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,...
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A healthy lifestyle for all ages
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...
Nine things you didn’t know about Purim
(My Jewish Learning via JTA)—With costumes, spiels and lots of drinking, Purim is one of Judaism’s most raucous holidays. You might know about beautiful Esther thwarting evil Haman’s plans, the custom of getting drunk and what hamantaschen are. But we’re guessing...
Stein College Scholarship deadline is approaching
Deadline: Friday, March 31 Applications are still being accepted for the Stein Family College Scholarship for the 2017-2018 academic year. The annual grant for Jewish students in Tidewater provides a scholarship of up to $10,000 a year for college tuition. Established...
With few safeguards, Jewish cemeteries make easy targets for vandals
NEW YORK (JTA)—Sometime between the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 17, and the following Monday morning, vandals damaged 170 gravestones at the Chesed Shel Emeth Jewish cemetery outside St. Louis. Beyond that, cemetery staffers aren’t sure when the attack happened....
JCPA Calls for Action Against Bomb Threats Against Jewish Community
Washington DC—The ongoing bomb threats aimed at Jewish Community Centers (JCCs) have sown fear in more than 100 Jewish communities and institutions across the country. “We call upon our public officials, in both word and deed, to do everything in their power to put a...
Kim Simon Fink to receive Humanitarian Award
Thursday, March 30, 5:45 pm The Westin, Virginia Beach Town Center The Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities has selected Kim Simon Fink to be among those receiving its prestigious Humanitarian Awards this year. She will be honored at the 53rd annual Tidewater...
2017 Operation Hamantaschen was full of dough
During Operation Hamantaschen, the annual family-baking event at the Simon Family JCC, 20 pounds of flour and 54 eggs went into the creation of 800 triangular-shaped Hamantaschen cookies that are traditionally eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim. This year for...
Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day 2017
Jewish Family Service. Israeli business opportunities. Support for scholarship tax credits (including local Jewish day schools). Elie Wiesel recognition. These are just some of the issues that are examined by the Virginia State legislature, many of which are near and...
Alan Morinis lead a four-day journey to a soulful Jewish life
Six local synagogues and temples opened their doors last month to embrace Alan Morinis, founder and dean of the Mussar Institute. Morinis lead discussions about the practice of Mussar, a Jewish spiritual path that emphasizes self-awareness and action as key to...
Retirement
March 6, 2017 Retirement Section
Fitness, family, and fun at JFit Today
New equipment, new classes, and reduced fees at Simon Family JCC JFit Today, Simon Family Jewish Community Center’s newly remodeled fitness center at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus, has a snappy new slogan, brand new Precor equipment, and some new joining...
Israel posters are up: Time to vote
Beginning Wednesday, Feb. 13 through Friday, March 1, community members can help a young artist become a big winner in the Israel Advocacy Poster Contest, sponsored by the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Last month, the CRC...
Return on investment: Jewish Family Service in Budapest
This year, Tidewater is helping provide more than 1,066 Hungarian children from 586 families with comprehensive social services. Since 2007, through the generosity and vision of Tidewater’s Jaffe family and the continued support of the United Jewish Federation of...
Will Obama’s planned Israel visit revive Israel-Palestinian peacemaking?
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Is President Obama’s plan to visit Israel a sign that he’s ready to take another shot at Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking? The White House announced Tuesday, Feb. 5 that Obama would visit Israel in the spring, his first trip there as president. He did...
Fans and family of Art Modell praying for Ravens Super Bowl victory, Hall of Fame entry
NEW YORK (JTA) -- Every Sunday during the football season, a group of 30 diehard Jewish Baltimore Ravens fans suit up in purple pants, jerseys, socks, face paint and special Ravens tzitzit to watch the game together. If the game falls on a Saturday, the club gathers...
A return on investment: Baby Help in Argentina goes intergenerational
Rosana Jacofsky, a long-time teacher at the Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) Baby Help day care program in Buenos Aires, Argentina dedicates the majority of her time to children with physical and psychological difficulties. “We are constantly reminded that love...
Women’s Seder explores old and new Passover traditions
Sunday, March 17, noon–2 pm Take three of the most enthusiastic, creative, involved, Jewish women in Tidewater. Ask them to plan a Passover Seder, open to all women in the community. Tell them they have two hours to share the story of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, and...
Jewish community expert to visit Tidewater
Thursday, Feb. 7–Sunday, Feb. 9 Dr. Ron Wolfson, an expert in the field of synagogue and Jewish community transformation, will appear on four separate occasions in Norfolk and Virginia Beach to speak, teach and interact with the community. A professor of education at...
First film in CRC series attracts diverse audience
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...
Obama’s likely takeaway from Israeli election: More two-state advocates
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...
Jewish Democrats low key, grateful at second inauguration
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...
Jewish religious, lay leaders join call to ban assault weapons
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...
Community members plan to keep their Annual Date with the State
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...
Using data, Jewish groups try to turn the art of fundraising into a science
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...
Winter sheltering program at Congregation Beth Chaverim
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...
Toras Chaim receives $1,000 grant through Box Tops for Education/Commissary program
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...
JCC Seniors Club installs new officers
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,...
Cardboard? Not just for recycling
The first article on Israeli innovation appeared in the Nov. 26, 2012 issue of Jewish News. It featured a host of Israeli inventions that are familiar to many people around the world. In this article and subsequent ones, the Israel Advocacy Committee will introduce...
Jews and pro-Israel community warm to prospect of a Secretary of State John Kerry
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...
Newtown massacre prompts Jewish groups to push for action on gun control
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...
At first Newtown funeral, Noah Pozner remembered as loving ‘little man’
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...