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Terri Denison The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the leading Jewish humanitarian aid organization, announced that Tidewater’s Annie Sandler — a noted Jewish, civic, and global philanthropic leader— is its new president, following a unanimous vote...
Stephanie Peck The new school year began for BBYO with a new Tidewater city director, Evan Gordon. Forty teens are registered between the two chapters, OD (AZA for the boys) and Simcha (BBG for the girls). Last fall, BBYO Tidewater held two events to begin their year....
Sarah Cooper Tidewater residents are discovering the joy of celebrating Jewish values and culture through PJ Library Get Together grants. Many know that PJ Library sends free, award-winning books that celebrate Jewish values and culture to families with children from...
Nofar Trem United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is taking Israel Club on the road with Shinshinim Naomi Friedland and Maya Ostrov bringing their love and knowledge of all things Israel directly to area families’ homes. During Israel Connection Club, participants...
Ally St. Pierre At Strelitz International Academy, students become International Baccalaureate® learners starting as early as six weeks old. A huge part of an IB® education is the IB® Learner Profile Traits, which include being principled, open minded, an inquirer,...
Betty Ann Levin With Jewish communities around the world, we are sharing our Hanukkah lightings with friends, family, and our community. This Hanukkah, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is again joining with myriad other Jewish and non-Jewish organizations to...
Terri Denison The attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7 prompted many of the employees at LM Sandler & Sons to ask Art Sandler what they could do to help Israel and the Jewish community. They also asked questions about the war, Israel, and antisemitism. Most of...
Andrew Lapin (JTA) – When the director of the Chabad-Lubavitch center in Williamsburg, Virginia, pitched a local arts and culture festival last month on the idea of holding a public menorah lighting to celebrate Hanukkah, he thought it made sense. “We look to bring...
Terri Denison Annie Sandler, who was installed as the new president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) on December 5 in Manhattan, visited with Israeli President Herzog and his wife Michal on a JDC solidarity mission to the country in November....
Carin Simon Each year, the day before Thanksgiving is devoted to Grandparents Day at Strelitz International Academy. Important in the lives of SIA’s students, many grandparents support the school throughout the year by giving to the Annual Donor Fund, Annual Golf...
Bob Lehman A desire to be with each other and the greater Jewish community in solidarity for the State of Israel brought 140 people to the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club on Friday, Nov. 17. The evening was nothing short of magical. While the attendees were mostly...
I think my parents did a very smart thing in giving me a very uniquely Jewish-Israeli name. They made it so that my Jewish identity would be inescapable and ever present, although I also think they didn’t realize how much more challenging they would be making my life....
As we light our menorahs during Hanukkah and approach the end of 2022, I think back on all we have accomplished together. When Russia attacked Ukraine, Jewish Tidewater responded quickly, as we always do, raising almost $800,000 to provide support directly to...
Established by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Virginia Commission to Combat Antisemitism released its report earlier this month, receiving national, as well as international attention. On January 15, 2022, his first day in office, the governor signed Executive Order 8,...
Education Matters (December 19, 2022)
As the executive director at William & Mary Hillel in Williamsburg, Rabbi Gershon Litt’s responsibilities include development, bookkeeping, education, interaction with the university, counseling, and student and faculty meetings. Add all of that to his having...
Happiness was overflowing on Sunday, November 6 as current and former members of Congregation Beth Chaverim gathered at the Sandler Family Campus to celebrate the congregation’s 40th anniversary with food, drink, an abundance of hugs, smiles, laughter, and memoires....
Coastal Virginia Magazine presented the publication’s annual Giving Back Awards at a ceremony last month at MOCA in Virginia Beach. Tidewater Jewish Foundation was one of the 15 nonprofit organizations and seven businesses of various sizes and visions that were...
How often in life is something worth a two-year wait? The Holocaust Commission proved this can absolutely be true. Sponsored by Bank of America and originally scheduled for October of 2020, then postponed twice by the pandemic, Tom Dugan came to town last month with...
Dear Readers, The late, notably irreverent comedian Lenny Bruce once quipped that most Jewish holidays are “observed” rather than celebrated, including Hanukkah. Perhaps when Bruce performed that particular shtick back in 1961 that joke was accurate…Jews solemnly lit...
Eitan Altshuler shares his version and twists on a dessert recipe not widely used in America for Hanukkah Beyond the classics, there are more than a few days over Hanukkah to enjoy a variety of fried foods. The Jews of India like to celebrate by making Gulab Jamun, a...
The food Pantry, operated by Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, was recently expanded by about one-third its size. Prior to its expansion, JFS had two smaller pantries: one for the general community, and the “Milk and Honey” program for Jewish individuals. These two...
Israel expert Joe Perlov took Tidewater by storm with more than a dozen events over the course of just a few days—engaging with hundreds of people from both the Jewish and general community. Though Perlov focuses on the changing map of Israel, from the 23 border...
In a whirlwind stopover, en route to the JFNA General Assembly in Chicago, Karina Sokolowska, JDC’s (the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) country director for Poland, gave a series of...
Dear Readers, It seems we just finished shaking the lulav for Sukkot and unrolling the Torah for Simcha Torah and here we are in mid-November preparing to set our Thanksgiving tables! And, for some of us, in addition to thoughts of turkey and sweet potatoes, we’ve got...
Chanukah Extravaganza: Sunday, December 18, 4 pm, Mt. Trashmore According to Rabbi Aron Margolin, director of Chabad Tidewater, in the Hanukkah story, the small army of Maccabees fought for the right to worship God freely. “The purpose of the menorah is to...
Freemason Street Baptist Church and Ohef Sholom Temple have more things in common than may meet the eye: bringing the community together, breaking bread, giving thanks, and observing their faith in prayer and song for an impressive 95 years. As the story goes,...
Established by five area families in 1982, Congregation Beth Chaverim is “House of Friends” in Hebrew. Initially, the group began meeting in each other’s homes, and as they grew, started meeting in local churches. With the community’s support, the growing congregation...
With Veterans Day coinciding with Erev Shabbat for Parashat Vayera (Genesis 18-22), I wanted to share a word of Torah (d’var Torah) that bridges the two events. Parashat Vayera is, after all, full of passages that capture the imagination and ignite the Jewish soul!...
What do you get when you put a truly special Israeli artist in front of a room full of amazing Jewish women leaders? A thoughtful discussion on the “art” of community building. Such was the case at the...