual rigor and unflinching perspectives, Spiegelman emerges in the film as an artist deeply influenced by personal and collective trauma, yet continually pushing the boundaries of his work.

Tickets for the screening are included for all full festival pass holders. Additional information is available at Jewishva.org/Muse.  

The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film returns for its 33rd year with a fresh slate of films that spans history, suspense, and true‑life heroism—from the Yom Kippur War saga The Stronghold to the international sports thriller Tatami, the October 7th rescue chronicle The Road Between Us, and more.

As one of the nation’s longest-running Jewish film festivals, the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg, educates and engages diverse Tidewater communities, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, by presenting world-class films and creating shared experiences and connections inspired by Jewish legacy and values.

With films that cannot be seen at mainstream theaters, emotions that can only be felt in a room full of moviegoers, and the BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film, the festival is NOT your average movie night. Tickets are limited, so purchase them ASAP at JewishVA.org/FilmFest.

The Stronghold 

Sunday, February 15• 2:30 pm

Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center at Virginia Wesleyan University, 5817 Wesleyan Drive, Virginia Beach

Director Lior Chefetz • 113 min • Israel • 2024  Hebrew with English subtitles • Historical Narrative Feature • Not rated

Sinai Desert, Yom Kippur War, 1973. In a remote outpost, a company of Israeli soldiers are overwhelmed by a sudden Egyptian onslaught. After a week of ceaseless assaults, the survivors face imminent doom. With lives hanging by a thread, a young lieutenant and an army doctor confront a soul-shattering choice: a desperate last stand or a perilous gamble that could betray everything they stand for.

This film contains violence and themes that may be distressing to some viewers.

The Ring

Thursday, February 19 • 2:30 and 7:30 pm

Cinema Cafe Kemps River, 1220 Fordham Drive, Virginia Beach

Directors Adir Miller, Doron Paz, Yoav Paz • 122 min Israel, Hungary • 2024 • Hebrew and Hungarian with English subtitles • Narrative Feature • Not rated

Arnon Noble was saved as a baby when his mother bribed a Hungarian soldier with a precious ring to spare his life during the Holocaust. Now a devout man living in Israel, his world is shaken when his beloved mother is hospitalized. Determined to uncover the truth behind his family’s past, he embarks on an emotional journey to Budapest with his estranged daughter, searching for the ring in the hope that it might once again bring salvation.

THE BIG SATURDAY NIGHT CELEBRATION OF JEWISH FILM (Followed by a dessert reception)

Tatami

Saturday, February 21 • 7:30 pm

Kramer Family Theater at Cape Henry Collegiate,
1320 Mill Dam Road, Virginia Beach

Directors Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir Ebrahami • 105 min • Israel, Iran, Georgia • 2025 • English, Farsi with English subtitles • Narrative Feature • Not rated

In this searing political sports thriller, a female Iranian judo champion and her coach face a harrowing ultimatum in a championship match against an Israeli opponent. Set during the Judo World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, rising star Leila is on the brink of victory when the Iranian regime intervenes, ordering her to forfeit to avoid a potentially humiliating loss. Her coach, Maryam, joins her in an agonizing decision: withdraw under false pretenses to protect family in Iran or risk everything and defy the regime. 

 The first film ever co-directed by an Israeli and an Iranian filmmaker, Tatami pairs stark black-and-white visuals with kinetic camerawork to amplify the adrenaline of competition and expose authoritarian rule.

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Awards

WINNER, Freedom of Expression Award | Venice International Film Festival, 2023

WINNER, Best Actress (Zar Amir-Ebrahimi) | Tokyo International Film Festival, 2023

This film contains scenes with brief nudity and themes that may be distressing to some viewers.

The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue

Sunday, February 22 • 2:30 pm

Kramer Family Theater at Cape Henry Collegiate,
1320 Mill Dam Road, Virginia Beach

Director Barry Avrich • 95 min • Canada • 2025 • English • Captioned • Documentary • Rated R

In a harrowing real-life story, The Road Between Us follows retired Israeli General Noam Tibon, who on October 7, 2023, received a desperate text from his son: terrorists had stormed his home, and he, his wife, and their two young daughters feared for their lives. With no time to spare, Tibon and his wife, Gali, embarked on a 10-hour mission across a country under siege to save their family. Relying only on his instincts and military training, Tibon navigated ambushes, roadblocks, and a collapsing security system in a relentless race against time.

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Awards

WINNER, People’s Choice Award, Documentary | Toronto International Film Festival, 2025

This film contains scenes with brief nudity and themes that may be distressing to some viewers.

