Hebrew Academy of Tidewater’s third grade students invited Sandler Family Campus “experts” to a brief presentation of their research of the Campus Pond, dubbed “Lake Sandler” on Tuesday, Oct. 17. The students were investigating whether Lake Sandler would need to add...
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Simon Family JCC Seniors celebrate Rosh Hashanah
The Seniors Club celebrated Rosh Hashanah at the Simon Family JCC with a paint social led by Hebrew Academy art teacher, Michelle Barnes just ahead of the holiday. Following their painting, Rabbi Israel Zoberman led an educational discussion about the meaning of Rosh...
Palliative Care eases the burden for families
When a loved one is diagnosed with a chronic disease or condition, it can be overwhelming. Among the many unanswered questions are: Will this limit their life expectancy? Who do we turn to with questions? Will they be able to care for themselves? Who is going to care...
8th Annual Veterans Day service and celebration honors service to America
Friday, Nov. 10, 9:30 am, Sandler Family Campus Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Annual Veterans Day service and celebration seeks to honor those who have served in America’s armed forces, as well as those who continue to do so with dedication and bravery. This year’s...
Money available now for teen Israel trips
First deadline: November 15 The newly revised Simon Family Passport to Israel program is now accepting applications through Tidewater Jewish Foundation. The program provides funds to enable and encourage Jewish students to participate in an Israel trip experience....
Update on Federations’ National Emergency Response Efforts
Jewish Federations of North America’s Emergency Committee, and many Federations on the front lines of addressing natural disasters, have had an extraordinarily busy and taxing eight weeks since the start of Hurricane Harvey. Following is an update on the work of the...
No way, José! — HAT Golf Tournament drives on
It was a dark and stormy morning with driving rain and winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour. Temperatures were cooler than usual for mid-September. Hurricane José was making its closest point of approach through the Atlantic off of Virginia’s coast. Although the...
Commodore Levy Chapel
When a Jewish family or individual moves to a new community, they face many immediate challenges, not the least of which is choosing a synagogue, getting involved in the Jewish community, meeting new friends and creating a new social network. For a member of the...
Finding Jewish in the U.S. Navy
During my more than 20 years in the Navy, two distinct times highlighted the Jewish community in the military coming together. While at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., there was a large and active Jewish Midshipmen Club. All “plebes” (first year students)...
Simon Family JCC, CRC, and community partners’ Israel Today, educating people about misconceptions
Erez Kaganovitz, Israeli artist, storyteller, and founder of the hit photoblog, Humans of Tel Aviv, landed in Tidewater ready to dispel misconceptions and ideas about his homeland by sharing stories of everyday people living in Tel Aviv. Through these stories of...
Jody Wagner gets honored, JFS reaps the reward
A leader of many organizations throughout Tidewater, Jody Wagner recently made a special gift to Jewish Family Service of Tidewater happen. Since 2006, Wagner has been a member of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation’s (HRCF) board of directors, including serving as...
Rabbi Jason Rubenstein’s multi-faceted visit to KBH reached many
“I’ve studied Rav Hutner before, but never like that,” says Rabbi Arthur Ruberg, rabbi emeritus of Temple Beth El. That is just one reaction after learning with Rabbi Jason Rubenstein at a pre-Selichot learning session, Saturday, Sept. 16, at Kehillat Bet...
Community weekend promises Inspiration through collaboration March 20–23
A four-day event scheduled for March 20–23 is already inspiring people “through community collaboration,” part of the weekend’s descriptive title. Tidewater Together is a cooperative gathering, planned and organized by dozens of diverse, and very excited...
Neither ice nor snow could stop Gil Troy from speaking about Zionism
Virginia Beach was the fourth stop on Gil Troy’s six city speaking tour. The McGill University History professor, prolific author and Zionist activist arrived Tuesday morning, January 28, preparing for an appearance the next evening in the Community Relations Council...
Hebrew Academy welcomes author David M. Schwartz
Hebrew Academy students were recently treated to a mind blowing experience from David M. Schwartz, author of How Much is a Million, and 50 other children’s books. Schwartz’s exceptional spiritedness taught students to visualize numbers in extraordinary ways, such as...
Grandparents and special friends capture hearts at HAT and the Strelitz preschool
Remember the excitement of spending special time with grandparents? I still remember the excitement I felt as a very little girl spending the night at my grandparents’ condo at the beach or flying to Buffalo to visit my mom’s parents. And I have to say that today—as a...
