During the week in which the LGBTQAI community celebrates its local presence, Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill, spiritual leader of Tidewater Chavurah, represented the Jewish community at Hampton Roads Pride’s interfaith event on June 26 at New Life Metropolitan Community...
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Brith Sholom’s move to Beth Sholom has been a win-win
Energetic president Joe Goldberg has led a 300% rise in membership “No heat, no bugs, no rain.” That’s how Joe Goldberg described the wise decision to move a July 1 pre-holiday cookout into the Pincus Paul Community Room at Beth Sholom Village. There were no...
Beth Sholom thanks Honor Campaign donors with reception and uplifting message
It is not immediately evident when walking into the Auburn Drive lobby, but all around the Berger-Goldrich Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center at Beth Sholom Village in Virginia Beach, a major renovation of patient rooms, corridors, and other spaces is underway....
YAD connects with Israeli Sister City, Kiryat Yam
The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater has a special bond with its Israeli sister city, Kiryat Yam. The coastal city is just 12km north of Haifa, and like Norfolk, is also known for its mermaids. After a mission trip to Israel in 2016, UJFT’s Young Adult Division’s...
Legal Matters
Legal Matters, July 16, 2018
Teens and seniors bond through Better Together at Beth Sholom Village
When Alisa Kosovsky got to Beth Sholom Village, she immediately walked over to sit with Lillian Kozak. The two are decades apart in age, but as close as ever. One is on the precipice of starting her life independent of her family—in college. The other is looking back...
Sandler Family Golf Tournament raises funds for three area organizations
Philanthropy was so intricately woven into the fabric of Reba and Sam Sandler’s family, that it should be no surprise that their children continue on their parents’ path. Perhaps one might suggest however, that equally important to their own generous gifts is that...
JFS award-winning home health aide is dedicated to her clients
When Jewish Family Service of Tidewater’s nurse’s aide Tiphaney Powell speaks about her clients, she does so with a great deal of respect, love, and admiration. After all, when your clients are two 93-year-old women and a 96-year-old man, a lot of life lessons may be...
The Birthright Israel Experience
I recently returned from leading my 38th Birthright Israel trip. Virginia-based students on this trip were from William and Mary, Christopher Newport University, and Old Dominion University. Students always ask if the trip gets old for me. After all, we go to mostly...
Elsie’s Story
She speaks with a slight, but distinct, accent whose origin I had long suspected, but, given her age and all that implied, been hesitant to ask. One night at dinner, though, I posed the simple question to 95-year-old Elsie Hirsch, “Where are you from?” She looked at...
CRC and JCC partner with Virginia Beach public libraries for National Jewish American Heritage Month
On April 20, 2006, President George W. Bush proclaimed May to be Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM). The announcement was the crowning achievement in an effort by the Jewish Museum of Florida and South Florida Jewish community leaders. Their dedication resulted in...
The Calming Cove: A remedy for sensory distress
Some children get overwhelmed when exposed to certain sensory experiences and react with behavior that’s not always conducive to social situations. Now, there’s a solution for these children on the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus. Called the Calming Cove, this new...
Joan Lunden shares her journey
Be enthusiastic. Always give the best you’ve got. Self-advocate. Those are just a few of the pieces of advice that Joan Lunden gave the audience of the packed Johnson Theater at Norfolk Academy on Sunday, April 26. Lunden, the former host of ABC’s Good Morning...
A Mother’s Day reflection on choices
When I was a little girl until well into college, I didn’t dream of weddings, having children or a house with a white picket fence. I wanted to be a criminal defense lawyer and live in Chicago and defend big time scoundrels. That was my fairytale. It was a bit film...
Time for Women
Dear Readers, Since Mother’s Day is celebrated in May, this month always feels like an appropriate time to focus on women. While being a mom is without a doubt one of the most rewarding, loving, exhilarating and important roles a woman can undertake, it’s not the only...
Recycling toilet water and four other Israeli answers to California’s drought
TEL AVIV (JTA)—For help facing its worst drought in centuries, California should look to a country that beat its own chronic water shortage: Israel. Until a few years ago, Israel’s wells seemed like they were always running dry. TV commercials urged Israelis to...
