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U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner met with members of Tidewater’s Jewish community last month to discuss a range of issues, including Israel, the state of college campuses, and antisemitism.The former governor and senior senator from Virginia began the conversation by...
Summertime is right around the corner, with camps of every sort – day, overnight, specialty, and general – busy planning an exciting 2025 experience for campers. Whether campers stay close to home or embark on a few weeks away for an overnight experience, many...
My most recent visit to Israel started with Havdalah services in Hostage Square. The weight of October 7 – the loss, the trauma, the sadness – hangs in the air and seeps into your pores. The realization of the challenges Israelis deal with all day, every day, is...
The Konikoff Center for Learning supports Jewish education in a variety of ways in Tidewater. With a goal of nurturing inter-denominational relationships between individuals and synagogues, David Konikoff drives the direction of the Center by sponsoring programming...
The Sandler Family Campus was unrecognizable on Saturday, March 1, as partygoers stepped into Mordechai’s Time Machine for an unforgettable Purim celebration. Immersive décor transported guests across time and space — from a 1920s speakeasy to a garden of Eden. Every...
The Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Don Leonard Scott Jr., spent a rainy afternoon last month with members of Jewish Tidewater at the home of Laura and Fred Gross. His recent trip to Israel with AIPAC was the focus of the conversation.Jeff Breit, a law...
My alarm went off on January 28 at 5:30 am. I was already up… It was at least 25 years since I had been a part of the Jewish Community Relations Council’s United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s team visiting our Virginia legislators to highlight the issues of...
“Love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage. It’s an institute you can’t disparage.”Frank Sinatra first sang these Sammy Cahn lyrics in the 1955 television production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.Here, in Tidewater, several couples celebrating special...
Editor’s note: The release of hostages held in Gaza is a developing story. At press time, the number of hostages remaining in Gaza is 79, of whom 23 are set for release during the current ceasefire; 35 are thought to be living. These three articles are just a sample...
A shared meal can lead to a good laugh, a lifelong romance, or a future business venture – and sometimes, all those things and more. ❦ For these eight couples, first dates that included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, COVID dating, and dancing at the top of...
One of the nation’s longest-running Jewish film festivals, the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg, entertains, educates, and engages the Tidewater community by presenting world-class films, repertory cinema, and programs that...
(JTA) — Daniel Sher’s voice broke as he related the latest to members of his Pacific Palisades synagogue. Kehillat Israel had just sent a message saying that its building had so far survived the devastating Palisades Fire, but, the associate rabbi noted, so much had...
Thursday, March 21, 5:45 pmThe Westin Virginia Beach Town Center Laura Geringer Gross is one of this year’s honorees for The Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities’ (VCIC) 60th annual Tidewater Humanitarian Awards. Individuals and organizations who have made...
The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s Philanthropy meeting on Thursday, Jan. 18 featured Eliza Prince, JDC senior development officer. Prince has been with JDC for a few months and works out of the Washington, DC area, serving several Jewish communities...
Beth Sholom Village hosted its biennial meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 16, setting the stage for the organization’s transformative journey in healthcare for Jewish seniors in Hampton Roads. The event celebrated the non-profit’s rich history, as well as marked a significant...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...