Other News

As Tidewater’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival was gearing up, the Lessans Family Annual Book Festival at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington was winding down. For its closing program on Sunday, Nov. 13, Jennifer Smith, director of arts and culture...

One hundred anti-Semitic incidents occurred in the 10 days following the presidential election, representing about 12 percent of hate incidents in the U.S. recorded by a civil rights watchdog. The report by the Southern Poverty Law Center looked at 867 hate incidents...

(JTA)—The upset victory by Donald Trump in the 2016 elections stunned a Jewish activist and leadership class that is at times as divided as the electorate at large. JTA asked some of those leaders to describe their concerns and expectations in a series of brief...

On Saturday, Nov. 19, the leader of the white nationalist think tank, the National Policy Institute, Richard Spencer, addressed his faithful at the Ronald Reagan building, blocks from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His words did not veil their references...

Friends, As the year ends, we look back at events, visitors, and achievements— and yes, the challenges—the Tidewater Jewish community experienced in 2016. Our gratitude toward this community’s commitments, its accomplishments, its devotion and its dedication to...

Mitt Romney’s visit on Thursday, May 3 to Portsmouth was an exciting educational opportunity for the students of Toras Chaim. Seventh and eighth grade civics class students have been following the electoral process all year. Having them experience the process first...

As a young child in Moldova, being Jewish meant two things to Zoya Shvartzman: her parents spoke a strange language at home, and she was pushed to be better than anyone else, particularly in school. The language wasn’t identified as Yiddish, nor was the expectation of...

More than 320 notes and signatures were sent by the Tidewater community to Governor Bob McDonnell’s office, advocating for full funding for the Virginia Israel Advisory Board, $175,361 for FY2013 and FY2014. With this funding and a commitment for VIAB to remain an...

On May 5 I headed to Detroit for the annual Plenum of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, otherwise known as the JCPA, the Community Relations Council’s umbrella organization. The JCPA, the public affairs arm of the organized Jewish community, serves as the...

The next time you’re out in the Jewish community, look to your left, look to your right; look at yourself. Chances are you’ll see a Jewish Community Hero. The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater wants to recognize these heroes, sharing the passion and dedication...

Ohef Sholom Temple’s Men’s Club presented William L. Nusbaum with its prestigious Henry B. Kaufmann Award for Service to the temple and the community on Sunday, May 6. Emceed by the Honorable Lou Sherman, several speakers took the podium to praise Nusbaum’s...

The Simon Family JCC serves many different needs in its role as a Community Center. In order to better help those who need assistance to benefit from the JCC’s resources, the center is requesting support from the community. As a recent letter outlined, there are many...

Toras Chaim recently hosted a gala dinner to celebrate its 10 years of providing Jewish education in Tidewater. The program opened with welcoming remarks from Ephriam Adler, the current president of the school. He emphasized that Toras Chaim was founded and continues...

Beth Sholom Village honored its volunteers at a Recognition Luncheon on Thursday, April 26. More than 60 guests enjoyed a delicious lunch catered by The Village Caterers. David Abraham, executive vice president, and Neil Friedman, board president, thanked the...

A primary goal of the newly launched Jewish Women’s Salon is to form a community of women—both live and virtual—where diverse demographic, geographic and Jewish backgrounds are welcome. Another is to initiate and encourage discussions on topics that impact 21st...

People of all backgrounds gathered at The Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond on Sunday, April 22 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the dedication of “Rachel Weeping for her Children,” the Holocaust sculpture commissioned by Bishop Walter Sullivan of the Diocese...

It was a night to remember. The congregation laughed, cried and wept. Purim night at Temple Israel featured talented Megillah readers and a troupe of young Purim players who spoke in “Fakespearean prose.” The adults offered a creative interpretation of the Book of...

October 2011 marked the rebirth of Shir Darom, the Jewish Community Chorus of Hampton Roads, under the direction of Madeline Rossettini. Founded in 1998, Shir Darom, or Song of the South, has recently performed at the Simon Family JCC’s American Jewish Composers...

The head men’s basketball coach at Virginia Tech, Seth Greenberg, has been named the head coach for the USA Open Men’s Basketball Team competing at the 19th World Maccabiah Games in Israel, July 2013. Greenberg just completed his ninth season as head coach at Virginia...

Tal Markowich, youth director at the Matnas, has written about a very special project they have been working on in the youth department. Developed in cooperation between the Pardes Katz community and BMC Software, the project provides one-on-one tutoring for 13...

NEW YORK (JTA)—Regina Spektor has a cold—or as she calls it, “a nondescript New York disease.” The singer is onstage at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York headlining a benefit concert for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, or HIAS, which helped resettle her family in...