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...
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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...
Don’t miss the Camp JCC experience
With summer right around the corner, Camp JCC is gearing up for another exciting season. Last year’s day camp program was so successful that this year’s spots are filling fast – good news for the camp and an incentive for parents to register children for a summer...
Judy Blume is having a moment. Here’s why Jewish women love her
Two films – one about her and one based on one of her most popular books – are screening now. . . before the summer heats up and more time is spent outside... away from theaters and televisions. (JTA) — As a young teenager growing up in Manhattan, Nina Kauder found it...
Thank you to the generous Israel Fest sponsors!
• Avraham and Karen Ashkenazi • Harbor Group International • ZIM Integrated Shipping Services • AIPAC • United Airlines • Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters • Dominion Energy • Worth Higgins & Associates • Jpixx • Hatcher & Frey Orthodontics • Jewish...
Ukrainian Humanity Center
In the summer of 2022, I took a Holocaust study trip to Poland, which I spoke about at Ohef Sholom and wrote about in the Jewish News. That article closed with the fact that I was working with some of my fellow travelers to “do something” for the Ukrainian mothers and...
AIPAC Political Student Leadership Summit: an enriching experience
Standing on the steps of the United States Capitol, I was filled with a sense of gratitude and awe as I thought about the generations of Jews who came before me. I imagined how they must have viewed the United States’ overwhelming support for Israel as an unattainable...
BeARS, books…and Coasties…OH MY!
Lieutenant Kelly Kuong and Chief Warrant Officer Melinda Skinner are part of a group of four United States Coast Guardsmen who serve as BeAR mentors at Chesterfield Academy Elementary School. From Jupiter, Fla., Kuong says of reading with her second grade BeAR...
Looking forward to 5782
Who would have thought 18 months ago, that we would still be speaking about COVID-19 as we approach another Jewish New Year? With our nation and world, we continue to combat the virus. But now we fight in a stronger position—with vaccinations—as we pivot daily and...
JCRC shares holiday calendar with schools, civic organizations
Elka Mednick As summer comes to a close and the High Holidays approach, annual concerns regarding conflicts between the academic calendar and the holidays are brought to the forefront. This year, the usual first day of school for public school students, the day after...
High Holiday Services in Jewish Tidewater 5782
Compiled by Ronnie Jacobs Cohen, Shalom Tidewater Editor’s note: This listing is current as of Wednesday, August 18. Due to the evolving nature of COVID-19, it is advised to check with congregations to learn specific protocols for attending High Holiday Services,...
Be A Reader program enters 22nd year prepared to help students
Robin Ford As another potentially challenging school year is about to start, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Be a Reader (BeAR) program is gearing up for 2021–22. The program’s volunteers and staff hope to be able...
TJF Community Impact Grant helps Toras Chaim renovate auditorium
Thomas Mills Tidewater Jewish Foundation awarded a $7,500 Community Impact Grant in March to Toras Chaim to renovate their auditorium. Serving Tidewater’s Jewish community for almost 20 years, the school has undergone an extensive beautification project. Renovations...
Camp JCC campers make mitzvot the center of their camp experience
Michelle Fenley Two special groups of Camp JCC campers demonstrated this summer that joy can be found through doing mitzvot. Despite the limitations that COVID‑19 placed on summer experiences, the two oldest groups of campers at the Simon Family JCC’s summer camp...
Sprint 8 Challenge finishes strong with lost weight and gained energy
Earlier this summer, 14 members of the Simon Family Jewish Community Center participated in the Sprint 8 Cardio Challenge. “I wanted to challenge our members to change how they’re doing cardiovascular exercise with a clinically tested workout that provided real...
Peace in Israel is fragile but support is stronger than ever
Lisa Richmon The pandemic surges and lulls before it rises again, but attacks on Israeli peace remains a front burner issue that never lets up. United Jewish Federation of Tidewater continues its partnership with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, known...
Tokyo Olympics: All the Jewish athletes to watch
Emily Burack (JTA)—The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are finally happening, a full year after they were planned. And yes, they’re still being called the 2020 Olympics, even though they’re happening in 2021. The Jewish athletes competing this year—and there are many—are the...
Jewish life at Beth Sholom Village
Rabbi Adam Ruditsky Beth Sholom Village is not just a long-term care facility or rehab, an assisted living or memory care, but it is a dwelling place for Jewish life. At least that was so for Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, z’’l, who said: “A test of a people is how it...
Mitzvah of the Month at Temple Israel provides help to many throughout the community
Temple Israel participated in another successful Mitzvah of the Month in June by conducting a Jewish Family Service food drive titled, “Bare Necessities.” Members of the congregation donated money, food, and products that families need to survive the summer....
Birthright Israel is back
Taglit-Birthright Israel is proving it can survive a bout of logistics hiccups such as those presented when tourist travel in and out of Israel is prohibited. Trips may get canceled or re-scheduled, but what’s immune to change is the program’s Why. Existing to connect...
Ben & Jerry’s stopped using social media after violence erupted in Israel. Why?
(JTA)–Pro-Palestinian activists were swarming the social media comments sections of Ben & Jerry’s to demand the company boycott Israel. In response, Ben & Jerry’s appears to have indeed entered a boycott—of social media itself. The international ice cream...
The Pew study cheat sheet: 10 key conclusions from the new survey of American Jews
Ben Sales (JTA)—Meet America’s Jews: They’re older, more educated, richer, and less religious, on average, than the rest of the country. They’re overwhelmingly white, though Jews under 30 are more diverse. Most of them care about Israel, though one in 10 support the...
Adult programming at the Simon Family JCC to return in-person
For more than a decade, the JCC Book Club has met, and in that time, has read more than 150 books. There’s no surprise, then, that this group did not let the pandemic slow them down. Not only did the group continue to read and meet over Zoom, but the JCC Book Club...
How an IRA Charitable Rollover gift can reduce taxes
For those who are 70½ or older who have an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and want to make a lasting impact on Tidewater’s Jewish community, an IRA Charitable Rollover with the Tidewater Jewish Foundation might be worth considering. By tapping into this asset,...
Bourbon, cigars, and conversation for Nadiv Men’s Giving Circle at the Cavalier
Nadiv Men’s Giving Circle met for the first time in more than a year at the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club for an evening of cigars, bourbon, and community. The men discussed plans for the group for the upcoming year and celebrated being able to gather in-person. Nadiv...
Temple Israel’s Men’s Club earns international recognition
Temple Israel Men’s Club won the Gold Torch Award on Wednesday, June 9, during the weeklong Virtual International Men’s Club Convention held in Chicago. The Torch Awards are given in alternate years during the convention. After three days of preparation, the award was...
Shmoozing on the beach with YAD
United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division, also known as YAD, gathered on the evening of Wednesday, June 16 at the home of Stephanie Calliott and Don London for a Seashore Shmooze event. As pandemic restrictions ease, YAD has a full calendar of...
Biden administration supports replenishing Iron Dome after Gaza conflict
WASHINGTON (JTA)—A Biden administration official said the U.S. government supports restocking Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system after it was depleted by last month’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Dozens of House members from both parties have said they would push...
