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When a local Catholic church asked Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, “do you have people you want to help?” the question undoubtedly resulted in a community partnership full of good will and good cheer. Such was the case for JFS and Catholic Church of St. Stephen in...
That connection ran deep, milestone after milestone, family after family. “As a rabbinical family, we were so privileged to be part of people’s lives,” says Miriam Brunn Ruberg. “When a baby was born, we got the call. When that child grew up, Arthur was the rabbi for...
Savvy donors are thoughtful about where and how they invest their charitable dollars. At the end of the year, consider these giving vehicles to help achieve your philanthropic goals and maximize tax savings. Open a Donor Advised Fund Use this “bunching” strategy to...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—’Tis the season for so much news! In addition to another deadly attack on U.S. Jews, a much-anticipated British election and the announcement that Israel is going to have a third election in less than a year, President Trump issued an executive order...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—When I was about 19 years old, I took my first trip to Europe. I marveled at its beauty, its culture, its history and its architecture. On this trip and many others that followed, I shed many tears as I visited the numerous synagogues, Jewish museums,...
(JTA)—Mel Brooks’ new HBO special is a departure from the comedian’s typical belly-laugh fare. In place of the slapstick gallows humor—though there’s plenty of that, too, in Mel Brooks Unwrapped—is a more introspective, documentary-style reminiscence of his nearly...
Dear Readers, The first Hanukkah candle is lit this year on the evening of Sunday, December 22, which means of course, the fourth will be lit on Christmas. While some might say that the Jewish holiday’s overlap with the most major of Christian days might result in...
Tidewater is fortunate to have so many great Hanukkah events taking place around town this year. Check some of them out here. Saturday, December 14 Ohef Sholom Temple OSTY Chanukah Party Sunday, Dec. 15, 11:30 Am–2:30 pm Simon Family JCC Latkapalooza A day filled with...
A community celebration of Hanukkah, Latkepalooza features three children’s books and authors, a camp extravaganza, light lunch and latkes, raffle, crafts, and live music. Latkepalooza 2019 is a family-friendly mini-book festival filled with group activities, camp...
Nearly 300 people arrived at Ohef Sholom Temple on Saturday, November 16 for the Temple’s 175th Anniversary Gala. The evening was beyond expectations, and really offered something for everyone: a jazz quartet to start the party, a dance band, and a piano bar where...
The Fifth Annual Great Big Challah Bake offered a chance to learn and experience the joy and mitzvah of making challah. Chaired by darcy Bloch, B’nai israel Congregation invited all Jewish women to participate in this event, which took place last month at the...
For its first event in Tidewater in recent years, national and regional leadership of Hadassah could only guess what the turnout would be for a program on ethical issues surrounding end-of- life. The event on Sunday, November 3 at the Simon Family JCC did not...
Laine Mednick Rutherford The 275 people who spilled off the stage, into the wings, and out into the theatre at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, September 20 weren’t there to dance or sing or act.They had braved pouring rain and flooded streets to...
A new business in the newly created ViBe district of Virginia Beach proved to be the perfect setting for the inaugural event of the newest Jewish group in Hampton Roads. The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Society of Professionals held its launch party on...
Sherri Wisoff Five Israeli delegates from Kiryat Yam, Tidewater’s Jewish community’s sister city in Israel, spent a whirlwind, and often rain-soaked week in Tidewater last month. During the week of September 18, these young adults visited most of Tidewater’s Jewish...
Joyce Strelitz, a longtime Tidewater leader and philanthropist, was honored by The Jewish Federations of North America’s National Women’s Philanthropy with its prestigious Kipnis- Wilson/Friedland Award on Tuesday, September 13. The award was announced at the 2016...
The Jewish experience is nothing if not diverse. Some might only celebrate the High Holy Days, or others might attend shul for Shabbat services every week. Perhaps it is that perfected challah recipe, or just a good bowl of matzah ball soup. From Hebrew school to...
The Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater has been named the recipient of the 2016 Virginia Council for the Social Studies Friend of Education Award. Awarded annually to “a non-profit organization that exemplifies a commitment to teachers...
Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA)—Shimon Peres, the former defense hawk turned Nobel Peace Prize winner and the last of Israel’s founders, has died. Peres died before dawn Wednesday, September 28 at 93. The former president suffered a massive stroke earlier last month and was...
(JTA)—A stabbing and car-ramming epidemic in Israel that some called a third intifada was among the most dominant Jewish stories of the past year. But 5776 was also notable for the release of spy Jonathan Pollard after 30 years in prison, the communal fallout from the...
September 21–October 23 Sandler Family Campus In describing her creative process, Neta Levi says, ”When I’m closing the door behind me to my studio (garage)…I feel like I’m drifting away with my imagination. I celebrate my creativity with endless tubes of color and...
Freshly cut grass, chlorine, sunscreen, and melted popsicles are the scents of summer usually found by the pool at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus. On the evening of Friday, August 29 at the YAD and JCC End of Summer Shabbat Dinner and Pool Party, new aromas...
September 22, 2006 Fourteen teenagers took a weeklong bus adventure as part of the Simon Family Jewish Community Center’s Operation Understanding Hampton Roads. The group visited Atlanta, Birmingham, Selma and Montgomery, and such diverse sites as the Voting Rights...
With the approach of the Jewish Holidays, many of us are starting to review our actions over the past year. We reflect on the goals we set for ourselves and assess whether we met them and we begin to contemplate how we can make positive changes going forward. As I...
An Israeli-run jewelry store is now open in Virginia Beach, complete with mezuzot adjacent to the front and inside doors. Diamonds Direct is the eighth in a fast growing chain that started in Charlotte in 1995 and has spread across the southeast United States....
Dear Readers, According to Reform Judaism, A Jewish Way of Life, a small handbook that covers topics from What is Torah? to The State of israel to Life Cycle and everything in between, “When establishing a Jewish home, it is important to find a town, city, or neigh...
Hannah Cooper Birthright Israel Rafting down the Jordan River. Hiking up Masada. Floating in the Dead Sea. Praying at the Western Wall. Riding a camel. This summer I had the privilege to travel to Israel through Taglit Birthright, an organization that provides...
I had another rewarding pilgrimage this past July to Israel—the land of my upbringing—spent with my Israeli family led by my mother Chasia (“God spares”), a 94-year-young Polish Holocaust survivor from Sarny, Ukraine who is a remarkable symbol of Jewish endurance and...
A celebration of long-lasting marriage, Brith Sholom held its annual Club 50 Dinner & Dance on Sunday, August 21 at Beth Sholom Village. Deemed “a real success,” 135 people attended, including 37 couples married who are 50 years or more. The evening began with...
I told you that you reminded me of someone. That day on the beach at Quidnet. i couldn’t help thinking i had seen that same face before. Your strong forehead and broad cheeks. Your delicate curves and Roman nose. The puffy pout and little mouth. The mystery in your...
One of only eight Jewish communities from across North America selected to participate in the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s Life and Legacy program, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation is part of the program’s fifth cohort. Life and Legacy now includes a total of 37...
Young adult Kiryat Yam residents to visit Tidewater this month A seaside town with beautiful beaches. A vibrant arts and music culture. A diverse and pluralistic Jewish community comprised of people from all backgrounds. Rumors of mermaid sightings in the water. No,...