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,...
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...
Extraordinary community inspires Super Sunday committee
Sunday, Jan. 26, 9 am–1 pm The young adult Steering Committee planning Super Sunday, the Tidewater Jewish community’s annual phone-a-thon are representative of the Tidewater Jewish population. Some are multi-generational Jews, others have only lived here a year or...
Swarthmore Hillel picks fight over campus group’s Israel guidelines
NEW YORK (JTA)—With an estimated Jewish population of 275 undergraduates, the Quaker-founded Swarthmore College outside Philadelphia is home to one of the smaller Hillel chapters in the country. But that hasn’t stopped student activists at the small suburban school...
American Studies Association votes for boycott of Israeli universities
WASHINGTON (JTA)—The membership of the American Studies Association endorsed its national council’s call for a boycott of Israeli universities. Two-thirds of the 1,252 members who voted approved the boycott, according to an ASA announcement Monday, Dec. 16, a day...
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...
Help the Simon Family JCC and Jewish Family Service through United Way gifts
When giving to the United Way of South Hampton Roads through your workplace or individually, please consider designating all or part of your pledge to the Simon Family JCC and/or Jewish Family Service of Tidewater. When you get your United Way form, you’ll see it’s...
Sing us the songs of Zion
BAYONNE, N.J. (JTA)—Arik Einstein, who died last month at the age of 74, basically invented Israeli popular music. He was a unique Israeli combination of Sinatra, Dylan and the Beatles, embodying the spirit and the struggles of a younger, more optimistic Israel. His...
Film advisory committee freshens up festival
As the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma* and Howard Laderberg, celebrates its 21st anniversary, it continues to expand its presence and breadth, becoming one of the longest running festivals of its kind in the country. To bring new ideas and...
Holocaust meets Hollywood: Premiere of The Book Thief
I was honored to receive an invitation last month to the premiere of the film adaptation of Markus Zuzak’s award winning novel, The Book Thief, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. There would be a panel after the film including the author, director, and...
BINA’s royal evening
The girls of BINA High School presented “An Evening of Royalty” at Bnai Israel Congregation on Sunday, Nov. 17. The program, coordinated and directed by Chayale Lefkowitz, focused on the meaning of God’s kingship and what it means to be a subject in His kingdom. More...
HAT and Strelitz celebrate national “Mix it up Day”
On October 29, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and Strelitz students joined more than one million other students across the country by participating in the 12th annual Mix It Up at Lunch Day. Launched by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project in...
Incorporating the arts into lessons of history, environmental consciousness and Judaism
On any day walking down the halls of Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, visitors will observe students fully engaged in the learning process. Whether they are being taught about ancient history or today’s current events—from general to Judaic studies—they are doing so by...
JCPA and CRC offer educational do-over in Poland and Israel
I just experienced an educational do-over. In my younger years, I was lucky enough to receive a first-rate college education in Ann Arbor, Michigan and travel to Israel on a Federation-sponsored tour in my late 20s. Thus, I had studied Jewish and Israeli history, and...
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...
Favorite Chanukah or Thanksgiving traditions
A large and emotional gathering at Thanksgiving David Abraham Every Thanksgiving, we travel to Indianapolis to be with my side of the family. This has been a long-standing tradition that my family loves to do. We have a tremendous amount of fun and camaraderie. I am...
Every day is Thanksgiving when we recite 100 blessings
Memories of Beth El and Thanksgiving A native of Norfolk , Shulamith Elster is the daughter of the late Rabbi and Mrs. Paul Reich (Congregation Beth El, 1935 to 1967). She writes occasionally for the Washington Jewish Week reflecting on her 50 years in the Washington...
Armada of fans show up to support Hal’s Navy
Like sailors rallying around their captain or destroyers protecting their carrier group, the audience that came to hear Hal Sacks speak about his memoir, Hal’s Navy, on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at the Simon Family JCC, showed up in full support of the newly published author....