To our beloved Jewish Community: We support the nation of Israel—or any nation—in defending its citizens from massive terrorist attacks. We reject any form of antisemitism as unbiblical. We bless the nation of Israel and Jews worldwide. We believe what God wrote in...
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Special Section: Retirement (January 2024)

‘It was utter chaos’: Families and survivors describe the horrors of Hamas’ invasion
(JTA) — Yoni Asher’s voice was steady but his urgency was unmistakable. “I ask anyone coming to Efrat Katz’s home to tell me they are there, I have not heard from them for four hours,” he said on Israel’s government-run Kan radio. “Them” for Asher was his...

High Holidays 5781 Special Edition
Dear Readers, For the first time in the vast majority of our lifetimes, most of us will ‘attend’ High Holiday services by watching computer screens, tablets, televisions, and perhaps even our phones. While these strange circumstances brought on by the COVID-19...

Israel Fest 2020 – Tidewater Celebrates Israel @ 72 (from HOME!)
Sunday, May 3, 11 am The festivities will be different this year, but not having a larger gathering won’t keep Jewish Tidewater from celebrating Israel’s 72 years! Join the community for a day of celebration with virtual activities for Yom Ha’Atzmaut—Israel’s 72nd...
Found by veganism, corned-beef lover becomes founder of first meatless deli business
Jenny Goldfarb grew up in South Florida, born into a family of delicatessen owners, she ate her weight in kosher-style corned beef. Munching on subs with friends before the beach, it never crossed her mind that she would become the founder of a company leading a food...

Israel Today series kicks off with Inbal Arieli
Inbal Arieli kicked off the 2019–2020 Israel Today series with intrigue and passion for sharing Israel’s secret sauce as to “Why Israel is a hub of innovation and entrepreneurship.” Arieli got the chance to share her message with a variety of community members...

Finding community: A note of gratitude from four military spouses
This Veteran’s Day four United Jewish Federation of Tidewater employees have a message for their bosses. “Thank you.” Military spouses Leigh Casson, Wynston Hammack, Patty Shelanski, and Kaitlyn Oelsner have full-time employment demonstrating their exceptional skills...

Rabbi Yoni Warren: Navy chaplain back on home base
Virginia native Yonatan “Yoni” Warren hopes to be stationed in Norfolk, Virginia long enough to check one specific box. “I expect to be stationed here between four to six years,” says Warren. “That should be long enough to rebuild a vibrant Jewish community on base...

31st Annual Strelitz International Academy Golf Tournament A picture perfect day
In support of Strelitz International Academy’s 31st Annual Golf Tournament, more affectionately known as the Bob Josephberg Classic, 84 golfers played 18 holes at the Bayville Golf Club, one of Virginia’s finest golf courses. The awards reception following the contest...

Chutzpah author speaks about Israeli-style innovation and the business of parenting
Inbal Arieli: Chutzpah, Why Israel is a Hub of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Wednesday, November 6, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus Israeli tech insider Inbal Arieli is a mother of three who favors rule-breaking and risk-taking to best practices and safe play. A...

