Not everyone who donates to Jewish Family Service gives in monetary form. At least, not directly. Janna Kestenbaum has been giving of her time and efforts to JFS for years through couponing. About once a quarter, Kestenbaum brings her coupons to JFS and goes shopping...
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David Hazony thinks that Israel can save American Jewish life
His must- read essay in Tower Magazine, “Israeli Identity and the Future of American Jewry,” outlines the scope of the assimilation problem we are facing. Hazony says: Oblivion knocks. The two obvious alternatives—aliya and Orthodoxy— require so radical a change in...
Israel looks to send $1 million in aid to flooded Houston Jewish community
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry is advancing a plan to send $1 million in emergency aid to Houston’s flood-hit Jewish community. In announcing the plan Monday, Sept. 4, Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett called it an “unprecedented”...
Tidewater Jewish community contributes to Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund
Hurricane Harvey bombarded the Gulf Coast on August 26 with destructive winds and devastating flooding. The storm caused catastrophic destruction throughout the city of Houston and surrounding areas. The need for immediate relief and long-term aid continues to rise,...
A Jewish ‘Dreamer’ is scared, but refuses to despair
BOSTON (JTA)—At 15, Elias Rosenfeld became a “Dreamer.” At the time, the Venezuela native was attending Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in Miami, where he had lived since he was 6 years old, when his Jewish family moved to South Florida from Caracas. His mother...
Nadiv, Young Men’s Giving Circle, caps off successful first year
When we saw the JCC campers playing with oversized Connect4 and checkers boards on the blacktop, an entire year of experimentation and hard work came full circle. Yes, all the effort was worth it. In fall 2016, YAD—United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult...
Annual Campaign kickoff features David Hazony
Tuesday, September 12, 6:30 pm Sandler Family Campus United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s 2018 Annual Campaign kicks off with a cocktail reception and keynote address by acclaimed author and lecturer, David Hazony. An American-born Israeli writer, translator, and...
HAT begins a new school year proclaiming, “We’re more than a school, we’re family!”
As Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and Strelitz Early Childhood families enter the building this year, they are greeted with friendly smiles, photos of engaged children, and a new bulletin board that announces, “There’s no place like the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater.” On...
Tidewater teens in Israel
A pledge brother at Clemson asked me to go on Birthright on a national trip, Shorashim—the only Birthright trip organizer that has Israeli soldiers for the entire 10 days. Those seven Israelis were some of the greatest people I’ve ever met. In the Negev, we stayed in...
Beth Sholom Village to add performance stage to its active community room
The Abisl Theater will present entertainment with a “Jewish Twist” It has hosted everything from bingo games to women’s auxiliary lunches, but by summer 2018, what is known today as The Pincus Paul Social Hall, named for a late benefactor, will also house the area’s...
Shabbat sermon: A remarkable Bar Mitzvah ceremony on a day of concern
I wasn’t here at Beth El last Shabbat, a day that brought concern and anxiety to us Jews in the Commonwealth and beyond. Miriam and I were in Florida so we could be with her father as he celebrated the 80th anniversary of his bar mitzvah. He put aside his walker and...
Rosh Hashanah
As this High Holiday season approaches, a fresh New Year feels incredibly important for 5778. The news around the globe, nation, and our very own state, continues to have most of us on the edge of our seats and not far from our trusted news sources. Soon, however,...
Tidewater Jewish Women come together for a Sunday afternoon “Chick Flick” and more
Nearly 60 women attended the recent joint United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s Outreach and Jewish Women’s Salon event held at the Sandler Family Campus. The third annual “Girls’ Afternoon at the Movies” featured the 2013 award-winning film, Dorfman in...
The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma* and Howard Laderberg
Turning 21 was a celebration at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts when the Simon Family JCC’s Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Howard and Alma* Laderberg, held its Opening Night on Saturday, Jan. 18. More than 350 people attended to see The...
Israeli celebrity chef injects hummus, ‘balagan’ into Jewish heart of Paris
PARIS (JTA)—In the elegant silence of a narrow street near the River Seine, David Moyal takes a breath of fresh winter air and enters a noisy restaurant in the French capital. Inside Miznon, he is transported to another world, filled with the cacophony of Hebrew...
Israel: Jewish and Democratic
This is one of five op-eds that appeared in The Times of Israel (and now, Jewish News). It is reprinted with permission. Gil Troy is part of the Community Relations Council’s Israel Today Forum. Even nations need recognition, right? We exist in the world as...
