WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden unveiled a multifaceted and broad strategy to combat antisemitism in the United States that reaches from basketball courts to farming communities, from college campuses to police departments. “We must say clearly and forcefully...
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Strelitz International Academy’s fifth graders take lessons to heart
Research, learning, and action were all on display at Strelitz International Academy’s fifth grade exhibit on Tuesday, May 23. Since SIA is an IB® World School, the fifth graders document their learning, research, and action and present it at the Primary Years Program...
Annual Fishing Derby reels ‘em in
More than 75 people were busy having fun casting bait into Lake Sandler for this year’s Fishing Derby on Sunday, May 21. With perfect weather and 40 prizes and raffle items, plenty of smiles were caught along with the fish. The largest fish of the day, a 4 lb., 3 oz....
Jewish institutions awaken to climate crisis, with hundreds pledging action
(JTA) — For a decade starting in 2002, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi devoted herself to pro-Israel advocacy. After that, the Jewish philanthropist and activist from Annapolis, Maryland, went all in to fight for disability rights, working in the field for the next decade....
THE HUMUSIYA: Feeding your roots
They say, “we are what we eat.” Maybe this is because food is more than just the building blocks of our physical body. . .it is also feeds our spirit. It reflects our emotions, “I need something fried today!” our attitude, “I am feeling bold and spicy!” and our...
Yom Hashoah: A time to remember and honor
This year’s Yom Hashoah Commemoration, honoring the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, as well as liberators and righteous gentiles, brought the community together around awareness, sadness, honor, hope, and the understanding that the ordinary can be...
The Pasta-bilities are endless in kindergarten at Strelitz
Setting goals and acquiring new skills are at the heart of kindergarten at Strelitz International Academy. This year, each student in Jamie Baker’s kindergarten class set a goal to accomplish with their classmates’ help. Goals included baking a Barbie cake, making and...
Leah Steerman wins Southern Jewish essay contest
The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience’s 2023 Middle School Essay contest’s first place winner is Leah Steerman of Virginia Beach. With the prompt, “If you were building a Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, which 3 things would you put in it?” MSJE,...
Thelma Carroll: Education trailblazer in the Be A Reader (BeAR) Program
A trailblazer and an active Be A Reader (BeAR) mentor, Thelma Carroll has impacted many lives. In 1960, Carroll applied to and was accepted at Lincoln University, a historically black university in Pennsylvania. She majored in English and graduated in 1964 with...
Virginia Beach School Board reviews books in school libraries
The Virginia Beach School Board met on Tuesday, April 25, to discuss, among other topics on their agenda, potential changes to the library media centers in each of the division’s schools. Virginia Beach citizens of all backgrounds spoke at the meeting about their...
May is Jewish American Heritage Month
An annual recognition and celebration of the more than 350-year history of Jewish achievements and contributions to the fabric of American life and culture in the United States, Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) is held during the month of May. JAHM was first...
TJF seeks new donors for education tax credit program
Tidewater Jewish Foundation, an approved scholarship foundation under the Virginia Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credit (EISTC) Program, is looking for new donors before its current fiscal/program year ends on June 30, 2023. BINA High School, Strelitz...
Books for area schools
Each year the Holocaust Commission’s White Rose project donates educational materials to ALL middle and high schools in the area. Commission volunteers finish packing up this year’s books to be delivered to school libraries.
Colin Powell, who brokered the Middle East ‘road map’ to peace, dies at 84
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Colin Powell will be remembered in history as the first Black U.S. national security advisor, the first Black military chief of staff and the first Black secretary of state. He was also the first military chief to speak Yiddish as a second language,...
With Yair Lapid at his side, Blinken uses a word that Israel has been longing to hear on Iran
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Yair Lapid got what he wanted out of his Washington visit: the word “every,” instead of “other.” During Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s first meeting with President Biden in August, Bennett was happy with what he heard: the American...
Navy has three rabbis stationed in Tidewater
Three rabbis walk into a bar. One Reform, one Conservative, one Orthodox. The story is significantly less funny than you might imagine. While, in general, rabbis tend to be pretty funny people when you get them together in social settings, this was a business meeting....
FIDF Virginia Chapter meets, celebrates, and hears from Israeli military leaders
American athletes have won a total of 2,673 medals in the history of the Olympics, so the chances of meeting an American medal winner is low, but not impossible. Given that Israeli athletes have won only 13 medals, what are the chances of meeting an Israeli medal...
