In late February, members of Tidewater’s Jewish community leadership had the opportunity to be part of a conversation about Israel, the Palestinians, and the responsibility of Jewish leadership with Ambassador Dennis Ross and Ghaith al-Omari.

Ambassador Ross is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He also teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Jewish Civilization. For more than 12 years, Ambassador Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, dealing directly with the parties as the U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. 

 Ghaith al-Omari, the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Senior Fellow in The Washington Institute’s Irwin Levy Family Program on the U.S.-Israel Strategic Relationship, is the former executive director of the American Task Force on Palestine. He served as advisor to the negotiating team during the 1999–2001 permanent-status talks in addition to holding various other positions within the Palestinian Authority.

Ross and al-Omari have spent decades navigating the hardest dimensions of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Today, they travel together to campuses across the country, modeling informed, principled disagreement —
demonstrating that it is possible to engage complex realities without abandoning nuance, mutual respect, or intellectual rigor. 

In this serious, candid, and policy-grounded conversation about what comes next, moderated by Jay Klebanoff, the men fielded questions on topics such as: 

• The current strategic landscape in Israel and the Palestinian arena, 

• Realistic scenarios for the months and years ahead, 

• Lessons learned from past negotiations, and 

• Strategic insights on campus trends. 

Ross and al-Omari spoke about how slogans have become substitutes for thought, and that most peace activists are not really about peace, but rather about “no Israel.”

They also highlighted the two realities on Gaza.  Israelis saw hostages and the death of soldiers, while everywhere else witnessed the death and destruction in Gaza.

 At a time when voices are often amplified by outrage, this gathering presented a new perspective and appreciation for the ability to learn from each other. 

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 Why should we, as Americans commemorate Yom HaZikaron?  We have our own Memorial Day and few of us have relatives that served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), let alone perished while in service.

 Yom HaZikaron is observed the day before the Israeli Independence Day.  In Israel it is a big deal, as almost everyone in the country served in the IDF and most also know or are related to someone who died in service of Israel.  The observation is quite stark and moving. The day starts with a one-minute siren at 8 pm, with a two-minute siren at 11 am, the following day. Drivers stop their cars on the road, wherever they are, to show reverence.  Public entertainment is closed, flags are at half-mast, and memorial services are held, with the main ceremony at Mount Herzl, the Israeli equivalent to Arlington Cemetery. The atmosphere is a deeply somber National Day of Mourning.

 This last December, Yom HaZikaron was brought home to Tidewater, with the passing of one of our own.  Just two days before his discharge from the IDF, Sargent Ari Goldberg z”l was tragically killed in an accident.  

 Ari was born while I was stationed in San Diego, California, with my wife Chava and two young children.  He was the middle child between Peter, Leah, Zev, and Zipporah. Ari grew up in Virginia, our Navy family moving to Tidewater when he was 10 years old.  He attended Toras Chaim Day School in Portsmouth, Blair Middle School for one year, and Maury High School, graduating class of 2020.  While attending Maury, he also attended Tidewater Tech where he earned certification in carpentry. Always industrious, he received his welding certificate from Tidewater Community College. A true son of Tidewater.  

 In 2022, Sargent Ari Goldberg z”l went to Israel for a year at Mechinat Ruach HaNegev. He arrived in Israel with a desire to connect with the Jewish people’s homeland and then fell deeply in love with all that Israel stood for.  During that year, he chose to make Aliyah and move to Dimona – a city that embraced him as their very own.  Following October 7, Sargent Ari Goldberg z”l saw his duty and enlisted in the IDF as a combat soldier in the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps, as missing out on the action in defense of the Jewish people and homeland was not an option for him.  He served multiple tours in Lebanon and Gaza as his unit’s designated marksman.  In fact, he was responsible for blowing up many of the tunnels, buildings, and private homes of terrorists from which Hamas and Hezbolah conducted their terror operations.

 The best description of Ari comes from his adopted Israeli family, the Fischs: “A creative and original soul who was always learning, always searching, and always pushing his own limits. He loved bringing people together, hosting friends, and preparing food and drinks with his own hands. His door was always open and his smile was always wide. Ari loved people deeply. He was warm, generous, and full of life, always welcoming others and ready to help anyone who needed it. He believed with all his heart in friendship, community, and caring for those around him, and he lived his life in a way that made everyone who met him feel at home.”  This was echoed by his family, friends, and fellow soldiers.