At Tu b’Shvat, digging for spiritual growth — January 16
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—While my neighbors were putting their Christmas trees to the curb, in what seems like a ritual of replacement, I was preparing to plant for Tu b’Shvat. My friend Freda recently presented me a cutting from an Angel’s trumpet—a small tree with...
Teaching in today’s modern classrooms
Every year Hebrew Academy and the Strelitz Early Childhood Center administration join hundreds of other educators in Richmond at the Annual Conference of the Virginia Association of Independent Schools. “Continuing education programs like these,” says Rabbi Mordechai...
Israeli-Bedouin diplomat says Israel’s diversity is abundant
If anyone can speak about diversity in Israel, it’s Israeli diplomat, Ishmael Khaldi. An Israeli-Bedouin-Arab-Muslim, Khaldi has been a minority his entire life—from the Arab Christian school he attended in the north of Israel, to college, to his service in the...
Speaker shares his theory of Muslim Brotherhood as global threat
Kyle Shideler didn’t come to Congregation Beth Chaverim on Monday, Dec. 9 to make the Tidewater Jewish community feel comfortable. He came to make audience members squirm, reciting broad statistics and showing images of terrorists and organizational tracts on a...
Tidewater teens at AIPAC
Four Tidewater teens attended AIPAC’s Schusterman Advocacy Institute High School Summit in November. Each year, AIPAC partners with select Jewish Day Schools, synagogues, national youth groups and teen leadership organizations to bring 400 student leaders from across...
Jewish Family Service’s Chanukah Gift Program 2013
Jewish Family Service’s 21st Annual Chanukah Gift Program was a huge success. Each year, JFS reaches out to local Jewish families in need with gifts and gift cards for their children and teens and with money for those without children. This year, the JFS staff was...
Hillel at Virginia Tech celebrates Thanksgivukkah
The Malcolm Rosenberg Hillel Center in Blacksburg, Va. was filled with more than 250 students on Thursday, Dec. 5 for a Thanksgivukkah celebration. Marking a time when two holidays collide, this party was referred to as #VTT hanksgivukkah. In preparation for the...
The Sandler Campus’ Secret Santa
Visitors to the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus frequently see the observant, dedicated and serious demeanor of Jason Capossere, the Campus’s manager of safety and security. Beneath this professional exterior, rarely seen and largely unheralded, is Capossere’s...
Switch Day 2013 at Beth Sholom Village with old and new volunteers
For the past 30 years, Beth Sholom Village has hosted an annual “Switch Day” on Christmas, since it is a family day for a majority of BSV employees. The community has always played a role in coming together to help others, and this day is no exception when volunteers...
Israel: Jewish and Democratic
Martin J. Raffel is the senior vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), where he has served as the lead professional on Israel, world Jewry and international human rights for the past 26 years. He also holds the position of project director for...
Jewish 2013 news quiz
(JTA)—So, you think you know what’s going on in the Jewish world? Test just how closely you followed last year’s news (and remember it) with this end-of year-news quiz. 1. Berlin’s Jewish Museum provoked controversy this year with… a) an exhibit exploring the origins...
YAD celebrates Chanukah with LIGHT IT UP
The Young Adult Division of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, held its biggest event of the year on Saturday, Dec. 7. More than 180 people attended LIG HT IT UP, a club-themed twist on a traditional Chanukah party, held in the Cardo on the Sandler Family Campus....
CRC getting ready for A Date With The State
Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day: Wednesday, Feb. 5 CRC meeting to discuss agenda: Wednesday, Jan. 8, 6 pm Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day, when Jews from throughout the Commonwealth descend on the Virginia General Assembly to lobby legislators on issues important to the...
The secrets behind Hebrew Academy’s Hanukkah De-Lights
The audience was seated, the lights lowered, the curtains rose and…action! Hanukkah De-Lights 2013 Symbols of Hanukkah wowed parents and other family members, who clapped, hollered and danced in their seats with faces of pride and love. Little did they know of the...
Student raises funds and awareness for homeless
Since he was a toddler, Caleb Peck has been sensitive to the plight of homelessness. In fact, after his first encounter with someone less fortunate, he began asking questions about why this happens to some people and how it can be made better. Now, he has taken...
Ohef Sholom Temple marks 12 years of inclusive families
This summer, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Defense of Marriage Act decision, which legally recognized same sex married couples, Ohef Sholom noted a milestone in its 169-year-history: 12 years of inclusion for same sex families in its congregation. At its May...