Happy 5784! Rosh Hashanah Section September 2023
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Local participation in Birthright Israel flourishes
Jewish News staff report A group of Jewish philanthropists created Birthright Israel in 1999 with the goal of giving every eligible young Jewish adult around the world the opportunity to visit Israel. The 10-day, mostly free trip aims to motivate young people to...
High Holiday security: Be aware and prepared
Stephanie Peck While many area synagogues hire off-duty police officers or sheriff’s deputies during High Holiday services, Michael Goldsmith, regional security advisor for Secure Community Network, emphasizes the role each congregant plays in recognizing and...
B’nai Israel welcomes new rabbi
Stephanie Peck At first glance, Rabbi Shlomo Eisenberg, B’nai Israel Congregation’s new rabbi, looks like a yeshiva student. Tall and lean, he has a generous smile and a warm welcome. After a few minutes of conversation, however, his composure and focus suggest a...
Sam Sachs “brings the party” to a party celebrating life after cancer.
Lisa Richmon Few would deny that Jenny Sachs can hold her own. She’s a mom, practicing psychologist, and singer in a five-person band with her husband Matthew, a child and adult psychiatrist. During the pandemic, Sam, their 11-year-old son and only child, was...
Tidewater teens compete in JCC Maccabi Games in Florida
Stephanie Peck Ten teen athletes from Tidewater travelled to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to participate in the JCC Association of North America’s 41st Maccabi Games last month. Along with Tom Edwards, athletics director for the Simon Family JCC, these teens braved the...
Protests in Israel – A family affair?
On Saturday, July 29, I took my seven-year-old twin daughters to the large Gome Junction protest, the northernmost protest against the judicial reforms in Israel. These protests have been occurring for 30 weeks in a row at junctions and in cities across Israel. Since...
Beth Sholom Village: The past informs the future of Jewish senior care in Tidewater
Much has changed since Beth Sholom Village opened its doors in 1980, but the tradition of caring has not. Among those changes: The name of the organization changed from Beth Sholom Home of Eastern Virginia, an assisted living community was added in 2004, and services...
The Guide to Jewish Living in Tidewater 2023
The Guide to Jewish Living in Tidewater 2023
New Gaga pit assures more game time
Originating in Israel, Gaga is a sport like dodgeball, played in a circular pit where players hit and roll the ball to eliminate opposing players. The Simon Family JCC built its first Gaga pit nearly 10 years ago to entertain students and campers on the Sandler Family...
JFS Biennial Meeting: New leadership, awards, and farewells
This year marks 75 years of commitment by Jewish Family Service to serve the community. For more than three quarters of a century, thousands of people have received help from the family services agency. Part of the agency’s success is the legacy of its board of...
Summer Camp opens at JCC with spirit and fun
Off to an exceptional start, Camp JCC’s campers and counselors are quickly finding their rhythm – building solid relationships throughout the camp community. One key to Camp JCC’s initial success is the dedicated team of counselors who seamlessly settled into their...
Chef Larry Adler: Cooking up a storm to break the fast
Virginia Beach’s Larry Adler, culinary faculty lead at Stratford University and a former training professional, has a long history of applying his skills and creativity to bringing food to the next level. For Jewish News readers, Adler shares a few tips...
SIA launches 2022–23 school year and a new strategic plan
Strelitz International Academy kicked off the school year on August 22 and unveiled a new five-year strategic plan: SIA Going Forth, Embracing Innovation and Inspiring Global Action. The plan is already underway. A steady growth in enrollment for SIA over the last few...
Holocaust Commission holds 15th Educators’ Conference
The Holocaust Commission capped off the summer in August with its first educators’ conference since 2019. The 15th conference, Reflections of the Past: Words STILL Matter, was a partnership between the Commission, the Virginia Beach Public Schools, and Echoes &...
A “Super Day” is planned to take place at the Sandler Family Campus
Sunday, September 18 Sandler Family Campus, 11:30 am–4 pm Some are calling it “Super Duper Sunday” because of all of the exciting activity planned for Sunday, September 18 at the Sandler Family Campus. With four events taking place, the phrase “Super Duper” is...
Team Virginia Beach shares experiences of JCC Maccabi Games in San Diego
The JCC Maccabi Games returned for its 40th year last month in San Diego, California with five days of competition, building friendships, and Jewish identity. Among the 1,300 teen athletes from 57 delegations and 67 JCCs across the United States, Canada, Mexico,...
