It’s time to gather family and friends for Pesach and join in a moment of reflection…to take stock of values and hold fast to what’s most important in the coming days, weeks, and months. At Tidewater Jewish Foundation, we are doing just that. When we think about the...
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Shinshinim in Tidewater – It has been a month full of celebrations!
We recently had the chance to lead Tu B’Shevat and Purim activities around the community. It was a pleasure to participate in the region’s many festivities and share our experiences from celebrating these holidays in Israel with people of all ages. We’ve...
Anna Burk’s story from Holocaust Commission’s To Life: The Past is Present
Recently published, To Life: The Past is Present: Holocaust Stories of Hampton Roads Survivors, Liberators and Rescuers, is the book’s second edition. This anthology contains recollections of ghetto and concentration camp survivors, hidden children, Jews on the...
Brith Sholom elects new officers, back in full-swing
More than 100 Brith Sholom members gathered at the Simon Family JCC on Sunday, Feb. 5, to learn the results of the 2022–2024 election. The newly elected officers are President, Dave Lesser; Vice President, Ray Rebby; Treasurer, Joe Goldberg; Secretary, Ed Landress....
Joan and Eric Joffe: 50 Years
Jewish News: When and where did you meet? Joan and Eric Joffe: We met on the beach in Clifton, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa in December 1968. JN: What was most memorable about your wedding? J&E: Our wedding on April 10, 1973 was during the time of...
Stephanie and Tyler Caskill: 10 years
Jewish News: You are both Tidewater natives. When and where did you meet? Stephanie Jarvis Caskill and Tyler Caskill: We met in 2011 at a mutual friend’s house. JN: What was most memorable about your wedding? S&T: Having so many of our friends and family...
Sarah and Bill Keasey: 10 years
Jewish News: When and where did you meet? Sarah and Bill Keasey: We met online May 5, 2008 on Bikerkiss.com. We both had Harleys. JN: What was most memorable about your ceremony? S&B: The most memorable was to have our wonderful family and friends surround us. JN:...
Pam Gladstone: Loving family and congregants at 80
In August, Pam Gladstone, executive director for Congregation Beth El, turns 80. For more than three of her nearly nine decades, congregants, vendors, and visitors to Beth El have been accustomed to Pam’s friendly greeting at the sanctuary’s door or on the phone....
Mazel Tov: Leadership growth at Beth Sholom Village
Two members of the leadership team at Beth Sholom Village were recently recognized with promotions, new designations earned, and for their community-wide work. Mazel Tov Lauren Schoenfeld and Amy Weinstein! Lauren Schoenfeld, LNHA The new administrator of the...
Jean-Pierre Weill speaks of love and evolution
Artist Jean-Pierre Weill recently spoke to Alene Jo Kaufman of KBH Synagogue about his book, Evolve: A Children’s Book for Adults as part of the Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival. The conversation took place on Zoom. Weill, a father of five who was...
Team swims to records
The Swordfish winter youth swim team may have been small, but they accomplished big things. Lead by coaches Leia Sabatini and Kayleigh Carnazza, the Swordfish broke 14 team records this season. During their three swim meets, Sawyer White, 9 years old, set three new...
Alleging exclusion, Jewish faculty boycott James Madison University’s Holocaust commemoration event
(JTA)—An event that took place at James Madison University on Thursday, Jan. 26 to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day was scheduled to feature lectures about the legacies of Auschwitz and the intersection between white supremacy and antisemitism. There was...
Cantor Elihu Flax retires from Beth Sholom Village
After almost 18 years of serving the spiritual and religious needs of Beth Sholom Village as its director of Religious Services, Cantor Elihu Flax is retiring in July. Cantor Flax became a fixture at BSV, taking an interest in all of the residents who lived there,...
Rabbi Adam Ruditsky joins BSV
Beth Sholom Village is set to welcome Rabbi Adam Ruditsky as its new Religious Cultural Leader. Ordained by the Academy for Jewish Religion of California in Los Angeles, Ruditsky embraces the words of the Kotzker Rebbe, who taught, “a whole heart is a broken heart,”...
Camp JCC is filling fast, spaces are limited
The most common questions that people ask regarding summer camp, says Dave Flagler, Camp JCC director, concerns swimming. “People want to know if swimming will take place,” he says. “’Of course, it will!’ I tell everyone.” Camp JCC, after all, is known for its...
Shalom Tidewater welcomes new neighbors to Jewish Tidewater
Have you met or do you know someone who has recently moved to our community? If so, Shalom Tidewater would love to welcome them on behalf of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Simon Family JCC. Please direct them to the link on our website,...
