Some say it’s never too early to learn about generosity and tzedakah. That seems to be a prevailing philosophy for Alyson Gross and Michael Yaary, parents of two-year-old Asher. Instead of gifts for his recent birthday party, the Strelitz International Academy...
Mazel Tov
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Mazel Tov! Lenny Brooke
Lenny Brooke 90 years old The former owner of Southern Packing Corporation, Lenny Brooke has been married to Ellie for 63 years and is nearly as active as ever. His son, Jeffrey Brooke says, “Even now after my father has turned 90, he still calls on a few customers...
Mazel Tov! Lorraine Fink
Lorraine Fink 100 years old The oldest in this esteemed group, Lorriane Fink manages to find humor in almost every situation – at her 99th birthday, for example, she suggested the cake be turned upside down to make her 66! She’s an award-winning artist, a...
Liz Dovrat earns PhD
Elizabeth (Liz) Dovrat successfully defended her doctoral thesis on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.Dovrat has been a student in the Doctoral Programme in E-Research and Technology Enhanced Learning at Lancaster University, UK for the past 4 1/2 years. The title of her thesis...
Two new rabbis have Tidewater roots
Rabbi Madeline Torop Budman and Rabbi Aaron David Torop Budman were ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on Saturday, June 1. The ordination took place at the historic Plum Street Temple, a 158-year-old landmark in Cincinnati, Ohio. A Norfolk...
Mazel Tov!
Rachel and David Abraham are excited to announce the engagement of their daughter Anne Louise to Alex Brandon Peljovich. Anne attended James Madison University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology. She is employed by the American Association for...
Mazel Tov to Jewish Tidewater’s Graduates!
Graduation season began again this year with plenty for Jewish Tidewater’s graduates and their families to celebrate, and Jewish News celebrated plenty with 34 graduates from high schools, colleges, and myriad graduate programs in the June 12, 2023 edition. Here, we...
Mazel Tov to Dorianne Villani for receiving the Kurt M. Rosenbach Board Member of the Year Award.
Created in 2004 by Ohef Sholom Temple’s board of directors, the award honors a board member whose “outstanding service and contributions to Ohef Sholom Temple best embodies the qualities of leadership and commitment demonstrated by our beloved Kurt Rosenbach.”
Terrace administrator receives state-wide recognition
Allison Hechtkopf Whiteman, administrator of The Terrace Assisted Living at Beth Sholom Village, was recently awarded the Administrator of the Year Award by the Virginia Health Care Association and Virginia Center for Assisted Living (VHCA-VCAL). Whiteman has worked...
Mazel Tov to Michael and Mattie Brooke
Mazel Tov to Michael and Mattie Brooke on the birth of a daughter, Brocha. Michael and Mattie were married on August 27, 2020. Michael attended Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, Toras Chaim Yeshiva, and received a bachelor’s degree in Talmudic Studies from Bais Medrash...
Mazel Tov to Jeff Flax
Mazel tov to Jeff Flax, who is one of six qualifiers from the United States to qualify in the Masters Golf Division for the Israeli Maccabi Games. Masters is ages 50 and up. The games are in Israel next July. This is his first time playing in the Israeli Maccabi...
Mazel Tov to Dr. Amy K. Milligan
Mazel tov to Dr. Amy K. Milligan of Old Dominion University, for being named an associate editor of the new journal, Jewish Folklore and Ethnology, published by Wayne State University Press. The first of its kind in English, JFE is a peer-reviewed annual journal. An...
Mazel Tov, Eric N. Schloss
Originally published in the June 28, 2021 issue. Mazel Tov to Eric N. Schloss, of Saltzberg & Schloss, who became the 68th president of the Maryland Association for Justice (MAJ). With 1,200 members, the MAJ is the largest Specialty Bar Association in Maryland....
Mazel Tov, Pam Blais
Originally published in the June 14, 2021 issue. Mazel Tov to Pam Blais on her selection as a finalist in the Hometown Hero category of the National Museum of American Jewish History's Only in America Gallery/Hall of Fame for her work in feeding and caring for...
Mazel Tov, Zach and Courtney Lewis
Originally published in the June 14, 2021 issue. Mazel Tov to Zach and Courtney Lewis on the birth of their son, William David Lewis, born on April 18. His excited big sister is Carrington. Paternal grandparents Beth and Nathan Jaffe, great-grandparents Joan and Bob...
Mazel Tov, Dr. Julie Forman-Kay
Originally published in the May 31, 2021 issue. Mazel tov to Dr. Julie Forman-Kay, on being named a Fellow of the highly prestigious Royal Society. The Royal Society’s fundamental purpose is to recognize, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage...
Mazel Tov, Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg
Originally published in the May 31, 2021 issue. Mazel tov to Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg on receiving her Honorary Doctorate on Thursday, May 27 from Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion for 25 years in the rabbinate.
