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Before the turkey was put in the oven and the potatoes mashed, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater Konikoff Center of Learning and Strelitz Early Childhood Education Center celebrated the time- honored tradition of Grandparents’ Day on Wednesday, Nov. 23. More than 160...
Holidays, December 19, 2016
The Middle East is a place where one plus one rarely equals two. Rather, it is a multifaceted and extraordinarily complicated region that has experienced escalated turbulence and dramatic change. To maneuver through this Middle East confusion, one almost needs a map....
New is the word at the Simon Family JCC Fitness Center. “We’ve got new equipment, new weights, new paint, new flooring, new practically everything,” says Howard Roesen, chair Simon Family JCC fitness and wellness committee. Among the many improvements, the fitness...
The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater invites local first through 12th graders to participate in its fifth annual Israel Poster Contest. A list of “cool facts” about Israel is available at www.JewishVA.org/...
For more information, visit www.simonfamilyjcc.org/filmfestival Saturday, January 14 | 7:30pm On the Map Doors Open at 6:45pm | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | 201 Market Street, Virginia Beach Directed by Dani Menkin | 2016 | Israel | 85 min Against...
As Tidewater’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival was gearing up, the Lessans Family Annual Book Festival at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington was winding down. For its closing program on Sunday, Nov. 13, Jennifer Smith, director of arts and culture...
One hundred anti-Semitic incidents occurred in the 10 days following the presidential election, representing about 12 percent of hate incidents in the U.S. recorded by a civil rights watchdog. The report by the Southern Poverty Law Center looked at 867 hate incidents...
(JTA)—The upset victory by Donald Trump in the 2016 elections stunned a Jewish activist and leadership class that is at times as divided as the electorate at large. JTA asked some of those leaders to describe their concerns and expectations in a series of brief...
On Saturday, Nov. 19, the leader of the white nationalist think tank, the National Policy Institute, Richard Spencer, addressed his faithful at the Ronald Reagan building, blocks from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His words did not veil their references...
Friends, As the year ends, we look back at events, visitors, and achievements— and yes, the challenges—the Tidewater Jewish community experienced in 2016. Our gratitude toward this community’s commitments, its accomplishments, its devotion and its dedication to...
Approximately 60 people attended Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s 7th Annual Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, Nov. 11. Scott Kaplan, president and CEO of TJF, welcomed guests to the ceremony and Captain James Eilberg, SC, USN (Ret), officiated. Other local clergy who...
Over the past 20 years, Romania’s Jewish community has been completely transformed. “For us, Jewish life is really integrated with modern life,” says Luciana Friedmann, president of the Jewish community of Timisoara, Romania. “Two hundred and forty people singing...
Beth El members Craig and Joanna Schranz wanted to create an event that got people outside to raise awareness for a good cause. And so, with Congregation Beth El Men’s Club and the Mitzvah in Motion group, Tour De Mensch was born. Held on Nov. 4 to recognize the long...
Celebrated by schools across the country, National Mix It Up Day promotes respect and tolerance among children. The program, first introduced to Hebrew Academy of Tidewater by school guidance counselor Michele Fenley, LCSW, encourages children to broaden their...
In operation for just a few months, the Freda H. Gordon Hospice and Palliative Care of Tidewater has already made a big impact on many of its patients’ family members, including Irwin Kroskin. When his wife Ruthi became ill, Kroskin called on the hospice team. “When...
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—We need to celebrate a Lincoln Chanukah this year. It’s not because of the new Spielberg movie—that gives us something to do on Christmas Day—but because of the 150th anniversary of a little-known event in American history that threatened to expel a...
In her soothing voice, Vergie McCall recites Psalms 23 and 91 to her hospice patients. “Prayers are powerful,” she confirms. “When you leave this world, you are going to the presence of God,” her grandmother used to say. “In the spirit of the Divine, you are no longer...
The year 2012 has been one of highs and lows for the Holocaust Commission. The highs include the integration of our new What We Carry program into our educational offerings, and the lows last January as we lost two of our Speakers’ Bureau survivors, David Katz and...
ATID is the Hebrew word for future. And Atidim (futures) is the name of a breakthrough project designed to build a better, stronger Israel by enabling capable and talented young people from underprivileged communities to acquire higher education in order to share in...
Congregation Beth El is kicking-up its level of tikkun olam projects. In September, Rabbi Jeff Arnowitz initiated a “Mitzvah of the Month” program with the synagogue focusing attention on and supporting a particular cause each month. Congregants and especially BERS...
Approximately 60 people attended Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s third annual Veterans Day Memorial Service on Monday, Nov. 12. The Jewish War Veterans Monument, located on the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community, was unveiled in 2010....
Two matching gift programs are currently in place that give new or increased donations to the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater a higher monetary value. The programs translate into the community having a greater impact on improving the lives of Jews in Tidewater,...
In January, Ohef Sholom Temple will launch an innovative program designed specifically to make Jewish education accessible and tailored to children with special needs. “We believe that v’shinantam l’vanecha, you shall teach your children, refers to all children,” says...
The support of the sponsors of the 2012 Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival enabled the Simon Family JCC to present 12 authors and sell thousands of books. Business sponsors of this year’s festival were Barnes and Noble Booksellers, Monarch Bank,...
Some of the first thoughts that come to Americans’ minds when thinking about Israel are the Palestinian conflict, the threat of terrorism, and the treat of war with neighboring countries. While the reality of life in Israel, these issues do not define Israel or her...
When we’re young adults, we most often purchase life insurance to pay off our mortgage or provide some surety that our spouse would have a sum of cash should we become deceased before we’ve had the opportunity to build our estates. Over the years, the initial purpose...
Homework for elementary school children has fallen in and out of favor over the years. In the early 1900s, it was illegal in California for teachers to assign homework to young children who were instead expected to help on the farm or in the family business after...
The concept behind the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Learn@Lunch series is to provide education opportunities on a variety of issues, in different places, during business lunch hours. “We were hearing from some members of...
Comedian Dan Ahdoot, the first of three events at the Simon Family JCC in this season’s Performing Arts at the J, presented by Leah Wohl*, kept the jokes coming, pleasing adults of all ages on Saturday, Oct. 20. Susan Schwartzman, chairperson of the series, says the...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—President Obama’s Jewish numbers are down, but by how much and why? Expect four more years of tussling between Jewish Republicans and Democrats about the meaning of Obama’s dip from 78 percent Jewish support cited in 2008 exit polls to 69 percent this...
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Most Israelis were asleep as the polls closed in America and voters waited for the results, but on one rooftop in central Tel Aviv a party with loud classic rock music and flashing lights was going strong. It was the pro-Obama election- watching party...