The Great Jewish Bookshelf is ready to inspire 2025 reading journeys, starting with an exceptional lineup for January. Beginning Jan. 1, subscribers will choose their first book from a selection of titles that touch on Jewish identity, history, and imagination....
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Hanukkah stamp has an updated look
The United States Postal Service’s new Hanukkah stamp celebrates the holiday with an image of a hanukkiah, the nine-branch candelabra used on Hanukkah. Designed by art director and stamp designer Antonio Alcalá, the image was created in ink; the irregular lines of the...
An unfiltered look with Israeli photographer and IDF Reservist Shahar Dekel
Tuesday, January 14, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus On the morning of October 7, Shahar Dekel and his now wife were fortunate to be away from their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. Many of their friends and neighbors, however, were not so fortunate and instead were killed or...
Seniors Club plans its annual holiday party
Wednesday, December 18, 12 pm YNOT PIZZA Landstown Commons Open to all JCC Seniors Club members and gamers, the Seniors Club annual holiday party includes a White Elephant Gift exchange (up to $10), for which all attendees should bring a gift. The Seniors Club...
Square Up for Maccabi Team Virginia Beach
In preparation for the 2025 JCC Maccabi Games in Tucson, Arizona, Team Virginia Beach is holding a fundraiser. . . Square Up for Maccabi. The 50/50 football square fundraiser involves no skill, talent, or knowledge of football, but it is an opportunity to win up to...
Increase your understanding of modern Jewish art
Sunday, Dec. 15, 2 pm, Chrysler Museum A renowned expert from Georgetown University, Ori Soltes, PhD, will offer a survey of 20th-century modern Jewish painting for the initial program of the Tidewater Jewish Visual Arts Advisory Board. The board was recently created...
My grandsons and I will be on the Mitzvah Mall. Please join us.
They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I would like to think that’s the case with our family. Over the years, we have donated to a host of causes, from Beth Sholom to Strelitz to Jewish Family Service (for whom I worked 31 years ago), and to...
Community Impact Day: Creating kindness and Jewish camp curiosity
Camp Fair at the Simon Family JCC Sunday, November 24, 10 am – 12 pm, Sandler Family Campus | Learn more and register at JewishVA.org/CampsandKindness As part of Community Impact Day: Creating Kindness and Jewish Camp Curiosity, a Camp Fair will offer an opportunity...
Jewish Family Service of Tidewater looks forward to the Mitzvah Mall
The Mitzvah Mall aspect of Community Impact Day is an amazing way for area youth and adults to know about all the incredible work that is taking place in Hampton Roads. Jewish Family Service serves and supports those in the community who are forgotten and vulnerable. ...
Sharing my love of camp and community
I am beyond excited to attend and present at the Community Impact Day: Creating Kindness and Jewish Camp Curiosity. The energy of being at Jewish overnight camp is unmatched, and I am thrilled that the camp I attended as a child and teen, and then worked at as...
Mizrahi culture through music and dance: Experience the rich traditions of Middle Eastern Jewry
Sunday, November 3, 1 pm, Simon Family JCC The terms “Ashkenazi” or “Sephardic,” might be familiar, but not as much for “Mizrahi.” Mizrahi comes from the Hebrew word “Mizrach,” which means east. Mizrahi Jewish communities, sometimes known as “Oriental Jews,”...
Engaging Yiddish Club meets monthly
Tuesday, November 5, 1 pm, Sandler Family Campus The Yiddish Club offers a welcoming space for participants to engage in readings, discussions, and performances while enhancing their understanding of the Yiddish language. Attendees can expect lively conversations and...
2nd Annual Strelitz Fall Festival
A day of family fun for the entire Tidewater community Sunday, October 27, 11 am - 3 pm, Sandler Family Campus Fall is a season of excitement at Strelitz International Academy. From decorating the sukkah and harvesting its fall garden to enjoying seasonal sensory...
Healing a fractured world discussed with Rabbi Sacks’ book as guide
Next book club meeting: Sunday, October 2710 am, B’nai Israel Synagogue The Rabbi Sacks Tidewater Community Book Club met last month at Ohef Sholom Temple to discuss To Heal a Fractured World. This was the fourth book reviewed as part of a yearlong effort to dig...
The Daffodil Project: Remembering children of the Holocaust
Sunday, October 20 11 am – 3pm Jewish Museum and Cultural Center Portsmouth The Daffodil Project Rededication Ceremony, which commemorates the 1.5 million children who perished in the Holocaust, will take place at the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center...
