WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Senate, in a voice vote, unanimously confirmed Deborah Lipstadt, the Holocaust scholar who endured delays and a contentious hearing in her nomination to be antisemitism monitor. The vote late Wednesday, March 30 took mere seconds. “The ayes appear...
Other News
Archives
Embracing Jewish groups’ request, Biden proposes boosting budget for nonprofit security
WASHINGTON (JTA)—President Joe Biden wants to increase federal funding for security for nonprofits from $250 million to $360 million, a key request advanced by Jewish organizations in the wake of attacks on Jewish institutions. Biden included the funding in the...
Israel’s governing coalition in crisis as right-wing Knesset member resigns, citing Passover food in hospitals
(JTA)—Of all the issues facing Israel—violence within the country, how to handle Russia’s war on Ukraine, Iran—the one that appears to have put the country’s delicate governing coalition at risk could appear picayune. When Idit Silman, a member of Knesset from the...
Support for those who are homeless in the community
When driving up to Congregation Beth El, a group of homeless people are frequently seen across the street at New Life Church waiting to get in to have a meal. Riding down Colonial Avenue, an old woman might be seen pushing a grocery cart with all her belongings in it,...
B’Tayavon: Something new for Passover
Falling in the spring, as it does each year, Passover is a great time to take advantage of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially after enjoying delicious soups and stews during the chillier winter months. Springtime and Passover and asparagus seem to all meet at the...
TJF and Feldman family unveil new medical and health professions scholarship fund
Recently announced by Tidewater Jewish Foundation and the Feldman Family, The Feldman Family Medical and Health Professions Scholarship Fund is an annual scholarship that will award up to $10,000 a year to Jewish students living in Virginia—with priority given to...
Holocaust education at its core: Lessons taught at Norview Middle School
Kindra Mosher, a new media specialist at Norview Middle School, is serious about students learning Holocaust history. A transplant from upstate New York, where Elie Wiesel’s Night was required eighth grade reading, Mosher loves offering students the books that United...
Madeleine Albright, first woman Secretary of State and a refugee who discovered her Jewish roots late in life
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Madeleine Albright was the quintessential late 20th-century Jewish diplomat, haunted by the Holocaust and determined to use what tools her adopted country had to crush inhumanity when it arose. Except she didn’t know she was Jewish until she was in...
Your Dollars at Work: JCC Budapest assists refugees
Devastated by what is happening in Ukraine, the reality in Hungary is that there is a lot to do. As of March 14, more than 250,000 Ukrainians have made their way to Hungary; most refugees arriving are women, children, and seniors (many elderly are disabled), and most...
Russian Jewish oligarchs step down from board of Genesis Group, the Jewish philanthropy they helped found
(JTA)—Russian billionaires Petr Aven, Mikhail Fridman, and German Kahn have stepped down from the board of Genesis Philanthropy Group, a major funder of Jewish causes founded by the trio, after they were sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom. The...
Zelensky offers new details about his family’s Holocaust history, igniting debate over Ukrainian Holocaust memory
(JTA)—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s great-grandparents died when the Nazis burned their village, he said in an interview on CNN Monday, March 21. Speaking through a translator with Fareed Zakaria, Zelensky said, as he has many times before, that his...
RJC PAC endorses Ron Johnson, senator blocking advancement of Deborah Lipstadt as antisemitism monitor
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Republican Jewish Coalition’s affiliated political action committee is endorsing the reelection campaign of Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, who has so far blocked the Senate from confirming Deborah Lipstadt, President Joe Biden’s pick to be...
A lost song and a grandson’s tribute
In Vilden Vald—Aaron Tessler ft. Zemiros Choir The Holocaust’s devastation brought about not only the decimation of the Jewish people in body, but also immeasurable losses to Jewish culture. Countless and precious pieces of memory, history, and tradition disappeared...
Ambassador casts a new light on Israel
Ambassador Ido Aharoni spoke at Ohef Sholom Temple as part of the Community Relations Council of the United Federation of Tidewater and community partners’ 8th annual Israel Today series on Wednesday, May 8. As a member of Israel’s Foreign Service for 25 years, and as...
Temple Israel holds first Women’s Seder
After a great deal of thought, discussion, planning, negotiating, shopping, cooking, and implementing—not to mention the counting, hard boiling and peeling of no fewer than 96 eggs—Temple Israel held its first Women’s Seder on April 24, 2019. TI member Shirley...
Armed Forces Shabbat at Ohef Sholom
Congresswoman Elaine Luria was Ohef Sholom Temple’s guest speaker for Armed Forces Shabbat on Friday, May 17. She spoke of her experience commanding combatant ships in the Navy, and how this, along with her strong Jewish upbringing, led her to her current position...