Geopolitical expert, technology futurist and cacao shaman predicts what being human will look like
Jamie Metzl: Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity Tuesday, November 12, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus When Jamie Metzl is in Tidewater, he’ll talk about genetically modified humans, conception without sex – and chocolate. Jamie Metzl’s life...
Rosh Hashanah
Dear Readers, While the holidays feel a bit tardy this year (you know how they’re never on time…), it is still hard to believe that it’s the season again for apples and honey and shofar calls and sermons and holiday meals. And, for reflections. We asked some folks for...
Rescue of S.S. Quanza refugees took place nearly 80 years ago
This past Wednesday, September 11, marked 79 years since a rejected refugee ship arrived on Tidewater’s shores, sparking a battle of wills that reached all the way to the White House, and the narrow rescue of 81 refugees fleeing the horrors of Nazi-occupied Europe....
The Jewish community of Selma, Alabama
Prior to coming to Old Dominion University, I taught at Elizabethtown College in central Pennsylvania. It was there that I met one of my dearest friends, also named Amy, who is one of the college chaplains. When she told me that she was taking her students on an...
Ignite, reflect and envision as we usher in 5780
Last September, a room filled with members of our community joined together to kick off our 2019 Community Campaign and Arts + Ideas season. The results? An accelerated campaign with a significantly increased level of community support and our ability to meet...
Burying Jewish books: UJFT makes it possible
On Sunday, August 18, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater took the first step in creating a coordinated community book burial. This came in response to Rabbi Michael Panitz, who contacted UJFT with a need to bury Temple Israel’s unused Holy books. The act of burying...
Holocaust Commission’s Conference offers educators guidance in teaching difficult history
Is the suffering of others our own? How do we make emotions explicit and use them positively to teach? Why is it so difficult to accept certain facts? How can history be controversial? These were just a few of an abundance of framing questions that educators...
Cardon 6: Creativity, uninterrupted
“My life is a journey of blessings. I am always growing through open-minded, whole-hearted living and am grateful to have the freedom to express love without fear.” —Elyse Tapper Cardon Elyse and David Cardon’s home life is a visual reflection of their love of each...
Home
In some homes, art sits center stage, which is why we’ve made it the focus of this section. Elyse and David Cardon’s Virginia Beach home, for example, is all about expression—art, fun, function, music, entertainment, and love. Artists Jodie Frieden, Abbie Korman, Ivor...
A lifetime of giving UJFT’s most senior donor, Bob Liverman
Ask anyone to describe Robert G. “Bob” Liverman, and it’s not long before you’ll hear the word “mensch.” “He’s always doing good things for the Jewish people. He’s always been a mensch, a wonderful human being and Jew,” says his great-nephew Kirk Levy. Liverman, who...
Simon Family JCC Maccabi delegation excels in Detroit
Having the best week of their lives, the members of Team Virginia Beach represented the Simon Family JCC very well at the 2019 JCC Maccabi Games & ArtsFest in Detroit, Michigan, August 4-9. Beyond making many new friends from around the U.S. and the world, the...
Birthright exceeds expections for Mallory Weinstein as told by Barb Gelb
If you ever asked my husband Kenny or me if his daughter Mallory would go on a Birthright Israel program—without her family – we would have just laughed and shrugged it off. We wouldn’t even dare to dream such a thing. Mallory has Fragile X syndrome which affects her...
A Guide to Jewish Living in Tidewater
Jewish Holidays 5780 All holidays begin at sundown on the evening before the date listed. Religious Holidays 5780 Rosh Hashanah September 30–October 1, 2019, Jewish New Year Yom Kippur October 9, 2019, Day of Atonement Sukkot October 14–20, 2019, Feast of Tabernacles...
Bearing witness in El Paso
Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10:19) In May of 1939, the S.S. St. Louis reached the shore of Miami, Fla. On board the ship were 937 Jewish European refugees, including two-year-old Joachim Hirsch. All of them had applied...
Bangel family celebrates with a new Torah
When most people think about celebrating a big occasion, they think parties and trips. But when Brad Bangel and his sister, Nancy Bangel, were considering how to mark their parents’ 70th anniversary, they went into a totally different direction. They thought Torah....
Laderberg Lane—A Family Legacy
Laderberg Lane, honoring Alma and Howard Laderberg (of blessed memory) was formally dedicated on Monday, July 22. The walking trail that surrounds the pond basin at the Sandler Family Campus, was made possible by the couple’s generosity and their after-lifetime gift...
One Night with Alon Shaya. Get a Book. Give a Book.
Food sustains us while stories about food and family delight and save us. On June 24, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater held its third annual One Night, where Culinary Institute of Virginia College of Culinary Arts of ECPI University, James Beard award winning...
Beth Sholom Village holds annual meeting, installs new president
Beth Sholom Village has a new president. On June 19 at BSV’s annual meeting, Matthew Weinstein, president of Managed Networks of America, assumed the presidency, as attorney Stuart Nachman became the immediate past president. Lawrence Siegel, first vice-president;...
Ellen Rosenblum installed as new president of Jewish Family Service of Tidewater
With a theme of “Honoring Our Past, Envisioning Our Future,” Jewish Family Service of Tidewater (JFS) held its 64th Biennial Meeting on June 17. At the meeting, JFS installed Ellen Rosenblum as the president for 2019–2021, thanked Jeff Cooper for serving as president...
Bill Nusbaum named to Virginia Israel Advisory Board
Richmond, Va.—On behalf of the Virginia House of Delegates, Speaker Kirk Cox has named Bill Nusbaum to the Virginia Israel Advisory Board (VIAB). Nusbaum is an attorney with Williams Mullen. VIAB is a government agency that helps Israeli companies locate and grow...
Legal Matters in the Jewish Community
Ruth Bader Ginsburg donates $9,000 to Israeli schools teaching Arabic and Hebrew Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she is donating $9,000 to a network of bilingual Hebrew and Arabic schools in Israel. The grant to schools operated by Hand in Hand comes...