 Ari was also an inspiration to his family, with his younger brother Zev enlisting in the IDF and his younger sister Zipporah joining the US Navy.  His older brother Peter also served a tour in the US Air Force.

 Ari passed away on December 30, 2025, during Asara B’Tevet, Fast of 10th Tevet, commemorating the siege of Jerusalem. He was laid to rest in Soldiers Cemetery in Dimona, the city he loved.  The impact of his loss was felt throughout all of Israel.  We received calls from President Isaac Herzog and Ambassador Mike Huckabee.  Members of the Israeli Cabinet and Knesset came to Dimona to pay a shivah call.  The Chief Rabbi and Mayor of Dimona were keynote speakers at Sargent Ari Goldberg z”l’s funeral – all calling Ari a hero of Israel.

 Sargent Ari Goldberg z”l, a boy from Tidewater, truly cast a giant shadow.

 In Ari’s memory, his family, his adopted Israeli family and friends, and fellow soldiers are building a home in Dimona for Lone Soldiers (American and foreign soldiers fighting for Israel).  It will be a place where they can rest, feel they belong, host friends, and experience real moments of home, family, and community, just like Ari did for others.  Ari told his brother that he dreamed of buying a bigger house with more rooms so he could host more people.  We are committed to making his dream come true.  To create a place where the warmth and belonging that Ari shared with everyone around him will be felt.

The home will be called “Lev Ari,” the “Heart of Ari,” or “Heart of a lion” which Ari also had, in memory of the brave soldier Sargent Ari Malachi Goldberg, z”l. 

 One Home. One Heart. One Family.

Reba Karp held the distinction of sitting in the editor’s chair at United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, editing this, and other publications, longer than anyone else. Reba passed away on March 17 after providing this community with more than three decades worth of newspapers – an enduring archive of life in Jewish Tidewater – until her retirement in 2004.

Reba was as creative and talented as she was driven and determined to do more – producing Renewal, a quarterly magazine and To Life, a book featuring testimonials of area Holocaust survivors, all while publishing paper after paper. She also found time to write her own books – novels and historical volumes.

Working for the Jewish community was personal for Reba. She travelled to Israel several times and took various other trips to Jewish sites throughout the world.  While not religious, she was committed to Israel, to calling out antisemitism, and to preserving the messages of the Holocaust and its survivors, especially those in Tidewater. 

“Her leadership made sure that antisemitism was fought and the diverse aspects of Judaism were heightened and celebrated,” recalls Harry Graber, former executive vice president of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.  

 “Reba was a robust and gifted professional whose leadership while editor was creative, visionary, and diligent,” he says.

Reba annually entered and won Press competitions, both with Virginia Press Women and the American Jewish Press Association. 

“Reba was one of a kind,” muses her old colleague and long-time friend Betsy Karotkin.

To call Reba, “one of a kind” is a lovely understatement.  Until just a couple of years ago, Reba drove a Corvette, with her VET GAL license plate moving to each new model she purchased. At the same time, she wore flowy dresses, and jewelry made from crystals and geodes. She spoke about her dreams and their meanings and predictions, along with the teachings of Edgar Caysee, the clairvoyant.

When I began my turn in Reba’s chair, she offered up lots of advice. Lots. And lots.  In fact, she called with more just several months ago.  Her suggestions usually made good sense, and plenty of them I follow to this day. 

 Along with her advice, Reba also ranted – as she did in our last call. She was funny, feisty, intelligent, foul-mouthed, and absolute in her convictions. The combination made for a fun conversation or interesting lunch. . .though she was very particular about choosing a restaurant.

 I’m still sitting in Reba’s chair, and the desk drawers still house her things. Some may call me crazy for not replacing the chair or not tossing her notes, but it’s really been out of respect for the extraordinary editor, and for the past 21 years, editor emeritus, that Reba was.    

