Founded by Rabbi Michael G. Holzman, faith250 invites us to see this anniversary as an opportunity to “pause, come together, and recommit — across faiths and across differences — to the shared values that sustain our democracy.” For months, local clusters of congregations have come together to study sacred texts; that is, America’s sacred texts, among them the Declaration of Independence and The New Colossus. “This is not an academic exercise,” faith250’s website implores. “It is a moral and spiritual one. As you read and discuss these texts together, you will be asking: What do these words mean to me? What do they mean for our faith communities? What do they mean for us as Americans?”

One of the sacred texts identified by faith250 is America the Beautiful. Katherine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, wrote the poem in 1893. She was traveling across the country that July, and she was moved by the physical beauty and the potential that she saw around her. Towards the end of her trip, Bates visited the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado. At the top of the mountain, beneath spacious skies and surrounded by purple mountain majesties, inspiration swelled and the words started coming to her. Bates descended the mountain and wrote the first draft of her poem in her hotel room that evening. Initially published with the title America: A Poem for July 4th, it was revised twice, and by 1911 it was the patriotic song that we all know.

There is so much that is beautiful about America, as Bates writes in her stirring verses. O beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. We need only walk up the hill to the Presidio to see just a fraction of the immense natural beauty of this continent. The amber waves of grain refer to the beauty of the Great Plains, but also to the economic prosperity and potential that all of that farmland represents. 

O beautiful, for pilgrim feet. Our nation is a nation of immigrants – over the past 250 years, more than 100 million people have traveled across the wilderness to call America their home. The New York Times just published an interactive map of American ancestry, color-coded based on how people describe their backgrounds to the Census Bureau. The authors write, “There are nearly 200 unique identities represented; blend them – as 340 million Americans do – and we arrive at a jumbled, overlapping, story-filled infinity.” 

O beautiful, for heroes proved in liberating strife. Our founding fathers had a vision for a new kind of country, one grounded in democracy and the idea that all men are created equal. That vision has had profound implications for us, changing Jewish history forever. Rabbi Ethan Tucker writes, “America never demanded that Jews purchase equality at the price of their collective identity. For Jews, this country has never been an oppressive empire, nor is it a place that happens to be kind. It has simply been, in a completely unprecedented way, a country in which Jews are full and equal citizens.”

There is so much beauty in America. And, of course, there is so much that is ugly. It can be discordant to sing of America the Beautiful when we face the reality of our country today. There is enormous polarization in America, and deep fissures in our democracy and systems of government. There is hatred of all kinds: racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, antisemitism, and so many more, and sometimes it seems as though the hatred is growing every day. There is so much suffering in our country, and often instead of working to alleviate it, we turn the blame onto those who are suffering themselves.

I could go on and on about all that is ugly in America in 2026. But this ugliness was also present in Katherine Lee Bates’ America of 1893. Her lofty depiction of “America the Beautiful” is not an accurate image of the America of her time. However, Bates was not merely glossing over the ugliness she saw. She was transforming it.

Rabbi Stephanie Kolin of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn visited Pikes Peak with her family last summer, and she shared her reflections on the site and Bates’ poem with her congregation on Yom Kippur. She writes, “It turns out that Katherine Lee Bates, in addition to being an obviously talented poet, was also a brilliant professor at Wellesley College. And she wrote for many newspapers, including the New York Times, advocating against the unjust treatment of women, the poor, people of color, and immigrants in her day. She was outraged, even activated, by human suffering in her present, but she also had a far-reaching gaze: 

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam 

Undimmed by human tears.  

This wasn’t a naive utopian account of the America that was. No, she was drawing up the blueprints for the America that could be.” 

