Friday, March 6, 6:30 pm • Ohef Sholom Temple The Women of Ohef Sholom Temple Sisterhood’s Annual Sisterhood Shabbat will feature Betty Ann Levin, executive vice president/CEO for United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC. She will speak on “The...
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Contextualizing Orthodox Jewish life in film
Home: Thursday, February 22, 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm Cinema Café Kemps River, $12 The mission of the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg, is to educate and engage diverse Tidewater communities, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, by...
The Art of Judaica: Tradition, Ritual, and Ceremony
Sunday, February 18, 2 pm, Torggler, Christopher Newport University, Newport News Abigail H. Meyer, museum educator for Judaica and Jewish Material Culture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, will discuss her work with the Met’s Judaica collection in...
Liel Leibovitz returns to Tidewater to explore “How the Talmud Can Change Your Life”
Thursday, March 14, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus In a tumultuous world filled with distressing news and unsettling anti-Jewish sentiments, many are desperate to find a guide to navigate such challenges. Liel Leibovitz, editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine, will be in...
Examining the impact of Elsie Robinson’s ‘Listen, World!’ with Allison Gilbert and Dr. Amy Milligan
Monday, March 25, at 6:45 pm, online A trailblazing figure in American journalism, Elsie Robinson took center stage nearly a century ago when she launched her nationally syndicated column, Listen, World! Robinson, then the most-read woman in America and the...
Rabbi Sacks Tidewater Community Book Club begins this month
Sunday, February 25, 10 am, Congregation Beth El The last few months have been a difficult time for the Jewish people. Since the devastating attacks of October 7th, those living in the diaspora have had difficulty formulating an effective response to a changed...
Join the Israel Trail Challenge and help Israel
Through Sunday, May 19, Simon Family JCC The popular Israel Trail Challenge is back. Instead of trekking all 622 miles of the actual Israel Trail, Simon Family JCC members and exercise enthusiasts can sign up to hike, jog, walk, dance, row, or swim the equivalent...
2nd Annual Daffodil Blooming Day
Sunday, March 3, 1 – 3 pmJewish Museum and Culture Center The Jewish Museum and Culture Center is continuing its participation in the Daffodil Project, whose mission is to remember and honor the 1.5 million children who were murdered during the Holocaust, as well as...
Norfolk artist Rick Seguso’s painting, KLEZMER for the JOYFUL SOUL, on exhibit at Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts
Exhibit runs through Saturday, Feb. 3 Nearly 60 local writers and artists have been paired together for the Suffolk Center for the Cultural Arts’ exhibit, “Everyone Has a Story.” Rick Seguso, an artist, musician, and singer/songwriter, was inspired by an essay on...
A Night in Casablanca . . . the beginning of a beautiful evening at Temple Emanuel
Saturday, February 3, 7 pm, Temple Emanuel Stephanie Adler Calliott “Round up the usual suspects” and head to the oceanfront for a great “Night in Casablanca.” From music to casino games and horse racing to great food and drink, everyone will want to be at Temple...
Stars Among Us: The Holocaust Commission’s new podcast
Elka Mednick The Stars Among Us podcast, a collaboration between The Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and WHRO, offers a compelling exploration of the lives of Holocaust survivors and liberators. The podcast features excerpted sections...
Building community through a new partnership: Ohef Sholom Temple presents Melton’s Love, Loss, and Wisdom Course
Thursdays, starting February 1 • 7 pm, online • JewishVA.org/Melton Staff report Ohef Sholom Temple has a robust adult education program led by Alyson Morrissey, director of Lifelong Learning. The programming includes speakers, artists, films, Torah study, Hebrew,...
November’s Book of the Month at the Jewish Book Festival: author Letty Cottin Pogrebin on generational shame
Thursday, November 17, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy Letty Cottin Pogrebin Post Hill Press 432 pages, 2022 The 2022–23 Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival continues with author Letty Cottin Pogrebin, who will...
A conversation with author Jessica Nordell on The End of Bias: A Beginning
When it comes to bias and discrimination, what actually changes people and cultures? Thursday, December 8, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus Bias robs individuals of their futures, organizations of talent, science of breakthroughs, and communities of justice. The End of...
A fun evening of song and music at Beth El
Sunday, December 4, 5 pm, Congregation Beth El Congregation Beth El’s 2022 FUNdraiser will bring music from the Rocky Mountains of Vail, Colorado, to the shores of Norfolk, Virginia. Cantor Michelle Cohn Levy of B’nai Vail Congregation and Coleen Dieker, an...
On Assignment with Lahav Harkov returns in November
Thursday, November 3, 12 pm The first session of the Israel Today series, On Assignment with Lahav Harkov, took place on Thursday, October 6, and was an exciting and informative conversation about the upcoming Knesset elections, related polling, and more. Harkov,...