Puttering around at the Simon Family JCC
A common advertising refrain, “Membership has its benefits,” takes on extra meaning at the Simon Family JCC, where membership includes opportunities that feature fitness and swim options, cultural arts programs, clubs for all ages and interests, leagues, and an...
JCC Book Club
Monday, October 21, 1:30 pm Sandler Family Campus In March 2024, Christopher Gorham spoke virtually in partnership with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Konikoff Center for Learning about his novel, The Confidante. The JCC Book Club will go into more...
Singing for Shalom: A concert of hope and remembrance
Monday, October 7, 6 pm, Temple Emanuel Nearly a year has passed since the tragic events of October 7, 2023, a day that will forever be seared into the collective memory of our people. On that fateful day, Hamas brutally murdered a multitude of people. Families were...
What is modern Jewish art?
Sunday, December 15, 2 pm Chrysler Museum The inaugural presentation of the Tidewater Jewish Visual Arts Advisory Board, a creation of the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center’s visual arts committee, will feature a nationally known professor, lecturer, and art expert,...
EXPLORING THE POWER OF MITZVOT
Class begins Wednesday October 30, 11:30 am In times of crisis, the Jewish community’s support has been remarkable, with donations, supplies, and love continuing to pour in. But what else can be done? Enter the power of mitzvot—a secret weapon. A mitzvah, a...
Moon Circle – What it’s all about
Next meeting: Tuesday, December 2, 6:45 pm, Sandler Family People often ask, “What is Moon Circle? What do you do? What is it about?’ Here's a breakdown of what Moon Circle is, with the hope that more will join in this meaningful experience. Rosh Chodesh, the birth of...
Welcome to Tidewater’s Great Jewish Bookshelf
An opportunity to deepen connections to Jewish heritage, culture, and contemporary thought A new initiative of the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, the Great Jewish Bookshelf invites Jewish adults—or anyone interested in the...
Rabbi Sacks Tidewater Community Book Club to discuss To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility
Sunday, Sept. 22, 10 am, Ohef Sholom Temple The Rabbi Sacks Tidewater Community Book Club, a collaboration between the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and local synagogues, gathers every two months with the aim of uniting the...
Gearing up for year 25 with BeAR
Mentoring and Training Session: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 12 pm Sandler Family Campus This year marks a huge milestone for the Be A Reader (BeAR) Literacy Project – its 25th anniversary of inspiring young readers. For a quarter of a century, BeAR has been a game-changer in...
Exploring the complexity of Jewish Israeli identities with Melton
Class begins Tuesday, Sept. 24, 6 pm, on-line This fall, the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is offering a new 10-week Melton course titled, The Jewish State: Examining the Jewish Identities of Israelis. The course will...
October 7th: Marking one year
Monday, October 7 8:30 am Sandler Family Campus October 7th was a turning point in modern Jewish history, both because of the tragic depth of that day’s events and the monumental events that followed. Join United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and its Jewish Community...
Winner of passes to Beyond Monet
Sherry Lieberman is the winner of the Jewish News contest for two passes to the Beyond Monet: The Immersive Experience at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Sponsored by the Virginia Arts Festival, the Monet experience showcases more than 400 of Monet’s most iconic...
Super Sunday
Sunday, September 15, 10 am – 1 pm, Sandler Family Campus(Marty Einhorn Pavilion, weather-permitting; indoors in the event of rain)Two Calling Shifts: 10 – 11:30 am and 11:30 am – 1 pmCaller training starts 15 minutes before each shiftCome make the calls! • Have a...
Club focuses on Rabbi Sacks’ books
The Rabbi Sacks Tidewater Community Book Club met last month at Temple Israel to discuss its third book together, Not In God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence.The book club, a partnership between the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of...
Tiny Art Auction for Ukraine
Sunday, August 4, 12 – 4 pmVoodoo Brewing Co., Virginia Beach Voodoo Brewing and local art educators are teaming up to create a benefit for the Ukranian Humanity Center.Twenty-five Virginia Beach art teachers created tiny masterpieces responding to the theme, “Summer...
Local artist and JCC member to be showcased in Leon Family Gallery
James Johnson’s art career began when he was just four years old when his 14-year-old brother Kenneth, introduced him to painting. Johnson remembers his brother sitting him down and saying, “Jimmy, I got you some paints and canvas board so you can make pictures like...
16th Biennial Educators’ Conference tackles rising antisemitism in schools and beyond
Wednesday, July 24 - Thursday, July 25 With incidents of discrimination and antisemitism increasing across the nation, local educators are invited to learn how to turn the tide with knowledge and compassion.The Holocaust Commission and the Jewish Community Relations...