Tidewater Chavurah celebrated Hanukkah on the eighth night. While it was lovely seeing the fully lighted menorahs, the best part was getting together in person. The latkes were the stars of the show, but all of the food contributed to a great meal.
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Immigration attorney sought to help the stranger
This past year, the Ohef Sholom Temple Immigration Committee and Commonwealth Catholic Charities conducted a community-wide needs assessment and discovered an almost shocking and complete absence of affordable legal services for poor immigrants in Tidewater....
This unique Hanukkah program celebrates a world of Jewish miracles
Ten years ago, Illya Buzunov never could have imagined that one day he’d be teaching Jews around the world how to prepare potato latkes. Until 2014, the Ukraine native didn’t even know he was Jewish. But that’s exactly what Buzunov, 24, will be doing on November...
TJF’s refreshed donor portal makes it easier to access and give online
Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s online donor portal recently received a visual upgrade. The update, which went live last month, aims to make the donor portal more accessible and straightforward for users. “We at TJF are committed to a positive donor experience. In...
Making Hampton Roads a more equitable community for all
What is racial equity? The phrase has been in the news, in communities, and in corporations with increasing attention of late. Simply put, racial equity means acknowledging that racism exists, working together to fix problems caused by discrimination, ensuring People...
The rabbi, spiritual care, and Beth Sholom Village
Beth Sholom Village is not a synagogue, but a skilled nursing and assisted living facility. At the same time, BSV is a Kosher facility and celebrates Jewish holidays and traditions, underscoring how it operates. Aside from Shabbat services, a Christian service and...
CARES Act provides $300 in charitable deductions for 2021
As December 31 approaches, tax filers should be aware of a provision in the CARES act passed last year for 2021. While many choose to file itemized deductions, those who utilize standard deductions on their federal taxes have a unique opportunity for additional...
What do the Strelitz International Academy and the Entrepreneurship and Business Academy at Kempsville High School have in common?
Strelitz International Academy is known for giving students a great foundation for life. SIA students graduate with the ability to apply to a range of excellent middle school and high school programs in the area, both public and private. Recently, a number of SIA...
Parenting (and playing) with sanity
A flurry of family-minded activity took place at the Simon Family JCC on Sunday, November 14. Parents and their children joined PJ Library in Tidewater for a special Sunday Fun Day that included a parenting workshop with Susan G. Groner, author of Parenting with...
Mitzvah Squad is busy at Temple Israel
November was a very big month for the Mitzvah Squad at Temple Israel in Norfolk. The congregation ended October by starting its Jewish Family Service Chanukah Gift Card Drive to benefit underprivilege children. Thanks to Temple Israel’s members, $3,737 in gift cards...
Havdalah with military families of Tidewater brings blessings, gratitude, and fun
Jewish Military Families of Tidewater joined PJ Library in Tidewater for a Havdalah ceremony in celebration of Veteran’s Day at the Simon Family JCC on Saturday, November 13. The Havdalah ceremony was led by Navy Rabbis Yoni Warren and Aaron Kleinman. The families...
Veterans Day activity at Toras Chaim
In honor of Veterans Day, the third and fourth grade class of Joanna Schranz at Toras Chaim School, under the leadership of Rabbi Yonah Lazar, held a special program to recognize the holiday. Craig Schranz a Commander in the United States Navy Reserve (and the...
Israel Story enthralls Tidewater audience
In May 1967, the world heard the song Yerushalayim Shel Zahav, Jerusalem of Gold, for the first time as Shuli Nathan stood on stage and sang the words written by Naomi Shemer. At the time, the Old City of Jerusalem was still under control of the Jordanians, and the...
Holly Berger Markhoff art at Stravitz Galleries Through May
A contemporary mixed media artist known for her emotive figurative and expressionist paintings, Holly Berger Markhoff’s stunning paintings are now on exhibit at Richard Stravitz Sculpture & Fine Art Galleries in Virginia Beach. Influenced by the elongated figures...
Yom Hashoah moves the community
This year’s Yom Hashoah Commemoration, honoring the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, as well as liberators and righteous gentiles, brought the community together around not just awareness and sadness, but honor and hope for the future. Yom Hashoah co-chair Elka...