America the Beautiful isn’t a relic, a song that captures a moment in this country’s history. It is a ballad that is meant to serve as a rallying cry, to call us into action to turn it into reality. The song’s refrain repeats, “America! America!” Rabbi Michael Holzman, the founder of faith250, writes: “Like the angel who called, ‘Abraham, Abraham,’ this song calls to us to wake up, repeating our name twice, and asking us to put down the knife hanging over the future’s neck… The angel may have to shout at us ‘America! America!’… so we can face the choices before us.”

As we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American experiment, let’s celebrate all that is beautiful in America. I hope we also listen to the rallying cry: America! America! Let’s refocus our sight on what is not currently beautiful in our country today, but what can become beautiful. Then, let’s get to work on those blueprints that Katherine Lee Bates drew up for us. 

Rabbi Madeline T. Budman, Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco, California.

Thanks for reading,

Terri Denison
Editor

 Mona Flax, president, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Robin Mancoll, UJFT’s chief program officer and senior director, Jewish Community Relations Council, and Rabbi Jacob Herber were among the participants.

 The bill would boost Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding to $1 billion that can be used by Jewish communities, create a new grant that can be used for places of worship, require the Department of Education to designate an antisemitism coordinator, and lay out new regulations to combat antisemitism at colleges that receive DOE funding. Additionally, the measure would require new disclosures about how online platforms moderate and respond to antisemitic content. 

  Over the last 12 months, Jews have been deliberately targeted with violent attacks threatening Jewish religious expression. In fact, during the week prior to the meetings, members of Congress received antisemitic death calls, and a commander of an Iranian-backed militia was charged with plotting to attack Jewish sites in the United States. This need for security funding extends beyond American Jewish communities – with three people killed last month in the shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, including a security guard.  

 Americans of all faiths deserve the right to gather safely with their communities, which is why Jewish leaders joined Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY-10) on Capitol Hill to discuss the rising domestic security crisis and support the Jewish American Security Act. The Act is co-sponsored by Rosen and James Langford, a Republican from Oregon.

    “Jewish communities across the United States are facing a real and growing security crisis, and the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that all Americans can gather, worship, and live openly and safely as who they are,” said Hon. Eric D. Fingerhut, president and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America. 

  “This legislation represents one of the strongest congressional responses we have seen to the alarming rise in antisemitism and targeted violence against the Jewish community,” Fingerhut continued. “It sends a clear and unmistakable message: protecting Jewish Americans is not optional — it is an urgent national priority. We are proud to support this effort and urge Congress to act swiftly, because no American should have to live in fear simply for being Jewish.” 

  In Michigan this March, a terrorist crashed a car filled with weapons into Temple Israel, where more than 120 preschoolers hid in fear. If not for critical security training and personnel, this near massacre could have become one of the worst attacks on American soil since 9/11. This incident is one of many that underscores the tragic need for increased security to ensure Jewish Americans can gather safely and openly practice their faith. 

  “The Nonprofit Security Grant Program is the federal funding stream that helps houses of worship and community centers protect themselves,” Temple Israel’s Rabbi Jen Lader told the gathered members of Congress and Jewish leaders. “In our case, prior investment in our security infrastructure was the difference between the destruction of a building and an unspeakable tragedy. This funding is without exaggeration a matter of life and death.”  

  Jewish communities are being forced to choose between programs like schools, camps, food banks, and social services to meet increased security needs while demand outpaces the federal program Congress built to help. Proper funding ensures that all communities of faith will have access to critical security dollars, allowing all religious groups to practice freely. 

   Senator Jacky Rosen and Representative Dan Goldman expressed their support for the bill, discussing how they can champion Jewish safety in their states and around the country. 

  “The historic moment that we are in right now, here today, that we have come to through all of this, calls for an equally large effort, and that’s why today we are proud to introduce our bipartisan bill in the Senate and in the House to launch an aggressive and comprehensive domestic approach against antisemitism through our bipartisan Jewish American Security Act,” said Senator Rosen. “We will help keep Jewish students safe, will help secure Jewish community institutions, and we will help fight antisemitism online. 