Mazel Tov, Rabbi Israel Zoberman
Originally published in the May 31, 2021 issue. Mazel tov to Rabbi Israel Zoberman for having Congresswoman Elaine G. Luria insert his article on the 73rd anniversary of the State of Israel into the Congressional Record. In addition, Congressman A. Donald McEachin...
Mazel Tav, Avi and Chana Horowitz
Originally published in the May 31, 2021 issue. Mazel tov to Avi and Chana Horowitz on the birth of their daughter. Chana’s parents are Amy and Jeffrey Brooke and her grandparents are Bina and Herb Zukerman and Elli and Leonard Brooke. Avi’s mother is Linda...
As life lessons go, virtual Bar Mitzvahs make the path to ‘adulting’ real, fast
Originally published in the March 8, 2021 issue. Lisa Richmon In 2020, Carin Joffe Simon and husband Mike Simon planned the first Tidewater virtual Bar Mitzvah for their son, Nate. When Betty Ann Levin watched the event, which was livestreamed on Facebook from their...
Pandemic-poked weddings: A new altar, an un-altered dress, and an altered state of mind
Originally published in the March 8, 2021 issue. Lisa Richmon If you think the new sitcom, Call Your Mother is about children avoiding their mothers during the pandemic, you would be half right. The show, starring Kyra Sedgwick, is based, however, on life after the...
Hayden Caplan’s mitzvah project: Gaming for Gold for a friend
Originally published in the March 8, 2021 issue. As Hayden Caplan prepared for his upcoming bar mitzvah in May, there was no question what he wanted to do for his mitzvah project. A friend from his pre-school days at Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, Benjamin Goldberg, an...
Mazel Tov, Jack Rephan
Jack Rephan receives recognition from Board of Governors of the Virginia State Bar’s Construction Law and Public Contracts Section The Board of Governors of the Virginia State Bar’s of recognition to Jack Rephan in appreciation and gratitude for his work as a founder...
Mazel Tov, Bonnie Lindenberg
Achievement Bonnie Lindenberg, Jewish Family Service 2019 Volunteer of the Year. Lindenberg volunteers in the JFS PAM department. She prepares more than 60 tax returns each year for clients who cannot afford to pay a tax preparation fee. Lindenberg is a certified...
Elihu Flax is new head of Board of Rabbis and Cantors
Cantor Elihu Flax, who directs religious services at Beth Sholom Village, is the new president of the Board of Rabbis and Cantors of Hampton Roads. The board addresses issues pertaining to the Jewish community as they relate to the area’s Orthodox, Conservative, and...
Mazel Tov to Beth and Nathan Jaffe
Mazel Tov to Beth and Nathan Jaffe on the birth of their first grandchild, Carrington Lee Lewis (Carrie), born July 17. The proud parents are Zach and Courtney Lewis of Virginia Beach. An extended mazel-tov to first-time great grandparents, Joan and Bob Cohen.
Birth – Lilly Gray Dorsk
Beth and Barry Dorsk, Anthony and Grace Baschetta, and David Moy on the birth of their granddaughter, Lilly Gray Dorsk, born December 2, 2018 to parents, Chad and Maria, and big sister, Layla Rose Dorsk. Great grandparents are Barbara Krampf and Peggy Dorsk, Jack...
Mazel Tov to Skip Sacks
Achievement Skip Sacks, who received the 2019 Robert M. Stanton Real Estate Teaching Award from Old Dominion University’s Strome College of Business. The award was presented by Jeff Tanner, dean of the Strome College of Business in recognition of Sack’s role as an...
Mazel Tov to Lisa Bertini
Achievement Lisa Bertini of Bertini Law, who was named Top 50 Women Lawyers in the 2019 Virginia Super Lawyers edition for 2019. This is the fifth year she has been honored with this distinction. Bertini has also been named again to the Top 100 Lawyers in all of...
New development associate at TJF
Kaitlyn Oelsner joined Tidewater Jewish Foundation last month as its new development associate/LIFE & LEGACY™ coordinator. Oelsner recently moved to Virginia Beach from California after receiving her bachelor of science degree from Cal Polytech and her master of...
Julius Miller
Achievement Julius Miller, MD FACP, who was awarded Senior Fellow of Hospital Medicine at the Society of Hospital Medicine meeting held in Washington, DC on March 25. Miller is also being recognized by the American College of Physicians Virginia Chapter with the 2018...
Mazel Tov to Isabella Rose Leon
B’nai Mitzvah Isabella Rose Leon will become a Bat Mitzvah on March 23, 2019 at Congregation Beth El. She is the daughter of Lisa and David Leon and the sister of Emily. Isabella is the granddaughter of Dr. Abraham and Lynn Finkel of Schenectady, N.Y., and of Arnold...