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While April 1, 2019 wasn’t your typical April Fool’s Day filled with children’s pranks, laughter abounded at a merged UJFT Women’s Cabinet and Women’s Young Adult Division event, hosted by Leora Drory. For the first time, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s...
Through The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Shlichim (emissaries) program, two Israelis are spending the summer at the Simon Family JCC’s JCamp. Always a special aspect of camp, each year, Shlichim learn about life in Tidewater, as well as about other parts of the U.S....
JCamp’s new director, Eliana Rohrig, has spent a lot of time at camp—as a camper, counselor, and division head—primarily at Camp Ramah in Nyack, N.Y. She spent a semester studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, served on Chabad’s General Board in Binghamton, N.Y....
Just as watermelon and humid nights are perfect pairings, so too, are summer days and campers. But, while summer shows up each year, ready or not, attending camp takes some planning—which explains why this section is called, Getting Ready for Summer. Each year, I...
The annual Stein Family College Scholarship of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation was awarded to Faith Rose White, a soon-to-be graduate of Norfolk’s Maury High School. White is the 11th recipient of the four-year scholarship of up to $10,000 per year that is provided to...
Andrew Nusbaum and Eric Miller departed Norfolk on March 31 to attend their first study mission with the National Young Leadership Cabinet in Russia. The National Young Leadership Cabinet, an elite leadership-training program of the Jewish Federations of North...
Ambassador Ido Aharoni, Israel’s longest serving consul-general in New York, overseeing the operations of the Jewish State’s largest diplomatic mission around the globe, will be in Tidewater as part of Israel Today. Israel Today: Wednesday, May 8, 7:30 pm, Ohef Sholom...
The Helen G. Gifford Foundation was established in 1997 with a mission to support local Jewish organizations, the arts, and art education. A lifelong area resident, Helen was born in Portsmouth to Belle and Issac Goodman, owners of The Famous, a women’s fashion store....
On Sunday, May 12 we celebrate Mother’s Day—honoring moms, grandmothers, and, in fact, all important women in our lives…including, in my case, daughters! Our first article is an interview with Bill Hearst about his inspiring and always gracious mom, Helen Gifford, of...
If Rabbi Joseph Telushkin could change America in just one way, he would start at home with the words that parents speak to their children. Many children earn praise for things like academic achievement, athletics, artistic performance, and even their physical...
The Tidewater Jewish Foundation (TJF) recently celebrated a successful second year of its LIFE & LEGACY program. During the community celebration in March, one set of donors, Alyssa and Jonathan Muhlendorf, shared their reasons for giving. The following is an...
Hineni, HERE I AM! For those who don’t know, Hineni!, is the young leadership program of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Designed 10 years ago to build and nourish leaders, Hineni! is a highly successful program that takes place on alternate years. Hineni!...
With so much to celebrate—its sanctuary’s 100th anniversary and the congregation’s upcoming 175th anniversary—Ohef Sholom Temple rededicated the synagogue’s sanctuary on Saturday, Oct. 13. After a processional with clergy, past presidents carrying the temple’s Torahs,...
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...
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...
Hannah Mancoll and Sam Zelenka, students at First Colonial’s Legal Studies Academy in Virginia Beach, recently interviewed Virginia’s 2nd District Representative Scott Taylor (R) and challenger Elaine Luria (D). Excerpts from their conversations follow: Representative...
One of the great things about being a journalist is traveling the world on story assignments. But it’s the remarkable people I meet, during my journey abroad, that fuels my passion for my profession.
Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill will lead Tidewater Chavurah’s second Friday Shabbat service at the home of Hal and Elaine in the Great Neck Meadows area of Virginia Beach.
After spending a decade of his adult life helping poor people in southwest China, Tom Elder came home to watch his father die – with dignity– thanks to excellent caregivers. Through it all, he learned compassion. And the value of hospice.
“All roads lead to Jerusalem…” or so I like to believe, and so I say, especially when I unexpectedly stumble across a friend or acquaintance walking to or from the Kotel on a Friday evening. In June of this year, I was privileged to find myself with 36 friends at the Kotel on a beautiful Shabbat evening, and it really felt like magic was in the air. We sat together, sang together, celebrated together and took turns lighting candles inside a terrarium!
Giving the art of caricature an innovative look while shedding new light on today’s most familiar faces, Israel Today Artist-in-Residence’s Hanoch Piven’s caricatures have appeared in major American magazines and newspapers such as Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone,The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Entertainment Weekly and the New York Times. His work has also appeared in publications in Spain, France, England, Norway, Italy, and Israel.
Earlier this summer, a group of 37 local community members traveled to Israel on the Federation’s Journey Home Mission to Israel. The week-long, interactive mission was designed to enable participants to follow their campaign dollars to the sites and programs funded by the UJFT’s Annual Campaign. It was also an opportunity for Federation young leaders to closely interact and share experiences with more seasoned leaders, with each group inspiring the other.
At a congregational meeting on June 5, 2018, Dr. Steven Warsof, a man respected for his myriad admirable traits, became the new president of Temple Emanuel by unanimous vote. As he addressed his congregation for the first time as president, Warsof recognized two congregants who worked to build their spiritual home a firm foundation.
After 30 years of dedicated service to Tidewater’s Jewish community, Harry Graber retired on June 30. Attended by hundreds of well-wishers, a celebration in his honor took place on June 14 at the Sandler Family Campus. Graber served from 1988 to 2003 as executive vice president of Jewish Family Service, followed by 15 years as executive vice president of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.
Here is the 2018 Guide to Jewish Living in Tidewater. It features information on the following: Jewish Holidays 5779, Community Resources, Camps, Community Centers, Congregations, Education, Foundation, Services and Organizations, Social Services, Youth Groups and Cemeteries.
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon began his remarks at a luncheon last month at CBN’s Founder’s Inn by noting that it is “usually a bad sign when there’s a room full of people coming to talk about Israel.” Looking around the room with a big smile, he continued, “but today looks different. This room is full of friends!”
The desert sun beat down on us as we stood on a hill, gazing out at what was forbidden for us to enter—the Gaza Strip. On approach to this overlook from the north, we drove past dozens of patches of scorched earth, remnants of fires from recent Palestinian terrorist attacks. Gazan terrorists utilized the winds and dry conditions to their advantage by sending flaming kites and balloons to Israel, which destroyed painstakingly cultivated crops and forests.
Twelve months of lunch meetings with engaging speakers concluded with a shopping spree at Lidl in Virginia Beach on July 18. That’s when the group bought nearly $500 in groceries for the Jewish Family Service (JFS) food pantry. It also donated about $400 additional funds so JFS can purchase more food at a later date.
“Maybe one day when I get older, I will move to Israel and join the IDF.” We’ve all thought about it. Whether it was daydreaming for a split second or two in class at Hebrew Academy (like me), at Sunday school, or even while sitting around the family dinner table. Even with the best intentions, reality eventually gets in the way, and very few actually make it to Israel. Izzy Ezagui, however, was one of those brave foreigners who knew his place was in the Israeli army.
Three area conservative congregations had their annual Men’s Club Blue Yarmulke breakfast at Temple Israel on Sunday, April 15.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev research BEER-SHEVA, Israel, February 14— Medical cannabis therapy can significantly reduce chronic pain in patients age 65 and older without adverse effects, according to researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and...
5776: The year in review and more.