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...
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What Trump can do for Mideast peace on day one
(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...
For Jewish groups in Women’s March, many causes to fight for and a long road ahead
(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...
Reporting to a diverse audience
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...
Join the Society of Professionals’ Professional Directory
Application deadline: May 1 The official merging last fall of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Maimonides Society (medical professionals) and the Business and Legal Society into UJFT’s Society of Professionals, creates an abundance of networking and...
KBH and Temple Israel continue joint celebrations
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...
Finally! Etgar Keret
Israeli author Etgar Keret was slated to speak at Old Dominion University’s Literary Festival this past September. Ahead of his visit, Jewish News published a review of his latest book, A Seven Year Memoir and an article about his receiving the $100,000 Bronfman...
Mazel Tov
Mazel Tov Special Section, January 30, 2017
“Kahbaid” weekend coordinated by Beth Sholom Village February 17–18
We read it every year and are urged to practice it every day. Kahbaid et a’vecha v’et e’mecha. Honor your father and mother is the fifth of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai and which appear first in the Torah in the sedrah Yitro. (Exodus,...
Beth Sholom Village and Beth Sholom Richmond create home health entity
A joint venture between Beth Sholom Village (BSV) and Beth Sholom Richmond (BSR), Generations Home Health is designed to fill the gap in care once a resident leaves a facility and heads home. “We like to know how a Rehab resident fares once they return to their home...
Freda H. Gordon Hospice and Palliative Care of Tidewater receives accreditation from National Institute for Jewish Hospice
One of only two hospices in Virginia to retain accreditation with the National Institute of Jewish Hospices (NIJH), Freda H. Gordon Hospice and Palliative Care of Tidewater again join more than 60 hospices nationwide in achieving the recognition. The accreditation...
Donations still being tallied—and accepted— from super successful Super Sunday
The 2017 Super Sunday Tidewater Jewish community phone-a-thon on January 22 raised more than $118,000 for a variety of programs helping Jews locally and around the world. One hundred volunteers of all ages attended the four-hour event at the Reba and Sam Sandler...
As Obama takes second term, Israelis wonder what the future holds
TEL AVIV (JTA)—Most Israelis were asleep as the polls closed in America and voters waited for the results, but on one rooftop in central Tel Aviv a party with loud classic rock music and flashing lights was going strong. It was the pro-Obama election- watching party...
Maimonides Society learns about cross border disaster preparedness training
Dr. Lior Nesher, former head of the department of emergency medicine at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, spoke to the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Maimonides Society at the Sandler Family Campus last month. The event was sponsored by American Associates,...
Sunday Schools’ outing to Federation provides living history lesson
The number of hands thrust into the air at the end of Maly Jackson’s presentation about her childhood escape from Ethiopia was testimony to the power of her story. A dozen of the Sunday School students visiting the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater wanted to ask...
Road Scholars
That’s R-O-A-D not RHODE. It used to be “Elderhostel” programs, but apparently the connotation of “Elder” was a put-off to people under 90. So, it became “Road Scholar” programs—all over the country; all over the world—and in Baltimore. For us, it started with a call...
Presidential candidates’ Jewish surrogates debate in Virginia
FAIRFAX, Va. (JTA)—Prominent Jewish surrogates for President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney tackled domestic issues and foreign affairs during a cordial debate in Northern Virginia. Former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), representing Obama, faced off against...
Edward and Anne Kramer Create a Jewish Legacy and encourage others to do the same
After a seven-year courtship and 25 years of marriage, Ohef Sholom Temple board president, Ed Kramer, and his wife, Anne, exhibit a warmth and sense of humor with each other that extends outward, embracing everyone they come in contact with. It’s this warmth and humor...
The Mitzvah of Pidyon Shvuyiim
D’var Torah delivered by Harry Graber, executive vice president, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater at the UJFT Annual Campaign kickoff Tonight, we will speak to the Mitzvah of Pidyon Shvuyiim also known as the Redemption or Rescuing of the Captives. This will be...
AJC poll shows 65 percent of Jews supporting Obama
WASHINGTON (JTA)—A new American Jewish Committee poll found 65 percent of Jews nationwide planning to vote for President Obama and 24 percent for Mitt Romney, with another 10 percent undecided. The poll, conducted Sept. 6-17 among 1,040 Jewish voters nationwide, found...
Islamic leaders must call out hatemongers
NEW YORK (JTA)—In 1935, a trial was held in Bern, Switzerland, in which two individuals were being prosecuted for distributing the notorious anti-Semitic document The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. At the trial, witness after witness came forward testifying...
Jacob Moses Levy: Finding the “cool” in Jewish
Jake Levy is prepared for his freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania. Beyond his clothing, his academic supplies and his dorm necessities, he is very clear about his Jewish identity. He declares without hesitation, “I love all things Jewish.” When he reflects...
Friends of Melton Alumni Association kick-off
The launching of the Friends of Melton/Alumni Association sets into place a plan for the future of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School at the Simon Family JCC. Graduates, who have completed the first two years of the Mini-School, recently met to share ideas,...
Back to school time at Hebrew Academy and the Strelitz Early Childhood Center
It’s been an exhilarating few weeks since the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater Konikoff Center of Learning and Strelitz Early Childhood Center preschool students returned to school on Aug. 27. Hallways and classrooms are bright and inviting, and students are now...
Meir Soloveichik vs. David Wolpe: Two rabbis, two parties, two political philosophies
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (JTA)—Republicans and Democrats may not have much common ground this election year, yet their national conventions shared one feature: Both gatherings were blessed from the podium by prominent American rabbis. The Democrats had Rabbi David Wolpe, a...
Democrats return to the economy after Jerusalem detour
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (JTA)—It was the nutsand- bolts convention that nearly broke down over the most ethereal of issues: Jerusalem and God. But by its third and final night, the Democratic National Convention had gotten back on message: jobs, jobs, staying on course with...
Event celebrates and honors Tidewater’s commitment to Jewish rescue and renewal
Thursday, Sept. 27, 6–8 pm In conjunction with the Jewish New Year, the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is beginning its 2013 Annual Campaign to raise awareness and much needed funds to strengthen and perpetuate Jewish life in Hampton Roads, in Israel and...
Calvin Belkov: Creating bright smiles
Calvin Belkov went to Israel for the first time when he was 60 years old. During his childhood, he realized the historical significance of the Jewish homeland because so many of his parents’ generation had perished during the Holocaust. From reading magazines and...
New national blog: “Southern & Jewish”
Jackson, Miss.—The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL) recently launched a new national blog, “Southern & Jewish.” Created in partnership with My Jewish Learning, the blog is hosted on the MyJewishLearning.com website. MyJewishLearning.com...
2013 Annual Campaign begins with emotional photos and first hand accounts
The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s 2013 Annual Campaign begins on Thursday, September 27 from 6-8 p.m., at the Sandler Family Campus. The Kick Off event features the opening of From Gondar to Jerusalem: The Remarkable Rescue of Ethiopia’s Jews, a compelling,...
JTA: GOP, Democratic conventions gain Jewish focus for similarities and gaps
WASHINGTON (JTA)—It sounds like a political double feature with much of the same plot, but with different outcomes for the issues that tend to preoccupy Jewish voters. The same key words and themes are bouncing around Jewish events at the Republican convention in...
Jewish War Veterans national meeting in Tidewater
It began with a chance phone call to Temple Beth El and the question, “Where can a nice group of Jewish War Veterans have a kosher diner in Norfolk?” Several people put their minds together and suggested a dinner hosted at the Simon Family Jewish Community Center....