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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...
Organizations targeted by recent bomb threats and other U.S. Jewish groups welcomed news of the arrest of a suspect—an Israeli with American citizenship who reportedly is Jewish. The Anti-Defamation League, whose headquarters in New York and at least three satellite...
Col. Edward Shames, pictured here with his letter of commendation from the Virginia General Assembly, was so honored on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Shames, a member of the legendary “Band of Brothers,” brought more of his men home than any other American...
Poised and charming and offering insightful discussions, Jessica Fechtor, a guest author and speaker for the Beyond the Book Festival, established immediate rapport with her audience while reading from her book, Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me...
Beginning with a pop and a fizz, the Society of Professional’s Pour wine event gathered local Jewish professionals and friends at the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Sunday, March 5. Overlooking the ocean, participants were led through progressive Kosher food and...
April 13, 2007 At the recent B’nai B’rith Youth Organization’s International Convention held in Houston, Texas, Virginia Council BBYO received an International Programming Award for the Lost Boys of the Sundan program held last fall. April 11, 1997 In an article by...
April 3, 2017, Passover Section
There is a midrash that, when standing at Sinai to receive the Torah, each person received their own personal revelation but responded in one voice, saying, “Na’aseh v’nishma”—“We will do and we will hear.” It is in that exquisite moment that we became one People....
As if Israel Today’s Mishy Harman’s performance wasn’t captivating enough, the event last month also included a presentation by Sheena Jeffers and Jennifer Chapman, founders of Story Exchange, a community engagement project aimed at sharing human experiences via art....
Mitch Albom, author of The Five People You Meet in Heaven, once wrote, “There’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking.” Mishy Harman, the...
The fifth commandment is clear. “Honor your father and mother,” as is the reason, according to the Torah (Exodus, Chapter 20). “So that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your G-d gives you.” If that’s true, then we all gained a few more years on this...
Thursday, March 30, 5:45 pm The Westin, Virginia Beach Town Center Created in the spring of 2015 as a constructive response to the racial violence and civil unrest that took place in Ferguson and Baltimore, Hands United Building Bridges is comprised of Jewish,...
March 20, 2017 Camp Section
Sporting a street-smart bravado and phosphorescent red hair topped with a black fedora, little could hide Samantha Montgomery’s (a.k.a. Princess Shaw) raw edgy talent and endearing awkward vulnerability. The special guest and singer songwriter received a standing...
Baltimore native Marty Mandelberg moved to Norfolk in June 2005 with his wife, Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg. He immediately went to work at PayDay. For Ohef Sholom Temple’s Religious School, he became the eighth grade teacher, focusing on the Holocaust. He also began...
Originally from Boston, Dorothy Zimmerman moved to Tidewater in 1982 for a job with a psychiatric hospital. She immediately immersed herself in the community—often seen at Chrysler Hall and wherever else art and theater were taking place—and became active in her...
A native of Shiraz, Iran, Farideh landed in Tidewater in 1975 She is the author of two memoirs, Wedding Song: Memoirs of an Iranian Jewish Woman, about her childhood in Iran, and Leaving Iran: Between Migration and Exile, about her family’s departure from the country,...
Rick Mercadante, CSCS, CHC had a wakeup call when he was 48 years old. Overweight, suffering from hypertension, he had become one of the millions of Americans deteriorating from lifestyle related disease. Fearing for his life, Mercadante began a journey of...
(My Jewish Learning via JTA)—With costumes, spiels and lots of drinking, Purim is one of Judaism’s most raucous holidays. You might know about beautiful Esther thwarting evil Haman’s plans, the custom of getting drunk and what hamantaschen are. But we’re guessing...
Deadline: Friday, March 31 Applications are still being accepted for the Stein Family College Scholarship for the 2017-2018 academic year. The annual grant for Jewish students in Tidewater provides a scholarship of up to $10,000 a year for college tuition. Established...
NEW YORK (JTA)—Sometime between the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 17, and the following Monday morning, vandals damaged 170 gravestones at the Chesed Shel Emeth Jewish cemetery outside St. Louis. Beyond that, cemetery staffers aren’t sure when the attack happened....