What’s Happening

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...

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...

For its 10th Annual Chevra Cinema Series, the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center is featuring “Saturdays At Seven.” These four Saturday evening films, beginning at 7 pm, will have an introductory commentary by the cinema specialist who chose the evening movie. The...

Israel Today: Yaakov Katz, editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post and author of Shadow Strike: Inside Israel’s Secret Mission to Eliminate Syrian Nuclear Power Monday, December 9, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus, Free “On September 6, 2007, shortly after midnight,...

Monday, December 16, noon, Beth Sholom Village Jane Bernstein The Face Tells the Secret by Jane Bernstein is a story of a woman who discovers love and learns how to open herself to life’s happier relationships. The main character, Roxanne, a single 40-year old product...

Sunday, December 8, 10 am, Temple Emanuel, Free The Storyteller’s Story—Michelle Obama’s trailblazing speechwriter forges new path, again Sarah Hurwitz was Michelle Obama’s speechwriter. Now she’s dubbed Judaism’s speechwriter. If grace and gravitas were a big box...

Tony Award®-nominated Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof Tuesday, November 19–Sunday, November 24 Chrysler Hall A beloved theatrical classic from Tony Award-winner Joseph Stein, and Pulitzer Prize-winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Fiddler on the Roof is the...

Latkes, books, music, crafts and camps Sunday, December 15 | 11:30 am–2:30 pm Sandler Family Campus Three children’s authors, a light lunch and latkes, crafts, visiting overnight camp representatives, and tons of activities combine to create a celebration of Hanukkah...

Friday, November 15, 6–9 pm B’nai Israel Congregation For the past five years, the Tidewater community has joined this global Shabbat Project movement. Last year, 200 people came together for a beautiful and inspiring Friday night dinner in Ghent. The Tidewater...

Friday, November 15, 8:30–9:30 am Strelitz International Academy Kindergarten–5th Grade Hear about the school’s new International Baccalaureate® candidacy program, meet middle school alumni, learn about its K-5 affordability program, and explore the primary years...

Wednesday, November 13, 7 pm B’nai Israel Congregation Women of all ages are invited to Tidewater’s fifth annual Great Big Challah Bake, a partnership between B’nai Israel Congregation and the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. The event will be just one of...

Sunday, November 17, 9:30 am–1 pm Sandler Family Campus Super Sunday, as always, is being planned by a group of up and coming visionary leaders. Now called Rishon: Emerging Leaders, the group has spent the last few months learning about the Jewish community and...

Naomi Nachman hosts the Vaad of Tidewater’s Chopped Competition Sunday, November 3, 5 pm, Sheraton Waterside On the precipice of Naomi Nachman’s visit to Norfolk, I had the opportunity to speak with her about her extensive travels, love of food, and what to expect at...

Wednesday, November 6, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus I first heard Inbal Arieli speak in January during the International Lion of Judah conference in Florida. She was one of an interesting group of panelists who shared their stories—all ground-breaking women in...

Temple Israel’s unique hour-long Second Saturday programs are excellent and uplifting experiences For nearly seven years, synagogue past president and former local TV interviewer Joel Rubin has led a once a month interactive conversation on a Jewish related topic....

Friday, November 15—Saturday, November 16 A global, grassroots movement that brings Jews from across the world together around the shared heritage of Shabbat, The Shabbat Project was introduced in South Africa in 2013 to astonishing effect. In the days that followed,...