The Blond Boy from the Casbah

Monday, February 23 • 7:15 pm

Naro Expanded Cinema, 1507 Colley Avenue, Norfolk

Director Alexandre Arcady • 128 min • France • 2024 • French with English subtitles • Narrative Feature Not rated

Having emigrated to France with his family years earlier, Antoine reconnects with his roots in a neighborhood of Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Nostalgic memories flood back—school, friends, his Sephardic upbringing, and his early fascination with cinema—as he presents his new film, an account of his childhood shaped by the unrest that ultimately forced them to flee. As father and son bond over shared history, this sentimental sojourn, adapted from director Alexandre Arcady’s memoir, is brought to life on the vibrant streets of Algiers, evoking a bygone time.

For the Love of a Woman

Wednesday, February 25 • 2:30 and 7:30 pm

Cinema Cafe Pembroke Meadows, 752 Independence Boulevard, Virginia Beach

Director Guido Chiesa • 117 min • Italy • 2025 English •Narrative Feature • Not rated

Set across two eras, this evocative drama masterfully intertwines a love story with a gripping historical mystery, as a woman’s journey through 1970s Israel unearths the long-buried passions and secrets of another’s life in the same land in the 1930s.

This film contains violence and themes that may be distressing to some viewers.

BEYOND THE FESTIVAL offerings:

A Feminist Lens: The Art & Activism of Photographer

Followed by a conversation with Joan Roth and Melanie Roth Gorelick (Executive producer/writer)

Tuesday, February 3 • 7:30 pm

Sandler Family Campus, 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Virginia Beach

Director Pamela French • 45 min • USA • 2023 English • Documentary • Not rated

An intimate portrait of internationally acclaimed photographer Joan Roth, this film focuses on five decades of Roth’s pioneering photography, in which she used her camera to advocate for homeless women in New York City, documented leaders in the U.S. Women’s Movement from the 1970s through today, and illuminated the diverse lives of Jewish women around the world. Free. RSVP at JewishVA.org/Roth

Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse

Followed by a conversation with directors Molly Bernstein and Philip Dolin

Sunday, March 15 • 2 pm

Chrysler Museum of Art, 1 Memorial Place, Norfolk

Directors Molly Bernstein, Philip Dolin • 100 min USA • 2024 • English • Documentary • Rated TV-MA

This eye-opening documentary offers an intimate look at the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of Maus, exploring how personal trauma, cultural catastrophe, and political unrest have shaped Spiegelman’s life and work. Tickets are included in the full festival pass. Standalone tickets are $8 for Chrysler Museum of Art members, $16 for non-members. Register at JewishVA.org/Muse.

Presented in partnership with the Chrysler Museum of Art and the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater

The Details

Full Festival passes are available for $80 and include entry to all films. Festival Passes must be purchased by Sunday, February 1. Individual tickets are $45 for the BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film and $15 for all other films. 

Kids Night Out babysitting is available at the Simon Family JCC for the BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film. Registration is required in advance. Space is limited. Register at JewishVA.org/KNO.

The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film is presented by the Alma & Howard Laderberg Virginia Festival of Jewish Film Restricted Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation and funded in part by the citizens of Virginia Beach and Norfolk through grants from the City of Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission and the Norfolk Arts. 

2026 Virginia Festival of Jewish Film Screening Committee 

Anne Fleder, Arts + Ideas chair 

Neil Rose, Festival co-chair

Beth Scharlop, Festival co-chair

Mark Robbins, Screening chair

Rebecca Auerbach

Rob Copeland 

Nathan Goldin

Helen Goldsticker Sissel

Evalyn Horowitz 

Scott Levin 

Amy Levy

Pati Olizewski

Judit Roth 

Dorothy Shiloff Hughes

Gloria Siegel 

Larry Stein 

Shelly Stein

Internationally acclaimed photographer Joan Roth will visit Tidewater for an evening that pairs film and conversation with
a new gallery exhibition spotlighting five decades of her art and activism. The program will begin with a screening of A Feminist Lens: The Art & Activism of Photographer Joan Roth, followed by a conversation featuring Roth and executive producer/writer Melanie Roth Gorelick. 

 Directed by Pamela French, the documentary offers an intimate portrait of Roth, tracing how she has used her camera to advocate for homeless women in New York City, document leaders in the U.S. Women’s Movement from the 1970s to today, and illuminate the diverse lives of Jewish women around the world.

 Complementing the film program, an exhibition of Roth’s photography will be on view in the Simon Family JCC’s Leon Family Gallery, January 26 through March 27, inviting visitors to engage more deeply with her images and the stories they tell.

 Roth’s body of work, spanning portraits, reportage, and long-form projects, has helped shape public understanding of Jewish women’s lives in the U.S. and around the globe, while also amplifying voices at the margins. Her photographs remind audiences that art can catalyze change: revealing dignity, resilience, and communal memory through a feminist lens.

