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It may have begun on a dark, rainy September night, but the 6th Annual Israel Today series ended with a bang on a beautiful, warm May evening, as the Tidewater community gathered to cook with Chefs Nir Margalith and Guy Marom, of travel and culinary group Puzzle...
Just who qualifies as a ‘senior’ is a bit confusing these days. That’s mainly because the definition of ‘senior’ and who identifies as one, is more of a moving target than ever before. While it wasn’t that long ago that very few people worked beyond 65 years old, or...
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is responding to catastrophic flooding and mudslides in Sri Lanka, the result of the worst storms to hit the island nation since 2003. JDC, together with its local partner Sarvodaya, a Buddhist-inspired...
(JTA)—Try to think of the most famous Israelis in history. Not necessarily the most consequential or “important” ones— like any number of Nobel Prize winners or behind-the-scenes Middle East peace deal negotiators—but those who are most universally recognizable. Most...
Technology is now ubiquitous. Kids seem to be born knowing how to use it. Still, if they want to keep up with the technology curve, they will have to learn to build, program, and code. As a result, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) has recently...
Father's Day, June 12, 2017
Sitting in front of my grandparents’ black and white television set watching Abba Eban’s unforgettable speech before the United Nations General Assembly is certainly one of my most distinctive memories of the Six-Day War. Just 10 years old and not able to fully...
(JTA)—The first thing Carl Reiner does every morning is pick up the paper and read the obituary section to check if he’s named there. “If I’m not, I’ll have my breakfast”—or so he says in the charming and appropriately titled HBO documentary If You’re Not in the Obit,...
When the seniors at Beth Sholom Village and the teens at Ohef Sholom Temple met for the first time last year at an Oneg Shabbat, there were jitters on both sides. But when the two groups came together a few weeks ago for their end-of-year banquet, those jitters were...
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...
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...
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...
The Max Japha Volunteer of the Year award is presented annually by Jewish Family Service of Tidewater to honor an outstanding volunteer for his or her commitment to JFS. This year’s award was presented to Rita Brannan at the JFS Volunteer Appreciation Lunch last...
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....
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...
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...
“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...
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...
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...
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...
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!)...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...