NEW YORK (JTA)—Shavuot is the “Rodney Dangerfield of Jewish holidays,” says Rabbi Shira Stutman of Washington, D.C.’s Sixth and I synagogue. Meaning: It gets no respect. Considered by Jewish tradition to be on par with the fall and spring festivals of Sukkot and...
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Israeli paratroopers re-create iconic photo on 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War
JERUSALEM (JTA)—David Rubinger’s iconic photograph of three paratroopers at the Western Wall is the defining image of the 1967 Six-Day War. The men in the photo—Dr. Yitzhak Yifat, Tzion Karasenti and Chaim Oshri— have proudly served as symbols of the historic Israeli...
Leadership transition
Next week we will hold our biennial meeting of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Simon Family JCC, where I will transition out of the board presidency and introduce John Strelitz as the incoming president. John’s presidency will continue a Strelitz legacy...
One Night of community and food
The community gathered on Wednesday, May 3 to celebrate the Simon Family JCC with One Night of Israeli food, wine, and music. The fundraising event, hosted by John Stein of Baker’s Crust, featured Israeli chefs Guy Marom and Nir Margalith of the travel and catering...
Staycation
Staycation, May 29, 2017
A roller coaster of emotions
I remember having the family for dinner and walking into the den where Joyce and Leonard (Strelitz) were on the phone with national UJA office people in New York—there was no CNN back then. I felt a nervous immediacy being in the room with people getting news directly...
Developing armaments under pressure and for future use
On May 23, 1967 Gamal Abdel Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran – the entrance to the Red Sea, ordered the UN force to leave Sinai, and moved six divisions (130,000 soldiers) into Sinai. This was against the agreement with the U.S. and United Nations after the 1957...
Consumed
It took over our lives. I remember going to the Federation, which was located in the Center, from morning until late at night. We were raising money…on the phones constantly. Personally, I was getting my house painted and Morty and I would go home and have no place to...
James Comey had admirers among Jewish defense officials
WASHINGTON (JTA)—“You make us better,” James Comey told the Anti- Defamation League in his final public speech as FBI director. Judging from the applause in the conference room at the venerable Mayflower Hotel here, the feeling was mutual. Mired in investigations of...
Trump executive order allows campaigning from the pulpit
(JTA)—Jewish groups largely came out against a new executive order allowing clergy to endorse or oppose candidates from the pulpit, fearing that it will erode the separation between church and state. The order, which President Donald Trump signed Thursday, May 4 at...
Sydney Levine bounces back to receive Stein Family College Scholarship from Tidewater Jewish Foundation
The annual Stein Family College Scholarship of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation was awarded this month to Sydney Levine, a soon-to-be graduate of Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach. Levine is the ninth recipient of the four-year scholarship of up to $10,000 per...
Tidewater gets a taste of Israel
Chefs Guy Marom and Nir Margalith of Puzzle Israel, an adventure tour and catering company, spent a week in Tidewater sharing their love of food and celebrating Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s 69th birthday. Sous chef Neta Margalith, joined her brother and Marom for a busy...
JFS recognizes and honors employees for longevity ‘Kind, caring and extremely efficient.’ That’s how one patient recently described Sharon Williams, JFS home health aide, and one of the many reasons she was selected as the JFS Home Health Aide of the Year for 2013....
Dinar Yusufov: Stein Family College Scholarship recipient
On behalf of the Stein family, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation recently announced that Dinar Yusufov of Chesapeake is the 2013–2014 recipient of the Stein Family College Scholarship. She is the fifth recipient of this award established in memory of Arlene Stein. A...
Simon Family JCC extends hours and days of operation
For several years the Simon Family JCC has received requests not to close for so many Jewish holidays and to expand its Shabbat hours. The growth in the Kids Connection program and the Infant Care Center meant the closings had an even greater impact on the ability to...
Famed Emily Aronoff Teck, of Miss Emily Celebrates, visits Strelitz Early Childhood Center
“We met a real celebrity!” At least that’s how students at the Strelitz Early Childhood Center felt at the end of the school year after spending time with Emily Aronoff Teck of Miss Emily Celebrates. Aronoff Teck is a Jewish music educator and early childhood...
Jewish groups ride roller-coaster week of Supreme Court rulings
WASHINGTON (JTA)—A slight bump up on affirmative action, a plunge on voting rights, and on gay marriage, the mountaintop: federal legitimacy. It was a week of roller-coaster highs and lows at the Supreme Court for liberal Jewish groups. Their collective pledge: Stick...
