What’s Happening

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Sunday, October 9, 1–3 pm, MOCA The Simon Family JCC and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, in collaboration with the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, invites students in sixth through ninth grade to a special Sukkot event at MOCA. The afternoon will begin...

Wednesday, October 26, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus   The best way to begin to understand Israel is to first understand the nation’s map. Since declaring independence in 1948, the tiny nation’s borders have often changed. Sometimes, Israel has gained territory;...

Originally published in the April 26, 2021 issue.  Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles Virtual screening: April 26–28, $12 per household Conversation: Wednesday, April 28, 8 pm Robin Sidersky The intersection of food and art will be celebrated as part of United...

Originally published in the April 12, 2021 issue. Sunday, April 18, Sandler Family Campus Drive-Through celebration, 12–2:30 pm, free, limited tickets JewishVa.org/IsraelFest Drive-In Movie, 8 pm, $12 per person, limited tickets  JewishVa.org/FilmFest Yom Ha’atzmaut,...

Originally published in the April 12, 2021 issue.  Monday, April 12–Thursday, April 22 https://www.jewishva.org/Lfinkart On view through May 10 in the Leon Family Gallery, Sandler Family Campus Terri Denison Art is meant to be viewed and shared, according to Lorraine...

Originally published in the April 12, 2021 issue. Tuesday, May 25, 7:30 pm, free Jewish Tidewater’s 339 legacy donors are among the 18,000 who will be honored at the first Legacy Donor Appreciation Event sponsored by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s (HGF) LIFE &...

Originally published in the April 12, 2021 issue. Aulcie at the Drive-In: Sunday, April 18, 8 pm Sandler Family Campus, $12 per person Robyn Sidersky Do you remember the Virginia Squires, Norfolk’s very own basketball team? The American Basketball Association team...

Originally published in the April 12, 2021 issue. Sunday, April 25, 7:30 pm, $36  Joel Rubin He is the 40-year-old grandson of four Holocaust survivors from Hungary and Czechoslovakia who all emigrated to Israel where they met after the War. One grandfather was a...

Originally published in the April 12, 2021 issue.  Sunday, May 2, 7 pm Tired of looking at the same walls during this time at home? See an empty spot just calling out for a new piece of art? KBH has the solution! Kehillat Bet Hamidrash (KBH)—the Kempsville...

  Originally published in the March 22, 2021 issue.  Sierra Lautman A year ago this month, the world entered the pandemic. Amazingly, Jewish organizations of all sizes, including United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, have seen increases in the numbers of engaged...

Originally published in the March 22, 2021 issue. Sunday, April 25, 7:30 pm, Zoom, $36 Not many clergy are considered YouTube sensations, but Azi Schwartz, senior cantor of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City, has become just that, thanks to his creative and moving...

Originally published in the March 22, 2021 issue. Tuesdays, 7 pm, Zoom Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill of Tidewater Chavurah, now leads a weekly Torah study on Tuesday evenings. Discussion focuses on the parshat ha-shavua, the Torah portion that will be read on the following...

Originally published in the March 22, 2021 issue.  A conversation with the ADL and former mayor of Charlottesville Thursday, April 1, 7:30 pm, Temple Israel’s First Thursday, Zoom, free Batya Glazer Doron Ezickson, Anti-Defamation League’s Mid-Atlantic/Midwest...

Originally published in the March 22, 2021 issue.  Monday, April 12–Thursday, April 22 On View: Leon Family Gallery, Sandler Family Campus Auction and sale: www.JewishVA.org/LFinkArt Lorraine Fink is generously donating 99 original works of art for auction and sale...

Originally published in the March 8, 2021 issue.  Monday, March 15, 12 pm In 1990, in a drafty basement archive in Prague, two American historians made a startling discovery: a Nazi roster from 1945 that no Western investigator had ever seen. The long-forgotten...

Originally published in the March 8, 2021 issue. View Virtually Saturday, March 13—Monday, March 15 (72 Hours) Movie available for viewing at your convenience. Reservation required. Itay Tal | 80 min Israel | 2019 Hebrew | Not Rated Zoom Event: Monday, March 15, 7:30...

Originally published in the March 8, 2021 issue. Tuesday, March 16, 12 pm, Zoom An interactive 6-week course with Rabbi Sender Haber Written by 18th century kabbalist and philosopher, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, this influential work is one of Judaism’s basic texts on...

Originally published in the March 8, 2021 issue. March 23 at 7 pm & April 29 at 8 pm Join this informational session to learn about Camp JCC 2021 and the program modifications that will be in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Camp JCC Director, Dave...

Originally published in the February 22, 2021 issue. June 21-August 31, Simon Family JCC Early Bird Registration deadline is March 31 A traditional day camp experience, Camp JCC is gearing up for eight weeks of amazing adventure including swim, sun, and fun for...

Originally published in the February 22, 2021 issue. Sunday, February 28, 3 pm, Zoom The lecture, A Closer Look at Charlottesville, will be live-streamed via Zoom by The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center. Three years ago, white supremacists marched in Charlottesville,...

Originally published in February 22, 2021 issue.  Thursday, March 18, Virtual by Lisa Richmon The 57th annual Tidewater Humanitarian Awards Dinner will take place virtually to ensure the safety and well-being of the community. The Humanitarian Award of the Virginia...

Originally published in the February 8, 2021 issue. Sunday, February 21-Tuesday, February 23 (virtual cinema!); $12 per household The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC's Patricia & Avraham Ashkenazi and Alma & Howard Laderberg Virginia...