February 5–11 Atlanta, Ga.—A national non-profit public health initiative dedicated to preventing genetic diseases, JScreen’s fourth annual Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week is taking place Sunday, Feb. 5 to Saturday, Feb. 11. Initiated in 2020 with...
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Association of Holocaust Organizations’ winter conference offers insights and opportunities
One of the first items of business when someone is new to a role is to reach out to colleagues in the field to better understand how things work and learn best practices. I was fortunate to have the beginning of my tenure as director of United Jewish Federation of...
Preparing for retirement: Investing in your personal future
The question looms for most everyone in the workforce: When will I know I’m financially prepared to retire? Jeffrey S. Chernitzer, CPA/PFS (Personal Financial Specialist), a wealth advisor with Buckingham Strategic Wealth, agreed to offer Jewish News readers some...
Never too old for this puzzler: Sandra Lefcoe
New chapters and challenges seem to have always been the norm for Sandee Lefcoe. During the early years of her marriage, for example, she worked at the University of Virginia Hospital in Recreational Therapy in the psychiatric unit. Then, with one of her best friends,...
Jewish Community Relations Council and Holocaust Commission have new directors
After a national search, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s program department started 2023 with new directors for its Holocaust Commission and Jewish Community Relations Council. Both directors quickly immersed themselves in their roles with projects and events....
JCC Seniors— Great people, great programs, great space
The new membership year for the JCC Seniors Club is off to a great start, due in part to its active year in 2022. There is so much going on with this mainly retired and very active group that it’s hard to know where to start or who to feature. Here are a few...
Clare Krell
Virginia Beach—Clare Krell passed away peacefully on January 29, 2023. She lived the life of a loving wife, a wonderful mother, adoring Savta and was loved by many. Clare is preceded in death by her parents Jacob and Sylvia Eichenbaum, her devoted husband David H....
In Hungary, JDC provides warm respite for Jews from Ukraine
Every week on Shabbat, we pray for peace—for our loved ones, for our world, and especially our extended Jewish family in Ukraine. Beginning this month through April, we’re ensuring 700 to 800 Jews from various cities in Ukraine will share in the peace of a 12-day...
A Bluffer’s guide to the wine list
We have all been there. You are in a fine restaurant with a good looking date (in some cases your spouse), and the waiter or steward presents you with a wine list. It may be a small card. It may be the size of a book. What do you do? Many folks in this situation will...
Tidewater’s seventh annual Great Big Challah Bake serves up lessons and fun
Women of all ages spent an evening in November at B’nai Israel Congregation celebrating the Jewish tradition of preparing for Shabbat and the spiritual joys of making challah. A partnership between B’nai Israel and the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish...
Jewish Book Festival wraps up First Half of Season
Four engaging authors presenting on a variety of topics were featured in the first half of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival in November and December. Italian cookbook author Benedetta...
Temple Israel honors police officers at Law Enforcement Appreciation Shabbat
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...
These 7 US bakeries will ship hamantaschen directly to you
It’s always great to bake hamantaschen and share them with friends and family. But this isn’t a normal year, of course, and it may be harder to find the time to bake hamantaschen because your kids are home doing remote school; or you’re worried about getting the...
We’ve lost almost an entire year: COVID-fatigued communities prepare for a distanced Purim
(JTA)—In any other year, the mask-decorating party planned for later this month at Congregation Beth El Ner Tamid in Broomall, Pennsylvania, would make perfect sense: Costumes are part of the ritual for festive Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins Feb. 25. This year,...
Has your tax situation changed? Looking for a new tax-wise strategy this year?
As you collect your 2020 income tax information and prepare to file a return, are you: • Realizing that your tax situation may be different from previous years? • Interested in learning about a way to support your community in a tax-wise manner? Tax law changes last...
Some of the Jews Joe Biden has tapped for top roles in his administration
(JTA) President-elect Joe Biden filled the months before Inauguration Day lining up a slate of Cabinet secretaries, assistants and advisors, many of them Jewish. Biden’s choices reflect a diverse cross-section of American Jewry and possess expertise gleaned from...
Here are the 37 Jewish members of Congress
WASHINGTON (JTA)—There are 37 Jewish members of the 117th Congress, which was sworn in earlier this month amid the trauma of an insurrection spurred by President Donald Trump. Of the 37, there are 10 in the Senate and 27 in the House of Representatives—25 Democrats...
Congregation Beth El celebrates, gives, and recycles
Hanukkah around the world together Beth El celebrated Hanukkah each night with collective candle lighting, singing, and sharing that took the congregation around the world and back again. Several members grew up in other countries and shared stories and childhood...
Get to know today’s Hadassah
When most people hear the word ‘Hadassah,’ chances are they think of a hospital in Israel. In actuality, Hadassah is so much more. Hadassah’s mission statement describes itself as “a volunteer organization that inspires a passion for and commitment to the land, the...
During a pandemic, hugging friends is what many seniors miss most
While the wait for a safe vaccine for all looms large, the range of reactions to COVID-19 is as diverse as the people whose lives are affected. Some seniors in the community have lived in Tidewater all their lives. They’re married with children and grandchildren and...
Reflections on a sojourn in Bulgaria
Prue Salasky spent six months of a 10-month teaching assignment in Bulgaria through the U.S. Fulbright program. Her Balkan adventure, including plans to visit Istanbul, Kiev, Odessa, and Israel, was cut short when Fulbright canceled all its programs worldwide due to...
ORT student shows thanks by changing the world
Women’s American ORT, Organization for Rehabilitation and Training, has always been an educational and vocational game changer for students in the U.S. and around the world. Lifelong volunteer Sara Trub has been ORT-immersed for 48 years. An e-mail she received from a...
Student artwork from Elie Weisel Visual Arts Competition continues to inspire
Each year the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater sponsors the Elie Wiesel Visual Arts Competition. Hundreds of student artists from Tidewater, as well as nationally, create works of art that respond to various topics and guidelines which...
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....