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The B’nai Tzedek Teen Philanthropy Program encourages teens to become involved in tzedakah by establishing a fund for Jewish charitable giving. The program also aims to help teens explore what Jewish values are important to them for positively impacting the world....
Zack Bodner, CEO of the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, Calif., spends much of his time reflecting on how to ensure that Jewish life remains meaningful, relevant, and joyful for future generations. Through reflections and conversations with colleagues and friends,...
The Old Dominion University men’s basketball team played Georgia State on their home turf at Chartway Arena in Norfolk on Thursday, Jan. 19. But for many in attendance, the highlight of the evening came at halftime: When young athletes from the Simon Family JCC Youth...
For many people, discussions about a book conjure notions of a Book Club—a social gathering of friends to converse amiably about a creative, enjoyable read, possibly one that offers an escape from the daily round of life. A group of intrepid readers gathered at the...
With his four-year-old daughter Lea nestled on one side and his two-year-old son Ben snuggling the other, Rabbi Ari Oliszewski leans back in his office chair and smiles. A smile is a simple thing, but to Rabbi Ari, it’s everything. His smile is how he introduced...
Dear Readers, Food, drink, and romance seem to be as linked as love and hugs. Think about it…do you recall many first dates that didn’t involve a drink or a meal? I don’t. Or can you name many meetups with friends and relatives that don’t feature some sort of food...
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...
Giving new meaning to the phrase “open tent Judaism,” United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s Division held its annual Lion Tikva Chai Lunch outdoors this year, under a big, wide tent in the “backyard” of the Sandler Family Campus. Utilizing new,...
It was a special day on Sunday, October 24 as the members of Nadiv, the Young Men’s Giving Circle through YAD, led the Jewish community in a cleanup of Mikro Kodesh cemetery in Chesapeake. Together with the Norfolk Kollel and community members of all ages, more than...
Seizing the moment Terri and Lonny Sarfan “We’re going to break the norms this year,” says Terri Sarfan. Playing with the calendar a bit, Terri and Lonny plan to begin their family’s Hanukkah celebration just after Thanksgiving dinner. Terri says they want to take...
For Noa Tishby, it has become a mission to educate and engage with the rampant antisemitism and anti-Zionist corners of Twitter and other social media platforms. On Wednesday, October 13, Tishby shared her expertise with Tidewater’s Jewish community as the first...
In sports terms, one might call Ron Koas a rookie. In rabbinic circles, the 60-year-old is just a late bloomer. He came to Congregation Beth El in July as his first senior pulpit. Raised as a secular Jew in Israel, his roundabout path to the rabbinate included IDF...
A few months into her new job as curator at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Carrie Needell was leafing through an auction catalogue to get a feel for glass artists’ names and work. Not just the ones who had been at it for a while, up-and-comings were on her radar, too. A...
Sam & Reba Sandler Annual Foundation Golf Tournament Continuing a tradition begun 25 years ago, the Sandler family of companies, along with their valued sponsors, vendor partners, and employee volunteers, celebrated a quarter century of giving at the Sam &...
Ruby Lions learn what is taking place throughout the Jewish world The roar of the Ruby Lions could be heard throughout Virginia Beach as United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s women donors giving $10,000 or greater to the Community Campaign gathered to hear from the...
Each year, the Milton “Mickey” Kramer Scholar-in-Residence Fund of the Congregation Beth El Foundation’s Tidewater Together Series shares opportunities for the community to connect Jewishly to a variety of topics. This year, the series impacted the Jewish community,...
A decade ago, Betty Ann Levin, then CEO of Jewish Family Service of Tidewater and David Abraham, CEO of Beth Sholom Village, met together with their organization’s boards of directors to create the Freda H. Gordon Hospice and Palliative Care of Tidewater (HPCT)...
Jason Hoffman leads a Jewish life. When we caught up for this interview—to chat about his experience with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Hineni Fellowship—he was hanging around an airport awaiting the arrival of his teenaged daughter, who was returning from a...
Tidewater’s BBYO chapters have enthusiastically begun this school year. BBG (B’nai Brith Girls), which locally consists of Dr. Abraham Cohen and Kruger chapters, and AZA (Aleph Tzadik Aleph), which locally consists of Dr. Israel Brown and Old Dominion chapters, are...
Click here to view the entire Mazel Tov! special section. Dear Readers, In the best of times, planning a milestone event is known to create stressful situations. Throw in a pandemic, along with months of uncertainty, and the stress leaps to a never-seen-before level....
When the Sababa Social Club met in the Sukkah for an introductory artistic salon with the In[HEIR]itance Project, old and new friends gathered, chatted, caught up, and noshed to start the evening. It wasn’t long, however, before Jon Adam Ross, managing director and...
Super Sunday was truly a great community day, and a success by every measure. On Sunday, September 12, dozens of volunteers—members of Tidewater’s Jewish community—came together at the Sandler Family Campus to welcome friends, neighbors, and fellow community members...
In the 1950s and 60s, two Norfolk streets where Wexford Terrace turn into Colony Point, served as an enclave for Jewish business leaders and community builders raising families. Close to Wards Corner and the Norfolk Naval Base, the legacy location attracted many...
Dear Readers, Just as we all need banks and dentists, there aren’t many of us who don’t require an attorney at some point in life…if not really often for some. Fortunately, we have plenty of top legal minds to choose from in Tidewater. Lisa Richmon talks to two such...
Practicing law can be like baking a cake. Both require precise timing and ingredients in exact measure. A dash of restraint goes a long way, too. Just ask attorney Neal Schulwolf who knows the power of pause when a new client reveals his search for a Jewish lawyer....
Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Rabbi Roz Mandelberg observe the mitzvah of waving the lulav and etrog at a gathering in Downtown Norfolk during Sukkot. The 56th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Filler-Corn is the first woman and the first Jewish person to...