A decades-long injustice to the memory of Israel’s Olympic athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games was rectified this month with the dedication of a permanent memorial to their memory in the very same Munich Olympic Park, where...
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Catch-And-Release Fishing Derby reels in the fun at Sandler Family Campus
The first-ever Catch-and-Release Fishing Derby at the Simon Family Jewish Community Center took place on Sunday, September 17. With more than 60 official registrants and many more family and friends as supporters and participants, the turnout exceeded expectations for...
3rd Annual Great Big Challah Bake
Thursday, October 26, 7 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Want to enjoy the fragrance of yeast rising, laugh, and share community with hundreds of women, and then experience the deep satisfaction of baking a challah for Shabbat? This year, the 3rd Annual Great Big...
Commander Harold (Hal) Howard Sacks, U. S. Navy Retired August 2, 1930–September 8, 2017
With the passing of Hal Sacks, Jewish News has lost a friend, advocate, historian, and visionary—along with a writer and book review editor. As a friend, Hal was always available for advice—and not timid about offering it up—even when it wasn’t requested. As an...
High Holidays
High Holidays, September 25, 2017
Betty Ann Levin named UJFT executive vice president
After a national search, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s board made the decision to “go local” with the appointment of Betty Ann Levin as executive vice president upon Harry Graber’s retirement in May 2018. Currently executive director of Jewish Family Service...
Brandon’s story: thee of a special needs Jewish learner
In the beginning… We got the first diagnosis in 2003. ADHD. Nothing to worry about there, right? Lots of kids have ADHD. Heck, even I have ADHD. But as time went on, we knew that there had to be more than just that. So, in July 2006, when Brandon was six years old, we...
Donor saves JFS thousands through coupons
Not everyone who donates to Jewish Family Service gives in monetary form. At least, not directly. Janna Kestenbaum has been giving of her time and efforts to JFS for years through couponing. About once a quarter, Kestenbaum brings her coupons to JFS and goes shopping...
David Hazony thinks that Israel can save American Jewish life
His must- read essay in Tower Magazine, “Israeli Identity and the Future of American Jewry,” outlines the scope of the assimilation problem we are facing. Hazony says: Oblivion knocks. The two obvious alternatives—aliya and Orthodoxy— require so radical a change in...
Israel looks to send $1 million in aid to flooded Houston Jewish community
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry is advancing a plan to send $1 million in emergency aid to Houston’s flood-hit Jewish community. In announcing the plan Monday, Sept. 4, Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett called it an “unprecedented”...
Tidewater Jewish community contributes to Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
Hurricane Harvey bombarded the Gulf Coast on August 26 with destructive winds and devastating flooding. The storm caused catastrophic destruction throughout the city of Houston and surrounding areas. The need for immediate relief and long-term aid continues to rise,...
A Jewish ‘Dreamer’ is scared, but refuses to despair
BOSTON (JTA)—At 15, Elias Rosenfeld became a “Dreamer.” At the time, the Venezuela native was attending Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in Miami, where he had lived since he was 6 years old, when his Jewish family moved to South Florida from Caracas. His mother...
Sing us the songs of Zion
BAYONNE, N.J. (JTA)—Arik Einstein, who died last month at the age of 74, basically invented Israeli popular music. He was a unique Israeli combination of Sinatra, Dylan and the Beatles, embodying the spirit and the struggles of a younger, more optimistic Israel. His...
Film advisory committee freshens up festival
As the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma* and Howard Laderberg, celebrates its 21st anniversary, it continues to expand its presence and breadth, becoming one of the longest running festivals of its kind in the country. To bring new ideas and...
Holocaust meets Hollywood: Premiere of The Book Thief
I was honored to receive an invitation last month to the premiere of the film adaptation of Markus Zuzak’s award winning novel, The Book Thief, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. There would be a panel after the film including the author, director, and...
BINA’s royal evening
The girls of BINA High School presented “An Evening of Royalty” at Bnai Israel Congregation on Sunday, Nov. 17. The program, coordinated and directed by Chayale Lefkowitz, focused on the meaning of God’s kingship and what it means to be a subject in His kingdom. More...
HAT and Strelitz celebrate national “Mix it up Day”
On October 29, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and Strelitz students joined more than one million other students across the country by participating in the 12th annual Mix It Up at Lunch Day. Launched by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project in...
