(JTA)—“If you haven’t seen the joy of Lag b’Omer on the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, you haven’t seen joy at all,” wrote the author Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Israel’s first Nobel Prize laureate. That description reflects an aspect of the annual pilgrimage to Mount...
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Jewish Tidewater celebrates Yom Ha’atzmaut all day long
The sun was shining and the air crisp, making it a perfect day to hang out of car windows and stand up through sunroofs waving Israeli flags and streamers to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s 73rd Independence Day, at the Sandler Family Campus on Sunday, April 18....
Tidewater to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut: Israel’s 73rd Independence Day
Sunday, April 18, Sandler Family Campus Drive-Through celebration, 12–2:30 pm, free, limited tickets JewishVa.org/IsraelFest Drive-In Movie, 8 pm, $12 per person, limited tickets JewishVa.org/FilmFest Yom Ha’atzmaut, also known as Israel Independence Day, is an...
Yom Hashoah
Guest speaker: Marion Weinzweig Thursday, April 8, 6:45 pm Via live stream from Ohef Sholom Temple, on the Holocaust Commission’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/holcommission. Join United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission’s annual Yom Hashoah...
Here’s a (Jewish) way to redirect your pandemic despair into purposeful living
Editor’s note: This month marks one year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this challenging year, Tidewater’s Jewish community has offered enriching and innovative programs, religious services, and even social activities, all while supporting each...
Virginia Festival of Jewish Film
As one of the longest-running Jewish film festivals in the country, the Patricia & Avraham Ashkenazi and Alma & Howard Laderberg Virginia Festival of Jewish Film educates and engages the diverse Tidewater communities, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, by presenting...
The Crossing
The Crossing Sunday, February 21–Tuesday, February 23 (virtual cinema!) | $12 per household The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Patricia & Avraham Ashkenazi and Alma & Howard Laderberg Virginia Festival of Jewish Film kicks off...
Tu B’Shvat: A holiday with a history—Thursday January 28
We sometimes fall into the understandable error of thinking that tradition is the opposite of having a history. We think that history is about change, whereas tradition is about resistance to change. That’s true some of the time, but not always. A deeper understanding...
Looking forward to 2021!
I just took a stroll down memory lane on Jewish News’ website. Although I only looked back one year, it was startling to note the difference between then and now. What a difference 12 months can make. The cover for the Jewish News Dec. 23, 2019 edition featured images...
Giving Tuesday week to provide a special campaign match incentive
Sunday, November 22 through GIVING TUESDAY, December 1 This year—unlike any before it—promises to be exceptionally challenging. And the Jewish community of Tidewater is not exempt from these challenges. A successful Community Campaign is therefore essential to ensure...
Registration, lawyers and patience: How Jewish groups are protecting voting access in 2020
(JTA)—If you’re in Arizona or Florida and a 585 area code pops up on your phone, you might want to answer: It could be a Jewish volunteer in Rochester, New York, whose mission it is to help you vote. The Greater Rochester Jewish Federation is one of a number of local...
RBG: One Justice for All
The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg prompted an emotionally charged deep-dive into her body of work and personal life, including her 20-year long relationship with personal trainer Bryant Johnson. At 67, Ginsburg, aka ‘Notorious RBG,’ who was appointed by President...
Jewish Family Service’s Spring Into Healthy Living features exercise, music, medicine, and hope
14th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll Sunday, May 6 24th Street Park Virginia Beach Boardwalk Jewish Family Service of Tidewater’s 14th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll features an 8K run, 5K run, 5K walk, and a 1 Mile run/walk. Families and individuals of all ages are encouraged...
Time to celebrate
David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, publicly read the Declaration of Independence of Israel on May 14, 1948. The anniversary of this date on the Jewish calendar is known as Yom Ha’atzmaut, and this year is Thursday, April 19. As the Tidewater Jewish...
Mishy Harman returns to Tidewater to launch latest Israel Story tour
Mixtape: The Stories Behind Israel’s Ultimate Playlist Sunday, April 15, 7:30 pm, Harbor Club at Waterside I first met Mishy Harman a year ago at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He was there to speak to my daughter’s group of Nachshon Fellows and I sat in on the...
Jewish victims, survivors, and activists
The school shooting in Parkland, Florida last month has impacted and mobilized the Jewish community from Florida to Massachusetts and beyond. Consider: • Five of the 17 killed were Jewish. • The Sheriff leading the investigation is Jewish. • The Congressman...
