The summer of 1977 changed my life forever. My parents, of blessed memory, provided me with the opportunity to travel to Israel through the American Zionist Youth Foundation. Along with 27 other college-aged students from across the United States, we embarked on a...
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All campers are B’tzelem Elohim
Camp JCC is a place for children to explore, challenge themselves, learn, grow, and experience new things outside of the construct and expectations of a classroom. Each camper, camp staff member, camp parent, and camp supporter have their own strengths, challenges,...
30th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film wraps
The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg, wrapped up its 30th anniversary on Wednesday, March 1, with Farewell Mr. Haffmann at Virginia Beach’s Beach Cinema Alehouse. The French film, distributed initially as Adieu, Monsieur...
Virginia General Assembly wraps 2023 session
Throughout the 2023 legislative session of the Virginia General Assembly, state delegates and senators discussed issues that are important to the statewide Jewish community. Two of those pieces of legislation, the statewide adoption of the International Holocaust...
Chaim Topol, Israeli actor who played Tevye in 1971 Fiddler on the Roof film
(JTA)—Chaim Topol won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of an immigrant to Israel, stepped off the stage in London to fight for his country, and had his sketches of Israeli presidents turned into postage stamps. But the actor was, by far, best known for his embodiment...
Andrew S. Nusbaum to receive Humanitarian Award
Thursday, March 30, 6:30 pm, Westin Virginia Beach Town Center Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities’ 2023 honorees for the 59th Annual Humanitarian Award include Andrew S. Nusbaum. Humanitarian Awards are presented to individuals who have demonstrated a...
TJF reflects on the past year and the future
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...
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...
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...
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...