Financial aid applications for 2023-24 school year re-open. Deadline: September 30, 2023 With more than 45 million Americans in some form of outstanding interest-bearing student loan debt, 0% interest loans can help save borrowers thousands of dollars in high...
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Tzofim Friendship Caravan returns to Tidewater with a celebration of unity and culture
Sierra Lautman Israeli Scouts from the Tzofim Friendship Caravan visited Tidewater on July 28 for the first time in four years. Their performances bridge the gap between Israeli and American culture, demonstrating the power of music and unity in fostering connections...
Splashes of fun and farewell: Tidewater says goodbye to Aya and Alma at the August Sunday Fun Day
Nofar Trem A blazing sun over the Metzger Outdoor Aquatic Center at the Simon Family Jewish Community Center helped make certain temperatures were up – in a good way – for Sunday Fun Day in August. The afternoon was a heartwarming convergence of community members,...
How Adam Sandler’s ‘You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah’ imitates real life, from its stars to its parties
Shira Li Bartov (JTA) — To prepare for their role in creating Adam Sandler’s latest movie, crew members hit the Toronto bar and bat mitzvah circuit. Production designer Perry Blake and set decorator Julia Altschul, guided by a local consultant on the Jewish...
In the room when Israel’s President Herzog addressed Congress
On Wednesday, June 19, I had the honor of joining leadership from our Jewish community, as well as leadership from Jewish communities and organizations around the country to hear Israeli President Isaac Herzog address a joint session of the United States Congress. I...
Jewish Federations of North America respond to Israel’s judicial reform vote
In response to the Knesset’s vote earlier today (July 24, 2023) on the Reasonableness Law, Jewish Federations of North America issued the following statement: “The Jewish Federations of North America are deeply pained over the growing polarization we have witnessed in...
A targeted civil rights tour
When I booked my flights for the 2018 Association of Holocaust Organizations conference held in Mobile, Ala., I did not think about extending my trip to visit the then brand-new National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, a two-hour drive north. I vowed...
Strelitz International Academy: Gifts and Pledges for the 2022-2023 school year
Prophet $50,000+ Anonymous United Jewish Federation of Tidewater – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Righteous $20,000 - $49,999 Dozoretz Family Fund Edward Kramer Cindy & Ronald Kramer Celia K. Krichman* Charitable Trust Laura & Jerrold Miller Deb & Peter...
Summertime at Strelitz International Academy
Rainbows, rocket ships, and red, white, and blue spirit are just some of the themes that filled Strelitz International Academy’s classrooms this summer, keeping SIA’s summer session busy both inside and outside of the classroom. To maintain excitement and engagement,...
Pop-Up Shabbats bring community together
This past spring, the Young Adult Division (YAD) of the United Jewish Federation rolled out a program that’s now rolling fast on its own. Since March, the Federation has offered four Shabbat dinners for young Jewish adults that are hosted by community members. Thanks...
Food of beauty: Rosewater
Summer is full of passion, so it is particularly fitting that Tu b’Av takes place during this warm season, this year on August 1. Sort of the “Jewish Valentine’s Day,” Tu b’Av is historically a grape harvest festival during which matchmaking was encouraged and love...
Jewish education: an investment in the future
Nearly $650,000 in scholarship donations were secured for the 2022-2023 school year through Tidewater Jewish Foundation, an approved scholarship foundation under the Virginia Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credits program. These funds have supported families...
Ukrainian refugee with Tidewater ties uses words to emote fear, hope, and gratitude
Stella Kremen emigrated from Ukraine in 1994 to Tidewater with her husband, two boys, and her parents. Her children attended Hebrew Academy of Tidewater. Kremen’s brother stayed behind in Ukraine. Kremen shares the following Instagram post from her niece, Karyna who...
Tidewater teens dive into Dive in Movie
The first “Dive in Movie” in the Simon Family JCC indoor pool took place on Saturday, March 26 with 20 Tidewater middle schoolers and teens attending. The event was hosted by Camp JCC in collaboration with Camp Sababa Beachaway, a Jewish sleepaway camp in Virginia...
S’more Fun on a Sunday afternoon
More than 60 people attended S’more Fun, a collaborative event presented by Camp JCC and Camp Sababa Beachaway on Sunday afternoon, March 27. Families enjoyed crafts, s’mores over a fire pit, and kosher pizza for dinner while children played gaga and other camp games...
