Other News

Now in its 24th year, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater’s Chanukah Gift Program annually helps local Jewish families in financial need with gifts and gift cards for their children and teens, and with money for those without children. This year, JFS received donations...

WASHINGTON ( JTA)—“Cantor Kaufman!” Rabbi Jonah Pesner shouted across the intersection of 3rd and D in Washington’s Northwest quadrant, packed sidewalk to sidewalk with women in pink pussycat hats and their male friends. “A song!” Jason Kaufman, the cantor at Beth El...

(JTA)—In the run-up to his swearing-in on Friday, January 20, President Donald Trump made a series of big promises to Israel. Aside from his oft-repeated pledge to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he has talked about reviving the peace process with...

(JTA)—One Jewish group that joined the Women’s March on Washington has seen its online donations double since the election of Donald Trump as president. Another has twice as many guests as usual attending its annual conference. A third has seen its social media...

An article this month in the London-based The Jewish Chronicle, headlined: “Trump will widen the fissures in Jewish America,” states: “American Jews are well positioned to weather the storm that Mr. Trump has unleashed. The same, however, cannot be said for the...

For the last 16 years, Kehillat Bet Hamidrash/Kempsville Conservative Synagogue and Temple Israel have enjoyed a programming partnership, sharing simchas, celebrations, programs, and prayers. Hanukkah 5777 saw another opportunity for being together. KBH holds an...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...