It wasn’t long ago that no one could have imagined needing armed guards to conduct Shabbat services. Accustomed to hearing about that kind of thing in Europe, it wasn’t thought possible here—not in the U.S.A. That thinking was wrong. For Temple Israel, the “it can’t...
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Camp JCC Winter Camp wraps with happy campers
Camp JCC wrapped up a successful Winter Break Camp with diverse days, fun, and plenty of good spirit. Activities included gym games, free swim, winter crafts, indoor gaga, Israeli culture with the community ShinShiniot, Alma Ben Chorin and Aya Sever, and a daily...
Beyond the Bible course explores history not often studied
In Sunday School, it is typical to learn the highlights of the sacred memories of the Jewish people of the Biblical period. Then, it gets a bit fuzzy. After the Bible, what was there? Some rabbis, perhaps? It gets clear again with the modern era, the past quarter...
The Holocaust as reflected in diaries and memoirs, offers a collaborative learning experience
A 10-session intensive course on the Holocaust, The Holocaust as Reflected in Diaries and Memoirs, invited students to dig into the first-person accounts of living through the Holocaust. Diaries and memoirs served as a looking glass into these individuals’ daily...
A workshop through the Journey of Your Name
In a hands-on workshop offered by the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, community members explored the meaning of their name through a mystical interpretation of the aleph bet. Josh Baum, illustrator of Malka’s Notebook: A...
PJ Library in Tidewater’s January Sunday Fun Day
The Simon Family JCC was filled to the brim with children and their families during the January Sunday Fun Day on Jan. 8. Some made winter-themed crafts, others played interactive inflatable sports games, and all enjoyed spending time with friends, new and old, from...
Tidewater Jewish Foundation earns recognition for its prudent management of invested funds
As investment stewards, Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Investment Committee recognizes its fiduciary responsibility to oversee the investment of the community’s assets and continues to review TJF’s Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and evaluate its implementation....
New kindergarten program at SIA will focus on younger students
Strelitz International Academy plans to launch a new transitional kindergarten program for eligible new and re-enrolling students for the upcoming school year. The SIA TK program is designed for students old enough for kindergarten, but who need an extra year to...
Be A Reader is roaring back into schools
The BeAR program started 2022 with plenty of questions, as volunteers were still not permitted in the schools. Calls to BeAR schools with offers to help resulted in many schools requesting supplies, reading and writing games, and books. They also asked for the BeAR...
Nadiv meets to discuss Jewish values ahead of giving circle donation
The men’s giving circle through YAD, Nadiv, gathered at the home of Dr. Alan and Jody Wagner on Wednesday, December 7 to discuss the Jewish values that matter to each member of the group—values such as education, community, Jewish peoplehood, saving lives, and others....
“Locked In” on fun
The first “Middle School Lock-In” in many years was hosted at the Simon Family JCC on a Saturday evening in November with 24 teens and tweens from across Tidewater’s Jewish community. Camp JCC counselors, lifeguards, and Alma Ben Chorin, one of Tidewater’s...
We’re going to Israel this Purim! Want to come?
March 1–9, 2023 After a COVID-driven moratorium, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is re-igniting its Missions Program for next March. Led by mission chairs Laura and Fred Gross, the trip will include an exciting “Purim in Tel Aviv” experience. Starting in...
The state of anti-Semitism in America 2020: An interview with American Jewish Committee
One year ago, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) released a groundbreaking piece of research—the first-ever survey of American Jews on anti-Semitism in America. Released on the first anniversary of the deadly Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the worst anti-Semitic...
Community project feeds frontline healthcare workers— one meal at a time
When the COVID-19 pandemic started breaking out across the United States, Pam Blais began receiving a slew of phone calls. A former 18-year-emergency department registered nurse, Blais had countless friends and co-workers that were suddenly thrust to the frontlines...
Stein Family College Scholarship set to open December 1
Now in its 11th year, the Stein Family College Scholarship will begin accepting applications on December 1, 2020 for the 2021-2022 academic year. The annual grant for Jewish students in Tidewater provides a scholarship of up to $10,000 a year for college tuition. The...
Raising awareness of the benefits of Hospice and Palliative Care
Freda H. Gordon Hospice & Palliative Care Celebrates November as National Hospice and Palliative Care Month Throughout November, Freda H. Gordon Hospice & Palliative Care joined organizations across the nation hosting community activities in recognition of...
New director for UJFT’s Jewish Community Relations Council
Rabbi Batya Glazer has been building relationships between the Jewish community and representatives of faith and ethnic communities through dialogue, working in coalition, and educational programming for years. She says she finds these relationships to be “an...