Camp JCC scores big with campers
Earning rave reviews from campers and their parents, there’s still time to register for Camp JCC to take advantage of all that it has to offer, including overnights, field trips and good ole simple summer fun. After a recent overnight and a great day of camp, Hannah...
Israeli Scouts visit Simon Family JCC
Ten 17-year-old Israeli Scouts and two leaders visited the Simon Family JCC last month to perform on a Sunday evening and Monday morning for JCC campers. Each Friendship Caravan of Scouts, or Tzofim, consists of five males and five females. The group that performed in...
Don’t Call Me Haredi
My parents raised me and my six siblings in Norfolk, Va., in essence, as the only “Haredi” kids in our day-school classes. As the “ultra-orthodox” kids who kept strict kosher, never drove on Shabbat, and who were wildly different from (and significantly shorter than!)...
Legal Matters in the Jewish community
Ready for a Jewish lawyer joke? You’ll have to read one somewhere else (Google the phrase and you’ll have your pick), because in this special Legal edition of the Jewish News we’re taking a more discerning look at legal professionals and the field of law. Judaism is a...
Tidewater is instrumental in improving life for disabled Israelis
At a luncheon in Virginia Beach last month, visiting Israeli Avital Sandler-Loeff described how difficult it can be to live with a physical disability in Israel. “Think about Jerusalem,” Sandler-Loeff says. “Now try to imagine yourself in a wheelchair going in the old...
Honoring the graves of Tidewater Jewish veterans on Memorial Day
The flags flutter again from the gravestones of Jewish veterans of Tidewater because a team of patriots and veterans met at local Jewish cemeteries to honor these heroes. “We should have the veterans of our community in our mind all year round,” says Jim Eilberg, a...
Bringing Israel Home
Sunday, August 11, 5 pm Calling all rising college freshmen, currently enrolled college students, recent graduates and Birthright alumni. Your peers who are planning an upcoming event want to see you in August! The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish...
11th Biennial Educators’ Conference, “Why Care? Human Rights: Past, Present & Future”
August 5–6 Educators throughout Tidewater are grasping the idea that Holocaust education can be an essential part of any classroom, and they’re increasingly turning to the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater for its reputation as a...
JCC Annual Presidents’ Cup Golf Tournament
The Simon Family JCC’s Third Annual Presidents’ Cup Golf Tournament was an enormous success despite the inclement weather. Close to 100 golfers braved the elements to show their support of the JCC and its mission. The 2013 tournament surpassed all expectations, both...
Israeli counselor hopes to connect with JCC campers, staff, and community
Not even in Virginia 24 hours, Camp JCC’s Shlicha says she admires how green Tidewater is and looks forward to exploring and meeting many new people. Noga Wigelman, from Even-Yehuda, Israel, can’t wait to share her country’s culture with campers, staff and everyone...
Strelitz Preschool students learn what it means to repair the world
Learning the values of tikkun olam, repairing the world, the Strelitz Early Childhood Center students created projects that have an impact on the Sandler Family Campus, the Tidewater community, and to Israel. This “home grown” approach took place right in the campus...
Melton holds 11th graduation
When this year’s 13 Melton graduates received their certificates, they joined a group of 170 proud adults in the community who have completed the first two years of the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning. The students, who took weekly classes at the Simon...
Water surplus in Israel? With desalination, once unthinkable is possible
PALMACHIM, Israel (JTA)—As construction workers pass through sandy corridors between huge rectangular buildings at this desalination plant on Israel’s southern coastline, the sound of rushing water resonates from behind a concrete wall. Drawn from deep in the...
Heads up: Jewish brewer thriving amid craft beer boom
NEW YORK (JTA)—With the creation of David’s Slingshot Hoppy Summer Lager, beer maker Jeremy Cowan is evoking the image of the legendary battle between David and Goliath—a match-up that’s also apt for Cowan himself. Though still a small player in the world of craft...
Lynn Schoenbaum’s ever expanding family
With a youthful spirit and the ability to find joy in life’s smallest pleasures, Lynn Schoenbaum embraces her early sixties with enthusiasm and a willingness to seek new adventures. When most people are choosing to retire from their volunteerism, Schoenbaum has...