  “In the last decade, we’ve seen record-breaking year after record-breaking year of antisemitic incidents. We’ve seen vandalisms, attacks, murder, threats on Jewish communities at schools and our college campuses, at Jewish-owned businesses, at our places of worship. But this last year has been one I will never forget,” continued Senator Rosen. “We must agree that intimidation, discrimination, violence, and even murder of Jews is always wrong and always unacceptable.”

 “The importance of fighting antisemitism, though, is not just for Jewish Americans, because we know through history that antisemitism may strike first, but it never strikes last….it may start with Jews one day, but it will go to another group the next day, and we saw an example of this in San Diego with a horrific attack on the Islamic Center,” said Representative Dan Goldman.  

 “My biggest takeaway” from the meetings, says Mona Flax, “was how engaged and interested Senator Mark Warner’s, Senator Tim Kaine’s, and Congressman Bobby Scott’s aides were.  Most of them were aware of the antisemitism but I could tell many were surprised by how personal the issue has become for all Jewish Americans. Telling personal stories brought the issue home.”

For more information on upcoming Israel-related programs, visit JewishVA.org or contact Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org. Save the date for next year’s Yom Ha’Atzmaut gathering on Sunday, May 16, 2027.

 This year’s JAHM programming in Tidewater, presented by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and community partners, brings together film, history, art, sports, music, and family‑friendly events, inviting participants of all backgrounds to engage thoughtfully with the Jewish American story.

Moses Ezekiel: Portrait of a Lost Artist 

Monday, May 4, 1 pm, Sandler Family Campus

The month opens with a focused exploration of Moses Jacob Ezekiel, one of the most complex figures in American Jewish art history. UJFT will present the documentary Moses Ezekiel: Portrait of a Lost Artist, which examines Ezekiel’s international acclaim alongside his support of the Confederacy and the legacy of the memorials he created. 

Guided walk‑and‑talk tours 

Tuesday, May 5, and Tuesday, May 12, 10 am, Norfolk Botanical Garden

The conversation about Ezekiel continues with guided walk‑and‑talk tours at the Norfolk Botanical Garden, where participants will explore the Moses Ezekiel Statuary Vista Garden and view Carrara marble sculptures he created in Rome between 1879 and 1884.

Jewish American Heritage Month Night at the Tides game

Wednesday, May 6, Harbor Park, 6:35 pm, Harbor Park

JAHM also creates space for celebration and shared experience when the community is invited to Harbor Park for a Norfolk Tides game, honoring Jewish contributions to America’s favorite pastime. Tidewater native and award‑winning Jewish country artist Troy Breslow will sing the National Anthem. Tickets are $19.99.

Architects of Being

Tuesday, May 12 and Sunday May 17, 2 pm, Chrysler Museum

Visual art is highlighted through a continued partnership between UJFT and the Chrysler Museum of Art, with guided tours focusing on the exhibition Architects of Being, which features the work of Jewish‑American immigrants Louise Nevelson and Esphyr Slobodkina.

Jason Schachter McKinney 

• Thursday, May 28, 6 pm, Jewish Museum and Cultural Center 

• Friday, May 29, 10:30 am, Central Library, Virginia Beach

• Friday, May 29, 6:30 pm, Ohef Sholom Temple

• Saturday, May 30, 10 am, KBH 

• Sunday, May 31,10 am, Second Presbyterian Church, Norfolk

• Sunday, May 31, 11 am, Moses Myers House

A defining focus of this year’s JAHM programming is the residency of musician and author Jason Schachter McKinney. 

McKinney will perform at UJFT’s Konikoff Center for Learning’s third‑annual Celebration of Lifelong Learning at the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center in Portsmouth, bringing together learners from preschool age through nonagenarians for an evening of music, reflection, and shared learning.

Families are invited to a story time at the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library in Virginia Beach featuring Jason Belongs, his autobiographical children’s book that explores identity, belonging, and what it means to be both Black and Jewish. 

