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....
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What’s your Israel story?
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....
Mishy Harman: The story he told
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...
Kahbaid weekend brought message of honoring parents and appreciating Beth Sholom Home to entire community
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...
Hands United Building Bridges (HUBB) to be honored at Tidewater Humanitarian Awards Dinner
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,...
Camp
March 20, 2017 Camp Section
Israel Today’s Princess Shaw receives standing ovations
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...
Retired! Martin B. Mandelber
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...
Retired! Dorothy Zimmerman
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...
Retired! Farideh Goldin
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,...
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...
Tidewater Jewish community works together to build first-ever database
“We want to work together, we want to communicate together and we want to build and strengthen our community together! We want to do it, we need to do it and the technology is there to do it, so let’s move forward and finally do it! Let us build a community data base...
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...