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Pop-up bookstore open at Simon Family JCC

Pop-up bookstore open at Simon Family JCC

With the Simon Family JCC’s Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival in full swing, more than 100 different books by prominent and emerging authors are now available in a pop-up bookstore in the Simon Family JCC’s Copeland Cardo. Works from the genres of...

Hanoch Piven’s creativity spread through Tidewater

Hanoch Piven’s creativity spread through Tidewater

Israel Today’s first ever artist-in-residence, Hanoch Piven, took Tidewater by storm with more than 40 events over his two-week visit, engaging more than 1,500 people from both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities. Piven held workshops at the United Jewish Federation...

Jewish Book Festival

Jewish Book Festival

The annual celebration of Jewish writers, books, and ideas, Simon Family JCC’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival, provides an opportunity to engage with talented authors about their latest books. The month-long Festival also offers the latest titles...

Mazel Tov

Mazel Tov

Dear Readers, Fortunately for those who like to celebrate, scores of opportunities exist to say “Mazel Tov!” While our first thought for those two incredibly expressive words might be for a wedding or B’nai Mitzvah—countless other occasions qualify, too. Take for...

And it was only Day Two of our Mission!

And it was only Day Two of our Mission!

For me, deciding to join UJFT’s Journey Home to Israel 2018 mission was motivated by two factors. One was visiting my twin grand-daughters and their parents who live on Kibbutz Yiftah in northern Israel. Two, was that as chair of UJFT’s Israel and Oveseas Committee, I...

25 years later: Soviet Jews and the Freedom 25 Movement

A book presented at the Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival highlighted next month’s 25th anniversary of the March on Washington to free Soviet Jews. The event was cosponsored by the Community Relations Council of the UJFT. December marks the 25th...

Helping special needs children in Israel prepare for Bar/Bat Mitzvah

MASORTI, meaning traditional, is the Hebrew name for the movement of conservative Judaism in Israel. The Masorti Movement fosters the practice of traditional Judaism while embracing modernity. In promoting the combined values of conservative Judaism, religious...

Celebrating the power of Jewish Women

Just walking into the Fleder Multipurpose Room at noontime on Thursday, Nov. 1, one sensed energy and high spirits. Looking a little more closely, one immediately understood…this was a room full of powerful women. The 2013 United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Lion...

Golf’s Longest Day above par

Beth Sholom Village’s Fifth Annual Richard “Dick” Porter Memorial Golf Tournament was held on Monday, Oct. 22 at Bayville Golf Course. Six golfers braved the beautiful blue skies, low humidity and bright sunshine and played a total of 332 holes of golf! The golfers...

Jason Hoffman wins (kind of) big on TV game show

Yes, Jason Hoffman wants to be a millionaire. Did he become one because of his appearance on a television game show? Yay or nay, and is that your final answer? Hoffman, chair of the Young Adult Division of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and associate vice...

Jason Leibowitz: JFNA’s new guy on the block

Jason Leibowitz, 25, stepped out of a cab two years ago in front of the convention center in New Orleans and discovered that he was smiling back at himself from the murals draped across the building’s front entrance. When his picture was taken at the JFNA (Jewish...

Meet the Candidate Series brings politicians to the Jewish community

Local voters have had two opportunities this month to rely on more than sound bites to inform their decision on Election Day, and to let politicians know the Tidewater Jewish community cares about its organizations, Israel and domestic policies. Through its Meet the...

From Ethiopia to Tidewater— a conversation with Max Sandler

Reaching Max Sandler for a chat can be tough these days. Telephone service and Internet reception are unreliable near Gondar, Ethiopia where the Norfolk Academy and College of Charleston graduate is currently living and working. For that matter, so are other things...

Protestant churches’ letter on Israel straining ties with Jews

WASHINGTON (JTA)—When 15 prominent American Protestant leaders sent a letter to Congress this month calling for an investigation and possible suspension of U.S. aid to Israel, at least one outcome was certain: The Jews wouldn’t like it. On Wednesday, Oct. 17, Jewish...

What We Carry goes to church

Since being launched in schools last fall, the Holocaust Commission’s What We Carry program has been presented 38 times in the community by trained Commission volunteers—27 times in school settings and 11 times for military audiences. More than half of the...

Woolsey visit evokes awareness of national vulnerabilities

Speaking to an audience at the Sandler Family Campus on Sept. 10, R. James Woolsey’s delivery was easygoing and folksy. The message the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency delivered, however, was anything but casual. “We are on the verge of something as...

Campaign Kickoff opens eyes and hearts to community’s mitzvot

Guests at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s 2013 Campaign Kickoff on Thursday, Sept. 27, were treated to an evening of Ethiopian sights, smells, and tastes. They heard firsthand accounts of the difficulties and triumphs of being Jewish, Ethiopian and...

The times have surely changed

This is the last in a four-part series about the 110th anniversary of the Hebrew Ladies Charity Society. Invitations to the 110th Anniversary Luncheon honoring the ladies who founded the Hebrew Ladies Charity Society in 1902 have been mailed and now is the time to...

Back to Shul Shopping a success for synagogues

The Simon Family JCC came alive on Sunday, Sept. 9 as local Jewish agencies hosted various community events. The JCC welcomed potential new members to tour the facility and learn about the programming opportunities, Jewish Family Service brought their staff and lay...

Leslie and Larry Siegel Create a Jewish Legacy

Although very proud of their family and the roles they have played in Tidewater’s Jewish community for the past 38 years, Leslie and Larry Siegel were not anxious to have their names in this profile. The foundation they created, a donor-advised fund, is designed to do...

Hebrew Ladies Charity Society: Working to Improve Our Community

This is the third in a series about the 110th anniversary of the Hebrew Ladies Charity Society. A single Jewish mom with two teenage children is just getting by financially until she hurts her back and can’t work. Her children get jobs after school, but the family...

Ethiopian rescue effort has longstanding ties in community

In 1991, a call for help went out to the worldwide Jewish community. As a civil war raged in Ethiopia and the ruling government was about to be toppled, more than 14,000 Jews had been secretly gathered and were waiting to be transported to Israel, their biblical,...