 His residency continues through participation in Shabbat services at Ohef Sholom Temple and at Kehillat Beit Hamidrash (Kempsville Conservative Synagogue), in partnership with Temple Israel and Temple Emanuel. McKinney will also take part in a conversation about faith and music and an interfaith service at Second Presbyterian Church in Norfolk alongside Pastor Craig Wansink and Rabbi Michael Panitz. That conversation will be followed by services at 11am, which are open to all.

 Later that day, Rabbi Panitz will conclude the month at the historic Myers House by exploring the life of Moses Myers, one of Norfolk’s first permanent Jewish residents, and what his story reveals about early American Jewish ideas of citizenship and belonging.

Advance registration or tickets are required for all events. For more information, visit JewishVA.org/JAHM, or contact UJFT’s programs department at Programs@UJFT.org.

Celebrate Israel’s 78th Independence Day, Yom Ha’Atzmaut, while connecting with friends, embracing Israeli culture, and strengthen community ties – bringing together families, friends, and organizations in Tidewater.

 This year’s gathering offers a chance to support Israel during a challenging time. Yom Ha’Atzmaut is not just about reflecting on Israel’s history, but also about deepening the connections between local Jewish families and their ties to Israel. It’s a moment to stand united and celebrate the resilience and spirit of Israel.

 The afternoon will be packed with activities for all ages, from hands-on experiences for kids to opportunities for adults to connect and engage. Enjoy authentic Israeli barbecue, delicious food, and synagogue-led programs that bring the essence of Israel to life. Everyone can join in the fun and make meaningful memories.

 In addition, representatives from Virginia Hillels will be available to offer high school students and their families time to explore Jewish life on college campuses—an important opportunity and consideration for those planning their future.

 One of the highlights of the day will be the Israeli marketplace hosted by ESEK. With more than 20 curated collections, it is a chance to meet Israel through the stories of its people — from Nova Music Festival survivors featured in the NOVA Collection to Israel Defense Forces reservists working to keep their businesses going while serving. From handmade jewelry and Judaica to artisanal foods, every item has a story, and every purchase is a meaningful way to show support.

 More than anything, the day is about connection— whether it’s reconnecting with old friends, meeting new faces, or simply coming together as one. 

 Tidewater’s Yom Ha’Atmzmaut events are presented by Avraham and Karen Ashkenazi, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and Simon Family JCC, and made possible through the generous support of Simon Family Foundation and the Helen G. Gifford Foundation.  

For more information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/YH or contact Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org. 

Yom Ha’Atzmaut Sponsors:

Avraham and Karen Ashkenazi

Palms Associates

Simon Family Foundation

Virginia Beach Arts & Humanities Commission

Helen G. Gifford Foundation

Harbor Group International

American Israel Public Affairs Committee

Payday Payroll Services

S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co.

Gentry Locke Attorneys

Eide Bailly

The Law Offices of Daniel J. Miller

Wilks, Alper, Harwood & McIntyre, PC

The Spindel Agency

Allegra Marketing Print Mail

Ensuring a safe day focused on fun

Due to global events and in our ongoing commitment to the safety of the community, enhanced security measures will be in place for this year’s Yom HaAtzmaut celebration. We appreciate your partnership in helping us create a safe, secure, and welcoming environment for all.

Please read carefully and plan:     

• RSVP is required for all attendees.
Those who have not RSVPd in advance will be asked to provide information upon arrival and should expect delayed entry.

• A valid photo ID is required for entry.
Having your ID ready will help expedite the check-in process. 

• Please allow additional time for arrival and entry.
This will ensure adequate time for parking, security screening, and check-in. 

• Metal detectors will be in use.
All attendees will be screened upon entry, and weapons of any kind are strictly prohibited.

• Travel light.
We strongly encourage guests not to bring large bags (with the exception of diaper bags). All bags are subject to inspection.

• Security protocols will be in place throughout the event.
These measures are designed to support a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone. 

