The Arts + Ideas department of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC has a new professional team working on arts programming for the Jewish community—presenting some of the most exciting programs taking place in the region. Jill Grossman is the...
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Virtual auction of Lorraine Fink’s donated works reaps funds for visual arts programming
The traditional in-person experience of art might have temporarily receded into the past, but for local artist Lorraine Fink, not even a pandemic could keep her art from the community she loves. Last month, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC...
Holocaust Commission
The Holocaust Commission gratefully acknowledges the following White Rose and Red Rose donors from this year’s annual campaigns to raise funds to continue our vital programming. We could not provide the vital educational support we offer to teachers, the military, and...
Simon Family Passport to Israel helps 8 teens head to Israel this summer
Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Simon Family Passport to Israel will send eight students to Israel after a yearlong program pause due to the pandemic. “With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the world last year, we simply couldn’t have students travel in the summer of...
Elie Wiesel to be the first Jew honored with a bust in the National Cathedral in Washington
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Washington’s National Cathedral, known for its role during presidential inaugurations and other days of national import, is honoring Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Laureate and Holocaust memoirist with a bust, making him the first Jew to be so honored....
Your Dollars at Work: Remote religion ramps up during pandemic thanks in part to UJFT zooming in with tech support to local synagogues
In the digital-turned-remote age of work and worship, every single dollar makes a difference. Five synagogues in the area received funds from United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Community to upgrade and...
Cantor Elihu Flax retires from Beth Sholom Village
After almost 18 years of serving the spiritual and religious needs of Beth Sholom Village as its director of Religious Services, Cantor Elihu Flax is retiring in July. Cantor Flax became a fixture at BSV, taking an interest in all of the residents who lived there,...
Rabbi Adam Ruditsky joins BSV
Beth Sholom Village is set to welcome Rabbi Adam Ruditsky as its new Religious Cultural Leader. Ordained by the Academy for Jewish Religion of California in Los Angeles, Ruditsky embraces the words of the Kotzker Rebbe, who taught, “a whole heart is a broken heart,”...
Camp JCC is filling fast, spaces are limited
The most common questions that people ask regarding summer camp, says Dave Flagler, Camp JCC director, concerns swimming. “People want to know if swimming will take place,” he says. “’Of course, it will!’ I tell everyone.” Camp JCC, after all, is known for its...
Shalom Tidewater welcomes new neighbors to Jewish Tidewater
Have you met or do you know someone who has recently moved to our community? If so, Shalom Tidewater would love to welcome them on behalf of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Simon Family JCC. Please direct them to the link on our website,...
Dear Hampton Roads Friends and Family,
As you may have already heard, Rebecca Aleck Koltun, daughter of Virginia Beach native Audrey (Aleck) Koltun and her husband Scott, and the granddaughter of Helen and Warren Aleck, suffered a life-altering, horrific skiing accident on March 13. Rebeca severely...
your dollars at work: Romania Jews enjoy heart-to-heart Passover celebration without face-to-face contact
Like Jews around the globe, Romanian Jews have their own history and reason to be proud to belong to the big family of Bereshit, where they learn together and celebrate Judaism. “As we all turn to preparing for Pesah in our homes, I am proud to share what is taking...
Traveling for memorable experiences
Four separate studies from Cornell University indicate that the secret to happiness is to spend money on experiences, not things. In fact, according to an article in Forbes, research at San Francisco State University found “people who spent money on experiences rather...
Mazel Tov
Mazel Tov, October 23, 2017
United Jewish Federation of Tidewater celebrates the new Campaign year and Israel @70
Community Relations Council’s 7th annual Israel Today series also begins The kickoff of the 2018 Annual Campaign of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater was held Tuesday, Sept. 12 on the Sandler Family Campus. Leaders from synagogues, Jewish agencies, and the...
Puerto Rico’s Jews turn to helping neighbors ravaged by Hurricane Maria
(JTA)—After he bribed three van drivers to load their vehicles with aid supplies and drive him and his crew from the San Juan airport, Eli Rowe felt his humanitarian mission was off to a good start. Gas was scarce in Puerto Rico, but now all the food, medicine and...
