What’s Happening

Tuesday, February 8, 4 pm Simon Family JCC and/or remotely Tidewater teens and pre-teens will not have to travel far to see Israel. In collaboration with Lost Tribe ESports, local teens will be able to learn about fun sites in Israel through games and challenges....

July 31–August 4 The Simon Family JCC Athletics Department is searching for Jewish teen athletes to travel as a group this summer to the JCC Maccabi Games in San Diego, California. Tom Edwards, the Simon Family JCC’s athletics director, is organizing players...

Tidewater Together with Isaac and Rabbi Shawna Brynjegard-Bialik All events online Friday, February 4: Shabbat sermon Ohef Sholom Temple, 6:30 pm, Free, ohefsholom.org Saturday, February 5: Shabbat sermon Congregation Beth El, 9:45 am; Free, bethelnorfolk.com...

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...

With Physical Therapy Month taking place this month, Jewish Family Service plans to recognize the “incredible work of its amazing physical therapists,” says Jan Ganderson, JFS director of nursing. “Hardly a day goes by that we don’t receive a call in our office...

Thursday, October 25, 7 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus The 4th Annual Great Big Challah Bake will be one of thousands of similar events taking place around the world—and one part of The Shabbat Project —bringing Jews from all walks of life and across the...

Tuesday, November 13, 7–8 pm Neville Frankel, author of On The Sickle’s Edge will participate in an interactive discussion by Skype with Ohef Sholom Temple’s Sisterhood Book Club. On The Sickle’s Edge was featured at the Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book...

Leon Family Gallery Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus November and December While continuing to serve as Israel’s pre-eminent research library, The National Library of Israel recently embarked upon an ambitious journey of renewal to open access to its treasures and...

A global, grassroots movement that brings Jews from across the world together around the shared heritage of Shabbat, the Shabbat Project initiative was introduced in South Africa in 2013. In the days that followed, the Jewish world heard, and was inspired by, how the majority of the community kept Shabbat, and how Jews were brought together in unprecedented ways.

An exhibition by the State of Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Highlighting the four central collections at the impressive National Library of Israel, this exhibit will focus on the spiritual realm—with sacred books, sacred places, and mysticism, as well as the ethnographic and secular realm—with Israeli culture, Hebrew/Jewish language.

Current Events with Seniors Thursdays 10:30 am–12 noon 237 Simon Family JCC Join a stimulating discussion on local, international, and world-wide topics. It is always an interesting and fun time.  For further information, call Bernice Greenberg at...

NEXUS Interfaith Dialogue Gender Roles and Religion Monday, October 8, 7:30 pm Virginia Wesleyan’s Batten Student Center, Pearce Hospitality Suite Panelists Rev. Kim Hodges, Pastor of Lynnhaven Colony Congregational, United Church of Christ (Protestant); Rabbi Rosalin...

Join the senior community to celebrate Sukkot this year with Senior Art in the Sukkah.

One hundred years ago, Ohef Sholom Temple moved to the corner of Stockley Gardens and Raleigh Avenue, constructing the congregation’s magnificent sanctuary. While over the course of the century, nearly every other aspect of the synagogue’s structure has undergone renovations and additions, the sanctuary has remained a constant, with only minor adjustments made to assure its use in a contemporary world and restoration efforts rendered to preserve its beauty. It has been a place of worship, celebration, and mourning. For generations, the sanctuary has been home for Ohef Sholom’s congregants.

Wonder Woman On Her Flesh: Queer Jewish Women and Pride Tattoos Thursday, October 4, 11 am–12 pm Virginia Wesleyan’s Blocker Hall Auditorium The pink triangle has gone from a stigmatizing Holocaust symbol to an emblem of LGBTQ pride. Similarly, Jewish women using...

For many Jews around the world, Israel remains central to their identity, inspiring the hopes and dreams of the Jewish people. Every single day, the brave men and women of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) risk their lives to protect those hopes and dreams. Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) is devoted to supporting these defenders of Israel with educational and wellbeing programs and facilities. Since 1981, FDIF has played an important role in ensuring that IDF soldiers are cared for while carrying out their crucial tasks.

Join the senior community for a special workshop with Israel Today’s artist-in-residence Hanoch Piven.

Israel Today’s first ever artist-in-residence, Hanoch Piven, will lead two workshops during Super Sunday. The hands-on family workshops encourage creativity, communication, and self-reflection through the creation of collages with common, everyday objects. Piven conveys the message that playfulness is an important tool to be used to generate a space in which individual self-reflection and growth are possible.

Super Sunday comes early this year, so mark calendars and get ready to “rise up.” Be the secret ingredient which makes a successful 2019 Annual Campaign—make the call, take the call, donate — and make a difference in the lives of Jews at home and around the world

The Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival has fall reads for book clubs. Register a community book club and receive the following exclusive perks: discounts on group tickets, reserved seating with book club at author events, book club mention during...