Thank you for your understanding, cooperation, and shared commitment to community safety. We look forward to celebrating together.

 He hit and injured the congregation’s security director,
Danny Phillips, with his car as he plowed through the synagogue’s doors and drove down a hallway. But he didn’t manage to harm anyone else after he was shot by members of Temple Israel’s armed security team.

 And because the rest of the staff knew exactly how to respond to an active shooter threat.

 “We always worry that you can plan and plan and plan and practice and practice, and it won’t matter, because it will be something else, but it feels like a miracle that everything worked the way it was supposed to, that our team was so incredibly brave, local law enforcement’s been amazing, and that everybody’s OK,” Rabbi Jen Lader of Temple Israel says.

 Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and West Bloomfield County Police Chief Dale Young immediately praised the security response in the wake of the attack.

 Bouchard noted that the security team had “neutralized the threat” before police officers arrived.

 “I am deeply proud of the response, not only from the security that was on site, but also of all the police officers and the firefighters that are here right now, we train on active shooter events a lot,” Young said during a press conference outside the synagogue. “I think that training certainly helped to mitigate what happened here today.”

 Indeed, it was a situation that Jewish institutions across the United States have trained for, as antisemitism and threats of violence have ticked up in recent years, especially following the 2018 synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh that killed 11 Jews during Shabbat services. The rabbi of a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, credited security training with enabling him to respond when a man took him and three congregants hostage in 2022.

 “Everybody flees danger, and our team went straight toward it, and they were the ones who neutralized the terrorist and saved everybody,” says Lader. “And our teachers followed, you know, to the absolute letter, our active shooter training and lockdown procedures, and saved every kid.”

 Beyond the synagogue’s full-time director of security, Lader says Temple Israel also has a full team of armed security guards on the premises at all times as well as a remote security system that is able to secure different areas of the building during threats.

 In late January, FBI agents also visited Temple Israel to train clergy and staff about how to respond to an active shooter.

 Michael Masters, the national director and CEO of the Secure Community Network, an organization that coordinates security for Jewish institutions nationwide, including in Tidewater, says that the outcomes of the attack reflected the preparedness of Temple Israel.

 “Investing in security is an investment, it’s a down payment on the Jewish future,” says Masters. “The community that made up the synagogue, the larger Detroit Jewish community, has been making that investment for years and years, and today, that investment paid off and lives [were] saved.”

 Among the security measures that Masters says his organization recommended were “bollards or fences or natural obstructions” to the building, controlling access to the facility through reinforced doors or windows and having a security presence.

 “What we hope this reaffirms is that security needs to be an ongoing investment in order to allow Jewish life, faith-based life, to thrive,” says Masters. “And very much that investment can result, and did result, in Jewish lives being saved, and so we all need to recognize that and commit ourselves as members of the community at every level to be a part of making that investment at whatever level we can.”

 In the wake of the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington D.C. in June, the synagogue hosted a town hall on hate crimes and extremism.

 Among the speakers at the town hall was Noah Arbit, a lifelong congregant of Temple Israel who represents West Bloomfield in the Michigan House of Representatives. Arbit said in an interview that after he first learned of the attack while working on the state house floor, he immediately began to cry and raced down to his home synagogue.

 “I campaigned on taking on hate crimes,” said Arbit. “To be working on these issues, and then to see it come home to roost in my own community, in my own synagogue, in my hometown that I represent is, frankly, just like my worst nightmare.”

 While Arbit praised the response by security and law enforcement as the attack unfolded, he said he was “outraged and enraged and deeply pained that it was necessary in the first place.”

 “Jewish communities across the country and world have watched, you know, for the past decade, as our institutions have congealed into fortresses,” he said. “We are now forced to live behind, basically, you know, militarized, institutionally securitized institutions, and what a shame that is. It’s not just a shame, It’s unfathomable, it’s unforgivable.”