Incorporating the arts into lessons of history, environmental consciousness and Judaism
On any day walking down the halls of Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, visitors will observe students fully engaged in the learning process. Whether they are being taught about ancient history or today’s current events—from general to Judaic studies—they are doing so by...
JCPA and CRC offer educational do-over in Poland and Israel
I just experienced an educational do-over. In my younger years, I was lucky enough to receive a first-rate college education in Ann Arbor, Michigan and travel to Israel on a Federation-sponsored tour in my late 20s. Thus, I had studied Jewish and Israeli history, and...
Israel: Jewish and Democratic
Martin J. Raffel is the senior vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), where he has served as the lead professional on Israel, world Jewry and international human rights for the past 26 years. He also holds the position of project director for...
Favorite Chanukah or Thanksgiving traditions
A large and emotional gathering at Thanksgiving David Abraham Every Thanksgiving, we travel to Indianapolis to be with my side of the family. This has been a long-standing tradition that my family loves to do. We have a tremendous amount of fun and camaraderie. I am...
Every day is Thanksgiving when we recite 100 blessings
Memories of Beth El and Thanksgiving A native of Norfolk , Shulamith Elster is the daughter of the late Rabbi and Mrs. Paul Reich (Congregation Beth El, 1935 to 1967). She writes occasionally for the Washington Jewish Week reflecting on her 50 years in the Washington...
Armada of fans show up to support Hal’s Navy
Like sailors rallying around their captain or destroyers protecting their carrier group, the audience that came to hear Hal Sacks speak about his memoir, Hal’s Navy, on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at the Simon Family JCC, showed up in full support of the newly published author....
My history with the family of Lee Harvey Oswald’s Jewish killer
NEW YORK (JTA)—We were sharing a pastrami sandwich and pickles at the Los Angeles landmark Canter’s Deli. I was 24. She was nearly 50 years older, with a piercing voice as loud as her flaming red wig. Her name was Eva Rubenstein Grant, and she was a little-known...
Last pages of Book Festival satisfy diverse groups
With good book sales and attendance, wonderful sponsors and concluding events, this year’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival was among the most successful at the Simon Family JCC. Closing events included Marion Grodin, a stand-up comedian, who had a...
TJF honors veterans at Jewish War Veterans Monument
Approximately 60 people attended Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s annual Veterans Day Memorial Ceremony on Monday, Nov. 11. Philip Rovner, president and CEO of TJF, welcomed guests at the monument and Captain James Eilberg, SC, USN (Ret), officiated. Cantor Aaron...
2nd Annual Tour De Mensch Bike Ride and JWV Brunch a success
The Mens Club of Congregation Beth El teamed up with the Tidewater, Post 158, of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States to help organize the Second Annual Tour De Mensch Bike Ride followed by a community brunch on Sunday, Nov. 3. The Tour De Mensch is a 15-mile...
Holocaust Commission takes its show on the road
While many people spent the evening of Thursday, Oct. 31 shepherding children around seeking sweets, the Holocaust Commission sent its representatives to Roanoke for a different kind of solicitation. Elena Baum, Commission director and Mickey Held, former chair headed...
Remembering the Yom Kippur War at Temple Israel
Last month, Temple Israel commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. During the ceremony, Eitan Mor, a member of Temple Israel and a native Israeli, offered his memories in a speech titled “Impressions and Departed Souls.” These are excerpts from his...
Talk to the Hand: Global information operations for the Post-Coup Muslim Brotherhood
News reports claim that one of the last senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB) leaders was taken into custody in late October, which may lead some to believe that the radical Islamist organization had been effectively defeated by the new Egyptian military government....
First steps taken to identify trove of Holocaust-era art found in Munich
BERLIN (JTA)—The extraordinary disclosure earlier this month that a trove of more than 1,400 vanished artworks were found in a Munich apartment has raised more questions than it has answered. What were these works, which were produced by masters such as Chagall,...
In the typhoon-ravaged Philippines, Israel brings its experience in disaster relief
(JTA)—Obviously wanting to get back to work as the medical manager of the field hospital set up by the Israel Defense Forces in the Philippines, Lt.-Col. Dr. Ofer Merin speaks hurriedly about the three days his team has been seeing patients in the typhoon-ravaged...