Senate unanimously confirms Deborah Lipstadt as antisemitism monitor
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Senate, in a voice vote, unanimously confirmed Deborah Lipstadt, the Holocaust scholar who endured delays and a contentious hearing in her nomination to be antisemitism monitor. The vote late Wednesday, March 30 took mere seconds. “The ayes appear...
Embracing Jewish groups’ request, Biden proposes boosting budget for nonprofit security
WASHINGTON (JTA)—President Joe Biden wants to increase federal funding for security for nonprofits from $250 million to $360 million, a key request advanced by Jewish organizations in the wake of attacks on Jewish institutions. Biden included the funding in the...
Israel’s governing coalition in crisis as right-wing Knesset member resigns, citing Passover food in hospitals
(JTA)—Of all the issues facing Israel—violence within the country, how to handle Russia’s war on Ukraine, Iran—the one that appears to have put the country’s delicate governing coalition at risk could appear picayune. When Idit Silman, a member of Knesset from the...
Support for those who are homeless in the community
When driving up to Congregation Beth El, a group of homeless people are frequently seen across the street at New Life Church waiting to get in to have a meal. Riding down Colonial Avenue, an old woman might be seen pushing a grocery cart with all her belongings in it,...
B’Tayavon: Something new for Passover
Falling in the spring, as it does each year, Passover is a great time to take advantage of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially after enjoying delicious soups and stews during the chillier winter months. Springtime and Passover and asparagus seem to all meet at the...
TJF and Feldman family unveil new medical and health professions scholarship fund
Recently announced by Tidewater Jewish Foundation and the Feldman Family, The Feldman Family Medical and Health Professions Scholarship Fund is an annual scholarship that will award up to $10,000 a year to Jewish students living in Virginia—with priority given to...
Holocaust education at its core: Lessons taught at Norview Middle School
Kindra Mosher, a new media specialist at Norview Middle School, is serious about students learning Holocaust history. A transplant from upstate New York, where Elie Wiesel’s Night was required eighth grade reading, Mosher loves offering students the books that United...
Madeleine Albright, first woman Secretary of State and a refugee who discovered her Jewish roots late in life
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Madeleine Albright was the quintessential late 20th-century Jewish diplomat, haunted by the Holocaust and determined to use what tools her adopted country had to crush inhumanity when it arose. Except she didn’t know she was Jewish until she was in...
Your Dollars at Work: JCC Budapest assists refugees
Devastated by what is happening in Ukraine, the reality in Hungary is that there is a lot to do. As of March 14, more than 250,000 Ukrainians have made their way to Hungary; most refugees arriving are women, children, and seniors (many elderly are disabled), and most...
Russian Jewish oligarchs step down from board of Genesis Group, the Jewish philanthropy they helped found
(JTA)—Russian billionaires Petr Aven, Mikhail Fridman, and German Kahn have stepped down from the board of Genesis Philanthropy Group, a major funder of Jewish causes founded by the trio, after they were sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom. The...
Zelensky offers new details about his family’s Holocaust history, igniting debate over Ukrainian Holocaust memory
(JTA)—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s great-grandparents died when the Nazis burned their village, he said in an interview on CNN Monday, March 21. Speaking through a translator with Fareed Zakaria, Zelensky said, as he has many times before, that his...
RJC PAC endorses Ron Johnson, senator blocking advancement of Deborah Lipstadt as antisemitism monitor
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Republican Jewish Coalition’s affiliated political action committee is endorsing the reelection campaign of Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who has so far blocked the Senate from confirming Deborah Lipstadt, President Joe Biden’s pick to be...
Congress provides historic funding for Israel’s security
Includes supplemental funding for Iron Dome Missile Defense System and Israel Relations Normalization Act U.S. Congress has provided historic funding for Israel’s security and other key provisions in the omnibus funding bill for Fiscal Year 2022. The measure supplies...
B’Tayavon: Pesach for four generations
B’Tayavon is equivalent to French’s Bon Appetit. In Jewish News, B’Tayavon is where locals share favorite recipes. This issue features one of Shari Gutterman Berman’s favorites. Pesach for four generations Shari Gutterman Berman I have such fond memories of sitting...
Tidewater Jewish Foundation gives to Ukraine and inspires individual donors
Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s annual grant to United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s campaign has supported the Jewish community in Ukraine for decades. Today, however, the need is different and immediate. One purpose of grants from Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s...
The Jewish post-rescue era ended with the war in Ukraine
(JTA)—For the past 20 years or so I could write confidently that the Jewish community was in a “post-rescue” era. Following the exodus of Soviet Jews, and the airlifts of Ethiopian Jews, Jewish organizations had to adjust to a reality—perhaps the first in Jewish...