“If I were the Jewish Czar, I would legislate that all Jewish kids have to attend three years of Jewish overnight camp,” declares Betsy Karotkin, president of Congregation Beth El. She describes Jewish camp as something that cannot be duplicated. “The people at camp...
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Psagot Cabernet Sauvignon: It’s not just for Passover
Why on this night do we drink not one, but four cups of wine? I don’t know, but I like it! And I have found the perfect Passover wine. I just don’t know if I can limit myself to four cups. The Psagot Cabernet Sauvignon Single Vineyard 2013 has an ideal balance of...
Kosher food in Ghent
Rabbi Sholom Mostofsky of the Vaad HaKashrus of Tidewater has been in touch with the corporate offices of Harris Teeter, which recently acquired Farm Fresh on 21st Street in Ghent. The Farm Fresh store has been one of the main sources of kosher food in Norfolk. Harris...
The Shenkman Jewish Center at William & Mary: A Jewish center after 325 Years
For more than 300 years, Jewish students at the College of William & Mary have had to dream about having a Jewish home on campus. Jewish students have had to fight to book rooms for Shabbos and holidays. Kosher food was virtually impossible to get and having to...
Visiting Israeli chef and DJ will bring authentic food and music to community Israel Fest
Judaism Through the Arts Thursday, April 19, Congregation Beth El Israel Fest Sunday, April 22, Simon Family JCC Screenwriting professor by day, Tel Aviv DJ by night, Eyal Rob is a Tel Aviv guy, a native of that highly cosmopolitan metropolis of 440,000 people (the...
2018 Holocaust Commemoration to feature new exhibit, author
Wednesday, April 11, 6:45 pm Congregation Beth El The Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s annual Holocaust Day of Remembrance, Yom Hashoah, will take place this year at Congregation Beth El. The free event includes a guest speaker, a...
New York Times best selling author, Julie Lythcott-Haims inspires at first Tidewater Learning Connection
Stress and anxiety. It’s everywhere. Parents see it in their kids. Kids see it in their parents. From before they are even born, parents worry about their kids walking, talking, reading, taking the right classes, getting into the right classes…it never ends. “Not only...
Camp
2018 Summer Camp, March 26, 2018
Ohef Sholom Temple recognizes and thanks Soup Kitchen community partner
For more than eight years, Ohef Sholom Temple has opened its doors on the last Monday of every month for its Soup Kitchen, regularly serving approximately 75 guests. Dorianne Villani and her cadre of congregant and community volunteers prepare and serve a hot,...
Choosing to lead at AIPAC Policy Conference 2018
Earlier this month I attended my sixth American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference. Once again, the conference exceeded my expectations, bringing community and student activists from all 50 states together to learn about and advocate for issues...
Big prizes, big fun at Beth El’s annual Ben Gordon Family Bingo Night
Four players went home Saturday night, Feb. 10, with large, smart TVs, including Cantor Elihu Flax, who beamed over his 55-inch television that marked the midpoint game of Congregation Beth El’s 19th annual Ben Gordon Family Bingo Night. But the TV winners and many...
Manicures and Mitzvahs highlights Dress for Success
Beth El Sisterhood hosted Manicures and Mitzvahs at Changes Salon Thursday, Feb. 8 in support of Dress for Success. Twenty women enjoyed pampering, socializing, and a delicious food spread. Francesca Litow says it was a “Wonderful opportunity to pamper ourselves,...
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...
Mah Jongg at Beth Sholom Village goes retro
by Marcia Brodie The Annual Janet Gordon Mah Jongg Tournament at Beth Sholom Village proved to be spectacular. After lunch for 120 guests, 91 women played several hours of competitive Mah Jongg. The money raised each year goes directly to Beth Sholom Village. This...
Tangier Island—a proud friend to Israel in the Chesapeake Bay
by Betsy Karotkin In July, Eddie and I set sail for two and one half weeks on the Chesapeake Bay, as we do each summer. I don’t know which of us looks forward to it more. Our days are spent navigating, watching for crab pots (a real hazard to boaters), for shoals, for...
Lady Gaga in Israel
Pop icon Lady Gaga gave a show-stopping performance in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park on Saturday, Sept. 13 as part of her “artRAVE: The ARTPOP Ball” world tour. Some 30,000 concertgoers were also wowed with a surprise appearance by the legendary Tony Bennett, who performed...
Ready to read to a Bear Cub?
by Sherri Wisoff The BE A Reader or “BEAR” program is a literacy project that needs more volunteers to read to young children in area public schools. BEAR operates during the 39-week school year, September through June. Children in grades 1–3, are helped to acquire...
HAT and Strelitz preschool usher in the start of a new academic year
by Dee Dee Becker The kickoff of a new academic year for Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and the Strelitz Early Childhood Center preschool took place on Monday, Aug. 25. Filled with excitement and hope for the learning and growth that’s in store, students were welcomed...