Thoughts on 2015 Tidewater Together speaker Rabbi Sharon Brous
Rabbi Sharon Brous was the guest teacher at the annual Tidewater Together program last month. Named one of America’s most influential rabbis by Newsweek, The Forward and The Jewish Week, she offered a prayer at President Obama’s 2012 Inauguration ceremony and...
Israeli and Jewish groups on frontline of Nepal earthquake relief efforts
After a devastating earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale hit the impoverished mountainous country of Nepal last month, killing more than 5,000 people, Israeli and Jewish humanitarian and governmental organizations assumed their traditional role on the...
To choose a heroine
Today I voted. For a woman. Today I joined the movement “Woman on 20s,” which is encouraging the president to have a woman’s face replace Andrew Jackson’s on the $20 bill. I was taken by this idea for the same reason as hundreds of thousands of Americans—It’s time. As...
Literacy: How do preschoolers develop reading skills?
Teaching literacy in preschool involves helping students develop readiness skills to read and comprehend. As early as two years old, children begin building these skills. Strelitz Early Childhood Center teaches literacy, preparing students for kindergarten and the...
Summer Institute for Jewish Living holds 40-year reunion
In the summer of 1974, 15 local teenagers experienced an amazing month-long adventure in Israel. The trip followed a month of Judaic study taught by two Brandeis University graduate students and Hebrew taught by Froike Inbar, Community Shaliach, at the Jewish...
Historical anniversaries, the struggle for racial equality and Pesach
I’ll start by sharing with you that yesterday, April 9, was a special day for Miriam and me. It was our 37th anniversary. We were married just before Pesach in 1978, and since that date often coincides with Pesach, we’ve celebrated with lots of macaroons and matzah...
When El Al flew to Tehran
9 other things you may not know about Israel’s past (JTA)—Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, falls on April 23. In honor of the Jewish state’s 67th birthday, we present, in no particular order, 10 little- known aspects of its history. 1. El Al used to fly to...
The Tom Hofheimer Medical Mission
Supporting myriad programs, including Magical Chairs, clinics and exchanges The first part of this series ( Jewish News, March 23, 2015) described how the Tom Hofheimer Fund brought Israeli reconstructive plastic surgeons to Tidewater to study with local specialists....
Pew study: Muslims to overtake American Jews by 2050
NEW YORK (JTA)—In 20 years, there will be more Muslims in North America than Jews, according to a new Pew Research Center report. The report, which was released Thursday, April 2 also found that more American Jews are leaving Judaism than non-Jews are joining the...
Ben & Jerry’s charoset and 10 more Passover ice cream ideas
A few weeks after Ben & Jerry’s founders indicated that marijuana- infused ice cream may one day join its product line, the company’s kosher-for-Passover charoset flavor has been generating buzz. In case your memories of last year’s seder are blurred by too many...
Scrambled Egg Potato Muffins for a kid-friendly Passover breakfast
Passover is bad enough without having to feed your kids, too. And breakfast during Passover can be pretty tricky: no toast, no oatmeal, no (palatable) cereal and no traditional syrup-drenched pancakes. Aside from making matzah brei every day, the options are somewhat...
Annual Book Fair transports students to a magical literary world
Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and the Strelitz preschool logged another successful event with this year’s 8th Annual Book Fair. Raising more than $6,000, the March affair was filled with great excitement, bringing students and families together over a love of reading....
YAD bowls a strike
The Young Adult Division’s Girls Night Out and Guys Night Out programs joined forces for a fun and friendly night of bowling competition on Saturday, March 21. For more than two hours, three teams of young adults went head to head to see who could make the most...
Two Israeli counselors join Camp JCC staff this summer
Two Israeli Scouts (Tzofim) will play an integral part of all eight weeks of Camp JCC this summer. These teenage girls, Hagar Sella and Shay Lopatner, are eager to join campers and counselors in Tidewater and are already working hard to be part of the Camp JCC staff....
Temple Sinai in Newport News named to Virginia Historic Register
Home of the only established Reform Jewish congregation on the Peninsula, Temple Sinai has been added to the Virginia Historic Register. At a joint meeting of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources State Review Board and the Board of Historic Resources, the...
Mary Catenaccio: Kosher Italian
Mary Catenaccio is a lively, mobile and very vocal 106-year-old resident at Beth Sholom Village. That information alone is a good enough story. However, as with many BSV residents, there is so much more to Mary. Russian Jewish immigrants, Mary’s parents moved to the...