Southeastern Virginia: Chesapeake • Norfolk • Portsmouth • Suffolk • Virginia Beach
Archives
I hear it over and over again – “Mi K’amcha Yisrael” – Who is like you the Jewish people?Enter the world of mitzvot – our secret weapon. How could that be? After all, what is a mitzvah? It’s a commandment in the Torah, which is 3,500 years old. How could doing a...
Guided by the principles of tzedakah (charity) and tikkun olam (repairing the world), Tidewater Jewish Foundation is dedicated to creating permanent resources for the Jewish community. The many facets of community involvement in which TJF is engaged have caused some...
Tidewater is starting its third year working with the Jewish Agency for Israel, hosting Shinshinim (Israeli Emissaries) to bring Israeli culture, knowledge, and experiences to people of all ages. Shinshin is an acronym for Shenat Sherut – a year of service given by an...
A recent Tidewater Jewish Foundation grant enabled Strelitz International Academy to purchase 50 enhanced emergency first aid and Stop the Bleed kits, significantly improving and enhancing the school’s emergency preparedness and response capabilities.In addition to...
Children signing brachot in American Sign Language (ASL). Students harmonizing with hand-drumming while singing Oseh Shalom. Kids laughing while playing drama games they learned at day camp. ASL interpreters at community events. What’s going on?Sharon Serbin is going...
A minor Jewish holiday, Tu B’Av is celebrated as a holiday of love. This year, it begins on the evening of Sunday, August 18 and ends at nightfall on Monday, August 19. There are few gestures that say “I love you” quite like making someone a meal. But as a chef, I...
Sherry Lieberman is the winner of the Jewish News contest for two passes to the Beyond Monet: The Immersive Experience at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Sponsored by the Virginia Arts Festival, the Monet experience showcases more than 400 of Monet’s most iconic...
Windsurfing to wrestling – Jewish athletes earned at least 16 medals (at press time) at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.The stories about these Olympians are all interesting – even for those who don’t care all that much about sports. Read about them at JTA.org. Gold medals...
The successful 16th Biennial Educators' Conference, hosted by the Holocaust Commission and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, offered invaluable resources and insights to educators dedicated to teaching about...
The Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater celebrated a remarkable year of Jewish education with a Celebration of Lifelong Learning event last month. This year, dedicated learners deepened their knowledge of Jewish history, thought,...
The fifth and sixth grade girls from Toras Chaim took a trip to the Maimonides Health Center in Virginia Beach on Monday, June 10.An innovative idea of Kayla Weinreb to teach her students about the act of chessed (kindness) while bringing joy to the Center’s...
After achieving plenty of recognition and success during the 2023- 2024 school year, the Be A Reader (BeAR) Literacy Project is now planning for the 2024-2025 school year.During this school year, BeAR worked with more than 100 second-grade students in Norfolk and...
On April 12, 1945, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, accompanied by United States Generals George S. Patton and Omar Bradley, toured the Ohrdruf concentration camp, the first camp to be liberated by US forces after...
Stephanie Peck Avraham Ashkenazi has lived in the United States for almost half of his life, but there is no disputing that he’s an Israeli, first and foremost. Forty years in this country has not altered his thick accent, nor has it diminished his love for Israel....
Stephanie Peck Looking for an investment in residential real estate? Opinions vary as to whether or not this is a good time for a non-owner-occupied buyer to purchase a house or duplex to rent or flip. Mortgage rates are at a 20-year high, and inventory is low in...
Todd Holcomb Excitement and anticipation were percolating for months around the opening of Fiddler on the Roof at the historic—and newly renovated—Wells Theatre. Finally, after all the intricate planning, midnight rehearsals, and engaging lead-up events, the Tidewater...
WASHINGTON (JTA) — As of November, Israelis will be able to enter the United States without a visa, a major change that Israel has long sought and that will ease travel for hundreds of thousands of its citizens. Israel’s entry into the Visa Waiver Program, which now...
State elections take center stage. Drew Goodove, JCRC Summer Intern All seats in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate are up for grabs on Tuesday, November 7. With so many vital issues, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish...
Ron Kampeas WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration is aiming to counter antisemitic discrimination in federally-funded transit systems, housing, food programs, and other areas — one of the most major actions the White House has taken since it unveiled a...
Area attorneys: Committed to their work, family, and communities Firm Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers The Car Crash Experts Specialty Personal Injury – Helping folks hurt in wrecks against insurance companies. Education University of California Berkeley, Phi Beta Kappa...
Area attorneys: Committed to their work, family, and communities Firm Glasser & Macon PC Specialty Real Estate, Estates, Corporations, Civil Litigation Education University of Virginia, BS University of Virginia, JD Jewish organizations and involvement Ohef Sholom...
Area attorneys: Committed to their work, family, and communities Firm Cooper, Spong & Davis, P.C. Specialty Creditor’s Rights, Collection law, Credit Union law Education University of Virginia Cumberland School of Law Jewish organizations and involvement I have...
Area attorneys: Committed to their work, family, and communities Firm Virginia Indigent Defense Commission Norfolk Public Defender’s Office Specialty Criminal Law Education University of Miami University of Florida, JD Jewish organizations and involvement: I have...
Governor Glenn Youngkin announced several administration and board appointments on Friday, Sept. 29. Among them, Debbie Casey, Wood Rogers Vandeventer Black principal and vice chair, was appointed to Virginia’s Common Interest Community Board. The board regulates...
Terri Denison Last month, Jeffrey F. Brooke was elected chairman of the Norfolk Economic Development Authority. A member of Norfolk’s EDA since 2019, Brooke says he initially volunteered on this citizen’s board “because I was born and raised in Norfolk and have a real...
Robyn Weiner The High Holiday food drive at Ohef Sholom Temple is as much a part of the high holidays as Avinu Malkeinu. Each year, the synagogue’s youth group, OSTY (Ohef Sholom Temple Youth), organizes a food drive to benefit OST’s own soup kitchen and Jewish Family...
Alex Weisler (JTA) — A catalog of calamities is central to the liturgy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We Jews are asked to imagine ourselves perched on the precipice of life and death. Nothing frames it as starkly as Unetaneh Tokef, the roll call of ruin enumerating...
Stephanie Peck Each summer, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater submits a five-year, Jewish holiday calendar to area school districts, arts leaders, elected officials, and similar public and private institutions which...
Ally St. Pierre A reimagined entryway with a beautiful IB®-themed mural and new toddler classrooms helped contribute to the excitement as Strelitz International Academy welcomed the new school year with open arms and smiling faces on Monday, August 21. Three days...
Robin Ford For nearly a quarter of a century, the Be a Reader Literacy Project has transformed students’ lives in Norfolk and Virginia Beach Title I schools by igniting their passion for reading. As it enters its 24th year of operation, the project stands as a shining...
Elana McGovern joins United Jewish Federation of Tidewater as director of Young Leadership Campaign Amy Zelenka Throughout her professional career, Elana McGovern has worked in non-profits and philanthropy, consistently centering her work on the essential Jewish value...
Nofar Trem Children, grandparents, and everyone in between, joined PJ Library in Tidewater and UJFT’s Young Adult Division on Friday, August 25 at the Sandler Family Campus for a celebratory End of Summer Shabbat. Swimming with friends and family, adult deep-water...