It was a spectacular experience at the Wyndham Garden in downtown Norfolk as an overflow crowd of 200 children and adults hosted by Chabad of Tidewater enjoyed Purim at the Circus featuring The Twins from France. The charming Brooklyn-based twins, Yisrael and Yacov...
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Love of Jewish camping, synagogue life, Israel and Tikkun Olam inspire the Karotkins in creating their Jewish Legacy
“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...
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...
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...
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...