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The Be A Reader (BeAR) literacy project, dedicated to fostering a love of reading among 2nd grade students in Norfolk and Virginia Beach’s Title I schools, hosted an end-of-year appreciation luncheon for its mentors last month.Gail Flax, BeAR chair, welcomed everyone...
• 26 Iyar (Hebrew date for this issue of Jewish News) – Israel’s Six Day war began in 1967. (fushionglobal.org) • During the third quarter of 2023, Palestinians working in Israel brought back roughly $1 billion in income. In the fourth quarter, that was around $79...
The 2024 Yom Hashoah Commemoration honoring the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, as well as liberators and righteous gentiles, brought the community together around awareness, sadness, honor, hope, and the understanding that each day it is possible to choose to...
The Simon Family JCC hosted its annual Catch and Release Fishing Derby on Sunday, May 5. Nearly 100 anglers of all ages tried their luck at the pond, which was stocked with bass, catfish, and bluegill. The largest catch of the day, according to Tom Edwards, athletics...
Who doesn’t love a good cheesecake?!? For a group of people who are between 75 and 90% lactose intolerant, we must have a lot of chutzpah because we clearly won’t be denied our love of all things dairy. When I moved to Israel, I was actually shocked...
Given our experience as retired American military leaders, we are very concerned about the security impacts of increasingly strained U.S.-Israel ties as Israel becomes a growing source of domestic division. We therefore feel compelled to declare that a strong Israel...
At the risk of sounding cliché – it seems like yesterday. I joined Jewish Family Service of Tidewater in September of 2003 as the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community was under construction. What an honor to attend my first Simcha...
Jewish News is gathering and presenting some basic facts to equip readers during this difficult time with the confidence needed to engage in conversation about Israel and antisemitism. GenocideThis word is being used by protestors on campuses to describe Israel’s...
One of the crown jewels of the Sandler Family Campus sports a blue shirt and an easy smile – on a daily basis. Cecilio Brathwaite, better known as “Jaime” (pronounced Hymie for a Jewish reference), has been employed by the Tidewater Jewish community for 42 years,...
Those of us who attend major civic events, Jews and some non-Jews alike, wait for it. When a minister delivers the invocation, it is often with some religious fervor and a beseeching to the Savior “in whose name we pray.” But at the Hampton Roads Chamber’s recent...
During the Virginia Beach School Board meeting (via a consent agenda) last month, a Resolution was adopted in support of Jewish American Heritage Month, which takes place each year in May. The Resolution was read by Shannon Kendrick School, a member of the School...
The idea of a central Tidewater Jewish community campus had to start somewhere. That place might be traced to Charlotte, N.C. when a then 39-year-old Art Sandler, who was serving as president of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, visited that community and saw...
Jewish Federations of North America on Wednesday, Feb. 21, led 16 American Jewish organizations in a joint letter to members of the House of Representatives reaffirming their support for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of...
Dear Editor, Thank you so much for accepting my article to the Jewish News on the new Keilim Mikvah, the mikvah for immersing vessels. I have received several comments on how much people appreciated seeing this article featured and knowing that we have made the mikvah...
Israel’s war with Hamas has resulted in vocal and aggressive anti-Zionism and antisemitism across the globe. Many American Jews lack basic knowledge about Israel to converse with certainty about the sole democracy in the Middle East. Beginning with this column, in...
On the morning of Wednesday, Feb. 7, a delegation of committed and proud Jews – ranging from ODU students to retirees – boarded a double-decker bus at the Sandler Family Campus in Virginia Beach destined for Richmond. There, we met up with other Jewish delegations...
February marked the 25th anniversary of Peace by Piece, a partnership between Jewish Family Service of Tidewater and Edmarc, a family-centered home health and hospice for children with life-threatening illnesses. Peace by Piece is an interfaith program for grieving...
After three decades, the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma and Howard Laderberg, continues to evolve, bringing films that interest and excite, as well as meet the moment during times of turmoil. For the 31st annual festival, the Festival’s screening...
The lineup for the 31st Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg, includes shorts, documentaries, and dramas and takes place next month at various locations throughout Tidewater. The Festival begins on Sunday, Feb. 18, with a special...
Kelly Burroughs and Jody LaibstainJewish Family Service’s Home Delivered Meals program is a continuum of the organization’s food service programs. Geared to older and disabled adults throughout Virginia Beach who qualify, a steadfast group of volunteers has been...
In anticipation of her nephew’s bar mitzvah in January, Tehilla Mostofsky bought tickets to Israel last July. Along with her husband, Sholom, and her parents, who had not been to Israel in 25 years, she planned to stay for five days to celebrate with her family. The...
Eitan Mor, Nathan Goldin, and Norman Goldin volunteered in Israel for two weeks in January. “Israel faces an existential threat, and I wanted to help and show my support,” says Norman Goldin. Both Goldins are physicians and hoped to provide medically related services....
On Martin Luther King Day, Vergie McCall was in her element, not just singing a spiritual to residents of Maimonides Health Center (formerly Beth Sholom Village), where she is a longtime volunteer, but leading a program with three “other” Jews. Yes, the 76-year-old...
I don’t “belong” to Ohef Sholom Temple, but on Saturday, Jan. 27, I felt as if I did. My friend, Paul Terkeltaub, invited me to attend Ohef’s first “Family Shabbat Experience” and to bring my son, daughter-in-law, and their two sons (ages 8 and 5), promising a morning...
While not every first date is centered around a meal, most involve some sort of dining, even if it’s not fancy fare or a sit-down meal. When Jewish News asked these couples to share their first dining experiences together, one unexpected result was that the settings...
Marriage has its ups and downs, challenges and stability, joy and sadness, romantic moments, and “just everyday” happenings. We often simply react and respond to what is happening around us. Sometimes, however, we are intentional – when we purposely start a process....
Thirty area Jewish teens attended BBYO’s bowling event at Pinboy’s on Sunday, Feb. 4. BBYO’s winter kickoff, the event was a perfect program, allowing potential members and newer members to meet older teens. Both Old Dominion AZA and Simcha BBG chapters led an opening...
Elka Mednick As Holocaust denial and antisemitism continue to spread at alarming rates, International Holocaust Remembrance Day provides an opportunity to learn and reflect upon this important event that connects in so many ways to the present environment. The United...
Charlie Nusbaum As chair of Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s board, I am proud to present our 2023 Annual Report, which is inserted in this edition of Jewish News. Unfathomable events have taken place globally over the past year, with the crisis and war in Israel...
Staff report A seasoned professional in the field of philanthropy and development, Amy Weinstein is rejoining Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s team as its development strategist in March. “Amy’s return to TJF marks a significant milestone for us,” says Naomi Limor Sedek,...
Noach Gruen Why was it so hard for the university presidents of Harvard, Penn, and MIT to offer the most obvious directive of safety and stability to students of all faiths? How did college campuses become such tense places for Jewish students? I think the answer goes...
Jewish News: Where were you educated? Martin Brenner: I graduated from Granby High School and then went to University of Georgia where I received a degree in business administration. JN: What was your work history? Did you work anywhere besides Spertner Jewelers? MB:...