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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...
Staff Report The Simon Family JCC is partnering with Lynnhaven River Now (LRNOW) to collect and distribute reusable bags. This program will help Virginia Beach residents reduce plastic bag pollution and prepare for a future when grocery stores, convenience stores, and...
Rabbi Dave Levy (JTA) — Last week we did it: My wife and I dropped our eldest son off for his first year of college. As you can imagine, it is a heady, emotional moment. There is pride and joy mixed with anxiety and the bittersweet sense that this primary chapter of...
San Francisco rabbis weigh in as robotaxis flood the city’s streets Liz Dovrat (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) Ask a rabbi about self-driving cars and you’d better be ready for a long answer. Self-driving cars — also known as robotaxis, autonomous...
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...
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 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’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...
(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...
(JTA)—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Israel for its support for his country, Sunday, March 6, the day after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett flew to Moscow for a three-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I am grateful to Israel...
A favorite vodka and popular soccer club are making their distance from Russia clear. Yuri Shefler, the Jewish owner of the once Russian and iconic vodka, Stolichnaya, has changed the name to Stoli in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “While I have been exiled...
Knitting and the Holocaust. Two things that most people would not automatically connect. Tanya Singer, founder of the research project, Knitting Hope, seeks to explore this connection through knitted textiles created during the Holocaust. Whether a ragged baby blanket...
Be happy it’s Adar!! That is how Deb Segaloff, president of Congregation Beth El, encourages members to get excited about Purim—the Purim Shpiel, Megillah reading, and hamentaschen taking place at the synagogue on Wednesday, March 16 at 5:45 pm. That is just one of...
(JTA)—The most prominent Jewish figure in Ukraine right now is the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The runner-up may well be another country’s famous Jewish leader. Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of Israel and a native of Kyiv whose family fled amid...
Storytelling is an ancient tradition, one that keeps generations connected—l’dor v’dor. Author Corey Rosen reached and inspired a few generations in Tidewater when he visited February 15–16 as part of the Simon Family JCC and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s...
After Shabbat on Saturday, February 5, families from across Hampton Roads gathered in Chabad House to welcome the new week in style. Children and parents prepared for the Havdallah ceremony by decking themselves out in glow accessories of all kinds. The lights...
V’shinantam l’vanecha, “you shall teach your children, all your children” This philosophy has guided Ohef Sholom Temple in providing a meaningful and appropriate Jewish education for all in its Religious School—creating a welcoming and inclusive environment in which...
BBG (B’nai Brith Girls) held their “Big Little” reveal on Sunday, Feb. 6. “Big Little” is an opportunity for BBGs to create closer connections, form tighter bonds, connect to the happenings of the chapter, and forge lifelong friendships. After an overwhelming response...
During the week of January 31, 45 members of the Tidewater Jewish community signed into Zoom meetings with members of the Virginia General Assembly for Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day[s] 2022. More than 300 delegates from across the Commonwealth came together on...
On a cold weekend in February, the Tidewater community found the opportunity for warmth and reflection with guest sermons, classes, and gallery talks with artist Isaac Brynjegard-Bialik and Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik. This married couple combined Judaism, comic...
Transitioning to college life as a first-year student can be challenging. For undergraduates entering the University of Virginia over the past two years, that transition has, at times, been overwhelming. In addition to figuring out what supplies to stock up on and how...
Camp professionals often get asked: What do you do during the school year? Is planning camp a full year job? What is going to happen this summer? Which week will be Color War? When will Kona Ice be coming? Will field trips be happening? If so, to where? Is your job to...
(JTA)—From the halls of the United States Capitol to the streets of Europe, politicians and activists protesting against vaccine requirements have increasingly invoked the Holocaust. Some are wearing yellow stars, while others are sharing Nazi-era medical documents...