The program is free, with registration, which is required, at: JewishVA.org/Roth. For more information, contact Hunter Thomas at HThomas@UJFT.org or 757‑965‑6137.

Sandler Family Campus

The next installment of the Judaica and the Arts series presented by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Konikoff Center for Learning, invites community members to explore Jewish tradition through both learning and hands-on creativity with a special focus on the mizrach, a ritual object rich in history and meaning.

 A mizrach—Hebrew for “east”—is traditionally placed on the eastern wall of a Jewish home to indicate the direction of Jerusalem. For centuries, it has served as a spiritual compass, helping orient prayer and reminding those in the space of their connection to the Land of Israel and the broader Jewish people. Over time, mizrachim have also become an important form of Jewish artistic expression, reflecting the styles, symbols, and cultural influences of Jewish communities around the world. From illuminated manuscripts and calligraphy to folk art and contemporary designs, each mizrach tells a story about both tradition and the individual who displays it.

 The program begins with a learning session on Thursday, January 22. Led by Rabbi Ari Oliszewski, he will explore the history, evolution, and spiritual significance of the mizrach. Participants will examine how this ritual object bridges sacred space and everyday life, transforming a wall in the home into a reminder of intention, direction, and Jewish identity.

 Following the learning session, participants will take part in a hands-on art workshop, choosing between Sunday, January 25 at 2 pm or Thursday, January 29 at 5:30 pm. The workshop will be taught by local artist Sharon Serbin and will focus on creating a stained-glass mosaic mizrach. Guided through the process step by step, participants will design and craft a piece of functional Judaica that reflects both ancient tradition and personal creativity.

Prior art experience is not necessary. All materials will be provided.

The Judaica and the Artsseries offers an opportunity to bring Jewish ritual, learning, and artistry together in a meaningful and memorable way. To learn more or register, visit JewishVA.org/Mizrach or contact Sierra Lautman at SLautman@ujft.org. 

Jewish News: Share a little bit about yourself and your background and when and why you joined Chrysler Museum’s team?
Mia Laufer: I’m originally from Brooklyn, but I’ve moved around a lot in the last 15 years for graduate school and work opportunities. I’m a specialist in 19th and early 20th century art, and I’ve worked on several projects with Jewish themes over the years (including a dissertation on Jewish collectors of Impressionism). Most recently, I worked as a curator at the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa. I moved to Norfolk in January 2025 to join the Chrysler Museum team. I was really impressed by the Museum’s collection and the staff’s dedication to building on that foundation to tell more complicated and diverse stories about art and culture.

JN: Chrysler already owns Judaica. How do you foresee the acquisitions from this fundraising initiative expanding the museum’s current ownership of Judaica?
ML: Right now, the Chrysler Museum has a small (but growing!) collection of Judaica, and several of those artworks are already on view. But it isn’t large enough to have a strong presence in our galleries. Jewish traditions have been practiced for millennia and on at least six continents, but our collection doesn’t reflect that scale or diversity. Ideally, this fundraising initiative would lead to acquisitions across the Museum’s collection. As the European art curator, I want the Museum’s collection to reflect the vibrancy of Jewish communities across Europe, from pre-Inquisition Iberia to 17th-century Netherlands, from shtetls in the Pale of Settlement to artist enclaves
in Paris.

JN: How do you determine what to purchase? Is there anything significant you’re hoping to acquire as part of the new Judaica collection?
ML: We have a list of specific kinds of Judaica we’re especially interested in adding to the collection. For example, one of our top priorities is to acquire European Judaica from ca. 1400-1550. (Right now, the earliest work of Judaica in the collection is from ca. 1750.) I think it would be powerful to display a work like that as an introduction to the European art galleries in conversation with Christian and Islamic art objects from the same era. That way, Museum visitors are introduced to European art through the lens of religious diversity.

JN: Aside from acquisitions, you mentioned partnerships with other museums who might loan pieces to Chrysler. Could you please share how these relationships would benefit our local museum?
ML: Building the Chrysler Museum’s Judaica collection will take time as we wait for the right objects to become available. In the meantime, I’ve been working with a colleague at another museum to arrange some long-term loans. The plan is to borrow artworks for a year or two, allowing Jewish art and culture to have a more visible presence in the Chrysler Museum’s galleries while we take our time to locate and acquire artworks that are the best fit for the Museum’s collection.

JN: If members of the local Jewish community own historical pieces, would you be interested in looking at their collections for possible inclusion in the exhibit?
ML: Another way the local Jewish community can contribute is to consider donating Judaica from their own collection. What we’re looking for is very specific, but if you have Judaica you’d like to donate, please reach out via artdonations@chrysler.org.

