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...
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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...
Nadiv, Young Men’s Giving Circle, caps off successful first year
When we saw the JCC campers playing with oversized Connect4 and checkers boards on the blacktop, an entire year of experimentation and hard work came full circle. Yes, all the effort was worth it. In fall 2016, YAD—United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult...
Annual Campaign kickoff features David Hazony
Tuesday, September 12, 6:30 pm Sandler Family Campus United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s 2018 Annual Campaign kicks off with a cocktail reception and keynote address by acclaimed author and lecturer, David Hazony. An American-born Israeli writer, translator, and...
HAT begins a new school year proclaiming, “We’re more than a school, we’re family!”
As Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and Strelitz Early Childhood families enter the building this year, they are greeted with friendly smiles, photos of engaged children, and a new bulletin board that announces, “There’s no place like the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater.” On...
Tidewater teens in Israel
A pledge brother at Clemson asked me to go on Birthright on a national trip, Shorashim—the only Birthright trip organizer that has Israeli soldiers for the entire 10 days. Those seven Israelis were some of the greatest people I’ve ever met. In the Negev, we stayed in...
Beth Sholom Village to add performance stage to its active community room
The Abisl Theater will present entertainment with a “Jewish Twist” It has hosted everything from bingo games to women’s auxiliary lunches, but by summer 2018, what is known today as The Pincus Paul Social Hall, named for a late benefactor, will also house the area’s...
Shabbat sermon: A remarkable Bar Mitzvah ceremony on a day of concern
I wasn’t here at Beth El last Shabbat, a day that brought concern and anxiety to us Jews in the Commonwealth and beyond. Miriam and I were in Florida so we could be with her father as he celebrated the 80th anniversary of his bar mitzvah. He put aside his walker and...
Rosh Hashanah
As this High Holiday season approaches, a fresh New Year feels incredibly important for 5778. The news around the globe, nation, and our very own state, continues to have most of us on the edge of our seats and not far from our trusted news sources. Soon, however,...
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...
Special Needs class and training program at Ohef Sholom
One of the most significant issues facing religious school educators is accommodating students with special needs in the supplementary school setting. With numerous obstacles to overcome, both practical and attitudinal, it is challenging to adapt curriculum, implement...
Preventing a nuclear-armed Iran
Last month I attended a powerful and very well attended presentation at B’nai Israel Congregation sponsored by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Community Relations Council. Bob Feferman, outreach coordinator for the not-for-profit and non-partisan advocacy...
Young Adult Division leadership programs are taking off in 5774
The Young Adult Division of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater has been very busy in 5774. Between maintaining current outreach and engagement programs, adding new unique outreach initiatives, and rolling out signature leadership programs, it seems that not a...
Annual Israel Today Forum brings innovative topics and expert speakers to Tidewater
Compelling speakers, interesting topics and timely discussions have characterized the past two seasons of the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Israel Today Forum. With the announcement of its third season, which begins next...
Israel Advocacy class discusses facts and issues
What should an advocate of Israel say when someone who knows very little about the country asks about its legitimacy? The answer to this basic question, according to Mark Solberg and Sandra Haas-Radin, Ph. D., is intricately tied to Israel’s history and political...
Couples have ‘together time’ working out at the Simon Family JCC
For Amy and Kirk Levy, three weekly classes are the draw for working out together at the Simon Family JCC. Kirk, who works nearby, meets Amy as often as he can on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for noon Tabata with Starr Kimmer Gargiullo or Tony Pearsall at the...
Week of Extraordinary Deeds proves to be…extraordinary
Inspired and energized Jewish volunteers embarked on a unified effort last month to reach out to others in the community and speak with them personally about the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater—what it is, what it does, and why continued support is vital to...
Fun afternoon for youth—and Youth Ambassadors—at JCC
English conversations, Hebrew singing and the universal sound of children’s laughter spilled from the Simon Family JCC cafeteria on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 30. Inside the room, local teens from Tallwood High School’s Global Studies & World Languages...
Israel: Jewish and Democratic
Long confined to the extreme margins, but, in recent times, beginning to seep into mainstream discourse, is the odious position that challenges Israel’s legitimacy as both a Jewish and democratic state. In response, the Israel Action Network’s project director (and...
Women’s Luncheon features national Jewish leader
On Thursday, Oct. 24, the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Women’s Cabinet welcomed Alison Goldstein Lebovitz to its annual Lion-Tikva-Chai Luncheon at the Sandler Family Campus. Lebovitz is one of this year’s JFNA National Young Leadership Cabinet co-chairs, and...
Making Chanukah wishes come true
Hardship has no season; struggling local Jewish families need assistance throughout the year. Through donations of toys and money, Jewish Family Service serves many local Jewish children and teens by providing new gift items for Chanukah and for use throughout the...
Candidates for Lt. Governor speak to Jewish community
The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater hosted candidates for Lt. Governor of Virginia on separate evenings last week. State Senator Ralph Northam met with the community on Monday, Oct.. 21st and Bishop E.W. Jackson did so on...
HAT alumni comes together for Jewish education and good times
On Sunday, Sept. 15, the day after Yom Kippur, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater’s middle school alumni participated in their first continuing education and social program for the most recent graduates. The sound of the tekiya gedolah still echoed in the ears of 22 excited...
Spare change helps make a change JFS Knitters Club donates a freezer to JFS
Every Wednesday the ladies meet to knit. The members of the Jewish Family Service Knitters Club, however, aren’t just knitting for the fun of it. These women are creating lap blankets, scarves, and other items for JFS clients. And each week the group comes together,...
YAD Men’s Basketball continues to grow in size, popularity
The Simon Family JCC gym was full of action Tuesday, Oct. 8 as 19 young Jewish men got together for pick-up basketball. That’s nine more people than the most recent basketball night on Sept. 23. Participants are part of the newly- formed YAD Men’s Basketball Group,...