 At her retirement, the late Hal Sacks, who was the paper’s book review editor and long-time friend of Reba’s wrote: 

Ode to the Queen

Here’s to Reba whose heavenly muse

Gave us three decades of the Jewish News;

Deadlines would beckon, arrive with a whoosh,

Reba delivered with a little shmoosh;

As we from this fair eve in September

Your great works will ere remember.

Reba made certain Jewish Tidewater will always remember.

 Following the film, Roth was joined by the film’s executive producer and her daughter, Melanie Roth Gorelick, along with Laura Gross, for a conversation reflecting on the values, relationships, and questions that have shaped her photography. Together they explored how art can serve as a form of witness, inviting audiences to look closely and consider whose stories are seen and remembered.

 In conjunction with the program, a companion exhibition of Roth’s photography was on view in the Simon Family JCC’s Leon Family Gallery, featuring images of Jewish women from around the world. 

 Presented by Arts and Ideas at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, the evening offered an opportunity for reflection, dialogue, and connection through art.

 The IBMA (International Baccalaureate Mid-Atlantic) is a regional association of International Baccalaureate World Schools that supports collaboration and excellence in IB programs across Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Delaware, and Pennsylvania. This award honors students who represent the values of the International Baccalaureate (IB).  

 As part of the application, students reflect on a service project and their growth through the IB Learner Profile. Ari shared how participating in a community service project helped him understand the power of empathy, teamwork, and taking action to make a difference. It was a great example of the IB mission in action, caring about others and helping build a more peaceful world.

 Exemplifying what it means to be a caring and reflective IB learner, Ari says, “In 2023 and 2024, for my birthday, instead of getting presents, I asked everyone to bring canned food. I took the food to the food pantry and stocked the shelves. The volunteers there told me who the food helped. This showed me the importance of intercultural understanding and respect. I learned that helping someone in need is better than getting something for your own benefit.”

 Through this meaningful service, Ari demonstrated the IB mission to develop empathy, understand different perspectives, and choose to make a positive impact.

Alicia Pahl-Cornelubs is International Baccalaureate coordinator for Strelitz International Academy.

 The residency was led by CEO Tsour Shriqui and professional medical clown Nimrod Eisenberg, who traveled from Israel to introduce local healthcare professionals, educators, and community members to the growing field of therapeutic medical clowning. Even amid the ongoing war in Israel, the pair remained committed to the visit and successfully made their way to Tidewater, bringing with them both expertise and a powerful message about resilience and healing.

 During their time in Hampton Roads, Shriqui and Eisenberg visited hospitals, care facilities, and schools. Their schedule included stops at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital, Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, and the Jones and Cabacoy Veterans Care Center, as well as visits with students in the Health and Science Academies at Bayside, Maury, and Deep Creek High Schools. At each location, they demonstrated how humor, play, and human connection can reduce anxiety, build trust, and support patients and caregivers.

 “We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to learn from The Dream Doctors Project and see firsthand the joy they bring to pediatric care,” says Robin Kantor of CHKD. “Children need so much more than medicine to heal, and this experience brought an extra dose of laughter and connection to our patients and staff. We are especially thankful to United Jewish Federation of Tidewater for making this meaningful day possible.”

 Members of the broader Tidewater community gathered for a special evening program on March 24 to learn more about Dream Doctors and the global impact of medical clowning. Through interactive demonstrations and storytelling, Shriqui and Eisenberg showed how nonverbal communication, improvisation, and empathy can help patients cope with fear and uncertainty. At the same time, they spoke candidly about how the wars in Israel over the past two and a half years have shaped their work, particularly in hospitals, emergency response efforts, and trauma recovery settings.

 By the end of the residency, the impact of their visit was clear. Healthcare professionals gained new tools, students were introduced to an unexpected approach to patient care, and community members left with a deeper understanding of the healing power of humor. Eisenberg reflected that despite the packed schedule, the warmth of the Tidewater community made the experience unforgettable, and every person he met along the way left a lasting impression.

 This residency was presented as part of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, and Community Partners’ 15th Annual Israel Today Series.

For more information on upcoming Israel Today events, visit JewishVA.org/IsraelToday or contact Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org. 