Volunteers and donors make Super Sunday super successful
An outpouring of community support made the 2014 Super Sunday phone-a-thon one of the most successful in recent years. The annual event, held at the Sandler Family Campus on Sunday, Jan. 26, raised more than $100,000 from more than 320 donors, many of whom were making...
Date With the State 2014
Jewish Family Service funding. Medicaid expansion. Israeli business opportunities. Prayer in schools. These are just some of the issues that the Virginia State legislature is examining during its current session, many of which are near and dear to the Jewish people of...
Director to discuss film about Israel Philharmonic’s fascinating beginning: Orchestra of Exiles
In anticipation of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance at the Virginia Arts Festival on April 2, the Community Relations Council and the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, with the Simon Family JCC, present the documentary...
Simon Family JCC’s 21st Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film thanks sponsors
Wintry weather, including ice, snow, winds and subfreezing temperatures couldn’t keep movie fans from attending some of the festival’s final events as The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma* and Howard Laderberg, ended its 21st continuous season. More...
Tidewater is going to Israel this summer.… Want to come?
Maybe you’ve never been.… Maybe you’ve been a dozen or more times.… The question is: Is this your summer to visit Israel? The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater will bring a mission to Israel this coming June. Led by co-chairs Jodi Klebanoff, Bonnie and David...
Community Relations Council reacts to Virginia Beach Public Schools
With regard to the decision of the Virginia Beach Public Schools to hold Saturday make-up classes, the Community Relations Council, on behalf of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater leaders, has sent a letter to the Superintendent of Virginia Beach Public Schools and...
Will God have a say in Super Sunday outcome?
BALTIMORE (JTA) -- Rabbi Daniel Alter expects some added fervency during daily prayer services at the Denver Academy of Torah in the days leading up to the Super Bowl. Alter, the academy's head of school, recalls that when the Colorado Rockies faced the Boston Red Sox...
Meet the Presidents
Burle Stromberg President, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater Profession Assistant City Attorney of the City of Portsmouth Education Virginia Tech, B.S., Public Administration (1981) University of Dayton School of Law, Juris Doctor (1984) Family Married to Robin Drucker...
Free film documents the Israel Philharmonic’s dramatic beginning
Orchestra of Exiles, documentary Tuesday, Feb. 25, 7 pm • Sandler Family Campus, Free and open to the community In anticipation of the Virginia Arts Festival performance by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra on April 2 in Virginia Beach, the Community Relations Council...
ChavuRAH!
A group of Ohef Sholom parents and children came together on Sunday, Jan. 12 to celebrate the holiday of Tu B’shevat, the New Year for the Trees. While not planting trees, planting was the theme of the day. Master Carpenter Jim Douglass made a beautiful planter for...
Tallwood High School students reflect on Israel experience
To take 10 students overseas alone for any length of time seems like a task for someone who has a screw loose. To compound that craziness by making it a three week trip to Washington D.C., New York City, Jerusalem, Modi’in, Jaffa, Haifa, Masada, and Tel Aviv is the...
Community gets its most wanted crime information at FBI program
Walking away from the FBI’s Community Relations Executive Seminar Training, attendees of the event, which took place at the Simon Family JCC on Sunday, Jan. 12, held in their hands a nicely printed certificate confirming their attendance, and tried to grasp in their...
Team goes beyond care
Not all cases are the same, and so, not all needs are the same. The recent case of a 38-year-old male palliative care patient of Freda H. Gordon Hospice and Palliative Care of Tidewater is a perfect example. Diagnosed with stomach cancer in October, this relatively...
Hebrew Academy parents bond over baking
Jewish education is not just for kids. Marissa Kempner, Patti Seeman and Ashley Lemke, active parents of Hebrew Academy’s parent organization (Hakesher) recently spearheaded a special challah baking class for HAT and Strelitz preschool room parents. The results proved...
Heart and “soles”
It was rainy and cold on Thursday, Jan. 2 as Ohef Sholom Temple began its second night of hosting the weeklong Norfolk Emergency Shelter Program (NEST) with the help of its neighbor, Ghent United Methodist Church. Sadly, one homeless man arrived in the rain and cold...
Elli’s love for Israel extends to area teens
Elli Friedman spent her childhood and early teen years thinking she loved Israel. But that love, the 17-year-old now realizes, came about because that was what she was always taught she should feel. It didn’t come from the tangible connection that’s held her in its...