Though Leia Morrissey is in eighth grade, she knows she can make friends with anyone at any age. It’s a skill she picked up by participating in Better Together, a program that brings teens from area synagogues together with seniors at Beth Sholom Village. Now in its...
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Gefilte fish and the bathtub
One of my favorite memories of Passover is hearing my grandfather tell stories about how his mother used to make the gefilte fish. I assumed like all families that they just went to the store and bought theirs. He explained to me that on the morning of Passover my...
Making it fun and meaningful for the younger generation
Every year I am reminded of the enthusiastic and spirited seders we had in South Africa with our extended family. Most of these family members are now dispersed around the world. We have five grandsons for whom I create fun and meaningful seders. This includes...
Our burnt Haggadah, gefilte fish that attracted neighbors, and puppets
My family has incorporated different Haggadot versions over the years, but we are always sure to use my Grandpa Jack’s original Haggadah, which has a burnt cover from when he nodded off during the seder and accidentally singed the book edges in the table candles. I...
Passover
March 5, 2018
A Great Passover Memory
Only one?? Impossible! I have so many great Passover memories because it has always been my favorite holiday, starting as a child sitting around my Aunt Florence’s dining room table in Baltimore with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins on my father’s side. I can’t...
Kibbutz seders were fun!
Every year for Passover, my family would drive 90 minutes to attend a seder at my aunt and uncle’s kibbutz. They lived on Kibbutz Beth Alpha, near Jordan, and we lived in Haifa. Hundreds of people attended, filling many long tables. The kibbutz created their own...
Grants available for first time campers to Jewish overnight camps
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...
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 dream becomes a reality
by Karen Lombart For a very long time, Annie Sandler has wanted to share her excitement about the Romanian Jewish community with others in Tidewater. This summer, her dream came true. Learning that the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) was taking an...
YAD Family Shabbat filled with friends, food and fun
The annual Young Adult Division of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s End of the Summer Family Shabbat took place on Friday, Sept. 5, at the Simon Family JCC outdoor water park. With more than 85 people, this year’s YAD Summer Shabbat claimed the prize of...
Team Virginia Beach takes the GOLD at JCC Maccabi Games
by Ellie Bernstein Gold, Gold and more Gold! That is what Team Virginia Beach received at the JCC Maccabi Games held in Detroit last month. The Simon Family JCC’s 16 and under basketball team (comprised of Wayne Simon, Jake Levinson, Jacob Stern, Evan Roesen, Sheldon...
5th Annual Bringing Israel Home
by Laine M. Rutherford and Robin Mancoll Complicated. The military actions Israel has taken to defend its people. Palestinian civilian deaths. Feelings of teens entering the Israel Defense Forces. Life. All are very complicated. Speaking to 50 local Jewish college...
Optimism and uncertainty made July visit to Israel: Sunny, with a Chance of Rockets
The Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater accepted an invitation to present its innovative original program, What We Carry, at the 9th International Conference on Holocaust Education at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, July 7–10, 2014. The start of...
Brandeis University study shows American Jewish young adults overwhelmingly support Israel in war with Hamas
79% of respondents say Israel’s response is “justified” NEW YORK—Researchers from Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies (CMJS) released a study that finds that while American young adults may hold Israel responsible for the recent conflict in...
Bibi’s approval ratings, buoyed by war, are now plummeting—but why?
by Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA)— Israel’s war is over, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fight may only have just begun. The past month has seen Netanyahu’s approval rating plummet, according to polling by Israel’s Channel 2. On July 23, about a week after Israel...
Cease-fire marks end to Israel’s longest, bloodiest war in Gaza
by Ben Sales TEL AVIV (JTA)—A rocket barrage fell on Israel, a boom sounded over Tel Aviv and then it was over—at least for now. After 50 days of missiles, airstrikes, ground operations, tunnel incursions, truce talks, cease-fire proposals, death and destruction,...
Standing as one
These past months our community, world Jewry and the people of Israel have faced enormous political, moral and life threatening challenges. Facing these challenges requires collective and individual thoughtfulness, wisdom and fortitude. We must break down complex,...
Jewish News Advertiser Profile
Name: Ilene Leibowitz Lipton, admissions and marketing director at Leigh Hall Assisted Living in Norfolk. Age: 50 Education: University of Georgia, 1985 Children: Seth, 19 and Maya, 15 Hometown: Norfolk Favorite food: Hmmm, today it’s sushi, watermelon, Nutella and...
When one day isn’t enough: The UJFT Week of Extraordinary Deeds
Monday, Sept. 15–Sunday, Sept. 21 “Will It, Create It, Achieve It” Monday, Sept. 15, 7 pm • Mitzvah Day VA, Sunday, Sept. 21, 1:30 – 3:30 pm Every year, in order to nurture and enrich Jewish life in Tidewater, strengthen the global Jewish community, and care for...
Swordfish Swim Team celebrates winning season
by Leslie Shroyer As they took their final strokes of the season, members of the Simon Family JCC’s Swordfish Swim Team were all smiles and high fives on the last evening in July. The fifth and final swim meet for participants, ages 5 through 18, took place at the...
Hospice helps patients follow tough advice
by Norma Gaetani “It’s time to put your affairs in order.” This euphemism conveys a dramatic message in TV shows or films, but it is also practical advice for patients and families served by Freda H. Gordon Hospice & Palliative Care of Tidewater (HPCT). However,...
New leadership roles at Hebrew Academy
by Dee Dee Becker Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and the Strelitz Early Childhood Center will experience several new leadership changes and services for the start of the 2014-2015 academic year. Lorna Orleans, Strelitz preschool teacher, assumes the role of preschool...
After Harvard, Alan Dershowitz plans an active—and combative—retirement
by Anthony Weiss CHILMARK, Mass. (JTA)—Alan Dershowitz’s house is a bit of a mess. Most of the rooms in his Martha’s Vineyard home are cluttered with half-unpacked boxes filled with items from his Cambridge house, which he and his wife emptied recently and sold after...
Reflections on two journeys
by Mickey Held As a member of the Holocaust Commission for 20 years, I have been privileged to witness the impact we have made on our community with our many programs. As I escorted survivors to share their stories, I became transfixed by their journeys and inspired...
As chapter closes, Shimon Peres hailed by normally divided Knesset
by Ben Sales JERUSALEM (JTA)—In the midst of a grinding war in Gaza, a sometimes near-empty Knesset gallery was packed last month for an uplifting moment: what probably was the final political act of Israel’s elder statesman. Shimon Peres—former Israeli prime...
Tidewater women join The Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project in Israel
by Amy Lefcoe The water was low, but our determination was high as we kayaked our way down the Jordan River, pushing at times instead of rowing. We had already been in the North for a day but it felt like much longer. We were 200 Jewish women from across the country,...
Report from Israel
by Rabbi Israel Zoberman I have just returned from an extraordinary experience last month in Israel, the land I first came to in 1949 at the tender age of three and a half, already a refugee, from post-World War II Europe. Yet nothing could have prepared me for the...
Facing the music at Pardes Katz
by Marilyn Goldberg Johns A visit to the Matnas (community center) at Pardes Katz, struck many chords with the Tidewater Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project. Located outside of Tel Aviv, Pardes Katz has been an Israeli sister community with Tidewater for more than 20...