 For Rabbi Mark Miller of Temple Beth El, another Reform synagogue a 20-minute drive away in Bloomfield Hills, the attack on Temple Israel served as a stark reminder of why security infrastructure was essential for Jewish institutions.

 “This is one of those moments when, for years and years, we have bemoaned that we have to put so much time and energy into security for our institutions,” says Miller. “And this is one of those days that reminds us that we don’t have a choice.”

 Miller’s synagogue had a recent security crisis of its own, when a man drove through its parking lot in December 2022 and shouted antisemitic threats as parents walked their preschoolers into the building. The assailant, Hassan Chokr, was sentenced to 34 months in prison in September for illegally possessing multiple firearms inside a gun store after leaving the synagogue.

 “It’s a terrifying day, obviously for a lot of people, especially for parents with their kids at not only Temple Israel but at ours and other temples and Jewish institutions,” Miller says.

 Lader says that among her congregants, two competing sentiments had jumped out: Those who “never, in a million years, in our heart of hearts, thought it was ever going to happen to us” and others who “knew it was only a matter of time before it knocked on our door.”

 But another feeling was even stronger, she says.

 “I think the overarching sentiment, and the one that I want to make sure gets out there, is our absolute gratitude to our internal teams, our amazing staff, local law enforcement and our teachers for really, like, a building full of absolute heroes, who were able to keep us safe,” Lader says.

Reading the Purim megillah in a school bomb shelter near my synagogue. We closed the door when the siren sounded, causing us to lose the internet connection we were using to broadcast the megillah reading over Zoom.

Grilling barbeque. After the siren, I had just seconds to grab my burgers, kebabs and sausages off the open-air grill so they wouldn’t burn or be snatched by an enterprising cat.

While grocery shopping at a Rami Levy supermarket, I and other shoppers were herded into the bomb shelter that doubles as the supermarket synagogue (a common feature of Rami Levy supermarkets).

Going to sleep; in a deep sleep; about to wake up.

On a walk to the corner park for a breath of fresh air, then sprinting home to make it to shelter in time.

On work calls; doing work; thinking about doing work.

While writing a piece about what it’s like to live in Israel during the latest war with Iran.

To be sure, I am among the fortunate ones. My home was built with a mamad — the Hebrew word that’s an acronym for “apartment safe space.” Mandated by a 1992 law for all new construction, these reinforced safe rooms include walls designed to withstand explosives of a certain level of intensity, a shatterproof window protected by a heavy steel shutter, and a thick, steel door.

Originally meant to protect Israelis from the sorts of gas attacks that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein threatened to use during the 1991 Gulf War, the safe rooms were used on Oct. 7 by Israelis living in communities near Gaza to shelter from Hamas assailants — with varying degrees of success. The doors and windows proved to be bullet-proof, but Hamas attackers managed to force their way into some of the rooms nonetheless, including by setting fire to homes.

Mamads are a terrific convenience. I can put my children to sleep in the private bomb shelter, and they usually sleep right through the sirens at night. I don’t have to share my shelter with strangers, or run outside and into some dank public shelter filled with dead cockroaches, as others do who live in older buildings without mamads. I don’t have to lay down to rest in subway stations, like friends in Tel Aviv.

But mamads are not bombproof. They weren’t built to withstand ballistic missile attacks, and a direct strike by an Iranian missile or drone likely will destroy a mamad and kill its occupants. That’s exactly what happened when an Iranian missile struck a shelter in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh on Sunday night, killing nine people and wreaking a wide radius of devastation.

So, in this war mamads are part psychological shield, part actual protection. They’ll withstand deadly shrapnel and some indirect explosions, but they have their limits.

Inside the mamad, we hear all kinds of sounds of war. There are the shuddering booms of Israel’s anti-missile defenses firing, and massive metallic bangs that my wife thinks are falling shrapnel or missiles strikes in the vicinity. I’m not sure what they are, and when I asked a missile expert I know who helped design the Arrow system about them, he refused to answer me.