L’Shanah Tovah 5783
Dear Readers, If you listen closely, you might hear congregations throughout the nation exclaiming, “We’re BACK!” and if you listen even closer, you might also hear “…almost.” High Holidays services in 2021 were a mixed bag, with many still concerned about attending...
Sounding the Shofar in Tidewater
It’s a ritual that is both solemn and joyful, that brings musical expression into Judaism. The Jewish News asked local shofar blowers how they got started, why they embrace the tradition, and a little about performance anxiety. Rabbi Aron Margolin, Chabad of Tidewater...
That’s a wrap: End of Summer Shabbat
PJ Library in Tidewater and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division (YAD) teamed up again to host the annual End of Summer Shabbat Dinner and Pool Party at the Simon Family JCC. Families and friends experienced an evening of good music, pool...
Rain doesn’t stop Sababa and Fretomology
Despite a slightly soggy start to the night, Sababa Social Club’s summer party went on as planned. The Marty Einhorn Pavilion provided great shelter from the rain as Sababa committee members Alene Jo Kaufman and Ellen Hundley assisted United Jewish Federation of...
Keepin’ it jazzy with Jack Frieden
For Jack Frieden, the love of vocal music of the 60s and beyond (think the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and Crosby, Stills & Nash) eventually spread to an appreciation of jazz. Today, he is the host of the Norfolk-based radio show, The Vocal Sound of Jazz on WHRV 89.5...
Strummin’ along with Bob and Jeanne Zentz
Fun fact: Johnny Cash listened to local folk musician Bob Zentz’s debut album Mirror and Changes and praised it as one of the finest things he’d heard by any artist. The album, which features The Ramblin’ Conrad Story, is now on Smithsonian Folk-Legacy (now under...
JTA Teen Journalism Fellowship – Apply Today!
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is offering a virtual journalism fellowship for high school-age (14-18 years old) Jewish teenagers. This remote fellowship encourages teens of all backgrounds, identities, genders, cultures, and connections to Judaism to apply. For more...
Separating Man from Myth: Grappling with Wagner’s Ring
Tuesday, Sept. 13, 7 - 8 pm, Ohef Sholom Temple, Free Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle is the most monumental operatic experience ever created. Comprised of four epic operas, the Ring Cycle tells the story of Norsegods, heroes, and a magical ring of power. Since its...
Antisemitism appears in Virginia Beach
Sunday morning, July 24, residents in the Little Neck community of Virginia Beach woke up to find antisemitic fliers distributed throughout multiple neighborhoods. The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) was...
Dedication of Marty Einhorn Pavilion
Music and arrival, 11:30 am Dedication, 12 pm The day’s festivities begin with the long-anticipated dedication of the Marty Einhorn Pavilion with the program and lunch starting at noon. Alvin Wall and Jeff Chernitzer, Einhorn’s long-time business partners and friends,...
Guide to Jewish Living in Tidewater: Dear Readers
Dear Readers, A guide or directory is often an accurate barometer of how a community is faring. If the guide shrinks over the years, it stands to reason that the same is true for the community. The converse, of course, is also true. Across the nation many communities...
A Holocaust study tour is powerful and timely
The trip started with a crazy coincidence. I have been director of the Holocaust Commission for 12 years, and was a volunteer for the previous 10. After working with educators, the Virginia Department of Education, and the public on Holocaust education for 22 years, I...
Jeffrey Flax helps claim Gold Medal at Israel’s Maccabi Games
An article in the July 18 issue of Jewish News reported on local attorney Jeffrey Flax’s qualifying for the Masters Golf Division at the Maccabi Games in Israel. Flax returned from the competition with great news: an individual Bronze win on the U.S. Masters...
Team Virginia Beach competes at JCC Maccabi Games in San Diego
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the JCC Maccabi Games returned for its 40th year and Team Virginia Beach descended on San Diego, La Jolla, and Del Mar, California, for five days of competition, building friendships, and continuing to build...
Podcaster Michael Brooke brings Torah to knowledge-hungry listeners
Why would someone with a very limited social media footprint start a podcast and hope it grows organically? Because it did. Michael Brooke, who has a bachelor’s degree in Talmudic Studies and is continuing his education in Kollel, launched his Motivation...