Other News

(JTA)—She may not have meant to, but Whoopi Goldberg waded into a charged discourse that has polarized the Jewish community—and those who seek to discriminate against them—for centuries. The controversy began brewing on The View, the daytime talk show she co-hosts,...

(JTA)—A rural Tennessee school board’s decision last month to remove Maus, the celebrated graphic novel about the Holocaust, from its curriculum has attracted fierce backlash from other pockets of the state and beyond. A nearby comic-book store is pledging to give...

The JFit training circuit at the Simon Family JCC has a new addition. It’s simply referred to as “The Chair” for those who speak “Pilates talk.” While many may have seen or be familiar with The Reformer—another, larger device used in Pilates training—the new Split...

Hunter Thomas joined United Jewish Federation of Tidewater as the new director of Arts & Ideas on Tuesday, Feb. 1. Thomas’ career began at Youngstown’s Jewish Community Center as a junior camp counselor. He later worked in various departments before most recently...

Being in Israel for my year abroad was such an amazing opportunity. Attending a year in seminary gave me the chance to form long-lasting friendships with girls from all over the world, including Mexico, Panama, London, and Switzerland. I was able to broaden my...

NADIV, established in 2016, is United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division’s Men’s Giving Circle. While NADIV is rooted in networking opportunities (which still holds true today) it has evolved to a giving circle that is connecting its participants in...

On Tuesday, Jan. 25, Toras Chaim converted its auditorium into a job fair for the school’s Career Day. Several stations were set up with local business people and professionals volunteering to share the highlights of their professions and the importance of getting an...

In celebration of trees, PJ Library in Tidewater visited Norfolk Botanical Garden for a guided tour on January 9. Families learned about the trees, plants, and flowers that are native to Tidewater and enjoyed a read-aloud of the book, Trees Make Perfect Pets by Paul...

BBYO has maintained an active presence for its members, overcoming many obstacles this winter. The cold, the snow, and the impacts of the Omicron COVID-19 variant were among the challenges the teens faced. The Winter Regional Convention in Durham was cancelled...

To better protect the members of the Jewish community who worship and attend area synagogues, day schools, and other Jewish agencies in Tidewater, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater with support from a Tidewater Jewish Foundation community impact grant, joined with...

(JTA)—All four hostages at a synagogue in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area were declared “out alive and safe” by Texas Governor Greg Abbott at 9:33 pm CST on Saturday, January 15, following a 12-hour standoff with an armed assailant in an unfolding saga that...

LOS ANGELES (JTA)—It’s a story that would not sound too out of place in 2019: New York’s leading newspaper accuses the president of the United States of corruption and the latter sues the paper’s publisher for libel. Striking back, the publisher declares in an...

(JTA)—With the announcement in January that it had picked Robert Kraft as its 2019 laureate, the Genesis Prize seemed poised for a calmer year. Last year the foundation that awards the “Jewish Nobel,” as it’s called, picked actress and director Natalie Portman as an...

I formally retired from my Cardiology group after 45 years of practice in July 2018. Fortunate to be able to ease into retirement by ending night and weekend call after 35 years (which is obviously quite demanding and stressful), for the last several years, my...

I’m glad to have this opportunity to reflect on my “golden years.” My long-suffering wife of 45 years, Carol, and I are worriers. So, prior to retiring, we spent lots of time worrying about having adequate health care and income so that once we retired we would, for...

“What will I do?” After more than 40 years as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist/ Laboratory manager, I decided to retire. It was a wonderful career of hospital lab work and work in a private practice with the Group for Internal Medicine, where I had the privilege of...

To the many colleagues and supporters of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who died Wednesday, Feb. 6 at the age of 67, he was a man of vision whose enormous drive to succeed both facilitated and complicated his relentless efforts on behalf of the Jewish people. As head of...

WASHINGTON (JTA)—An increase in anti-Semitism, an intensification of anti-Israel activity and decades of neglect have created a crisis in the Jewish community relations field, according to the umbrella group for Jewish public policy organizations, the Jewish Council...

NEW YORK (JTA)—Every year, extremism takes a deadly toll around the world. No region is immune—not the Middle East, not Europe, and not the United States. In 2018, there were at least 50 Americans killed by extremists from different movements. Many of the victims were...

First Person From YAD Cabinet In late spring of 2018, I received an invitation from Eliot Weinstein, Young Adult Division (YAD) Cabinet chair, and Jasmine Amitay, YAD director, to join the 2018-2019 YAD Cabinet. I had already participated in two of the United Jewish...

Like many synagogues, Temple Israel possesses art and artifacts that both enrich and inspire. On Saturday, December 8 and Sunday, December 9, the temple’s Art in the Family program offered a trio of experiences centered around its collection of Jewish-themed art,...

Amy Milligan, Old Dominion University’s Batten Endowed Assistant Professor in Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies and director of the Institute of Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding, received a community leader award at the 35th annual Urban League of Hampton...

This piece was originally published in Real Clear Defense on January 5, 2019 The Israeli military launched an operation last month to expose and neutralize Hezbollah’s commando tunnels penetrating Israeli territory from Lebanon. According to Israeli officials, the...

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israeli politics looks like a big mess right now. In the past few weeks, three new parties have been launched and one party has kicked out a former partner. More changes are likely, too. It probably will get messier still if Prime Minister Benjamin...

Now in its 26th year, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater’s Chanukah Gift Program helps local Jewish families in financial need with gifts and gift cards for their children, and VISA gift cards for those without children. During Hanukkah 2018, JFS received donations...

For years, 43rd Street at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront’s North End neighborhood has drawn thousands of spectators to its famous displays of holiday lights. When Dr. Mark Lipton moved to the street earlier this year, he knew there was an expectation to put up a...

Approximately 50 seniors gathered at the Simon Family JCC on Wednesday, December 19 for the Seniors Club lunch, installation of the 2019 board, and singalong with Michal Newman, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater music teacher and musician. Seniors throughout the community...

1. It’s not the same as it was when we were applying. Today’s college process hardly resembles what many of us experienced. We applied to the colleges we had heard about through neighbors and family. We took the SATs cold: being in school five days a week was...

I have been fortunate to travel to Israel three times in my life; once with the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia during my senior year of high school, once in 2015 with the Tom Hofheimer Hineni! mission and then again, this past summer, with the UJFT Journey Home...

For the first time in its 83-year history, Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC) has expanded its physical presence beyond its Richmond home base, establishing an office on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University in Virginia Beach. The opening of the...