More than pain, this book is also about lifestyle
Outsmart Your Pain! The Essential Guide to Overcoming Pain and Transforming Your Life Lisa Barr, MD Illustrations by Tim Sovine Synergy Health Quest, LLC, 2018 ISBN 13: 978-1-7320011-0-7 In the opening pages of Outsmart Your Pain!, Lisa Barr, MD, says, “The science of...
How stuttering helped me accept and embrace my adversities
Growing up in Toronto, I could have seemed like an ordinary kid. But there was something that made me sharply stand out. I stuttered. A lot. It began when I was three years old. My parents were told to ignore it—as “merely a stage in a child’s speech development,”...
Holocaust victims and survivors remembered by City of Virginia Beach mayor
Elie Wiesel poignantly stated, “to forget the Holocaust is to kill twice.” Thus, “we must bear witness [for] the living and the dead.” As Lisa Bertini, Holocaust Commission chair, said at the annual Yom Hashoah commemoration on May 1 at Temple Israel, “…for the...
Shalom Tidewater welcomes new and old to Jewish community
New to Tidewater? Lived here all your life, but are looking to get more involved? The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater would like to offer a special welcome. Through Shalom Tidewater, Carly Glikman, outreach manager, personally delivers welcome information and...
Amy Weinstein is new director of philanthropy at Beth Sholom Village
The new director of philanthropy at Beth Sholom Village is familiar to many people in the Hampton Roads Jewish community. Amy Weinstein spent six years at United Jewish Federation of Tidewater as director of the Young Adult Division, then two years as director of...
How Jewish organizations train people to prevent shootings like the one in Poway
(JTA)—Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein said his Chabad of Poway could not afford to hire an armed guard. Had it been able, or if the government had helped the synagogue bring in one, he believes the deadly attack there Saturday, April 27 could have been averted. “If I had the...
New York Times says its controversial cartoon shows ‘numbness’ to anti-Semitism
The New York Times editorial board said in an editorial published Tuesday, April 30, that the newspaper’s publishing of “an appalling political cartoon” is “evidence of a profound danger—not only of anti-Semitism but of numbness to its creep.” The newspaper also...
HAT’s Science Fair 2019
Fourth and fifth grade students at Hebrew Academy of Tidewater spent myriad hours of study and planning to prepare for the school’s recent Science Fair, the capstone of weeks of hard work. Almost 100 visitors attended this year, along with HAT’s familiar and dedicated...
In re-electing Netanyahu, Israelis chose stability
(JTA)—After the smoke clears from this contentious Israeli election, which amounted to a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tenure, the question remains: How did he win again? As Israel’s former U.S. Ambassador Michael Oren said, “Our economy is...
Simon Family JCC Book Club celebrates 10 years and 100 Books
On Monday, March 18, the Simon Family JCC celebrated the JCC Book Club’s 10th anniversary and 100th read with book club author, Marilyn Simon Rothstein. Rothstein visited the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus as a part of her Jewish Book Council book tour and the Lee...
Tidewater Chavurah got baking for Purim
Members of the Tidewater Chavurah got together at Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill and Spencer Gill’s home to bake Hamantashen in preparation for Purim. A variety of fillings were used including lemon, poppy, apple, blueberry, pumpkin, and chocolate. A multi-generational event,...
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation acquires first Judaica objects
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation recently added several objects of Judaica to its collections: a sterling silver and gold Kiddush cup and a silver and gold yad (Torah pointer). These mark the first such objects in the Foundation’s holdings and reflect the...
JFS receives grant to make Kids Connection inclusive
Jewish Family Service of Tidewater recently received a grant to work in collaboration with Simon Family JCC to develop a fully inclusive after-school program. The grant supports the initial development and implementation of inclusive programming for children with...
For Israelis abroad, elections start with a scramble for flight tickets
AMSTERDAM (JTA)—Like many voters in democratic national elections, I almost always hope that whoever is elected will be able to serve out their full term—even if they weren’t my pick. This is especially true in my native Israel, whose infamously brittle coalitions...
Simon Family JCC Personal Trainers bring expertise, value to members
A personal trainer for 16 years, Simon Family JCC trainer Susan Vann-Spruill says it is important for gym members to approach fitness with a plan. Without one, she says, the results are often minimal or worse. “Many people come to the gym regularly without a real plan...
Seven Jewish things to look for when Mueller wraps up his investigation
WASHINGTON (JTA)—It looks like Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating alleged improprieties associated with Donald Trump’s presidency and election campaign, is wrapping up his report. Or maybe not. Mueller has over his near-two-year run led a leak-free...