CRC’s annual Date With the State 2018 exceeds expectations
How often are you asked by a state legislator for help with pushing his tax credit effort or guidance as to the current status of anti-Israel divestiture efforts? Probably not very often. But in my case, at last month’s statewide Jewish Advocacy Day in Richmond, I...
Winter Olympics 2018: 5 Jewish storylines to watch
( JTA)—The world is about to revolve around Pyeongchang, a mountainous county in the northern half of South Korea, for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Jewish fans won’t have quite as many standout athletes to cheer for this year as they did in 2016, when multiple...
Steve Sandler hosts NextGen leadership kickoff
Show up, give of yourself, and take your place in the story of our community’s future. That was Steve Sandler’s message, delivered in rousing fashion to a packed house of young leaders at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Ben-Gurion Society and National...
25th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film
25 Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg* and Patricia & Avraham Ashkenazi Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018 – Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018 Multiple theaters throughout Virginia Beach and Norfolk Free—Pre-Festival event Marshall Monday,...
Tidewater women celebrate community, leadership, and joy
Janet Mercadante, 2018 Women’s Cabinet chair, welcomed more than 75 participants to the 2018 Lion-Tikva Chai luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 9. In her opening remarks, she thanked each one for their part in the successes of past campaigns. She shared the current state of...
Bruce Smith made a great impression on everyone…including me
Thank you Harry Minium. On July 1, the topic of Minium’s column in the Virginian-Pilot sports section was a life-altering trip to Israel in June by one of Tidewater’s most renowned athletes and residents, NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith. On Monday, Oct. 30,...
Israel Today: Innovative Voices of the 21st Century, Dr. Rachel Fish
Tuesday, November 14, 7:30 pm,Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Dr. Rachel Fish visits Tidewater to discuss her latest book, Essential Israel: Essays for the 21st Century, a compilation of essays from authors describing the cultural, political, and historical...
Lee and Bernard* Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival offers something for everyone in November
Next Gen Judaism, a Jewpanese Love Story, Essential Israel, Jewish Heritage, and Yiddish Stories Wednesday, November 1–Monday, November 20 Authors from around the nation are headed to Tidewater for the annual celebration of Jewish writers, books, and ideas, otherwise...
In Mexico City, this Jewish NGO is the go-to agency for earthquake relief
MEXICO CITY (JTA)—I was on the 11th floor of an office building here when the ground started moving. There had been a mock evacuation that same day in remembrance of the 1985 earthquake that killed more than 10,000 people, but this was no drill. According to protocol,...
Tidewater’s Jewish community is committed to Teshuvah, Tefila, and Tzedakkah
We have now completed the month of Elul, a time when individuals begin to intensify their process of repentance in anticipation of the Yamim Noraim or the Days of Awe. It is during Elul that individuals will begin offering sincere apologies to and seeking forgiveness...
Jewish groups attack Trump’s call to end DACA immigration program
WASHINGTON (JTA)—An array of Jewish groups and lawmakers attacked as immoral President Donald Trump’s decision to end an Obama-era program granting protections to illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. The Trump administration said Monday,...
Federation powers up new campaign with annual kickoff
Ignites year-long celebration of Israel @70 Tuesday, September 12 Reception: 6:30 pm; Program: 7:30 pm free and open to the community Sandler Family Campus The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater will launch a year-long celebration of Israel’s 70th birthday, as it...
Get to know Elon Gold. You’ll be glad you did.
Laughter on the Lawn: Thursday, August 3, Simon Family JCC Speaking with Elon Gold is like talking to a funny friend. Only he’s funnier. Jewish News recently caught up with him via telephone as he’s gearing up for his 11th year at the Montreal Just for Laughs...
UJFT Biennial Meeting sees leadership transition to John Strelitz
The 2017 Biennial Meeting of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater was held June 7 in the Fleder Multipurpose Room on The Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus. The community was invited, and leaders from temples and synagogues, other Jewish agencies, and the UJFT...
UJFT Women’s Cabinet welcomes new members
On a less-than-sunny day in May, the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s Cabinet held its annual Spring Lunch at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach. Weather woes kept the crowd intimate and the speaker from flying in from New York,...
How the Six-Day War changed American Jews
NEW YORK (JTA)—On the morning of June 5, 1967, as Arab armies and Israel clashed following weeks of tension, Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg sat anxious amid his congregants at daily prayers—fearful that the Jewish people would face extinction for the second time in 25...