Elijah Arnowitz is a seventh grader who is already dreaming about camp this summer, which will be his fifth, at Camp Ramah New England. “It’s torturous to think about it because I miss it so much!” Elijah says. What does he like about camp? “Bunk activities, Shabbat...
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Jewish camp in Hungary is first introduction to Judaism for some campers
Every summer, 1,500 Jewish campers from more than 20 countries attend Camp Szarvas in Hungary. Funded in part by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the camp’s mission is to create an opportunity for young Jews from around the world to meet,...
A national audience for What We Carry
Close to 200 people interested in seeing the three newest films of survivor Alfred Dreyfus, liberator William Jucksch, and rescuer Dame Mary Barraco, attended a screening last December at the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. These first-hand...
Florida school shooting’s Jewish victims remembered for their kindness
( JTA)—They volunteered. They played soccer. They went to camp. They were sweet, mature, and easygoing. They were just beginning their lives, or helping others on their way. And one may have died so that others could live. Jewish students and staff were among the 17...
Aaron David Miller discusses the future of the Middle East
For Aaron David Miller, any opportunity to get out of Washington is appreciated, but on Monday, Feb. 12, the treat was for the Tidewater Jewish community. In a packed room, Miller, the vice president of New Initiatives at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for...
A Letter to My Campers After Parkland
This post was originally published in Bossier Magazine, and on the Religious Action Center’s and Union for Reform Judaism’s blogs. It is republished here with the author’s permission. To: G4A, G3B, the Tsofim unit, and all of URJ Camp Coleman: After 17 people were...
VCIC to honor William L. Nusbaum with Humanitarian Award
Thursday, March 22, 5:45 pm The Westin, Virginia Beach Town Center The Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities has selected William L. Nusbaum to receive a prestigious Humanitarian Award at their 54th annual dinner this month. The Tidewater chapter of VCIC will...
Last call for Israel stories
As you’ve probably heard by now, Israel turns 70 years old in April. To commemorate this milestone, the April 9 issue of Jewish News will feature all things Israel, including articles about the tiny nation’s beginning, it’s technological, medical, agricultural, and...
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February is National Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion month
Dedicated to offering programs throughout the year that raise awareness and bring people with disabilities, their families, and those who love them, into their Jewish communities in meaningful ways, for Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, National Jewish Disability...
CRC, HUBB, and VCIC present Marshall, conclusion of Building Bridges Week
The 25th Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg* and Patricia & Avraham Ashkenazi, began with a free, pre-festival event at TCC Roper Performing Arts Center featuring the movie, Marshall. Presented in honor of Martin...
Tidewater celebrates Purim
Purim, is a joyous holiday celebrated every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar. This year, on February 28. It commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from Haman’s plot to destroy all the Jews, as recorded in the Megillah (book of...
Community shows up to advocate for Jewish priorities
The community recently had the opportunity to hear the 2nd Congressional District of Virginia candidates share their views. The event on Monday, Oct. 20 at the Sandler Family Campus allowed attendees to personally meet incumbent Rep. Scott Rigell (R) and challenger...
Business & Legal Society makes waves with lunchtime event at ZIM
by Laine Mednick Rutherford A shipping container has a finite amount of space in which to fit cargo. So, too, does the boardroom at the ZIM USA office building in Norfolk—in relation to how many people it can seat for lunch. Fortunate, then, were the 32 members and...
Men’s Major Donors: Men gather to show support for Jewish community
There are those who have been close friends for years. Others are business associates or casual acquaintances who see each other in synagogue or at community events. Still others are multi-generational members of the same family. Some reside a substantial time of the...
The Death of Klinghoffer fails to live up to the controversy
by Ami Eden NEW YORK (JTA)—“See it. You Decide,” the Metropolitan Opera of New York exhorts in a promotional push capitalizing on the controversy over its new production of The Death of Klinghoffer. Well, I saw it. And I’m not sure which was more of a letdown, the...
Midterm elections: Jews facing off and other close races to watch
by Ron Kampeas and Anthony Weiss (JTA)—With midterm elections just around the corner, four races for the House of Representatives in particular are catching our Jewish eyes. In California, succeeding Waxman: Ted Lieu vs. Elan Carr California’s 33rd Congressional...