JN: Anything else you’d like to share with the readers of Jewish News?
ML: We’re interested in acquiring Judaica in a broad sense. This could include art, ritual objects, rare books, manuscripts, and other items of the past and present related to Jewish culture, religion, and traditions.

The Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Book Festival is presented by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC.

Grand opening: Saturday, December 6, 6:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus

Henri Matisse, Ben Shan, and Jacques Lipchitz were the names mentioned by Mia Laufer, PhD, the Irene Leach curator of European Art for the Chrysler Museum. She did so in her presentation at the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center as she referenced artistic inspirations and stylistic comparisons featured in the works of 20 outstanding Hampton Roads Jewish artists soon to be on exhibition at the Sandler Family Campus.

 This first of a kind exhibition entitled, Legacy 2025, Jewish Artists of the Past, features art of more than 20 Hampton Roads Jewish artists who are no longer living.  Three pieces of art by each individual will be displayed. Family members or someone familiar with each artist will speak on each artist’s behalf.

 The featured artists will include many award-winning Jewish community- respected and recognizable names. These artists produced painted and sculptural works using the mediums of oil, acrylic, watercolor multimedia, metal, and glass works.  

 Special tours led by Chrysler Museum docents will take place on Sundays, December 7, 21, 28, 2025 and January 4, 2026, at 2-3 pm. Arrangements for group tours will be handled by Hunter Thomas, director, Arts and Ideas. Contact him at 757-965-6100.

 This long overdue and posthumous exhibition is sponsored by Jewish Museum and Cultural Center of Portsmouth, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and Chrysler Museum of Art.        

Opening night tickets are $36.

For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.jewishmuseumportsmouth.org or call 757-391-9266.

 The conversation resumes with Michael Shapiro, founder of Ketubah.com, on Wednesday, November 12, at 12 pm. Shapiro invites audiences into the world of Jewish marriage contracts, not as legal documents, but as living art. In Ketubah Renaissance, Shapiro traces the ketubah’s 2,500-year evolution from a groom’s pledge to a canvas for modern love stories. His talk is paired with a companion exhibit of contemporary ketubot, curated by Shapiro and on display in the Simon Family JCC’s Leon Family Gallery through November 16. Tickets are $15 for JCC members, $20 for potential members and includes lunch. Pre-registration required by November 4.

 The festival goes virtual for a special Jewish Book Month centennial event on Tuesday, November 18 at 1 pm with Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, senior rabbi at Central Synagogue and the first Asian American ordained as a rabbi, along with author and journalist Abigail Pogrebin, for a conversation about Buchdahl’s memoir, Heart of a Stranger. The book is a spiritual guide for everyday living, and the discussion promises insight into faith, identity, and belonging.

Presented in partnership with the Jewish Book Council and JBC member sites, including the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Pre-registration required by November 17.

 The festival returns in person with Rachel Simons, founder of Seed + Mill and author of Sesame: Global Recipes & Stories of an Ancient Seed on Thursday, November 20 at 7:30 pm. Simons takes readers on a flavorful journey through the history and cultural significance of sesame, from its ancient roots to its starring role in global cuisine. It’s a night for food lovers, storytellers, and anyone curious about how something so small can carry such a big story.

 The volume turns up as Rick Mersel, founder of Norfolk’s iconic NorVa venue, shares his memoir All Revved Up and Ready to Go on Thursday, December 4 at 7:30 pm.
From bar mitzvah dance floors to punk rock stages, Mersel’s story is a loud, raw, and wildly funny ride through Norfolk’s music scene. It’s not just a memoir, it’s a mixtape of rebellion, belonging, and the Jewish kid who helped build a cultural landmark.

 Tickets are $10 for JCC members, $18 for potential members and includes a dessert reception. Pre-registration required by November 12.

 The festival closes with Corey Rosen, expert storyteller and author of A Story for Everything on Thursday, December 11, at 7:30 pm. Rosen’s interactive evening blends laughter, inspiration, and practical tips for mastering the art of storytelling. Whether a seasoned speaker or someone who avoids the mic at all costs, Rosen will help participants find their voices, and maybe even their next great story.

 Presented in partnership with the Konikoff Center for Learning.

 As 2025 wraps up and a century of Jewish Book Month is marked, these final events offer a chance to come together, share space, and celebrate the voices that have shaped the year. Whether through art, memoir, food, music, or laughter, the Jewish Book Festival reminds that stories, especially when shared in community, are what keep community connected.

For details and tickets, visit JewishVA.org/BookFest.

Hunter Thomas is director of Arts + Ideas at United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. For more information about the festival or to sponsor or volunteer, contact Thomas at HThomas@UJFT.org or 757-965-6137.