Jewish groups in aftermath of Las Vegas attack call for tougher gun control laws
Jewish groups responded to the mass shooting in Las Vegas by condemning the violence and calling for gun control legislation. At least 59 people are dead and more than 500 wounded in the attack at a country music festival outside the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on...
A klug zu Columbus! Happy Frobisher Day!
When, in their Lower East Side tenements and chained to their sweatshop sewing machines, our immigrant grandmothers were fed up with the arduous task of making ends meet, they would offer the following mild curse: A klug zu Columbus—A pox on Columbus (for having...
Jane Gardner presents inspirational message of hope
With a calmness and gentleness in her voice that defied the remarkable struggle she has faced, Jane Gardner told her story, “Live Each Day,” to a packed house at the Kaufman Theater at Chrysler Museum on Sunday, September 17. The former television news anchor has...
Virginia Beach recruits visit Virginia Holocaust Museum
The Virginia Beach Police Department continued their commitment to “Never Again” with their Recruit Class 63 during a recent trip to the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Organized by the Virginia Beach Law Enforcement Training Academy, Sergeant Bryan S. Marshall says that...
A story of connections
On the Sickle’s Edge Neville Frankel Dialogos, an imprint of Lavender Ink, 2016 ISBN: 978-1-944884-10-9 474 pages, $16.95, paperback Stories based on family history are a strong current in Jewish literature. It is by remembering and retelling that we honor our loved...
Home
Home, October 9, 2017
Beth Sholom Kahbaid Campaign passes $2-million mark as extensive renovation gets underway
You won’t see anything just yet by walking into the building off Auburn Drive, but there is a major renovation underway at the Berger-Goldrich Home at Beth Sholom Village. Some of the rooms on the Sholom Unit are vacant, with those residents having been shifted to...
American Jews weigh in on Trump, anti-Semitism, Netanyahu in poll
WASHINGTON (JTA)—American Jews overwhelmingly disapprove of President Donald Trump in just about every area, scoring him lower than his predecessor even on topics like Israel, where Jewish approval of Barack Obama was relatively low, according to an American Jewish...
In call with Jewish groups, Trump does not take questions
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The debate has gone on for weeks among rabbis and Jewish leaders: If President Donald Trump does not formally renounce white supremacists, is it still worth engaging in a conversation with him? This was on much of the Jewish community’s mind since...
Memorial to Israel’s Olympic athletes murdered in Munich dedicated
A decades-long injustice to the memory of Israel’s Olympic athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games was rectified this month with the dedication of a permanent memorial to their memory in the very same Munich Olympic Park, where...
Catch-And-Release Fishing Derby reels in the fun at Sandler Family Campus
The first-ever Catch-and-Release Fishing Derby at the Simon Family Jewish Community Center took place on Sunday, September 17. With more than 60 official registrants and many more family and friends as supporters and participants, the turnout exceeded expectations for...
3rd Annual Great Big Challah Bake
Thursday, October 26, 7 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Want to enjoy the fragrance of yeast rising, laugh, and share community with hundreds of women, and then experience the deep satisfaction of baking a challah for Shabbat? This year, the 3rd Annual Great Big...
Commander Harold (Hal) Howard Sacks, U. S. Navy Retired August 2, 1930–September 8, 2017
With the passing of Hal Sacks, Jewish News has lost a friend, advocate, historian, and visionary—along with a writer and book review editor. As a friend, Hal was always available for advice—and not timid about offering it up—even when it wasn’t requested. As an...
High Holidays
High Holidays, September 25, 2017
Betty Ann Levin named UJFT executive vice president
After a national search, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s board made the decision to “go local” with the appointment of Betty Ann Levin as executive vice president upon Harry Graber’s retirement in May 2018. Currently executive director of Jewish Family Service...
Brandon’s story: thee of a special needs Jewish learner
In the beginning… We got the first diagnosis in 2003. ADHD. Nothing to worry about there, right? Lots of kids have ADHD. Heck, even I have ADHD. But as time went on, we knew that there had to be more than just that. So, in July 2006, when Brandon was six years old, we...