President-elect Donald Trump accused the Obama administration of treating Israel with “total disdain” hours after Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech rebuking the country’s settlement policy and offering his plan for Middle East peace. Trump spoke to reporters on...
Other News
Archives
Blaming Obama doesn’t advance the cause of Middle East peace
What did Secretary of State John Kerry say that caused former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren to say that U.S. policy toward Israeli has become “sad, tragic and dangerous?” That led Sen. Ted Cruz to say that Kerry and President Barack Obama are...
24th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film
With the 24th season of the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film briskly underway, national and international movies, including documentaries and full feature dramas created by award winning Jewish writers and filmmakers, are being shown at multiple locales around...
Third Hanukkah party in Executive Mansion’s history hosted by Governor McAuliffe
Jewish community leaders, clergy, elected officials and professionals from across the Commonwealth gathered on December 14 at the Executive Mansion for an early Hanukkah celebration. Only the third such party held at the Mansion, Governor Terry McAuliffe and his wife...
Amy Brooke honored by BINA; school celebrates 10 years
BINA High School celebrated its 10-year anniversary honoring Amy Brooke on Dec. 9 and 10. Many alumni returned to Norfolk to be a part of the celebration, travelling from New York, New Jersey, and Maryland—several with young families—to catch up with their old...
Investing in the future of Tidewater’s Jewish community
It‘s never too early to think about how to leave your mark on the community and how you want to be remembered. Each year by using disposable income charitably, people make an imprint on the Tidewater Jewish community. That choice is an investment—whether it is making...
What Draws You… to volunteer, to give, to care?
Community-wide fundraising phone-a-thon Sunday, January 22, 9 am–1 pm Reba & Sam Sandler Family Campus Asking questions is one of the most time-honored traditions of Judaism, and the young adults organizing this year’s Super Sunday community-wide phone-a-thon have...
From Mumbai to March of the Living: Bringing Holocaust education to Jewish Indian teens
Last December I traveled to India with American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) Entwine. My peers and I connected with the Jewish community, particularly the Jewish Youth Pioneers (JYP), a young-adult delegation of Jewish-Indians who live in the greater...
TJF’s Life & Legacy program off to an exciting start
Since launching in September, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Life & Legacy program has created new levels of excitement and engagement within the Tidewater Jewish community. The Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Life & Legacy program is a four-year initiative...
Holocaust organizations, scholars and educators sound alarm on surge in hate crimes; issue call to action to lawmakers and citizens
(New York, NY)—In a powerful statement issued by an array of Holocaust institutions, scholars and educators from around the world (including United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission), an alarm is being sounded on the rise of groups that promote...
Holocaust Commission members attend National Social Studies Conference
In early December, Dana Cohen, a child survivor of the Holocaust and a member of the Holocaust Commission, Elena Barr Baum, director of the Holocaust Commission, and I attended the annual conference of the National Council for the Social Studies in Washington, DC,...
Stein Family College Scholarship set to open for applications
Now in its ninth year, the Stein Family College Scholarship will begin accepting applications on January 3, 2017 for the 2017-2018 academic year. The annual grant for Jewish students in Tidewater provides a scholarship of up to $10,000 a year for college tuition. The...
Return on investment: Jewish Family Service in Budapest
This year, Tidewater is helping provide more than 1,066 Hungarian children from 586 families with comprehensive social services. Since 2007, through the generosity and vision of Tidewater’s Jaffe family and the continued support of the United Jewish Federation of...
Will Obama’s planned Israel visit revive Israel-Palestinian peacemaking?
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Is President Obama’s plan to visit Israel a sign that he’s ready to take another shot at Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking? The White House announced Tuesday, Feb. 5 that Obama would visit Israel in the spring, his first trip there as president. He did...
Fans and family of Art Modell praying for Ravens Super Bowl victory, Hall of Fame entry
NEW YORK (JTA) -- Every Sunday during the football season, a group of 30 diehard Jewish Baltimore Ravens fans suit up in purple pants, jerseys, socks, face paint and special Ravens tzitzit to watch the game together. If the game falls on a Saturday, the club gathers...
A return on investment: Baby Help in Argentina goes intergenerational
Rosana Jacofsky, a long-time teacher at the Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) Baby Help day care program in Buenos Aires, Argentina dedicates the majority of her time to children with physical and psychological difficulties. “We are constantly reminded that love...
