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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...
Words matter. So do images. We see and feel the impact of words and images in cascading form in this age of technology driven social and journalistic media. As we were reminded at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, people, nations, and institutions pay the price when...
To do a job well, one must have the proper tools. A carpenter might need a specific saw for a type of wood to be cut, a photographer might need a special lens to capture a tiny creature, and educators need the most up-to-date information and methods to teach and...
What one (or two) thing(s)—of the probably many—have you learned from your mom? We posed the question to several women, and not surprisingly, their responses are filled with respect, admiration, love, and even some humor. How fortunate these women are to have had such...
A live recording of “the universe’s leading Jewish podcast” had everyone laughing at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursday, April 7. The Unorthodox podcast team visited the “Paris of the mid-Atlantic,” as Tidewater was referred to by host Liel Lebovitz,...
The severity of the war in Ukraine, its inhumane treatment of civilians, and devasting destruction, is apparent to anyone watching or reading the news. What is not found in the main-stream media, however, is that at the start of the war, Ukraine was home to more than...
Through the efforts of its rabbi, Ellen Jaffe-Gill, Tidewater Chavurah has received a Torah scroll to use during Shabbat and holidays. Rabbi Jaffe-Gill acquired the scroll through the Jewish Community Legacy Project, an organization that helps small congregations with...
The first Virginia Congressman to sign the bipartisan Pascrell-Latko letter, demanding increased funding to protect synagogues and houses of worship, Congressman Donald McEachin visited the Sandler Family Campus for a quick conversation and lunch with a diverse group...
Support is urgently needed. Throughout the past year, Jewish Family Service, in partnership with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, has been highlighting the importance of mental health and wellness through a series of events. These events are part of JFS’ 18th...
Reading of the Names on Zoom Wednesday, April 27, 10 am–2 pm Contact hhorwitzintune@yahoo.com to reserve a spot. Yom Hashoah Commemoration Wednesday April 27, 6:45 pm Congregation Beth El Masks are required. The Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of...
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Whether he meant to or not, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz gave Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, an opportunity for a breather in the middle of a contentious day of confirmation hearings on Tuesday, March 22. Cruz, who...
Graduation ceremonies and celebrations for the Class of 2020, whether for high school, college, or graduate school, came to a screeching halt because of COVID-19. Another casualty of the pandemic. Still, imaginative celebrations took place via ZOOM, drive-by parades,...
Tzedek, tzedek tirdof: “Justice, justice you shall pursue” (Deut. 16:20). We, the Jewish faith leaders of Hampton Roads, are appalled not only by the murder of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, but by the long procession of African-Americans who have been...
It doesn’t take a campus massacre or a pandemic for Virginia Tech students to bond with a charismatic and culturally distinct Israeli fellow, and to connect Jewishly. According to Sue Kurtz, executive director at Virginia Tech Hillel, students are nervous about the...
Over three dozen local Jewish women, led by mission co-chairs Annie Sandler and Mona Flax, along with JDC professional Sandy Katz, made the long trek to the Jewish communities of Minsk in Belarus and Sofia in Bulgaria…all through the “magic” of the internet. Following...
Strelitz International Academy Graduation was originally planned for June 2, but like nearly everything else this past spring, was postponed. A special outdoor, mask wearing ceremony took place on Tuesday, June 30 for these special graduates so that they could enjoy a...
For kids and families seeking some camp-like fun this summer, Camp JCC In the Cloud is ‘to the rescue!’ Unlimited access to online activities is FREE and available to anyone from anywhere. Different themed activities take place each week through August 14. At Camp...
Noya Azari is joining Camp JCC In the Cloud this summer as the camp’s Shaliach. A native of Tel Aviv, Noya Arazi, 23, was in Virginia Beach as a Camp JCC Shaliach in 2018. “Dance has always been a big part of my life,” sys Arazi. In fact, she is a certified Zumba...
After a national search, the Tidewater Jewish Foundation is ready to welcome Naomi Limor Sedek as its new president and chief executive officer. Coming from Nashville, Tennessee, Sedek’s lifelong work and passion for the promotion of Jewish life at the Jewish...
Tidewater’s Jewish community lost a giant on Saturday, June 6 with the passing of Kurt Rosenbach. Kurt was equally a man of vision and action. More than all of his volunteer service—often as founder or chair, he continued to press the community to realize financial...
Tidewater Jewish organizations secure more than $20.6-million in legacy commitments through LIFE & LEGACY® initiative Three hundred and twenty-five local donors have made 550 legacy commitments to support the Tidewater Jewish community since LIFE & LEGACY...
As we began to plan for a very different looking summer and reaching out to families in new ways, we realized that our plans and the work we were doing weren’t just for the families, they were for us, too. Being stuck at home has been emotionally draining for all of...
The Jewish Changemakers Fellowship is a three-week online leadership experience, July 6–July 24, free of charge for current and aspiring Jewish leaders, 20–25 years old, focusing on career development, networking, and making a difference in the community. Young adults...
Freedom and fulfillment can be dubious soulmates. Being free doesn’t necessarily mean getting up in the morning with no place to be and no one to answer to. That would be the antithesis of rewarding for certain local seniors who continue to blaze new trails and seek...
At Beth Sholom Village, cleanliness is paramount. The recent renovation at the skilled nursing and rehab center located in Virginia Beach, completed days before lockdown in March, has already impressed visitors and residents. With the cosmetic and functional changes...
Sandy Finberg Tabachnick grew up in Ashland, a small town in northeastern Ohio that was also home to Ashland College, a college founded by the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The Finbergs were one of 10 Jewish families in this small town of 15,000 and Sandy and...
Monday–Thursday: 5 am–7 pm Friday: 5 am–6 pm Saturday–Sunday: 8 am–6 pm After the first successful week of operations during Governor Ralph Northam’s Phase Two of reopening, the Simon Family JCC made the decision to expand its hours and to remove the...
Not quite what we’d envisioned As the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s 2020 Community Campaign draws to a close, many of us will look back on it as “one for the record books.” The 2020 Campaign—Our 2020 Vision, as we called it—did not turn out to be anything...
Tires on cars, in parking lots, is so 2019. Pandemic life touches just about everything and everyone. Some of the efforts to adapt produce marvel-inducing change. When COVID-19 struck and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s ruling made it no longer possible to use the...
Community leadership calls for more than soliciting donors and volunteers who buy into your vision. Patti Wainger and Dorianne Villani recently passed an overnight crash course on the contact-free fight against local food insecurity. Together with members of their...
The final stages of the new mikvah project at 425 Washington Park are nearly complete, with late June as the projected opening. Then, with a little bit of mazel, and a lot of rain, the existing Norfolk mikvah will get its much-awaited renovation. Staying the course on...