“The directions said we could take inspiration from anywhere such as inspiring people, places we love, landmarks, quotes, or historic events,” says Gruber. “For me it was an easy choice.” Turns out the Hawaiian-born third generation Filipino American and so-called “Army brat” was married to Larry, a Jewish sailor whom she met in New Jersey. “So, I was a Navy wife and then became an Army mom” when her twin sons enlisted, one of whom subsequently graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 

In fact, 26 of her family members have been in one military uniform or another, having collectively given 300 years of service to their country. “And I was a procurement analyst for the Navy for 22 years,” adds Gruber, “so clearly I have a feel for these men and women.” Indeed Larry was assigned to ships for 17 of his 22 years in the Navy, “so I had the main role in raising the kids.”

No wonder Gruber opted to include the logos of all five military branches in her quilt pattern. “I hope it inspires more people to respect those who serve and thank them and their families for their sacrifices.” 

Grossman’s late dad was in the Navy, but the Hopewell/Petersburg native chose to highlight the plight of those of her faith in her design. “Frankly I am very upset with how our government is treating immigrants today, considering how many Jews came to America to escape persecution.” Grossman’s 16”x20” block (same size as Gruber’s) reminds that Jews fled pogroms in Eastern Europe and came to this country, most passing by the Statue of Liberty, erected in the New York harbor in 1886. “As most of us know, Emma Lazarus’ poem called The New Colossus, which is on the statue, includes the words, ‘give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.’ Those words speak to me, so I decided to use the welcoming of foreigners, and particularly Jewish ones, as my theme.”

A former president of her synagogue, Grossman sewed a pair of ships on her piece. The first one is coming to America over blue waves in the early 1900’s, its passengers greeted by a hand offering friendship. The second boat, however, recalls ones that brought Holocaust refugees to America’s shores, through dark and ominous seas, and were turned away.  “I don’t know whether anyone else sending in quilt blocks will focus on religious freedom, but it is a very important issue for me.”

Visit the project website at visitwilliamsburg.com to see what others have submitted.  

Sometime this year, Visit Williamsburg will stitch the sections, as many as 4,000 are expected, into one huge birthday quilt, unveil it in April and then display it at the Colonial Williamsburg Visitor Center. No doubt these two Hampton Roads Jewish crafters will drive there to see how hundreds of other creative countrymen and women chose to commemorate this nation’s rich diversity.

 Through United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s partnership with Secure Community Network, Tidewater is part of a national security initiative. We work closely with law enforcement and Jewish institutions across the region to strengthen security, share information, and coordinate response efforts. This ongoing coordination helps ensure that Jewish institutions are prepared, connected, and supported in maintaining a safe and secure environment.

 We remain in constant contact with local, state, and federal law enforcement and actively monitor the threat landscape. We also remain in close contact with all our Jewish institutions and are assessing opportunities to further improve our security preparedness and infrastructure. As a precaution, additional patrols are being conducted around Jewish institutions in Tidewater. At press time, there is no information indicating a specific threat to local Jewish institutions.

 As always, we encourage organizations and community members to remain aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious activity—both to law enforcement and through our incident reporting link: JewishVA.org/incident.

See something, say something.

Your awareness is the first line of defense. Report suspicious activity immediately: JewishVA.org/incident.

Why it matters.

The West Bloomfield incident demonstrates how training, preparation, and vigilance save lives. Every action you take contributes to keeping Tidewater safe.

 Bring SCN to your synagogue for a training session. SCN’s gold-standard curriculum empowers participants with hands-on training and life-saving skills to prevent, respond to, and recover from potential incidents. To schedule a session, email mgoldsmith@ujft.org or call 757-965-6125.

Eight best practices for community safety.

As recommended by JFNA, SCN, and the ADL:

• Coordinate with law enforcement and SCN Regional Security Advisor 

• Extend security perimeters wherever possible

• Limit events to pre-screened attendees

• Require registration and verification for public events

• Share event details only with confirmed attendees

• Control access to known participants

• Stay alert and report suspicious activity

• Add armed law enforcement, private security, or trained volunteers

Thank you for your vigilance and commitment to keeping our community safe. Working together, we strengthen the security of our entire community.