29 years of helping local Jewish children and teens
Jewish Family Service received this thank you note from an 11-year-old girl after Hanukkah last year: Dear JFS Helpers: Thank you for including me in the Chanukah gift drive. I live with my grandma and she and I have to watch how we spend money. My grandma surprised...
How to leverage giving opportunities at TJF
As the end of 2021 approaches, there’s a greater sense of normality: people are returning to society and the workplace. Yet, millions of people across the globe are still being impacted by COVID-19. Still, there is a silver lining: according to Giving USA 2021, a...
New novel, The Serpent Papers, focuses on Vietnam War
The Serpent Papers by Jeff Schnader, an area author and professor of medicine, is set on Columbia University’s campus amidst protests against the Vietnam War. This is the first book written about Columbia’s 1972 demonstrations. For the Vietnam War generation, the war...
All Jewish teens are invited to join BBYO
Tidewater BBYO invites all area Jewish teens to get involved. BBYO provides teens in eighth through 12th grades the opportunity to make friends, gain leadership experience, and have fun being Jewish. All BBYO programming is peer led: the teens plan and create...
First Person: New book provides an interactive manual of important life skills
Your Journey Beyond Breast Cancer: Tools for the Road Louise B. Lubin, PhD Every woman remembers the moment she heard, “You have breast cancer.” These words begin a long winding journey with potential roadblocks and detours. Wherever one may be on their cancer...
Memorial Service at BSV remembers those departed since last year
It is a Jewish custom to remember family members and friends on the anniversary of their passing. A memorial prayer is recited, a candle is lit, and donation is often given in memoriam. After not gathering in person for more than one year, Beth Sholom Village held a...
Weddings 2021: Happy ever after, hitches and all
The 2020–21 wedding theme is a mix of Suspend Disbelief and Hello Fantastical. For three recently married couples, snookered by the pandemic and forced to alter their original dream wedding plans dramatically, getting the last laugh was extra sweet. Erin Leon and...
Bittersweet blessings for Paul Turok’s growing family
Paul Len Turok was born to count many blessings: Building a sweet life with Vivian (Viv); moving from South Africa to Virginia at just the right time; feeling embraced by the local Jewish community; raising two healthy children with good souls and great hair; and...
PJ Library in Tidewater’s Pizza in the Hut: a Sukkot celebration
Tidewater families gathered in the sukkah on the Sandler Family Campus for a Sukkot celebration on Sunday, September 19. The path to the sukkah featured a life-sized book walk of images from The Harvest Blessings by Amy Meltzer, a PJ Library author. In the sukkah,...
Simon Family Passport to Israel recipient Nathan Prince soaks in the Israel experience
The Israel trip was an experience of a lifetime! A couple of reasons why I chose to be a part of the Journey 5 trip to Israel include making new connections and experiencing historical and culturally important areas in my homeland. Growing up Jewish was not easy. In...
Elie Wiesel Competition’s 2021 winners now online
www.holocaustcommission.jewishva.org It took 25 years and a coronavirus to push the Elie Wiesel student competitions (art and writing) to their new online format. Since most public and many private school students spent their year in remote learning, the Holocaust...
Sunday Fun Day moves into fall
The new tradition of Sunday Fun Day continued this fall as PJ Library in Tidewater welcomed families to the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community on September 12 for an afternoon of field games, music, and ice cream. Families with...
Reception for revered artist and matriarch turns into a virtual delight
Collectors, family, friends, and mentors gathered from across the country—and globe—to honor artist Lorraine Fink during a reception celebrating Then, Now, & Looking Forward: Lorraine Fink Retrospective. The reception was held via Zoom on Sunday, Sept. 12. As a...
Beth Sholom Village’s Micro Farm
Farm to table has become accessible to Beth Sholom Village by way of a very futuristic-looking farm. The “farms” are in towers that resemble modern art sculptures. The crops can be seen in the beautiful six-foot case that emits a warm light and varying hues of green....
PJ Library in Tidewater receives grant to strengthen social connections, increase opportunities for Jewish experiences and learning
Tidewater families raising Jewish children will now have more opportunities to participate in Jewish life, thanks to a grant recently awarded to United Jewish Federation of Tidewater by PJ Library®, the flagship program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that provides...
