Hearing Wes Sandler describe skydiving is much like listening to Brad Pitt’s character describe fly fishing in the film, A River Run’s Through It; equal parts science, art, adventure, and passion—and for the lucky listener, the excitement of gaining a glimpse into a...
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Where there’s a WILL there’s a way…
Can you believe it is already November? As the days get shorter and the leaves continue to fall, we think about the end of the calendar year and all of the things we hoped or planned to get done before year-end. What did you say you were going to do this year? Were...
Grants available for first time Jewish overnight campers
Tidewater Jewish Foundation is launching the One Happy Camper program in partnership with the Foundation for Jewish Camp. The initiative provides need-blind grants of up to $1,000 to families with children attending nonprofit Jewish overnight camp for the first time....
Anti-Semitic incidents surge in United States, ADL says
NEW YORK (JTA)—Anti-Semitic incidents in the first nine months of 2017 have risen 67 percent over the same period last year, according to the Anti- Defamation League, which factored in a string of bomb threats largely attributed to a Jewish man in Israel. On the...
Jewish groups wary of proposed federal tax overhaul
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Jewish groups expressed dismay at some of the provisions of a tax overhaul that President Donald Trump and Republicans hope to complete by the end of this year. The overhaul, broadly, slashes taxes and compensates for them to a degree by reducing...
Larry David’s Holocaust joke was an offense—against comedy
NEW YORK (JTA)—In a famous episode of Seinfeld, Jerry is upset that his dentist, a recent convert to Judaism, is already telling Jewish jokes. He complains to the dentist’s former priest. “I wanted to talk to you about Dr. Whatley,” Jerry says. “I have a suspicion...
Challah Bake 2017
In a delightfully busy night filled with flour and community, 150 women gathered to mix, knead, and braid at Tidewater’s 3rd Annual Great Big Challah Bake. Held on Thursday, Oct. 26 at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus, the women-only event offered the...
No Frill Bar & Grill celebrates 30th anniversary
Jerry Meltsner arrived on the shores of Norfolk from his hometown of Philadelphia via Los Angeles in 1983. His first stop in town was to run the food service operation at Stanley Peck’s Bessie’s Place, which morphed into the Boat House—a concert and party venue where...
The Quality Shops celebrates 100 years in business
Founded as a hat store in Portsmouth in 1917 by Morris H. Rapoport, The Quality Shops is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year as a family owned and operated business. And, let’s face it, in today’s retail climate, that is a major accomplishment. Specializing in...
25 years of brightening Chanukah for local children and teens
“I am a native of Tidewater and have spent my whole life here. I met and married the love of my life after college and we had one beautiful daughter. Unfortunately, our marriage did not turn out to be beautiful. After counseling and serious soul searching, we decided...
Plenty of fish in the pond
Hebrew Academy of Tidewater’s third grade students invited Sandler Family Campus “experts” to a brief presentation of their research of the Campus Pond, dubbed “Lake Sandler” on Tuesday, Oct. 17. The students were investigating whether Lake Sandler would need to add...
Simon Family JCC Seniors celebrate Rosh Hashanah
The Seniors Club celebrated Rosh Hashanah at the Simon Family JCC with a paint social led by Hebrew Academy art teacher, Michelle Barnes just ahead of the holiday. Following their painting, Rabbi Israel Zoberman led an educational discussion about the meaning of Rosh...
Jewish Major League baseball cards feature current and classic players
The seventh edition of Jewish Major Leaguer Baseball Cards—a 50-card set largely focused on events in baseball involving Jewish players over the last four years is now available. The 2010 edition, the fifth update, was thought to be the last. But popular demand,...
The Deloreans are coming!
Saturday, June 14, 7 pm, Ohef Sholom Temple “Go back to the ’80s” at Ohef Sholom Temple’s annual casino-style event, which will feature the ‘80s tribute band, The Deloreans. It’s been said, “when you go to a Deloreans show, you feel like you’re actually back in the...
Israel Fest 2014: Amazing Crowds, Amazing Day
The Simon Family JCC’s Annual Israel Fest, presented by Charles Barker Automotive, was the biggest to date, with about 1,800 people enjoying the many activities on Sunday, May 18. This was the most extensive, expansive and enthralling Israel Fest at the JCC, featuring...
Successful Iron Dome program wraps up JCC’s Celebrate Israel series
A presentation describing the engineering mechanics behind the Iron Dome anti-missile system used by Israel to protect its citizens could have been overly complicated or less than entertaining. In a program about the subject, held at Regent University Theatre on...
