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...
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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,...
Sunday School in the 21st century
In Spring 2017, the Ohef Sholom Temple board of directors unanimously approved a proposal to welcome independent households to one year of enrollment in the Temple’s Reform Jewish Sunday morning classes. An “independent household” is a family that expresses its Jewish...
Advocating for children in school
In preparation for the school year and the Jewish High Holy Days, it’s important to be proactive in communicating with faculty and administrators about these holidays so Jewish students have the opportunity to observe without penalty. While schools may try their best...
From Virginia Beach to the Middle East
CRC and local high school work together to ensure bright future for foreign policymakers In May 2011, the topic of conversation among my First Colonial High School students was international stability and the global nuclear system. I asked them to work together and...
ADL and Virginia Attorney General combine efforts to fight hate
Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring was the Keynote Speaker at the Anti-Defamation League Washington, DC Region 2017 Annual Meeting, earlier this summer. Attorney General Herring began his remarks by highlighting the importance of ADL’s work combatting and...
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,...
Making children’s Chanukah wishes come true Why I Give to the JFS Chanukah Gift Program
When I was a kid, my father was a Chief Petty Officer, and then a Chief Warrant Officer, in the Coast Guard. That was (long) before the all-volunteer military, which means we never had a lot of money. But he and my mother were always generous at Chanukah. I know, I...
Fairways to success: The 25th Annual Hebrew Academy Golf Tournament
Hebrew Academy of Tidewater’s 25th Annual HAT Golf Tournament held on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at Bayville Golf and Country Club was another outstanding triumph due to the generosity of spirit, time and funds of committee members, players and sponsors. It was a beautiful day...
Bloomberg ‘flattered’ by inaugural $1 million ‘Jewish Nobel Prize’
NEW YORK (JTA)—In August, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told New York magazine, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could get all the Russian billionaires to move here?” Today, the Russian billionaires—or at least some Jewish ones—returned the compliment, naming Bloomberg...
Yellen’s rise to Fed chief gains more attention for gender than faith
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Janet Yellen is soft-spoken, tough, methodological, flexible— and Jewish. President Obama’s announcement that he had tapped Yellen, 67, to succeed Ben Bernanke as chairman of the Federal Reserve made news in part because she would be the first woman...
Meet the Presidents: Marcia Samuels, president, Jewish Family Service
Profession I am a licensed clinical psychologist in a private practice in Norfolk. Education Undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia; master’s and doctorate degrees from Florida Institute of Technology. Family Married to David Kamer Two children, Olivia...
Tallwood students prepare for Israel exchange
Students meet Tidewater Jewish community Wednesday, Oct. 30, 3:30–4:30 pm Ten students from the Israeli city of Modi’in, representing the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program between Israel and the United States, will arrive in Virginia Beach on Thursday, Oct. 24....
In the Sukkah with Beth El
Congregation Beth El made good use of its sukkah and the Sukkot holiday this year with programming covering a range of interests, ages and celebratory activities. The festivities kicked off with the “First Annual Sukkah Raising,” which was held as part of the opening...
Fourth Annual Golf’s Longest Day
Beth Sholom Village’s 4th annual Richard “Dick” Porter Memorial Golf tournament took place on a day with picture perfect weather. Ten golfers enjoyed great golfing and camaraderie for a wonderful cause, raising approximately $70,000 for Beth Sholom Village and playing...
Hebrew Academy elects new SGA officers
It was another spirited campaign this fall as Hebrew Academy prepared to elect its SGA officers. Speeches were shared, posters were displayed and, in the end, a new cabinet was chosen. These new SGA officers say that there should be a couple of events each...
VCIC kicks off the year at the Simon Family JCC
The Tidewater Chapter of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities held its first meeting of the fiscal year on Sept. 9, 2013 at the Simon Family JCC. Under the leadership of Carolyn Abron-McCadden, who is beginning her third year as chair, members discussed...
Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God author visits Tidewater Monday, Nov. 4, 7 pm
Matthew Levitt, author of Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God will speak at The Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival, in a program partnership with the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. A...
Men discuss commitment at luncheon
In what has become an annual United Jewish Federation of Tidewater tradition, men from the community gathered to enjoy lunch, be inspired and take part in a truly extraordinary event. On Tuesday, Sept. 24, the week following a great Annual Campaign kick-off, 32 men...