Mike Goldsmith is Tidewater’s Secure Community Network’s regional security advisor.  He may be reached at mgoldsmith@ujft.org.

 That was the case in October 2020, when a representative of Rosenheim, Germany, contacted Ohef Sholom Temple about a former congregant and Holocaust survivor. He said the city wanted to honor her family and requested documents or photographs of her life in America and the name of any of her relatives. The temple put him in contact with her nephew, and the OST Archives provided the documents. 

 The former congregant was Charlotte Moos. Born in Rosenheim in 1914, she fled to Czechoslovakia in 1936 and the Philippines in 1940. She married another Jewish refugee, and following the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, she became a prisoner of war. Widowed after her husband’s death, she was released at the end of the war and transported to the mainland in a Liberty Ship. Moving to the Washington, D.C. area, she worked for the U.S. government, met and married a fellow Holocaust survivor, and moved to Norfolk, Virginia. 

 When Adolph Hitler came to power in 1933, Rosenheim was a city of almost 20,000 inhabitants, 38 of whom were Jews. Six years later, on the eve of World War II, only seven remained. Moos’s parents fled in 1938 following Kristallnacht; her half-sister Katharina left in 1939. One couple committed suicide; the others had escaped or were arrested.

 Moos’s father, Alexander, had been born in Czechoslovakia, and perhaps that’s why the family sought refuge there. But when the Germans invaded, Moos’s mother, Frieda, was deported to the Zamosc ghetto in Poland and murdered. Alexander was killed in the Majdanek death camp.

 However, Moos was one of approximately 1,300 Jews rescued by the Philippines, then a self-governing commonwealth of the United States. The rescue plan was most likely proposed by U.S. High Commissioner Paul McNutt, who got the idea from a friend whose brother worked for a Jewish relief agency. McNutt took the idea to Philippine President Manuel Quezon, and with the help of the Philippine Jewish community, Quezon put the plan into action. The original plan included visas for 10,000 Jews, but the 1941 Japanese attack and occupation of the islands halted all immigration for the remainder of the war.

 Moos was interned in a POW camp in Manila, probably the former Santo Tomas University. She would have been surrounded by many other refugees, including the cantor of Manila’s Temple Emil. Initially, conditions were fairly good, but they quickly deteriorated. As a citizen of a Japanese ally, Moos would have been exempt from internment, but the 1935 Nuremberg Laws had revoked the citizenship of all German Jews. 

 The camp was liberated in February 1945. The war ended in August, and that fall, Moos, recently widowed, left the Philippines and found a new home in Alexandria, Virginia. Her husband, Leo, had been part of a group of 14 Czech civilians who had fought with the U.S. Armed Forces. Captured on Bataan, he endured the infamous Bataan Death March, was transported to Japan on the “Hell Ship” Hokusen Maru, and died in a Japanese POW camp in Fukuoka in April 1945. He’s buried under a Star of David in the American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila. 

 Living in Alexandria, Charlotte found work as a secretary for the federal government, and in 1950, she married another Holocaust refugee, Henry Moos. He had immigrated to the United States in 1938, sponsored by his father’s first cousin, Albert Einstein. The couple moved to Norfolk, and in 1954, they joined Ohef Sholom Temple. Henry was active in and an officer of the Men’s Club, and Charlotte served on the Sisterhood Board. Charlotte died in 2000 at the age of 85, and Henry died in 2009, aged 96.

 In 2021, the city of Rosenheim memorialized Moos and her family by installing stolpersteine (“stumbling stones”) for them. Each “stone” is a 4” x 4” block, topped by a brass plate engraved with the name, birth date, and fate of the honoree. The blocks are installed in the street where someone victimized by the Nazis lived or worked. The idea was initiated by German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, and today there are more than 107,000 stolpersteine in 30 countries. In Rosenheim, there are stones for Moos, her parents, and her half-sister, Katharina. Katharina, known here as Kate, and her husband, another Holocaust survivor, had also found refuge in Tidewater. Moos’s story had come full circle; the city she had fled almost 100 years ago is now one of 1,900 municipalities helping to ensure the Holocaust is not forgotten.