Tidewater Jewish rock star wows crowd
Ohef Sholom hosted “Cantor Wally Live!” an outdoor celebration of Jewish music last month. A picture perfect day, families with young children gathered outside to hear Cantor Wally play original and classical Jewish tunes on the steps of Ohef Sholom’s sanctuary...
A shift of outlook is all it took
The moment that shifted my outlook on Israel was when I had the honor to attend a presentation by StandWithUs. Hen and Shay, who toured the United States as part of “Israeli Soldiers Stories,” spoke at my school. Their testimonies touched my heart in a way I never...
Simon Family JCC holds Annual Meeting
Community leaders, members and staff gathered for the 61st Annual Meeting of the Simon Family JCC on Monday, May 19. The meeting recognized Terri Sarfan for her successful two-year term as president, welcomed Marty Einhorn as incoming president, and bestowed awards on...
Beauty and benevolence abound at Women’s Division Spring Luncheon
The beauty, subtlety, elegance and graciousness of the Jewish women gathered in the sun-lit room at the Museum of Contemporary Art on May 20 outshone the stunning Dale Chihuly glass chandelier that hung from the ceiling of the gallery. More than 70 attended the annual...
In Mideast visit, Pope Francis makes symbolic gestures to both sides
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Perhaps the most lasting image from Pope Francis’ trip to Israel and the West Bank will be the pontiff praying, eyes closed, with his head against a wall. It wasn’t the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site and a necessary stop for visiting...
A new gauge of global anti-Semitism
NEW YORK (JTA)—The Anti-Defamation League’s Global 100 Index of Anti-Semitism is the broadest public opinion survey of attitudes toward Jews ever conducted. It is one of the most important efforts we have undertaken in our history as an organization. The survey was...
UJFT 2014 Annual Campaign coming to a close
As of late May, the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater 2014 Annual Campaign received just over $4 million in donations from about 1,500 individual donors. Gifts to the UJFT enrich and touch the lives of Jews, and many others, in Tidewater, in the United States, in...
Winning essays awarded at Ohef Sholom Temple Religious School
For his Bar Mitzvah project, Bradley Friedman chose to administer the First Annual Ohef Sholom Temple Religious School Essay Contest. All students in grades one through 10 were invited to participate. The topic for this year’s contest was: “Our Temple was founded in...
HAT student wins 2014 Israel Poster Contest
Leo Kamer had a selection of cool facts about Israeli innovations to choose from as inspiration for an illustrated entry in the area’s 2014 Israel Poster Contest. The one the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater fifth grader liked the best, though, had to do with a bicycle....
TJF celebrates 30th anniversary, Simon Family Legacy Society and retirement of its president and CEO
The Tidewater Jewish Foundation celebrated its 30th anniversary, acknowledged the members of the Simon Family Legacy Society and honored Philip Rovner on his retirement from the Foundation after 18 years of service on Thursday, April 24. Approximately 150 people...
Chinese and Kosher?
After several months of discussions and preparation, Beth Sholom Village was host to a family dinner with congregants of B’nai Israel. The concern that Beth Sholom Village is not at a level of Kashrut for many of the Orthodox community has been around for some time....
Community supports Israel at Independence Day event
The Tidewater community showed its support for Israel at a celebratory event held on May 6 in honor of Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, in partnership with the Simon Family JCC’s...
Can a relationship celebrate a Bar Mitzvah?
The “Bar Mitzvah boy” did not receive a fountain pen. There was no sheet cake shaped like a Torah scroll. No band played too loudly, and no one raided a 401k plan to pay for the event. And yet, when two of Tidewater’s Masorti/ Conservative congregations, Kehillat Bet...
Yom Hashoah Commemoration honors the past, celebrates the present and provides hope for the future
Just when you think it can’t get more meaningful, it does. This year’s Yom Hashoah program, sponsored by the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater at Ohef Sholom Temple on Sunday, April 27, was another poignant and powerful tribute to those...
ADL survey: More than a quarter of the world hates Jews
NEW YORK (JTA)—A lot of people around the world hate the Jews. That’s the main finding of the Anti- Defamation League’s largest-ever worldwide survey of anti-Semitic attitudes. The survey, released Tuesday, May 13, found that 26 percent of those polled —representing...
Jewish groups decry Supreme Court’s town council prayer ruling
WASHINGTON (JTA)—An array of Jewish groups criticized a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing prayers at town hall meetings. The 5–4 decision along conservative- liberal lines handed down Monday, May 5 reversed a lower appeals court decision in favor of a lawsuit...