Harry Graber Retirement
Never too young to learn about Passover
At the Strelitz Early Childhood Education Center, Passover learning includes all of the children. In the infant program, for example, one child, attracted by a dimpled faux matzah ball, crawled to an eye-level poster with matzah balls attached by Velcro… and pulled...
Seven treasures from a centennial exhibit on Leonard Bernstein
(JTA)—From his birthplace in Boston to New York, Berlin, South Africa, China, and Israel, Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990), the larger-than-life conductor, pianist, composer, educator and bon vivant, is being celebrated in a two-year bonanza of concerts, stage...
“Betsy Ross of Israel” flag donated to the Ben-Gurion Archives at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
NEW YORK April 16, 2018—In honor of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel, American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) has donated an Israeli flag created by Rebecca Affachiner, often called “the Betsy Ross of Israel,” to the...
2017 Frank Family Fellowship Poland-Israel Mission Report
Last December, I was fortunate to accompany 12 amazing volunteers representing Community Relations Councils throughout the country and the dedicated staff of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs on a 10-day mission to Poland and Israel. The trip was in many ways a...
What does Israel look like to you?— The Tidewater Umbrella Project
As the worldwide Jewish and pro-Israel communities celebrate Israel’s 70th anniversary, the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is offering a new type of exhibit: The Tidewater Umbrella Project. For the past five years, the Community Relations Council has held the...
Women
Women, April 23, 2018
Sharon K. Nusbaum to receive Ohef Sholom Temple’s Men’s Club’s 2018 Henry B. Kaufmann Award
Sunday, April 22, Ohef Sholom Temple Brunch: 10:30 am. Award presentation: 11 am, $10 per person This year’s recipient of Ohef Sholom Temple Men’s Club’s Henry B. Kaufmann Award is Sharon K. Nusbaum. A long-time Ohef Sholom congregant, Nusbaum is the wife of Bill...
Grateful for Enabling Parents
Judy Sacks Anderson In the summer of 1972 when I was only 17, my parents, Hal and Annabel Sacks, sent my 15-year-old brother, Skip and me to Israel on a sociology trip from Virginia Wesleyan College. We spent a good portion of the summer working on Kibbutz MishMarot...
My Trip to Israel was the Best Trip
Suzanne Barr In 1967, I heard about a United Jewish Appeal Young Leadership Mission to Israel from our friends, Mavolyn and Sonny Lefcoe. I was advised that it would be a hard trip, but I wanted to go anyway. After making some calls, I managed to get on the trip,...
Israel for the first time… a story with sequel after sequel
Amy Zelenka I never get tired of saying that every Israel experience is special— each one meaningful in its own way. Whether it’s with a Birthright trip, bar or bat mitzvah, a Federation mission, or any other means of visiting—a trip to Israel is unique among all...
The Yom Kippur War and orange crates
Steve Snyder In the summer of 1973, shortly after graduating from college, I went to Israel as a volunteer worker on Kibbutz Ramat Hashofet in Northern Israel. I was there from June 1973 to May 1974, working mainly on the assembly line of the Kibbutz orange crate...
Roses, the 1967 war, and a husband
Jennifer Zoberman While attending the University of Arizona in Tuscon, my parents paid for a European trip for me, but I said, “I must go to Israel to help.” So, we lost our trip money. It was not possible to fly to Israel from the U.S. due to the 1967 war, so I flew...
From Cairo to Israel
John Correll Over a three-day weekend in 1990 while on a job assignment in Cairo, Egypt, I decided to visit Israeli friends who lived in the Jewish settlement of Ariel. When the Egyptian taxi driver picked me up from my hotel, he was very talkative and friendly until...
Laura Gross
“Running the Tel Aviv Half Marathon with your daughter—priceless Israel experience!!”
Israeli artists make quick stop in Norfolk for CRC and Women’s Cabinet
For more than 20 years, Richmond Ballet’s Minds In Motion program has brought students from all walks of life and from across Virginia, to the stage to share the joys of dance and performance. Nearly a decade ago, they traveled the program to Israel, and for the past...
Banana fields and fishing boats
Rob Goodman My 1965 summer in Israel was one of my most special. After a flight from Ankara to Tel Aviv, I hitched hiked to Tiberias and then up the road to Kibbutz Ginosar. It was Sabbath eve and they never turned anyone away on the Sabbath. I got up the next morning...