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(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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
(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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
This year’s Yom Hashoah Commemoration, honoring the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, as well as liberators and righteous gentiles, brought the community together around not just awareness and sadness, but honor, hope, and music on a rainy Sunday night. Yom...
Get hearts pumping at the 13th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll Sunday, May 7, 24th Street Park at the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Spring means it’s time for Jewish Family Service’s m o s t anticipated event of the year: the 13th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll. In addition to the...
Celebrate the State of Israel’s 69th birthday (Yom Ha’Atzmaut in Hebrew) at the annual community-wide Israel Fest. TASTE #WITHISRAEL Fresh Israeli fare made by visiting chefs from Puzzle Israel with desserts and drinks prepared by local synagogues and agencies •...
Sunday, April 23, 6:45 pm, Ohef Sholom Temple Virginia Beach native and author Dr. Jay Grymes is this year’s featured speaker at the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s annual Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day program. Celebrating...
(JTA)—Almost daily accounts of vandalized cemeteries, spray-painted swastikas and bomb threats to JCCs and other Jewish agencies have naturally evoked considerable alarm. Clearly, we must never reconcile ourselves to an America where this is considered normal. Yet we...
Purim is a dark story marked by a crazy party. I’m still unsure why a close brush with extermination became, in the Middle Ages, an opportunity for costumes and farce, but there you have it. It’s the fifth century BCE, about a hundred years after the First Temple’s...
(JTA)—Trees have stories, and Israel’s trees have lots of stories. Scattered throughout the country, scores of ancient and historic trees help shed light on fascinating aspects of Israeli history, from the biblical to the modern, that are often overlooked by the...
Thursday, February 2–Sunday, February 5 Strengthening the Jewish community and engaging all area Jews in a truly transformative experience are two primary goals of the Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholar-in-Residence Fund’s 4th Annual Tidewater Together. Unique in its...