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Poised and charming and offering insightful discussions, Jessica Fechtor, a guest author and speaker for the Beyond the Book Festival, established immediate rapport with her audience while reading from her book, Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me...
Beginning with a pop and a fizz, the Society of Professional’s Pour wine event gathered local Jewish professionals and friends at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Sunday, March 5. Overlooking the ocean, participants were led through progressive Kosher food and...
April 13, 2007 At the recent B’nai B’rith Youth Organization’s International Convention held in Houston, Texas, Virginia Council BBYO received an International Programming Award for the Lost Boys of the Sundan program held last fall. April 11, 1997 In an article by...
April 3, 2017, Passover Section
There is a midrash that, when standing at Sinai to receive the Torah, each person received their own personal revelation but responded in one voice, saying, “Na’aseh v’nishma”—“We will do and we will hear.” It is in that exquisite moment that we became one People....
As if Israel Today’s Mishy Harman’s performance wasn’t captivating enough, the event last month also included a presentation by Sheena Jeffers and Jennifer Chapman, founders of Story Exchange, a community engagement project aimed at sharing human experiences via art....
Mitch Albom, author of The Five People You Meet in Heaven, once wrote, “There’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking.” Mishy Harman, the...
The fifth commandment is clear. “Honor your father and mother,” as is the reason, according to the Torah (Exodus, Chapter 20). “So that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your G-d gives you.” If that’s true, then we all gained a few more years on this...
Thursday, March 30, 5:45 pm The Westin, Virginia Beach Town Center Created in the spring of 2015 as a constructive response to the racial violence and civil unrest that took place in Ferguson and Baltimore, Hands United Building Bridges is comprised of Jewish,...
March 20, 2017 Camp Section
Sporting a street-smart bravado and phosphorescent red hair topped with a black fedora, little could hide Samantha Montgomery’s (a.k.a. Princess Shaw) raw edgy talent and endearing awkward vulnerability. The special guest and singer songwriter received a standing...
Baltimore native Marty Mandelberg moved to Norfolk in June 2005 with his wife, Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg. He immediately went to work at PayDay. For Ohef Sholom Temple’s Religious School, he became the eighth grade teacher, focusing on the Holocaust. He also began...
BOSTON (JTA)—Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Giffords, who has become an advocate for stricter gun control after being shot in the head in 2011, was recognized for the courage she has...
On Thursday, May 9, the Women’s Cabinet of the UJFT held its biennial Spring Installation Luncheon to thank and recognize the members of the Women’s Cabinet whose terms of service were complete and to welcome new cabinet members. In Honorary Cabinet member Ann...
NEW YORK (JTA)—With its tradition of dairy meals, Shavuot is one of my favorite holidays. Arriving later in the spring—an ideal time to find delicious fruits, herbs and vegetables—it’s perfect for using fresh and seasonal ingredients. The four dishes I have selected...
Last month, fourth and fifth graders at Hebrew Academy of Tidewater were privileged to hear Alfred Dreyfus tell his story of survival during the Shoah. With his son Mark, he told the students that instead of hearing a story of horror and death camps, they were going...
For Heather Sunderlin, mother of nine-year-old twins, Camp JCC has it all. She works full-time as the director of employee services at Wall, Einhorn & Chernitzer; her husband, Rich, is in the Navy and is often away for weeks; and she wants her sons Dylan and Tyler...
Thirty business, legal and medical professionals assembled at Vandeventer Black law offices on Wednesday, April 17 to learn about Israeli innovation and the opportunity for Americans to invest in start ups in Israel. According to presenter Brian Rosenzweig of JANVEST,...
Students and faculty were guests of Old Dominion University’s Office of Intercultural Relations and Hillel on Monday, April 8, for the Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance reception. Jay Ipson, a holocaust survivor from the Kovno ghetto in Lithuania, and a cofounder/...
The word Marathon has been used in many ways. ‘It was a marathon effort.’ Thoughts of ancient Greece. But add the word, ‘Boston,’ in front of it, and a jubilant scene of miles of cheering spectators marveling at the heroic efforts of the most athletic to the most...
A new survey launched by Dr. David Elcott and Stuart Himmelfarb explores the attitudes, activities, plans, priorities, and beliefs of Jewish adults 18 and over. The research targets all four adult generational groups (Millennials, Gen X-ers, Boomers and WWII/...
The board of directors of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation honored a long-time community leader and Life Trustee, Kurt Rosenbach, with a special award at its March board meeting. Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), the organization that unites Jewish...
Elizabeth Hughes’ design for the CRC’s Israel Advocacy Poster Contest secured the most votes from the online voting community. Her piece will be reproduced as a glossy poster and distributed at the Simon Family JCC’s annual Israel Festival on April 28, 2013, and the...
I was truly touched while being a guest at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Community Relations Council’s Community Faith Leader Seder a few weeks ago. It was a time of reflection and fellowship. I was touched to open the Haggadah and see a picture of Dr....
In June, 12 area Jewish women of diverse backgrounds and religious practices will leave Tidewater and head to Israel. Once there, they’ll visit some of the country’s holiest sites, raft down the Jordan River, swim in the Dead Sea, ride camels, eat, drink, and bond...
I recently attended the 2013 Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) Plenum with no expectations other than my personal goal of gaining a national perspective on the work I do as United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Community Relations Council vice chair. JCPA...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—For a trip that U.S. officials had cautioned was not about getting “deliverables,” President Obama’s apparent success during his Middle East trip at getting Israel and Turkey to reconcile has raised some hopes for a breakthrough on another front:...
“When I took the job of UJFT president, I made a promise to myself that I would never do anything to weaken our community, but only to make it stronger and I would never let a lack of funds prevent a Jewish child and family from experiencing the wonders our people and...
Using personal observations, religious instruction, an occasional joke and even a song, Rabbi Gavriel Friedman brought words of caution and messages of hope to an enthusiastic crowd at the Simon Family JCC on Saturday, March 9. “You are always affecting someone, and...
“This year’s trip to New York was fabulous. It changed my perspective on Judaism and I had an awesome time,” says Hannah Yarow, a student at Maury High School. Since 2002, the Norfolk Kollel has annually taken Jewish teens to New York for a weekend to never forget....
Temple Israel’s Outreach Program is not your mother’s outreach. The newly launched series of events that are part of the innovative program are mostly offsite, not necessarily religious, yet still provide a context that shows the warm and welcoming nature of the...
The word my mother, Linda Gissen, sculpted so beautifully, for every congregant to see and be reminded: REMEMBER. Remember the Holocaust. As very young Jewish children, our hearts and minds were indelibly ingrained with images and histories of the Holocaust. We were...