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Flying high and winning gold

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...

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...

Challah Bake 2017

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

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

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...

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...

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...

Madeline Budman

Madeline Budman, who was the 2014 recipient of the Ben Topus “Ruach” Award at NFTY-MAR’s (North America Federation of Temple Youth-Mid Atlantic Region) Spring Kallah, Saturday, April 26. The award is given to the senior who demonstrates leadership while not serving as...

Forty years a rabbi: Rabbi Israel Zoberman

Sunday, June 1, 3 pm Rabbi Israel Zoberman , founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Chaverim in Virginia Beach, will celebrate his 40th ordination anniversary at the synagogue next month. Born in 1945 in Chu, Kazakhstan (USSR) to Polish Holocaust survivors who had met in...

Maimonides showcases global disaster relief

Two gripping stories of disaster and the relief efforts that came to the aid of those affected were shared with members of the Maimonides Society on Monday, March 31. Danny Pins, Joint Distribution Committee executive officer and director of Africa and Asia Special...

BINA hosts its first Grandparents & Grandfriends Day

A meaningful and unique program to allow students to connect with their Jewish heritage, their community and to strengthen relationships across the generations, BINA High School held its first Grandparents & Grandfriends Day on Monday, March 10. It was also an...

Pasta dinner and bingo at HAT — tradition continues!

Strelitz four-year-olds through Hebrew Academy fifth grade families celebrated good times at the Pasta Dinner and Bingo Night earlier this year. Held in the Sandler Family Campus multi-purpose room, the affair is a social tradition shared by board members, faculty and...

Congregation Beth El Sisterhood Shabbat

Congregation Beth El’s Sisterhood held its annual Sisterhood Shabbat on Saturday, March 28. The Sisterhood chose to emphasize the Women’s League theme for the year of “Mispachah” (family) as the message of the morning. The event was successfully chaired by Brenda...

Distinguished group of JDC representatives visits Tidewater

Representatives from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) paid a special visit to the Tidewater Jewish Community earlier this spring. The group included Arnon Mantver, director of JDCIsrael, Sandy Katz, executive director of JDC International...

Passover in Ukraine

Jews of all ages across Ukraine celebrated Passover last month in spite of escalating challenges. To help make this a reality, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee provided nearly 53,000 boxes of matzah and coordinated scores of community Seders throughout the...

Jewish groups slam racist rant attributed to Donald Sterling

Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was banned for life by the NBA and fined $2.5 million for making racist comments. Under the punishment laid down Tuesday, April 29 by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Sterling may not associate with the team or the...

A Minyan at the Philharmonic

3 Nisan is the Jewish calendar date on which my father passed away 12 years ago. It is my honor and obligation to say the Kaddish prayer on each anniversary of that date, his Yahrtzeit. This year in 5774, the third of Nisan fell in the evening of April 2, 2014 through...

Israel Today Forum tackles the timely topic of Geopolitics

Thursday, May 1, 7 pm With Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations at a contentious and critical point— the nine-month deadline for the American mediated discussions is April 29—Robert Satloff will have plenty to discuss as the featured Israel Today Forum speaker. The...

A personal account of Beth El’s trip to Israel

Empty nester…. Sounds so “empty” and negative-right? Wrong. My wife, Jody and I finally reached that stage of life this fall when our second daughter flew the coop and went off to college. It was sad for us, but we found ourselves able to make our first, long talked...