What’s Happening

Sunday, March 5, 4 pm, Sandler Family Campus It’s nearly time for the annual Operation Hamantaschen at the Simon Family JCC. Come in costume, reserve a timeslot for your family and friends to make hamantaschen together, and enjoy Purim games and crafts while waiting...

Ann Zuckerman Memorial Scholar in Residence Weekend B’nai Israel to host Rabbi Bentzion Shafier Friday, March 3–Saturday, March 4 Now in its fourth year, the B’nai Israel Congregation Ann Zuckerman Memorial Scholar in Residence Weekend will feature Rabbi Bentzion...

Thursday, February 2, 12 pm Want to be better informed about the world? United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Jewish Community Relations Council offers one solution to learning: Israel Today’s On Assignment with Lahav Harkov. Jerusalem Post’s senior contributing...

Tuesday, January 31, 12 pm Virtual, Watch from Home, Free Who am I? Using this question as a guide, artist and author Jean-Pierre Weill takes readers on a philosophical and pictorial adventure into the nature of the self in his new book, Evolve: A Children’s Book for...

Tuesday, February 7, 12 pm Virtual, Watch from Home, Free Polly Adler’s life as a Jewish immigrant from Eastern Europe is a classic American story of success and assimilation. In the 1920s, Adler became Manhattan’s most notorious madam, playing hostess to every...

Wednesday, January 25, 12 pm Sandler Family Campus $12 (lunch included) • $6 for 55+ Gaining weight as one ages is not inevitable. It’s avoidable and even reversible. In fact, it’s possible to help stop—and even reverse—age-related weight gain and muscle loss. Heidi...

Wednesday, February 15, 12 pm Virtual, Watch from Home, Free   Dr. Michael Roizen is back (online) by popular demand. This time, he is ready to provide concrete steps to take to prepare for the changes of tomorrow—to stay younger longer by extending those best...

Thursday, February 9 Reception: 6:30 pm Performance: 7 pm Sandler Family Campus, Free A story told by a single performer, Every Brilliant Thing is presented in collaboration with Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, YWCA of South Hampton Roads, Virginia Stage Company,...

Saturday, March 4, 8:30 pm Sandler Family Campus, Free Every intelligent young couple starts their marriage with the same dreams, goals, and ideals. They’re sure they will live in married bliss forever...until they aren’t. Until the bickering, fighting, and loneliness...

Sunday, February 12, 4 pm, Temple Israel Free, RSVP required Gil Hoffman was recently listed as one of "The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life, 2022" by The Algemeiner, a global news destination published online and in print. The former chief political...

The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma and Howard Laderberg, is marking its 30th Anniversary in February. One of the longest-running Jewish film festivals in the nation, the festival entertains, educates, and engages the Tidewater community by...

Begins Wednesday, January 18, 6:45 pm, online Nearly two and a half million Jews emigrated from Eastern Europe to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. New to a foreign country and unlikely to speak English, these Jews tended to confine...

Sunday, January 9, 3–4:30 pm Tu B’Shevat is considered the New Year of the Trees, marking the start of spring in Israel—when trees begin to bloom after a long, cold winter. In celebration of Tu B’Shevat, PJ Library in Tidewater is going to the Norfolk Botanical...

Friday, January 14 and Saturday, January 15 As B’nai Israel celebrates 75 years, the congregation is ‘on the hunt’ for beautiful memories. Help B’nai Israel personalize its dedicatory book with flashbacks throughout the years. Share photos or memories such as a...

Shabbos: Friday, January 14–Saturday, January 15 Services begin at 8:45 am followed by a Gala Kiddush at noon To celebrate the congregation’s 75th anniversary, B’nai Israel is planning an awe-inspiring and memorable Shabbos featuring world renowned singer and Chazzan...

Sunday, December 5, 4–5:30 pm Congregation Beth El World-renowned a cappella singing sensations Six13 will perform at a community-wide, family-friendly, high-energy celebration at Congregation Beth El to mark the congregation’s 71st anniversary. The in-person event...

Friday, January 14 and Saturday, January 15 A commemorative and celebratory Shabbos Shira is planned for B’nai Israel Congregation’s 75th anniversary. This special Shabbos, featuring renowned singer and chazzan, Simcha Leiner, will be filled with memories, joy, and...

Sunday, November 21, 2 pm, online While Meir Shalev is not a household name in the United States, he is one of Israel’s most celebrated novelists. Shalev will join the community for an online conversation as part of the 11th annual Israel Today series in partnership...

Brainstorming session: Monday, December 6 The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Be a Reader (BeAR) Literacy Program is refusing to hibernate this winter. Instead, it is roaring into new territory. BeAR will host a...

Friday, January 14 and Saturday, January 15 The Shabbos of January 14 and 15, B’nai Israel will celebrate the congregation’s 75th anniversary with a gala kiddush. B’nai Israel Congregation serves the Jewish community however possible. To help enhance this very special...

Wednesday, December 8, 7:30 pm Join Adam Mansbach, novelist, humorist, and poet, for his second visit to Tidewater as he shares excerpts from his new memoir, I Had a Brother Once. The event is presented by the Konikoff Center for Learning at the United Jewish...

Monday, November 8, 12 pm, Online When collective memory and trauma becomes overwhelming, what does one do? What happens when someone becomes too immersed in the history of the Holocaust, or any dark part of history? This is the primary question tackled in Yishai...

Sunday, November 14, 2 pm Sandler Family Campus and online Susan G. Groner—podcaster, author, and founder of The Parenting Mentor—will be at the Simon Family JCC for an interactive parenting workshop. Groner will share wisdom from her most recent book and coach...

Sunday, November 21, 2 pm, online Israeli native Meir Shalev, who has written multiple best sellers, translated into more than 20 languages, will discuss his newest book, My Wild Garden: Notes from a Writer’s Eden. A series of essays, Shalev explores his garden,...

Performances highlight Holocaust Reflections events November 4–7, Ferguson Center for the Arts, Free For the first time on an opera stage, OperaCNU will debut The Trial of God at Christopher Newport University’s Ferguson Center for the Arts next month. Commissioned by...

Tribes, Tribesmen, For the Young at Heart. Silkscreens, collages, photographs, sculptures, and more than 100 ink and watercolor drawings. Dancers, musicians, masked forms, and women morphing into birds. Now in her 10th decade, Lorraine Fink creates works that bear...

Saturday, November 6, 7:30 pm, Chrysler Museum’s Perry Glass Studio The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC, Embassy of Israel and Community Partners’ 11th Annual Israel Today, along with the Chrysler...