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Tidewater’s annual Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebration took place on the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community on Sunday, April 30. This year’s event celebrated 75 years since the establishment of the modern state of Israel. Despite the rainy...
A small but mighty group of Federation donors participated in the 2023 UJFT Community Mission to Israel, February 28 through March 9. During the week-long journey, they wandered through history, culture, and time. . . soaking in all there was to see, hear, taste,...
The annual Stein Family College Scholarship of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation is awarded this year to John Weber Williamson, a senior at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake. Williamson is the 16th recipient of the four-year scholarship, which provides up to...
Thursday, May 25, 8:30 am, Jewish War Veterans Flagpole, Sandler Family Campus The Board of Rabbis and Cantors of Hampton Roads and the Jewish War Veterans (Post 158) will host a community Memorial Day Weekend observance to start the weekend in appreciation of those...
Bob Lehman loves orchestrating Shabbat dinners – of all sizes. His latest, held last month at the Cavalier Golf & Yacht Club, welcomed 78 guests for an evening of conversation, blessings, and a delicious meal that took place under a tent over the course of three...
The year was 1959 and three young couples in Norfolk were about to add to their growing families. Who knew the women would deliver their babies on the same day at the same hospital, creating lifelong friendships for their newborns? It was the beginning of annual...
Dear Readers, Celebrating women - moms, mentors, colleagues, and friends - is always important, but especially appropriate as we approach Mother's Day next month. I’ve been fortunate to have had some pretty spectacular women in my life. . . starting with the first one...
Kim is Mother. Kim is a season unto herself. Kim is a sister of perpetual action. She is always working on the next chapter and never plays by the book. She bore and broke out three children in her own image–a storyteller, a dancer, and a loyalist–mothered them,...
If I had to sum up my mother in one word, it would be generous. My mom, Ellen Wagner, is generous with her love, her time, and her knowledge. She is always willing to open her home to anyone who might be alone for the holidays, she has a hard time saying no to...
My mom raised me with help from her mom, my Bubbie, at a time when there were not as many successful single parent households as there are now. She always wanted me to succeed without regard for what I may have been missing in my life and never wanted me to use what...
United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival hosted a successful event with New York Times bestselling author Lisa Barr, who discussed her latest book Woman on Fire at the Chrysler Museum of Art. The event was in...
A small but mighty group of Federation donors recently returned from a magnificent week-long journey through time and space to ancient and modern Israel. From Feb. 28 to March 9, participants of the 2023 UJFT Community Mission to Israel wandered through history,...
In late April, Annie Sandler, along with eight other board members and staffers of the JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) and student volunteers from Active Jewish Teens (AJT), traveled to Poland to visit Ukrainian refugees. The group had a rigorous schedule, first...
Dear Readers, A couple of weeks ago, it seemed that everywhere I turned, people were talking about graduations. Were there more than usual, or were we all just so excited to have proper ceremonies at the appropriate time and not the drive-by celebrations of 2020?...
SIA graduates will attend the following middle school programs this fall: Cape Henry Collegiate, Norfolk Collegiate School, Norfolk Academy, Old Donation School, and Princess Anne Middle. SIA is an International Baccalaureate World School. Back row: Leia Silverstein,...
While every day is a great day to honor, appreciate, and love our dads (and the dads in our lives: grandfathers, sons, uncles, friends, and neighbors), this Father’s Day there’s even more reason to enjoy the holiday. It is the first summer in recent years that it’s...
On the sunny morning of Friday, May 27, a group of 50 community members gathered to commemorate the upcoming Memorial Day prior to the long weekend’s start. Hosted by the local Navy Chaplains, along with the Jewish War Veterans (Post 158), the Board of Rabbis and...
The heat of the day didn’t stop Jewish Tidewater’s volunteers from coming out on the morning of Sunday, May 22 to Mikro Kodesh Cemetery in Chesapeake. That morning, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division, together with Chabad of Tidewater and...
Many communities have a rabbi. In the times of the Talmud, that term was deemed somewhat narrow for the many responsibilities devolved on the community leader. Another term was needed and coined: Mara D’asra, literally ‘leader of the community.’ Such a leader is Rabbi...
An active Holocaust Commission has been part of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater for more than 30 years. Among its numerous programs and projects, the Commission established a Speakers’ Bureau comprised of local Holocaust survivors. Escorted by Commission...
Dear Readers, My first connections with Jewish News took place in the mid-1970s when, as an active teen in Tidewater’s Jewish community, my name and photo would sporadically appear on its pages. As I renewed my activity in the community as a young adult, I’d find my...
In the paper’s 75-year history, surprisingly few have served as editor. In fact, many of the first editions list no editor at all, but rather the executive of the Norfolk Jewish Community Council (in one instance Sydney S. Abzug) and in others, just editorial boards,...
Panel moderator Joel Rubin may have summed it up best, when he said, “The wind is definitely blowing in the right direction…” for the region’s new offshore wind farm, whose turbines will soon be generating power to light up area homes, power area businesses, and...
Tidewater Jewish Foundation celebrated donors, community milestones, and philanthropic accomplishments at the 2022 Simon Family Legacy Celebration on Sunday, May 17 at the Sandler Family Campus. The first in-person event in three years, the celebration highlighted the...
This year’s Yom Hashoah Commemoration, honoring the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, as well as liberators and righteous gentiles, was the first in-person gathering for the purpose since 2019. After cancelling the public commemoration in 2020 and having a...
Karina Filonenko evacuated from Ukraine to Poland with her two children just after the start of the war. A challenge for each person who lived in Ukraine after February 24, is to ‘stay alive.’ Could you ever expect that in the 21st century, the word “genocide” will be...
The annual Stein Family College Scholarship of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation is awarded this year to Leia Morrissey, a soon-to-be graduate of Granby High School in Norfolk. Morrissey is the 15th recipient of the four-year scholarship, which provides up to $20,000...
Muscle and Fitness magazine’s Mr. Health and Fitness competition is underway with the Simon Family JCC’s Tom Purcell a strong competitor. Purcell, the JCC’s Wellness and Fitness director, says “My goal each day is to help others obtain good health.” A 56-year-old...
Since its inception in 2011, Beth Sholom Village’s The Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg Event and Luncheon never missed a year…until COVID-19 hit. An event that Mah Jongg playing women have looked forward to and enjoyed, it has evolved from a tournament with competitive...
More than 40 seniors enjoyed matzah and music as they celebrated Passover at a festive community Seder at the Simon Family JCC on Tuesday, April 12. Chazzan David Proser of KBH Synagogue led a beautiful model Seder with the musical accompaniment of Dave Flagler, JCC’s...
The Tidewater Ukraine Emergency Fund has raised and distributed more than $280,000 as of Tuesday, April 19. The money has been sent to United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s overseas partner agencies, the American-Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and Jewish...