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The Tidewater Jewish community was fired up on Thursday, May 3 for its annual Lag B’Omer Bash. This year’s event, hosted by the Simon Family JCC, the Young Adult Division of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and Chabad of Tidewater, attracted nearly 200...
The ceremony began on a sunny spring morning beside a single dugout grave and a pile of dirt. On Sunday, April 15, 15 middle schoolers from Ohef Sholom Temple buried 1,000 worn-out prayer books in the Tree of Life section at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Norfolk. Everyone...
The Tidewater Jewish Federation Grants process was created to have an impact on the Tidewater Jewish and general community by providing funding for new and innovative projects that focus on the social, welfare, health, education, community relations, and cultural...
Most people would think twice before mixing horseradish and beer. However, Josh Kulp, the rosh (head) of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, covered both topics during his weekend visit to Norfolk in March as scholar-in-residence for Congregation Beth El and Temple...
Co-founder of Israel’s first music television channel, Israeli journalist, culture critic, and DJ, Eyal Rob brought the Tel Aviv music scene to Tidewater last month. His visit concluded the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s...
For anyone who ever wondered if a Yeti coffee cup really does keep coffee hotter than other competing cups, Shayna Friedman, a fourth-grade student at Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, answered this question through her Science Fair project. On Thursday, April 17, Hebrew...
Natalie Portman said she wouldn’t attend a prize ceremony in Israel because of her feelings about its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and “atrocities” committed on his watch, but emphasized that she would not shun Israel itself. The Jerusalem-born director and...
NEW YORK (JTA)—One of the first scenes in a new documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg features the Supreme Court associate justice, then 84, vigorously lifting weights, doing leg exercises and holding herself in a plank position. The much buzzed-about workout routine...
On Sunday, April 29, BINA students turned the field at the Simon Family JCC into a new form of a rainbow. The girls had a Color Run to raise money to use for conventions and programs with other communities. Most of the student body (along with a few future students)...
The following letter was sent last month to Elena Baum, director of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission: I am writing to you from Princess Anne Middle School. I am a school counselor here and wanted to reach out to you to thank you personally...
In May 1967, the world heard the song Yerushalayim Shel Zahav, Jerusalem of Gold, for the first time as Shuli Nathan stood on stage and sang the words written by Naomi Shemer. At the time, the Old City of Jerusalem was still under control of the Jordanians, and the...
A contemporary mixed media artist known for her emotive figurative and expressionist paintings, Holly Berger Markhoff’s stunning paintings are now on exhibit at Richard Stravitz Sculpture & Fine Art Galleries in Virginia Beach. Influenced by the elongated figures...
The Young Adult Division of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater threw the craziest Purim party in town on the evening of Saturday, March 7. Nearly 200 revelers joined in the circus-themed fun and dressed up to walk the red carpet at the Sandler Family Campus of...
Thousands of pro-Israel activists gathered in Washington, D.C. March 1-3, 2015 for the largest-ever American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference to reaffirm the broad bipartisan consensus in support of the U.S.-Israel relationship. With violence...
Documentary premieres to standing room only crowd As somber music plays in the background, the prow of a boat cuts through dark waves in the dramatic opening scene of a new documentary about the Tidewater Jewish community. A narrator’s voice begins over an illustrated...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The Obama administration’s first response to news that Benjamin Netanyahu had been reelected as prime minister of Israel appeared to be avoidance. White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Wednesday, March 18 that the president would wait...
(JTA)—In the United States, the magic number on Election Day is 270, the number of Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency. In Israel, it’s 61, the number of seats needed to capture a majority in the 120-seat Knesset—and with it, the premiership. With...
Tom Hofheimer and the Medical Mission We begin with this brief introduction to honor the memory of Tom Hofheimer, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of his passing and the 30th anniversary of the Tom Hofheimer Foundation and its various versions since its...
For four days, Jews in Tidewater— and beyond—are invited to be part of the 2nd Annual Tidewater Together, a journey of Jewish insight, understanding and growth. Tidewater Together’s goal is to welcome all Jews, inclusive of race, class, gender and practice, to...
Friday, March 27, 12:30 and 7 pm, Old Dominion University Professor Michael Brenner will speak twice for The Sonenshine Lecture Series as part of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding at Old Dominon University. Jewish Life in Contemporary...
Wednesday, April 15, 6:45 pm, Congregation Beth El Presented by the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, the annual Yom Hashoah commemoration honors survivors, liberators and righteous gentiles. The event also applauds winners of its...
Sunday, May 3 The 11th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll, which will take place at 24th Street Park in Virginia Beach will include an 8K run, a 5K run, 5K walk and a 1 mile run/ walk, plus fun activities for all ages. Don London of The New 101.3 radio station will provide...
What is a “chalutz? ” This is the question that Leon Covitz posed at the recent Jewish Education Council Educators’ Professional Development workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Covitz is the director of education at Temple Israel and an educator...
The culinary and creative efforts of the Tidewater Jewish community filled bodies and souls over the Purim holiday this year. An estimated 150 people of all ages came to the Sandler Family Campus on Sunday, Feb. 15 to participate in Operation Hamantaschen. The annual...
Dear Readers, Summer Camp has a way of impacting campers and counselors in a way, I believe, that only they truly understand. So many children can’t wait to return each year, and the same goes for the staff and counselors. A perfect example of the phrase, “you can...
In the 1950s, a very determined group of leaders came together with a vision for a Jewish day school for the children of Tidewater. That dream became a reality and the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater opened its doors in Norfolk in 1954–1955. The founding men and women of...
Following a rocky start in the Virginia House of Delegates, Del. Brenda Pogge of Williamsburg accepted a substitute resolution by Senator Adam Ebbin of Northern Virginia, which was approved in the Senate, and made its’ way back to the House where it finally earned...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, in the end, was about reminding Americans that the enemy of your enemy may still be your enemy. He may have lost some friends in the process. Netanyahu spoke before the U.S. Congress on Tuesday,...
Wednesday, March 25, 5:45 pm, Norfolk Waterside Marriott Leah and Richard Waitzer are the nominees to receive the prestigious Humanitarian Award at the Tidewater chapter of the Virginia Center For Inclusive Communities’ 51st annual dinner. The award is presented to...
Sunday, March 1, 2pm, Jewish Museum and Cultural Center Dr. Adam Mendelsohn, associate professor of Jewish Studies at the College of Charleston, will speak about “The Rag Race: the Schmatta Trade,” as the final lecture in the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center’s...
ATLANTA (JTA)—More than 3,000 teenagers from multiple Jewish youth groups gathered in Atlanta over President’s weekend for a series of events aimed at strengthening Jewish identity among teens and rallying philanthropic support for such programs. The main attractions...
More than 30 members of the local Jewish community traveled to the Virginia General Assembly in Richmond to be part of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Community Relations Council delegation for the annual Jewish Advocacy Day on Feb. 4. The Tidewater...