Other News

The 2020–21 wedding theme is a mix of Suspend Disbelief and Hello Fantastical. For three recently married couples, snookered by the pandemic and forced to alter their original dream wedding plans dramatically, getting the last laugh was extra sweet. Erin Leon and...

Paul Len Turok was born to count many blessings: Building a sweet life with Vivian (Viv); moving from South Africa to Virginia at just the right time; feeling embraced by the local Jewish community; raising two healthy children with good souls and great hair; and...

Tidewater families gathered in the sukkah on the Sandler Family Campus for a Sukkot celebration on Sunday, September 19. The path to the sukkah featured a life-sized book walk of images from The Harvest Blessings by Amy Meltzer, a PJ Library author. In the sukkah,...

The Israel trip was an experience of a lifetime! A couple of reasons why I chose to be a part of the Journey 5 trip to Israel include making new connections and experiencing historical and culturally important areas in my homeland. Growing up Jewish was not easy. In...

www.holocaustcommission.jewishva.org It took 25 years and a coronavirus to push the Elie Wiesel student competitions (art and writing) to their new online format. Since most public and many private school students spent their year in remote learning, the Holocaust...

The new tradition of Sunday Fun Day continued this fall as PJ Library in Tidewater welcomed families to the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community on September 12 for an afternoon of field games, music, and ice cream. Families with...

Collectors, family, friends, and mentors gathered from across the country—and globe—to honor artist Lorraine Fink during a reception celebrating Then, Now, & Looking Forward: Lorraine Fink Retrospective. The reception was held via Zoom on Sunday, Sept. 12. As a...

Farm to table has become accessible to Beth Sholom Village by way of a very futuristic-looking farm. The “farms” are in towers that resemble modern art sculptures. The crops can be seen in the beautiful six-foot case that emits a warm light and varying hues of green....

Tidewater families raising Jewish children will now have more opportunities to participate in Jewish life, thanks to a grant recently awarded to United Jewish Federation of Tidewater by PJ Library®, the flagship program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that provides...

Forty families gathered by the pool at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus to welcome Shabbat on Friday, August 27. Hosted by PJ Library in Tidewater, in partnership with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division, the night began with pool games,...

On July 12, I hopped on a nine-and-a-half-hour plane ride with two of my best friends and 41 other teens to visit the land of Israel for 22 days. I always knew that visiting Israel would shift my perspective on being Jewish, but being able to experience that change...

Who would have thought 18 months ago, that we would still be speaking about COVID-19 as we approach another Jewish New Year? With our nation and world, we continue to combat the virus. But now we fight in a stronger position—with vaccinations—as we pivot daily and...

Only one?? Impossible! I have so many great Passover memories because it has always been my favorite holiday, starting as a child sitting around my Aunt Florence’s dining room table in Baltimore with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins on my father’s side. I can’t...

Every year for Passover, my family would drive 90 minutes to attend a seder at my aunt and uncle’s kibbutz. They lived on Kibbutz Beth Alpha, near Jordan, and we lived in Haifa. Hundreds of people attended, filling many long tables. The kibbutz created their own...

Elijah Arnowitz is a seventh grader who is already dreaming about camp this summer, which will be his fifth, at Camp Ramah New England. “It’s torturous to think about it because I miss it so much!” Elijah says. What does he like about camp? “Bunk activities, Shabbat...

Every summer, 1,500 Jewish campers from more than 20 countries attend Camp Szarvas in Hungary. Funded in part by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the camp’s mission is to create an opportunity for young Jews from around the world to meet,...

Close to 200 people interested in seeing the three newest films of survivor Alfred Dreyfus, liberator William Jucksch, and rescuer Dame Mary Barraco, attended a screening last December at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. These first-hand...

( JTA)—They volunteered. They played soccer. They went to camp. They were sweet, mature, and easygoing. They were just beginning their lives, or helping others on their way. And one may have died so that others could live. Jewish students and staff were among the 17...

Dedicated to offering programs throughout the year that raise awareness and bring people with disabilities, their families, and those who love them, into their Jewish communities in meaningful ways, for Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, National Jewish Disability...

The 25th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg* and Patricia & Avraham Ashkenazi, began with a free, pre-festival event at TCC Roper Performing Arts Center featuring the movie, Marshall. Presented in honor of Martin...

Purim, is a joyous holiday celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar. This year, on February 28. It commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plot to destroy all the Jews, as recorded in the Megillah (book of...

TILBURG, Netherlands (JTA)— Although he lives in a city with only a few dozen Jews, the Israel-born photographer Idan Hemo and his family enjoy each spring what he calls “hardcore Purim” street festivities. “Everyone dresses up, including and especially the adults, in...