Fall-themed Sunday Fun Day
Sunday, November 13, 1 - 4 pm, Simon Family JCC Gather friends and family and head to the Simon Family JCC for an afternoon of fall-themed games, music, crafts, and a sweet treat. See familiar faces, meet new and friendly people, and while Tidewater’s ShinShinim lead...
Family connects first three authors speaking at Jewish Book Festival
Dan Grunfeld Wednesday, November 2, 7:30 pm, Free Alla Shapiro, MD Monday, November 7, 12 pm, Tickets include lunch Letty Cottin Pogrebin Thursday, November 17, 7:30 pm, Free Family is at the forefront in the minds of the first three authors of the United Jewish...
Have you ever learned about the kabbalistic approach to the aleph-bet?
Conversation with author Mira J. Amiras and illustrator Josh Baum on Malka’s Notebook: A Journey into the Mystical Aleph-Bet Tuesday, November 29, 12 pm, Watch from home, Free Mira Z. Amiras was raised on her father’s tales of the Hebrew aleph-bet letters and their...
Leon Family Gallery
November–December Workshop: Monday, December 12, 12 pm Illustrations from Malkah’s Notebook will be on exhibit in the Leon Family Gallery at the Simon Family JCC. A hands-on creative workshop with Mira J. Amiras and local artist and Jewish educator, Sharon Serbin,...
United Against Hate— The DOJ’s Nationwide Initiative to Combat Acts of Hate
Wednesday, November 30 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Jewish Community Relations Council will host the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia’s United Against Hate program next month. This exciting program...
Travel in time and explore Israel with Joe Perlov
Wednesday, October 26, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus Veteran educator and Israeli map expert Joe Perlov will offer the opportunity to go back in time to the founding of the State of Israel as he guides an interactive exploration of the nation’s map. Perlov’s...
Benji Lovitt: Stand-Up Comedy: What War Zone?
Tuesday, November 1 6 pm (Dinner), 6:30 pm (Show) Ohef Sholom Temple Benji Lovitt presents a hilarious picture of Israel by deconstructing cultural differences and the immigrant experience in Israel. Audiences laugh out loud as he sheds light on embarrassing Hebrew...
Unfolding Nature: Dancing Through Waves
JCC’s Leon Family Gallery Exhibit through October. Interdisciplinary artist Shony Rivnay’s art is on display in the Leon Family Gallery. The exhibit is presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC,...
First responder at Chernobyl nuclear disaster to speak at Jewish Book Festival
Community conversation: Monday, November 7, 12 pm Sandler Family Campus Russian speakers conversation: Monday, November 7, 2 pm Sandler Family Campus While the world watches, fighting has continued around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine since...
Dan Grunfeld: By the Grace of the Game: The Holocaust, a Basketball Legacy, and an Unprecedented American Dream
Holocaust Commission pick for Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival Wednesday, November 2, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus Basketball was first included as a medal event in the Summer Olympics in 1936 in Berlin. During those Olympics, Hitler showed...
Be A Reader literacy program needs volunteers
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Be a Reader (BeAR) program is out of hibernation and heading back into schools at the end of October. Returning to the classroom means BeAR needs more volunteers. Just an hour a week...
Ohef Sholom Temple to celebrate Charles Woodward’s 40th year as music director
Friday, October 28, 6:30 pm, Ohef Sholom Temple During Shabbat Services and at a festive Oneg Shabbat, Charles (Chuck) Woodward will be honored for his 40 years as Ohef Sholom Temple’s music director. Known throughout Tidewater as a choral conductor and keyboard...
Wiesenthal
Tuesday, November 15, 7 pm, Wells Theater A one-man show, this is the inspiring true story of Simon Wiesenthal filled with hope, humanity, and humor. Sometimes referred to as the “Jewish James Bond,” he devoted his life to bringing more than 1,000 Nazi war criminals...
Archival photographs to celebrate Israel @ 75 throughout the year
The world-renowned PhotoHouse is one of Israel’s most valuable and monumental private archives of historical photographs. Founded in 1936, it has been owned and operated by the same family for three generations. Rudi Weissenstein captured millions of photos of...
Baby and Me returns to the Simon Family JCC
Begins Tuesday, September 20, 9 am Sandler Family Campus Twice a month, Baby and Me offers a time for a parent to bring their baby, up to 18 months old, to the Simon Family JCC for an hour of baby games and activities, social time with other parents and guardians, and...
Yellow is the color of remembrance at Jewish Museum and Cultural Center
Sunday, October 16, 11 am–3 pm Get ready to plant some bulbs and hope for a bountiful garden this spring in remembrance of the children who perished in the Holocaust. The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center in Portsmouth is hosting its first event in partnership with...