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First hostages released by Hamas
Gabe Friedman, Ron Kampeas, Ben Sales (JTA) —In phases, Hamas released Israeli hostages into Egypt, a sign that the four-day ceasefire brokered between Israel and the terror group that runs Gaza would hold. In the first release, 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino...
A view from Israel: A new (emergency) normal
Liz Dovrat I recently joined a Zoom meeting run by the dean of the humanities and social sciences faculty at my college, Tel Hai in Kiryat Shmona. The dean commenced the meeting by praising the multitudes of faculty and student initiatives started during the immediate...
Mazel Tov – Special Section
Abbey Pachter’s “A Monarch in Winter” launches to rave reviews
Terri Denison A Monarch in Winter, Abbey Pachter’s “Biography of a Butterfly” was celebrated at a book launch earlier this month. The book details the life of a male monarch butterfly, which Pachter rescued from freezing when it was a caterpillar. Over the span of a...
Norfolk’s Grand Illumination Parade includes Hanukkah
Amy Milligan I cried in Norfolk’s Grand Illumination parade on Saturday evening, Nov. 18 when 14 of us chose Jewish joy and marched with a giant Hanukkah balloon– despite some of us feeling afraid. It wasn’t lost on us that we were the only group that had multiple...
Hanukkah 2023 in Jewish Tidewater
With the lighting of the first Hanukkah candle taking place on Thursday, December 7, ample opportunities exist to celebrate the festival of lights with community in Tidewater. Be sure to confirm or RSVP to the events if requested. Happy Hanukkah! Chabad of Tidewater...
A decade of the Shabbat Project
Craig Schranz Tidewater celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Shabbat Project, Nov. 3 – 4, with an abundance of opportunities for unity and inspiration. The Shabbat Project was conceived by Warren Goldstein, chief rabbi of South Africa, who envisioned Jews across the...
Special Section – Happy Hanukkah
Shehecheyanu, Sarajevo
Simon Fink The last time I wrote for the Jewish News, I shared my experience as one the U.S.’s young adult delegation to March of the Living. I’ve similarly just returned from a JDC trip to Bosnia and Croatia as part of its young adult program, Entwine. It was meant...
Tidewater to Israel: Supplies for soldiers and families
Stephanie Peck Eighteen pallets filled with toiletries, clothes, tactical gear, and first aid supplies were sent to Israel from Virginia Beach last month for soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces and families displaced by the war in Israel. These items were donated...
A view from Israel
Levi Margolin Last month, I joined forces with some amazing people to visit soldiers, displaced families, and families sitting Shiva. We raised money for Israel Defense Forces units, and we transported gear to the necessary places. We cooked for families forced out of...
Jewish Family Service’s 19th Annual Run, Roll, or Stroll crosses another finish line
Almost 400 runners, rollers, and strollers participated in Jewish Family Service of Tidewater’s 19th Annual Run, Roll, or Stroll on Sunday, May 7 at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront at 31st Street Park. “We could not have asked for better weather and a better turnout for...
IHRA is signed into law by Governor Youngkin; Virginia Jewish Communities release statement
Governor Glenn Youngkin signed into law HB 1606, which adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism on Monday, May 8. Following the signing, Virginia’s Jewish Communities issued the following joint statement:...
Robin Mancoll honored by FBI with national award
On Friday, May 5, 2023, FBI Director Christopher Wray presented Robin Mancoll, chief program officer and Jewish Community Relations Council director for United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, with the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award (DCLA) for her service to...
Legacy of leading by example: Charlie Nusbaum, Tidewater Jewish Foundation board chair
As board chair of Tidewater Jewish Foundation, Charlie Nusbaum is a true follower of the phrase “lead by example.” Since 1866, the Nusbaum family has served the Jewish community through Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk. Seven generations of Nusbaums have been actively...
Mission returns from Israel with new appreciation for the work of Federation and partners
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,...
Tidewater celebrates Israel@75 with high spirits
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...
Mission returns from Israel with new appreciation for the work of Federation and partners
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,...
2023 Stein Family Scholarship Winner: John Weber Williamson
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...
Memorial Day Commemoration
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...
Community Shabbat celebrated at the Cavalier
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...
Fifty years post Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, this group celebrates. . . again
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
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 Simon Fink: Perpetual action. . . and motion
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,...
Ellen Wagner: A generous example
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...
Sherrill Hurwitz: Excuses not permitted
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...
Lisa Barr: ‘On Fire’ at Chrysler Museum of Art
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...
Mission returns from Israel with new appreciation for the work of Federation and partners
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,...
Dear Readers: Israel at 75
Dear Readers, Calling the current climate in Israel “complicated” could be the understatement of the century. Never do I recall major Jewish organizations, donors, and celebrities making public statements against Israel’s domestic policy. Or tens of thousands of...
Avraham Ashkenazi to receive prestigious award from Technion
The supreme governing bodies of the Technion, the Council acting on behalf of the International Board of Governors, and with the approval of the Technion Senate, resolved to confer upon Avraham Ashkenazi the Technion Honorary Fellow Award. The ceremony is slated to...
A personal perspective on Israel during the recent political crisis—March 2023
During my formative years, the 1960s, my parents instilled in me a love of both Judaism and Israel. As a college student, I volunteered on a kibbutz one summer, working in the fields and hitch-hiking around Israel. I married a non-Jew, who later converted to Judaism...