Dear Hampton Roads Friends and Family,
As you may have already heard, Rebecca Aleck Koltun, daughter of Virginia Beach native Audrey (Aleck) Koltun and her husband Scott, and the granddaughter of Helen and Warren Aleck, suffered a life-altering, horrific skiing accident on March 13. Rebeca severely...
your dollars at work: Romania Jews enjoy heart-to-heart Passover celebration without face-to-face contact
Like Jews around the globe, Romanian Jews have their own history and reason to be proud to belong to the big family of Bereshit, where they learn together and celebrate Judaism. “As we all turn to preparing for Pesah in our homes, I am proud to share what is taking...
Brith Sholom installs new board
In February, Brith Sholom held their first successful online elections, which were necessary due to the pandemic. The newly elected officers and board members were installed during a Zoom meeting on Sunday, March 7. The installed officers and board members are: Joe...
Grants available for first-time campers to Jewish overnight camps
As the world begins to safely open up, many families are beginning to look for activities for their children this summer. For those considering Jewish overnight camps, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation is partnering with the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s One Happy Camper...
A Time To Mourn From Death to Renewal
Pandemic A dangerous new phenomenon entered our 2020 vision. A novel virus would forever change our lives and our times. Marching us from spring and falling into autumn without even looking. Dementia Her normal eccentricity quickly magnified into the bizarre. Storing...
TJF Thanks Legacy Donors
Today, we honor and thank our Legacy donors, who have committed themselves to the future of the Tidewater Jewish community. Your gift(s) will help meet the challenges and needs our community faces for generations to come. Thank you. View TJF Life & Legacy list.
Yeshivas Aish Kodesh brings students to Norfolk and sends them out in the world, fully prepared
Yeshivas Aish Kodesh Talmudical Academy of Norfolk is a four-year high school for Jewish boys, offering a dual curriculum of Judaic Studies, along with a complete General Studies program —in a religious environment. The pride and joy of the YAK staff is the...
Grant helps feed the hungry
Jewish Family Service received a grant from Food Lion Feeds Charitable Foundation in the amount of $2,500 to purchase food for members of the community who might otherwise go hungry.
Israeli Supreme Court rules state must grant citizenship to non-Orthodox Jewish converts in Israel
(JTA)—Israel must grant citizenship to Jews who converted to Judaism in Israel under non-Orthodox auspices, its Supreme Court ruled Monday, March 1, possibly igniting another round in the long-running government battle over who the state should recognize as Jewish....
Whale watching and Shabbat
Actually standing in a boat looking at a whale in the water, it’s not hard to imagine how one swallowed Jonah. Encouraging her students to be inquisitors, Morah Nicole’s class at Strelitz International Academy has become enthralled with all kinds of whales. That’s how...
Simon Family Passport to Israel: Funds available for teen trips to Israel Application deadline: Monday, March 15
Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Simon Family Passport to Israel Fund, which provides grants for trips for teens to Israel, is accepting applications for the program until March 15, 2021. The program provides funds to enable and encourage Jewish students to participate...
An anniversary of caring: Pam Blais delivers to caregivers
Anniversaries are sometimes faced with mixed emotions. For some, there’s pure joy in recalling a wedding anniversary or the day children or grandchildren were born. Conversely, some bring sadness, reminders of the loss of loved ones or of a catastrophic event such as...
B’nai Tzedek Teen Philanthropy: Putting the Mitzvah in Bar and Bat Mitzvah
Around the time of their bar or bat mitzvot, teens explore what it means to become an adult and active member of the Jewish community. They study Torah, learn to lead services, perform mitzvah projects and begin their journey into Jewish philanthropy. The Tidewater...
BINA High comes back from 100% virtual with caution and success
The BINA curriculum actively encourages high school students “to develop their love for Hashem, His Torah, and the Jewish people.” The close-knit BINA staff partners with parents to help each student actualize her potential in a supportive and challenging academic...
Ohef Sholom Temple is turning plastic bags into benches
It seems they’re everywhere. Plastic bags are choking sea life, clogging up waterways, and blowing in the wind through streets and yards. Ohef Sholom Temple is helping to do something about it. OST joined the Trex Community Challenge two years ago. Trex is a company...
Swordfish team swims through its first winter season, sets records, wins meets
The Simon Family JCC Swordfish swim team is in its first-ever winter season, having started practices on November 9 in preparation for virtual swim meets from December through February. Jacob Gynan, the JCC swim coordinator, is the team’s head coach, with Leia...