We hear Israeli warplanes. It’s not clear whether they’re patrolling the skies above our heads as a defense measure or are en route to bombing runs in Iran.

Perhaps the most startling sound of all is the blaring mobile phone notification we get alerting of an incoming rocket attack and warning us to be close to a bomb shelter. The earsplitting, high-frequency alert is a very nasty sound to wake up to at 4 a.m., especially when it arrives in stereo from the four different mobile phones in our house.

Then we must wait several minutes to learn if we’ll actually get an air raid siren or not. When the siren comes, we supposedly have 90 seconds to reach shelter, but the booms often start sooner than that.

As in many homes, our family has a running debate over when it’s safe to exit the mamad. Is 10 to 12 minutes from the time of the air raid siren sufficient, or do we have to wait for the official all-clear phone alert? Sometimes, we get another air raid siren before the 10-minute count is up, and the clock starts all over again.

With in-person school canceled for the foreseeable future, all my children are home all the time, and we’ve started to get on each other’s nerves. But in the middle of the night, nobody complains when we crowd into the mamad and share blankets and small camping mattresses on the floor so we all can lie down.

The people subject to Israeli and U.S. bombardment have it much worse. Their leaders invested in ballistic missiles, attack drones and other weapons of war. We have those too, but we also developed sophisticated alert systems, in-house safe rooms, bomb shelters and, crucially, a variety of anti-missile defenses: Iron Dome for shorter-range missiles, like those fired by Hezbollah and Hamas; the Arrow, which counters ballistic missiles in the upper atmosphere and lower space; the new Iron Beam, a laser that works like the Iron Dome; David’s Sling, designed for medium-range ballistic missiles.

And, of course, there is the Israeli Air Force, which shoots down missiles en route and bombs missile-launching systems on the ground in enemy territory.

If Israel’s enemies were more concerned with the welfare of their own people rather than attacking the Jewish state, perhaps we wouldn’t have this war in the first place.

I’d write more, but there goes the air raid siren again (no joke)!

Sandler Family Campus

Israel’s renowned Dream Doctors Project—professional medical clowns who bring healing, dignity, and emotional support to patients and families in hospitals and humanitarian settings around the world – will visit Tidewater.

 For more than two decades, Dream Doctors have worked as part of medical teams in more than 30 hospitals, using empathy, humor, and nonverbal communication to provide evidence-based therapeutic care that reduces anxiety and supports recovery.

 During the evening, Tsour Shriqui, Dream Doctors CEO, along with members of the team, will share their experiences in hospitals, emergency response, and their “No War Zone” initiative since October 7, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how compassion and creativity support healing in the most challenging environments.

 The event is part of a five-day United Jewish Federation of Tidewater-organized residency with healthcare providers, students, and community partners across the area.

 Free and open to the community, this program is presented as part of UJFT, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners’ 15th Annual Israel Today Series. For more information: JewishVA.org/IsraelToday or Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org.

(JTA) One of the main advantages for Jewish kids in a Christian world is that — thanks to Purim — they get two “Halloweens.” And for parents, it’s nice to get double use out of that overpriced probably-toxic-plastic monstrosity you rush-ordered from Amazon on October 28. More broadly, Purim celebrations are probably the most accessible entry point for getting the littles to associate Judaism with “fun.” Passover strains mightily to do this, and sometimes succeeds. Hanukkah succeeds, but at the price of sometimes becoming a sad Christmas knockoff. 

 Purim is just unlimited sweets, grown-ups making fools of themselves, and kids getting to be loud. Game over.

 But for anyone who actually reads the original “whole Megillah,” there’s a lot going on in there that’s very far from fun. And extremely far from “family-friendly.” Raging alcoholism. Domestic strife. Female exploitation. Genocidal antisemitism. Slaughter in the tens of 1,000s. Literal asphyxiation, 11 times over. 