Tikkun Olam at Temple Israel: feeding the hungry during COVID
Not many people (if any) have fields to harvest or vineyards to glean, but as Jews, can still perform the mitzvah of Pe’ah by feeding the hungry—and Temple Israel does, generously and often, in gifts to Mazon, the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund, and its annual High Holy...
KBH: Our size is our strength
Kehillat Bet Hamidrash, Kempsville Conservative Synagogue, also known as KBH, is a small, do-it-yourself Conservative Synagogue. Its modest building is home to 60 plus family units. Throughout the pandemic, the leadership has faced many of the same challenges as the...
It’s not your bubbe’s Melton: Classes begin Thursday, January 7, 2021
We are thrilled to bring the Florence Melton School of Adult Learning back to Tidewater as part of the Konikoff Center for Learning. Over the past year, I have spoken to many Melton graduates who had wonderful things to say about their time with the mini-school when...
The Great Big Challah Bake’s core ingredient was as strong as ever—community
Women from Tidewater and beyond gathered on Thursday, November 5 on Zoom for the 6th Annual Great Big Challah Bake. Part of the global Shabbos Project, the local event was a collaboration between B’nai Israel Congregation and the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater....
Holiday wisdom for grieving families: Embrace the healing waters
The holiday season may be difficult this year with the pandemic altering many family plans and traditions. Navigating the challenges will most likely take more patience and flexibility than usual. For those facing their first holiday season without a loved one, this...
Almost all American Jews say anti-Semitism is a problem, according to a new poll. Half of Americans don’t know what it means.
(JTA)—Nearly half of Americans don’t know what the phrase “anti-Semitism” means. That’s one takeaway from two surveys published last month by the American Jewish Committee. The surveys asked Jews and the general American public about anti-Semitism in the United...
FIDF announces formation of new mega-region
Following the expansion and restructuring of the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces’ (FIDF) executive office and welcoming Steven Weil as the new national director and CEO in mid-September, FIDF has formed the new Eastern Region. Seth Baron, who for the past seven...
Attorney Jake Glasser merges with family law practice at Glasser and Glasser
The Glasser name stands for character and charisma—and juxtapositions. Jacob ‘Jake’ Glasser, the firm’s newest member, is the son of Lori and Michael Glasser, and nephew of former partners Stuart Glasser and Richard Glasser (of blessed memory). Named “Best Lawyers in...
Allison Whiteman, LALA, is the new administrator of Terrace Assisted Living
The new administrator of The Terrace Assisted Living, Allison Whiteman, is very familiar to Beth Sholom Village. A gradute of Virginia Wesleyan College (now Virginia Wesleyan University), with a degree in Recreation and Leisure Studies, Whiteman knew she wanted to...
Poll finds American Jews set to vote overwhelmingly for Joe Biden
(JTA)—Jewish voters are set to vote 75% to 22% for Joe Biden, according to a poll by the American Jewish Committee. The poll released Monday, Oct. 19, shows the Democratic nominee expanding his support among Jewish voters from a 67–30 split in a poll last month and it...
Jewish security officials have a message for election day: Be prepared for violence
(JTA)—On Thursday, Oct. 15, the FBI had a message for Jewish institutions across the country: Prepare for the possibility of violence on Election Day. That was the main takeaway from a webinar hosted by the Secure Community Network, which coordinates security for...
JFS finds new superpowers to help individuals dealing with Isolation 2020
Pandemic isolation affects everyone differently. It’s human kryptonite. Nobody is immune because there is no antidote for the great equalizer—the need for human connection. Since 1946, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater has been fighting isolation-induced illness,...
New Young Leadership Campaign Manager at UJFT
Matthew Kramer-Morning joined United Jewish Federation of Tidewater as Young Leadership Campaign manager this month. Originally from Northern Wisconsin, Matt Kramer-Morning has a diverse background in the professional Jewish world. Most recently, he served in a...
Hasidic Jews have rebbes. Secular Jews have RBG.
(JTA)—In the haredi Orthodox world, a gadol is a Torah sage of such outstanding scholarly achievement that their legal conclusions are widely accepted and their words are deemed worthy of close study and repetition. More than just a mere expert, a gadol’s very persona...
I co-officiated a wedding with Justice Ginsburg—and it exposed a tension in Orthodox life
(JTA)—There was an audible gasp as she entered the room. Flanked by bodyguards, with her white gloves prominent, Ruth Bader Ginsburg took a seat next to the bride and groom as cameras clicked rapidly. I had never co-officiated a marriage ceremony before, let alone...