The Jewish dressmaker FDR turned away
“Stitching History” exhibit, open through Feb. 28,The Jewish Museum Milwaukee by Rafael Medoff WASHINGTON (JTA)—Was the Jewish “lady tailor” who ran a Prague dressmaking shop a potential Nazi spy? The Roosevelt administration apparently thought so. The Jewish Museum...
Rabbi’s coming-out highlights dramatic shift in Conservative Judaism
by Anthony Weiss LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Gil Steinlauf, a nationally prominent Conservative rabbi, made headlines this month when he announced to his large Washington, D.C., synagogue that he is gay, and that he and his wife of 20 years would divorce. As surprised as his...
Surge in anti-Semitism
From Paris to Germany to Santa Barbara to Atlanta and unfortunately, most places in between, overt anti-Semitism has returned. This month in the U.S., for example, Sears’ website touted rings with swastikas, cars were blown up near synagogues and more than one Jewish...
Dr. Einat Wilf brings young, passionate perspective to year’s first Israel Today Forum
Thursday, Oct. 30, 7:30 pm by Laine M. Rutherford The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and community partners present the first speaker in the 2014-2015 Israel Today Forum: the Honorable Einat Wilf at the Sandler Family Campus...
SNL’s Top 10 Jewish moments
by Jana Banin HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (JTA)—Last month marked the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, which is entering its 40th season. Happy birthday guys! To mark the occasion, we’ve assembled a list of our 10 all-time favorite Jewish moments on SNL (they’re like...
Religion and death and dying discussed at ODU
by Joe Hades, visiting professor at Old Dominion University A lecture on Religion, Ethics and Dying: Controversies and Perspective, took place on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Old Dominion University. Representing the Catholic and Jewish approaches to death and dying, Dr....
Tidewater Lions take a bite out of the Big Apple
by Amy Zelenka, UJFT Women’s Campaign director On a very special Sunday in September, six women from the Tidewater Jewish community met on the eighth floor of the Marriot Marquis Hotel in Times Square. As they quietly greeted one another, the spaces around them began...
My college graduation gift: the summer of a lifetime
by Hilary Bloch I couldn’t have asked for a better gift to celebrate finishing my years of formal education. I graduated in May from the Sy Syms School of Business at Stern College for Women, part of Yeshiva University in New York City. I didn’t get a car, a new...
Extraordinary Deeds abound during 2015 Annual Campaign Kick Off week
by Laine Mednick Rutherford They thought it could work, but the diverse members of the 1st Annual Mitzvah Day VA organizing committee weren’t 100 percent sure that the community would show up to participate in five planned projects on Sunday, Sept. 21. The committee...
Shining a spotlight on Laura Miller’s international recognition
by Laine Mednick Rutherford Laura Miller is most comfortable working behind the scenes, changing lives in the Tidewater Jewish community, throughout the United States and around the world. She’d prefer to be out of the spotlight, but is aware that can’t always happen,...
Israeli RISCO Group to provide security solutions for ATMs in China
RISCO Group, an Israel based provider of integrated security solutions, has signed a deal with several Chinese banks to provide security protection for tens of thousands of their cash machines (ATMs) across the country. China recently became the world’s largest ATM...
The Jewish imperative to tackle climate change—and four ways to do it
by Yossi I. Abramowitz JERUSALEM (JTA)—Two days before the U.N. Climate Summit, approximately 300,000 demonstrators, including a large multi-faith contingent—descended on New York City to demand urgent action on climate change. The People’s Climate March, which...
L’Shana Tova
Dear Readers, The High Holidays have officially arrived. Synagogues have mailed their tickets, Selichot has taken place and meals have been planned, ordered and reserved. Still, there is more to come. So Jewish News offers another packed High Holiday section that...
Jewish ‘Fifth Beatle’ figures prominently in new book about band’s first U.S. tour
by Tom Tugend LOS ANGELES (JTA)—It was 6 am on Aug. 19, 1964 when the phone rang in the Los Angeles apartment of Ivor Davis, the young West Coast correspondent for London’s Daily Express, circulation 4 million. On the other end was the paper’s foreign editor, who told...
First Book Festival read is now available
by Leslie Shroyer Just arrived for The Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Jewish Book Festival, The Late Starters Orchestra, by Ari L. Goldman, is a quick and inspirational read. It is now on sale at the Simon Family JCC. “Delightful is the best word to describe Ari L. Goldman’s...