 So how did that dark, telenovela-like book become the only Jewish holiday when we’d even think of having a “Carnival?”

 One reason is, Megillat Esther, or the Book of Esther, is famously the only book of the Bible where God is never mentioned. In a way, this frees up a spirit of irreverence, bordering on blasphemy. Purim stands apart from other, more theologically formulaic Jewish narrative holidays with its wild roller coaster narrative. And this briefly gives the religion of rules a refreshing “anything goes” vibe.

 Purim has also served some historical functions that give it a different flavor. For some, it’s a sly way to knock back down to earth the high and mighty. And/or a cathartic storyline to insert whatever villain is currently threatening the Jewish people. And finally, with its only halachic orders involving how to celebrate, Purim has been a great avenue for much-needed escapism.   

  But to get back to the story: How can it be so readily boiled down and leeched of its naughty adult parts? Perhaps because the basic tale is very simply hero and villain: an unlikely underdog girl gets to be royalty and fight and defeat a two-dimensionally cartoonish villain. It almost comes across as a Disney movie.

 All of which was apropos for me recently, because I’m a professional screenwriter who was actually hired to adapt the Purim story into a family-friendly film. I read the previous drafts — one where they adapted it so literally it would have been rated X, the next where they went to the other extreme and made it about Esther and her wacky talking animal friends. 

 I was the Goldberglocks asked to find the balance, and it was an interesting challenge. I had to find ways to make some of its barbarities more palatable — for example, reducing King Ahasuerus into an innocent, gullible dupe of Haman so he could be an actual love interest for Esther that we like, rather than what he actually was like. And I tried to bring a little silliness to Haman, so that his actual terrifying plans could be felt to be more ridiculous and unlikely.

 It didn’t hurt that I’d been producing and sometimes appearing in Purim spiels (staged, often riotously comedic re-stagings of the Book of Esther) for more than 20 years. I knew the story had so many unlikely twists and turns, hidden identities, incredible coincidences, it was an endless mine of possibility. 

 And I think, in a way, this is why it’s actually a good thing that Megillat Esther has been popularly boiled down to a kiddie-version. Because the main theme of the story, and holiday, “v’nahafoch hu” (Hebrew for “and it all got turned upside down”), is an extremely powerful Jewish idea that shines through it. Ever since the Golden Calf, we Jews have been trying to get the world to not take human-made institutions too seriously and reminding everyone that everything can change in a flash. As well as the idea that we live behind masks that hide our true selves.

 Kids may come to Purim celebrations dressed as everything from princesses to Pokemons, and not understand a word of that ancient thing being sung up on the bimah. But they see the big authority figures in their lives not taking themselves too seriously, the hallowed halls of their synagogue briefly turned into a free-for-all where hierarchy is temporarily abandoned. And, even when they know or intuit that Big Sad Adult Things Are Happening in the world, they feel powerfully how the Jewish people respond to, and survive, them: through unfettered joy and celebration of what we have, and our continued peoplehood.

 And that’s an even better value for that costume than getting to use it twice a year. 

Rob Kutner is an Emmy-winning comedy writer and author who has written for The Daily Show, CONAN, and Marvel. His comedic book of Jewish history The Jews: 5,000 Years and Counting (HINT: a perfect bar/bat mitzvah gift!) arrived last year just in time for Purim!

This article first appeared on Kveller.

Purim 2026

The festival of Purim begins this year on the evening of Monday, March 2 and runs through Tuesday, March 3.

Recounted in the Book of Esther, the holiday commemorates the saving of the Jewish people from annihilation at the hands of Haman. Purim is generally celebrated with joy, fun, and downright silliness. Carnivals, costumes, Purim spiels (skits or plays), Hamantaschen cookies, and for some, alcohol, all contribute to the holiday’s festivities.

Other Purim traditions include sending food gifts (mishloach manot) to friends and neighbors and giving to the poor (matanot l’evyonim).