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It was my grandfather, Hyman Brenner, who roped me in back in 1980. The beloved Lenny Goodman was leading Shabbat services each Saturday at Beth Sholom Home, but he did not read from the Torah. I could, and at the urging of Grandpa, one of the first male residents, I...
The Simon Family JCC and JFit combo package is more than a cultural community center and fully loaded fitness center studio with all kinds of bells and whistles. A beautiful setting, country club perks, yoga, senior programs, festivals, café, and supreme member care...
After four decades in the Rabbinate, the majority of them spent as the spiritual leader of Conservative congregations in New Jersey and Virginia, Temple Israel’s Rabbi, Dr. Michael Panitz, estimates he’s helped affix mezuzot to the doorposts of literally hundreds of...
Ohef Sholom Temple saw the climax of its 175th year celebration on Sunday, January 19, with a concert featuring two of the qualities the congregation is most proud of—the vigor of its dedication to social justice through civic outreach, and the joy of music as a fount...
In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission partnered with The Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholar-In-Residence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation’s Tidewater Together series to...
For the first time in 19 years, Tidewater’s Jewish community is embarking on a community needs assesment. The Jewish Tidewater Survey is designed to gather information to build a stronger, more dynamic Jewish community. The last survey, the 2001 Jewish Community...
The 27th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film is one of the longest-running Jewish film festivals in the nation. A dedicated screening committee, led by Mark Robbins and William Laderberg, selected films meant to engage diverse Tidewater audiences—Jewish and...
Sitting in my car at Norfolk International Airport on Wednesday, January 8, I was a little apprehensive. After months of preparation, I was about to meet the legendary Charlie Harary and drive him to the Simon Family JCC. Harary was visiting Tidewater as part of the...
On a crisp autumn morning, on Sunday, October 27, 15 volunteers began cheering as a caravan of cars—with bike racks on the back—headed for Chickahominy Riverfront Park in Williamsburg. Bikers, of all ages and physical abilities, came out to demonstrate their support...
Filling a room with more than 250 people, Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Wellness Officer, plant-based nutrition advocate, and author of What to Eat When, Dr. Michael Roizen came with a few surprises and a healthy dose of scientific data to back them up. A pre-event warmup...
If you ask chef Amy Brandt what makes Terrapin in Virginia Beach the area’s marriage proposal mecca, she’ll propose two main ingredients. “There’s only one restaurant in the area with the intimacy of Terrapin and 100% integrity in everything they do,” says the former...
Programs focusing on including and enriching the lives of those with various forms of disabilities or special needs are a big part of Jewish Family Service’s work. For more than 25 years, for example, Jewish Family Service has collaborated with the Jewish Community...
BINA High School celebrated its 10-year anniversary honoring Amy Brooke on Dec. 9 and 10. Many alumni returned to Norfolk to be a part of the celebration, travelling from New York, New Jersey, and Maryland—several with young families—to catch up with their old...
It‘s never too early to think about how to leave your mark on the community and how you want to be remembered. Each year by using disposable income charitably, people make an imprint on the Tidewater Jewish community. That choice is an investment—whether it is making...
Community-wide fundraising phone-a-thon Sunday, January 22, 9 am–1 pm Reba & Sam Sandler Family Campus Asking questions is one of the most time-honored traditions of Judaism, and the young adults organizing this year’s Super Sunday community-wide phone-a-thon have...
Last December I traveled to India with American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) Entwine. My peers and I connected with the Jewish community, particularly the Jewish Youth Pioneers (JYP), a young-adult delegation of Jewish-Indians who live in the greater...
Since launching in September, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Life & Legacy program has created new levels of excitement and engagement within the Tidewater Jewish community. The Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Life & Legacy program is a four-year initiative...
(New York, NY)—In a powerful statement issued by an array of Holocaust institutions, scholars and educators from around the world (including United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission), an alarm is being sounded on the rise of groups that promote...
In early December, Dana Cohen, a child survivor of the Holocaust and a member of the Holocaust Commission, Elena Barr Baum, director of the Holocaust Commission, and I attended the annual conference of the National Council for the Social Studies in Washington, DC,...
Now in its ninth year, the Stein Family College Scholarship will begin accepting applications on January 3, 2017 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. The...
Before the turkey was put in the oven and the potatoes mashed, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater Konikoff Center of Learning and Strelitz Early Childhood Education Center celebrated the time- honored tradition of Grandparents’ Day on Wednesday, Nov. 23. More than 160...
Holidays, December 19, 2016
The Middle East is a place where one plus one rarely equals two. Rather, it is a multifaceted and extraordinarily complicated region that has experienced escalated turbulence and dramatic change. To maneuver through this Middle East confusion, one almost needs a map....
New is the word at the Simon Family JCC Fitness Center. “We’ve got new equipment, new weights, new paint, new flooring, new practically everything,” says Howard Roesen, chair Simon Family JCC fitness and wellness committee. Among the many improvements, the fitness...
The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater invites local first through 12th graders to participate in its fifth annual Israel Poster Contest. A list of “cool facts” about Israel is available at www.JewishVA.org/...
For more information, visit www.simonfamilyjcc.org/filmfestival Saturday, January 14 | 7:30pm On the Map Doors Open at 6:45pm | Sandler Center for the Performing Arts | 201 Market Street, Virginia Beach Directed by Dani Menkin | 2016 | Israel | 85 min Against...
As Tidewater’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival was gearing up, the Lessans Family Annual Book Festival at the Bender JCC of Greater Washington was winding down. For its closing program on Sunday, Nov. 13, Jennifer Smith, director of arts and culture...
One hundred anti-Semitic incidents occurred in the 10 days following the presidential election, representing about 12 percent of hate incidents in the U.S. recorded by a civil rights watchdog. The report by the Southern Poverty Law Center looked at 867 hate incidents...
(JTA)—The upset victory by Donald Trump in the 2016 elections stunned a Jewish activist and leadership class that is at times as divided as the electorate at large. JTA asked some of those leaders to describe their concerns and expectations in a series of brief...
On Saturday, Nov. 19, the leader of the white nationalist think tank, the National Policy Institute, Richard Spencer, addressed his faithful at the Ronald Reagan building, blocks from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. His words did not veil their references...
Friends, As the year ends, we look back at events, visitors, and achievements— and yes, the challenges—the Tidewater Jewish community experienced in 2016. Our gratitude toward this community’s commitments, its accomplishments, its devotion and its dedication to...
Approximately 60 people attended Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s 7th Annual Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, Nov. 11. Scott Kaplan, president and CEO of TJF, welcomed guests to the ceremony and Captain James Eilberg, SC, USN (Ret), officiated. Other local clergy who...