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In the first semester of the 2021–22 school year, I taught my Virginia and U.S. History classes about the Holocaust and mentioned the local survivors and rescuers who had graciously shared their stories with former Indian River High School students in the past. I...
Many congregants and families at Ohef Sholom Temple already know its new director of Lifelong Learning, Alyson Morrissey. There are several reasons that Morrissey is well known around the temple. A beloved Jewish educator, Morrissey has taught in OST’s Religious and...
Exciting things are happening as construction on the Marty Einhorn Pavilion at the Sandler Family Campus continues to move forward. The concrete is in, the ceiling fans are on site, and the LED color-changing lights have just been installed. Named in memory of Marty...
As the war rages on in Ukraine, Jewish Tidewater has continued to give to the Tidewater Ukraine Emergency Fund. The fund has now raised and distributed approximately $678,000 to help the people of Ukraine via United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s overseas partners,...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Maine parents seeking funding to send their children to religious schools, a development that a dissenting Jewish justice, Stephen Breyer, suggested could open the door to broad public funding of parochial...
It’s been almost a month, and it feels like I just left yesterday. You know the experience was especially amazing when it is so difficult to move on from it. I went to Israel on a gap year known as Young Judaea Year Course. First, I lived in Jerusalem taking classes...
On a particularly sunny morning in late April, between Life Fit and Stretch classes he teaches at the Simon Family JCC’s JFiT Wellness Center, an email caught Tom Purcell’s eye. The message was an inquiry about submitting for the opportunity to be named “Mr. Muscle...
The Tsigala Story told to Abbot Granoff, MD, by his paternal grandfather Morris Granoff (Pa) ignited a curiosity about his family’s history. In addition to spending time in Ukraine, the Granoff family story is a tale of travel, perseverance, and creativity. Here is...
Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters opened its new $224 million, 14-story Children’s Pavilion on April 25. The facility offers a wide array of outpatient psychiatric services that include pediatric psychiatrists, psychologists, nurse practitioners, mental...
Judging by the waiting list of more than 400 people for Dr. Michael S. Weissman, Ph.D.’s outpatient practice, you would think there is a heightened need for mental health services today, and you would be exactly right. According to the Chesapeake and Norfolk-based...
Think about it: the world went through a pandemic, a lockdown, reintegration, new variants, social isolation, and financial uncertainty. Why wouldn’t anxiety be at an all-time high? “The level of stress has exploded,” says Debra Mayer, LCSW, CT director of clinical...
Staying on top of current research in pain management is very important to Dr. Lisa Barr, who has more than 30 years of experience as a board-certified physician treating patients in Tidewater with muscle, nerve, and joint problems related to sports injuries and...
Our American Jewish community has been much agitated in 2019 by accusations of disloyalty. These charges have come from different quarters of the political spectrum, and they carry various nuances. But what do they have in common? For this, we need to understand the...
Better Together is a partnership program that connects teens with seniors for mutual enrichment and bonding opportunities. Throughout this past year, participating teens from Ohef Sholom Temple, Congregation Beth El, and Temple Israel spent Sundays eating lunch and...
Counseling and social work services will be available for Toras Chaim Day School students when the school year begins. Jewish Family Service of Tidewater (JFS) will provide these in-school services. For the past 25 years, JFS has established a solid and positive...
The Chinese have a saying about living in interesting times. In Israel’s case, I would say that is true on a regular basis, but somehow at the moment, this is true throughout the world. More importantly, in my view, currently these are also some of the most difficult...
In nine days, on Tisha B’Av, the Jewish world will fast and mourn the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. The destruction of the Second Temple marks the beginning of 2,000 years of diaspora for the Jewish people. A people wandering, without a...
Building and strengthening community—together. That was the theme of my first message in our Jewish News exactly one year ago. Then, we introduced the concept of an accelerated campaign for our community—to raise necessary funds for not only our local Jewish...
Jewish Family Service of Tidewater volunteers meet every Wednesday at 10 am on the Sandler Family Campus to knit and crochet lap blankets, hats, and scarves. JFS social workers and case managers then give these hand-knitted creations as holiday gifts to residents in...
The Norfolk & Portsmouth Bar Association’s highest honor award, the 2019 Eggleston/I’Anson Professionalism Award, was presented to Alan B. Rashkind by the association. Rashkind is an attorney with Furniss, Davis, Rashkind and Saunders in Norfolk. The...
On Saturday, June 15, Congregation Beth El gathered at a special Shabbat Service to honor and wish Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz and his family a very heartfelt L’Hitraot—but not goodbye! The Arnowitz family left Beth El’s Congregational family on June 30 to depart first to...
(JTA)—A prosthetic leg that belonged to a Russian Jewish immigrant to Lake Providence, Louisiana. An 8-foot neon sign from a hotel that advertised as the only establishment with an “up to date kosher kitchen” in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Two organs from the now shuttered...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—With Israel coming up on its second election in five months with no ruling coalition in power, some may be asking who is actually running the government. They needn’t worry—at least not very much. Israelis went to the polls in April expecting to elect...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Senate unanimously approved a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, the latest congressional bid to address an issue that has roiled American politics. The resolution passed Thursday, June 13 was introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Tim...
Harold Grinspoon is active, intelligent, quick to crack a joke, and he is only 90 years old. A true renaissance man, he has traveled far and wide, owned and operated a successful business, and has recently begun creating massive art installations, many of which are...
Tel Aviv lit up with magic during the week of May 13 for the 64th annual Eurovision Song Contest. With all of Europe’s eyes on Israel, Tel Aviv did not disappoint. In 2018, Netta Barzili, representing Israel, was announced the winner of the 63rd Eurovision Song...
Friday, June 21, 7 pm The feature film, Where We Disappear, directed by Norfolk native Simon Fink, is getting its world premiere in Los Angeles at the historic TLC (Grauman’s) Chinese Theatres. The film is the official selection of the 2019 Dances With Films festival....
No great community event ever happens without mountains of work being done behind the scene. The recent Israel Fest was certainly no exception. Norfolk’s Temple Israel offered festivalgoers a tasty—and healthy!—reprieve from the heat of the day in the form of cool,...
At a meeting with Jewish community leaders last month, Representative Donald McEachin of Virginia’s 4th congressional district, said that his “passion and love of Israel comes from learning from his father (who was an army veteran), that you don’t abandon your allies,...
(JTA)—On a recent speaking tour in North America, I was asked repeatedly about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party and Jeremy Corbyn. Corbyn’s Labour has become an existential threat to British Jews, and audiences smartly inquired what could be done to stop growing...
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 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...