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Firm: Stokes Law Group, PLC–a business and real estate boutique Specialty: Corporate/Commercial Real Estate Leasing and Development Education: William & Mary/Villanova University School of Law Family: Herbert, my Yorkie Jewish Organizations: YAD Cabinet, Nadiv...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—One thing we know about elections is that Jewish voters can make a difference. Take Florida: The Sunshine State’s Jewish voters helped deliver its critical electoral votes to Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Problematic ballots in heavily Jewish Broward...
American Jewish food is most typically defined as pastrami sandwiches, chocolate babka or bagels and lox. But I am here to argue that the greatest American Jewish food may actually be the humble hot dog. No dish better embodies the totality of the American Jewish...
Social distancing and staying inside is hard. Thankfully, accessing good things to watch during this time is not. This is another installation of a column on Jewish movies and TV shows to stream in quarantine. My Favorite Year Available for rent: Amazon Prime, Apple...
Recent weeks have been extremely difficult for our country. The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is appalled and angered by the death of George Floyd at the hands of officers in the Minneapolis Police Department. Our...
When the Simon Family JCC opened on Monday, June 8, seniors bounced back in real numbers. Even with the necessary implemented regulations and other logistics, “overjoyed” was the overall response. In particular, Silver Sneaker students say they are thrilled to be...
A Zoom chat room of Young Adult Division (YAD) members was filled with clinking glasses, generous pours, and lots of laughter on Thursday, May 21. That’s because YAD hosted its first-ever, Mystery Wine Night. YADians conducted blind taste tests of four wines and...
When my sister Lynn and I were young, Daddy was our hero. As we grew up and learned his stories we realized he was an American hero, too. Our precious father, Stan Smolen, died last month at the age of 95. He was a veteran of WWII who served his country proudly. He...
Remaining relevant in a world of clashing ideologies and mixed agendas, crisis upon crisis, decade after decade, is the most striking feature of a legacy organization such as ORT. Fixed, yet flexible, the foundation of ORT’s high-tech educational mission is relevance....
(JTA)—The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is recording layoffs and furloughs at Jewish organizations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This story is updated regularly and serves as a running log of layoffs and furloughs imposed at Jewish nonprofits. May 14: 60 laid...
SHORT HILLS, N.J. (JTA)—The announcement that Jewish summer camps will be closed this year has been tough on parents around the country. If we could just have this one little remainder of normalcy, we told ourselves, we’d be fine. But as with virtually every other...
The U.S. Senate adopted the House version of the Never Again Education Act (H.R. 943/S. 2085), an important Holocaust education bill, which will provide expertise and resources to states, localities and schools on Wednesday, May 13. The bill has now passed Congress...
JERUSALEM (JTA)—David Rubinger’s iconic photograph of three paratroopers at the Western Wall is the defining image of the 1967 Six-Day War. The men in the photo—Dr. Yitzhak Yifat, Tzion Karasenti and Chaim Oshri— have proudly served as symbols of the historic Israeli...
Next week we will hold our biennial meeting of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Simon Family JCC, where I will transition out of the board presidency and introduce John Strelitz as the incoming president. John’s presidency will continue a Strelitz legacy...
The community gathered on Wednesday, May 3 to celebrate the Simon Family JCC with One Night of Israeli food, wine, and music. The fundraising event, hosted by John Stein of Baker’s Crust, featured Israeli chefs Guy Marom and Nir Margalith of the travel and catering...
Staycation, May 29, 2017
I remember having the family for dinner and walking into the den where Joyce and Leonard (Strelitz) were on the phone with national UJA office people in New York—there was no CNN back then. I felt a nervous immediacy being in the room with people getting news directly...
On May 23, 1967 Gamal Abdel Nasser closed the Straits of Tiran – the entrance to the Red Sea, ordered the UN force to leave Sinai, and moved six divisions (130,000 soldiers) into Sinai. This was against the agreement with the U.S. and United Nations after the 1957...
It took over our lives. I remember going to the Federation, which was located in the Center, from morning until late at night. We were raising money…on the phones constantly. Personally, I was getting my house painted and Morty and I would go home and have no place to...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—“You make us better,” James Comey told the Anti- Defamation League in his final public speech as FBI director. Judging from the applause in the conference room at the venerable Mayflower Hotel here, the feeling was mutual. Mired in investigations of...
(JTA)—Jewish groups largely came out against a new executive order allowing clergy to endorse or oppose candidates from the pulpit, fearing that it will erode the separation between church and state. The order, which President Donald Trump signed Thursday, May 4 at...
The annual Stein Family College Scholarship of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation was awarded this month to Sydney Levine, a soon-to-be graduate of Frank W. Cox High School in Virginia Beach. Levine is the ninth recipient of the four-year scholarship of up to $10,000 per...
Chefs Guy Marom and Nir Margalith of Puzzle Israel, an adventure tour and catering company, spent a week in Tidewater sharing their love of food and celebrating Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s 69th birthday. Sous chef Neta Margalith, joined her brother and Marom for a busy...
Sunday, April 30 was a beautiful day all around—not just the weather—as more than 1,200 people attended the Simon Family JCC’s annual Israel Fest to experience the culinary, cultural, and artistic gifts of Israel. Attendees at the celebration were treated to fresh...
May 15, 2017, Health Care Section
NEW YORK (JTA)—Think “Albert Einstein,” and certain images or phrases likely come to mind: “genius,” “kooky,” “wild hair,” “theory of relativity,” “E=mc2”—maybe even “Zionist.” Sex and violence? Not so much. Then there’s Genius—National Geographic channel’s first...
( JTA)—Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States soared 86 percent in the first three months of 2017 after rising by more than one-third in 2016, according to the Anti-Defamation League. There has been a massive increase in harassment of American Jews, largely since...
Early in her teen years, Zoe Martina Siegel knew that all was not right with the world. Her consciousness rose and she began to speak out. In fact, her Norfolk Academy senior speech was about reproductive rights and how politicized they are. It’s not so surprising,...
When Renee Heyman, founding mother of The Pink Tea Initiative at Temple Emanuel, invited Paula Krukin Levy to help her organize her first fundraiser in 2012, she had no way of knowing the event would outlive her. A cancer survivor for 42 years, Heyman made a solemn...
United States Naval Cmdr. Elaine Goodman Luria appears at ease when there’s a new adventure, opportunity, or challenge to be seized. Whether it is operating ships for the U.S. Navy, imagining, starting, and expanding a new business, or raising a family, Luria calmly...
May 1, 2017, Women Section
TEL AVIV (JTA)—To build a Jewish state in the Middle East, Israelis had to be innovators. Some of what they’ve come up with has been used mostly by their fellow citizens—think Hebrew slang, Bamba snacks and the Iron Dome missile defense system—at least so far. But...