Other News

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....

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...

Originally from Boston, Dorothy Zimmerman moved to Tidewater in 1982 for a job with a psychiatric hospital. She immediately immersed herself in the community—often seen at Chrysler Hall and wherever else art and theater were taking place—and became active in her...

A native of Shiraz, Iran, Farideh landed in Tidewater in 1975 She is the author of two memoirs, Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman, about her childhood in Iran, and Leaving Iran: Between Migration and Exile, about her family’s departure from the country,...

Rick Mercadante, CSCS, CHC had a wakeup call when he was 48 years old. Overweight, suffering from hypertension, he had become one of the millions of Americans deteriorating from lifestyle related disease. Fearing for his life, Mercadante began a journey of...

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...

I recently returned from attending my first AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington D.C. I admit that I was overwhelmed by the experience and find it almost impossible to describe the amazing amount of knowledge and emotion I was exposed to at the conference. I can’t...

The annual “Varsity vs. Veterans” charity basketball game to benefit the athletic department of Yashivas Aish Kodesh (YAK) was held in the Jaffe Gym on the Sandler Family Campus on Thursday, March 7. A great crowd supported the cause and took their chances at winning...

It was fishnets and hamentashen as the Temple Israel Players presented their annual Purim spiel to an (almost) SRO crowd last month Temple Israel’s congregation knows to expect the unexpected on Purim: for the past several years, the Players have enriched each Megilla...

The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center continues to present quality educational and cultural arts programming to celebrate and highlight the Jewish legacy and contribution to Tidewater. Sunday, March 3, concluded the successful 2012-2013 lecture series: A Minority in...

NEW YORK (JTA)—We have a love-hate relationship with boundaries. We hate being confined or told what to do. Boundaries limit our individuality, intrude upon what we want to do and sometimes feel like an arbitrary obstacle to getting what we want. For children, limits...

March is Social Work Month, a time when Jewish Family Service of Tidewater recognizes and salutes its social workers and case managers. The profession of hope—fueled by resilience and advocacy, social workers daily help millions of struggling people dream differently....

Morgan Morrison is a first-year academic advisor for students in the College of Arts & Letters at Old Dominion University. She gave birth to her first child, daughter Chloe, in April 2012. She remembers how tough it was when deciding what to do for childcare. “I...

After years of repression eroded all signs of Jewish life, one organization stepped in after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and recreated a dynamic educational network that spans nine countries, includes 56 projects in 38 locations and serves more than...

A team from Temple Israel spent an afternoon volunteering at the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia on Monday, Jan. 21. After a brief introduction and instructional video, the group, which ranged in age from 13 to 75, assisted with quality assurance by assessing...