What’s Happening

Sunday, May 1, 12–4 pm, Sandler Family Campus A community celebration of Israel presented by Avraham and Karen Ashkenazi, this year’s Ha’atzmaut will mark the Jewish nation’s 74 birthday. Fun for the entire family, the event is open to friends of all faiths. To get...

Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg Tournament: Sunday, April 3  The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way nearly everything takes place at Beth Sholom Village – from food service to family visits, religious services, and even fundraising. BSV has hosted the Janet Gordon...

Five large handmade paper works by artist Rae Stern currently hang from the Sandler Family Campus’ Cardo ceiling. These unusual pieces are immediately visible upon entry of the building and are illuminated from behind with both natural and artificial light to enhance...

Thursday, March 24, 6 pm Westin Virginia Beach Town Center This year’s VCIC Tidewater Humanitarian Awards Dinner will include an in-person reception and watch party with limited attendance, as well as a virtual presentation option. Charlie Nusbaum is one of this...

Ben-Gurion Epilogue Screening and discussion Sunday, February 27, 2:30 pm Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center at Virginia Wesleyan University Landis, Coppola, Reitman, and Reiner.What do all of these names have in common? Fans of movies or TV probably know....

Thursday, March 3, Simon Family JCC Joshua Jay, bestselling author of Magic and other books, has performed on stages in more than 100 countries. Next month, he’ll perform in Tidewater as a part of the Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family’s Jewish Book Festival. Magicians are...

Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg Day of play and Luncheon, Sunday, April 3 Beth Sholom Village plans to bring back the Janet Gordon Annual Mah Jongg event in April, with 100% of its proceeds directly benefiting BSV’s residents. As so many things have changed in the last...

Monday, February 21, 10 am–12 pm Simon Family JCC or via Zoom Throughout the second half of 2021 and into 2022, Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, in partnership with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, has focused on changing the narrative from ‘mental illness’...

Registration for Camp JCC summer 2022 is off to a robust start. Enrollment is significantly higher compared to this point last year, with many of the families who have registered new to camp. With early excitement brewing in the community, Camp JCC anticipates being...

Four fascinating films with topics as diverse as a Hasidic rabbi in a dance competition, Christian and Jewish students traversing the city of Rome in search of the truth, a revisiting of a conversation with Israel’s founding father, and a newly restored classic film...

Sunday, March 13, 7:30 pm, streaming on screens, $36 Few acts speak to Jewish audiences more than the Maccabeats, and on Sunday, March 13, Temple Israel will present this amazing a capella group. The performance will be available to view from the comfort and safety of...

Leon Family Gallery | Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Through December For its first exhibition outside of JCC Manhattan, the National Library of Israel is showcasing its treasures at the Simon Family JCC. Lining the walls of the Leon Family Gallery are facsimiles...

Thursday, January 10, 12 pm | Sandler Family Campus $12 Lunch; $30 Lunch and signed book Bundled Registration for lunch and a signed book closes January 3 Author and neuroscientist Rachel Herz will participate in a panel discussion with Tom Purcell, Simon Family JCC’s...

Thursday, December 20, 9 am An interactive class with Zvi Leshem, director of the Gershom Scholem (Kabbalah) collection with the National Library of Israel from Israel via Skype and Temple Israel’s Rabbi Michael Panitz, will discuss the exhibit with special attention...

Friday, December 14, 5:45 pm | Chabad of Tidewater The Young Adult Division of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Chabad of Tidewater’s Annual Shabbat dinner is open to singles, couples, and families. Meet new people, make new friends, and enjoy a huge...

Michael Duffy—2018 Scholar-in-Residence Saturday, December 8–Sunday, December 9 Professor Michael Duffy, Temple Israel’s 2018 Scholarin-residence, is chair of the Art History department at East Carolina University. A s Temple Israel’s Scholar-in-Residence, Duffy will...

Tuesday, December 25, 4–6 pm For more than 30 years, Beth Sholom Village has engaged family members and the community as they came to volunteer on December 25. The activity was called “Switch Day.” The idea was born when staff—everyone from food servers to...

Friday, Dec. 14, 7 pm Tidewater Chavurah meets at the home of Hal and Elaine in the Great Neck Meadows area of Virginia Beach for their second Friday of the month Shabbat service. Events are held in members’ homes or at other locations. Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill leads...

Leon Family Gallery Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Through December An exhibition developed in partnership with the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, Curating the Past, Creating the Future, features mixed media that highlights the four central collections at the...

Sunday, Dec. 2, 12–3:30 pm Sandler Family Campus Tidewater’s annual community Hanukkah celebration, this year’s Latkepalooza promises something for every family member and plenty of firsts, including, Tidewater’s first ever Camp Extravaganza and a Rick Recht LIVE!...

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 embarked on an ambitious journey to expand access to its treasures. NLI holds the largest...

Rick Recht is one of the top touring musicians in Jewish music—evolutionizing and elevating the genre of Jewish rock music as a powerful and effective tool for developing Jewish pride and identity in youth and adults across the United States. He’ll be in Tidewater...

Begins on Sunday, November 11, 7 pm Lives are comprised of decisions—large and small. Some decisions are of seemingly no consequence, but others have people stumped while trying to discern between right and wrong. Moral and ethical dilemmas can be found at every...

Faces of Survival, an intimate, powerful series of portraits honoring and celebrating the 24 current living Holocaust survivors in Tidewater, made its debut in April at Yom Hashoah at Congregation Beth El. The series exhibited at the Virginia Holocaust Museum in...

Veterans’ Day Sunday, November 11, 4 pm | Norfolk Academy The Elbert Watson Dance Company presents Angels Watching Over Me: A Tribute to Veterans Through Dance. This performance is free and open to the public. For information, call 757-461-6236.

Monday, November 12, 9:30 am | Sandler Family Campus In addition to honoring veterans who have served in America’s armed forces, Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s 9th Annual Veterans Day service and celebration honors those who continue to do so with dedication 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.