Women’s Seder explores old and new Passover traditions
Sunday, March 17, noon–2 pm Take three of the most enthusiastic, creative, involved, Jewish women in Tidewater. Ask them to plan a Passover Seder, open to all women in the community. Tell them they have two hours to share the story of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, and...
Jewish community expert to visit Tidewater
Thursday, Feb. 7–Sunday, Feb. 9 Dr. Ron Wolfson, an expert in the field of synagogue and Jewish community transformation, will appear on four separate occasions in Norfolk and Virginia Beach to speak, teach and interact with the community. A professor of education at...
First film in CRC series attracts diverse audience
Only 40 people were expected to attend the first movie in the five-part, film-based education program, Step Up for Israel, on Jan. 10 at Norfolk’s Temple Israel. But at 7:15 pm, members of the congregation began counting the number of folks coming into the downstairs...
Obama’s likely takeaway from Israeli election: More two-state advocates
WASHINGTON (JTA)—With the Israeli election results split evenly between the right-wing bloc and everyone else, no one in Washington is ready to stake their reputation on what the outcome means for the U.S.- Israel relationship and the Middle East. Except for this: The...
Jewish Democrats low key, grateful at second inauguration
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The inaugural poem included a “shalom,” and three rabbis and a cantor attended the traditional next-day inaugural blessing. But the message that Jewish Democrats were most eager to convey during President Obama’s second inauguration on Monday, Jan. 21...
Jewish religious, lay leaders join call to ban assault weapons
An interfaith alliance including Jewish religious and lay leaders is seeking a ban on assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines. Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence held a news conference on Jan. 15 calling for the bans, as well as improved background...
Community members plan to keep their Annual Date with the State
Tuesday, Jan. 22 Jeff Brooke offers advice to those who are unhappy with the current political system and their elected officials: “You have the power, and the responsibility, to do something about it.” As co-chair of the Community Relations Council of the United...
Using data, Jewish groups try to turn the art of fundraising into a science
NEW YORK (JTA)—For many Jewish nonprofits, fundraising often can seem like an art—a process of educated guesswork based largely on intuition, word of mouth and experience. So when David Gad-Harf, the chief development officer of the Jewish Federation of Northern New...
Winter sheltering program at Congregation Beth Chaverim
For 13 consecutive years, Congregation Beth Chaverim has partnered with Volunteers of America to assist with feeding and housing area homeless adults. Each year, the congregation participates in the Winter Sheltering Program for the week that includes Christmas. From...
Toras Chaim receives $1,000 grant through Box Tops for Education/Commissary program
Shoppers at the Scott Annex Commissary at the Portsmouth Shipyard on Thursday, Dec. 13, were surprised to find a crowd celebrating in the produce section. The crowd was comprised of six Toras Chaim students, four Toras Chaim parents, a vendor for General Mills...
JCC Seniors Club installs new officers
The JCC Seniors Club held its annual officers installation luncheon on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Following a Chanukahthemed meal, members witnessed the installation of the new slate of officers: Bernice Greenberg, vice president, Anne Pylate, treasurer, Wayne Gordon,...
Cardboard? Not just for recycling
The first article on Israeli innovation appeared in the Nov. 26, 2012 issue of Jewish News. It featured a host of Israeli inventions that are familiar to many people around the world. In this article and subsequent ones, the Israel Advocacy Committee will introduce...
Jews and pro-Israel community warm to prospect of a Secretary of State John Kerry
WASHINGTON (JTA)—On a wintry day at a small Iowa shul in November of 2003, John Kerry got all verklempt. The man whose opponents had taken to depicting as aloof and patrician, whose campaign for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination had been all but written off...
Newtown massacre prompts Jewish groups to push for action on gun control
WASHINGTON (JTA)—In the wake of the shooting rampage in Newtown, Conn., Jewish groups are looking to build alliances and back legislation to strengthen gun control laws. Rabbi David Saperstein, the director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, says that...
At first Newtown funeral, Noah Pozner remembered as loving ‘little man’
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (JTA)—It was a eulogy for a life that had only just begun. Veronique Pozner remembered her son Noah as a rambunctious, video-game loving “little man,” a boy with a perpetual smile and twinkly blue eyes who dreamed of becoming a doctor, a soldier and...
Community trip to Holocaust Museum
Holocaust Commission members have been talking for years about taking a trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. One was finally set up for Oct. 30. Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, those looking forward to the trip would have to wait a little...