What’s Happening

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,...

 Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival The Cast—Amy Blumenfeld Monday, November 18, 7:30 pm Simon Family JCC, free The Face Tells the Secret—Jane Bernstein Monday, December 16, 12 pm Beth Sholom Village, $12 includes lunch Two outstanding novels have been...

Saturday, November 16, 6:30 pm The 19th oldest Reform congregation in the nation, Ohef Sholom Temple is celebrating its 175th Anniversary in style with a Gala at the temple. The evening includes cocktails, dinner, wine, open bar all night long, dancing, a piano bar,...

Vaad of Tidewater Sunday, November 3, 5 pm Sheraton Waterside Naomi Nachman, author and social media influencer, will host four local teams of professional and home cooks in an all-out battle of kitchen supremacy for the title of Tidewater Chopped Champions at Vaad of...

Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival Monday, November 4, 6 pm Sandler Family Campus, free The human vocabulary cannot articulate what Christopher Noxon illustrates on the subject of history and hope in Good Trouble Lessons from the Civil Rights Playbook....

Lunch & Learn with Amy Lefcoe Wednesday, September 25, 12 pm Simon Family JCC, free In a world with increasingly more questions than answers, more and more people are seeking the serenity that comes from a relationship with G-d. Explore this unique opportunity to...

Joint High Holidays services will be held this year with Tidewater Chavurah and Congregation Beth Chaverim. Both congregations, without their own buildings, will worship and enjoy the holidays together. Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill and Jim Hibbard will officiate. The Beth...

Leon Family Gallery Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Through October The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee was established on November 27, 1914 following the merger of two American Jewish relief committees, the Central Relief Committee for the Relief of...

Thursday, September 26, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus Everyone has an important story—a story that impacts the community. Together, Tidewater’s Jewish community has a story of transformational impact both locally and globally. The inaugural IGNITE 2020! will be a time...

Tuesday, May 2, 7:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Guy Marom and Nir Margalith, Israeli chefs and founders of the tour group Puzzle Israel, will share their love of fresh, authentic Israeli food in a fun, hands-on Israeli Kitchen Encounter. At this culinary...

A multi-media program featuring Irv Elenberg, Mid-Atlantic regional director for the American Technion Society (ATS), will be presented by the Men's Club of Congregation Beth El and Avraham and Patricia Ashkenazi. Elenberg has transformed the Washington, DC office...

Wednesday, July 26, 7:30 am–4 pm, Norfolk Academy Batten Library Thursday, July 27, 7:30 am–5 pm, trip to the Virginia Holocaust Museum, Richmond The Holocaust Commission's 13th Biennial Educator's Conference, which continues a tradition of enabling teachers,...

Sunday, May 14, 5-7:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Free for Moms in honor of Mothers' Day More than 400 people, young and old, gathered last year to light up the night sky with a blazing bonfire for an Israeli inspired Lag B'Omer Bash at the Sandler Family...

Thursday, April 20, 6–7 pm Sandler Family Campus So you’re planning to run the JFS Run, Roll or Stroll 8K, 5K, or 1 Miler. Now what? Maybe this is your first race or your 10th. Either way, it helps to get tips from experienced runners. Hear some great running tips...

Sunday, May 7 24th Street Park at the Virginia Beach Boardwalk With options of the 8K run, 5K run or walk, and 1-mile run/walk, Jewish Family Service’s 13th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll is open to both serious and not-so-serious athletes. This also includes those of all...

Sunday, April 30 11 am–4 pm Simon Family JCC The Simon Family Jewish Community Center’s largest celebration, Israel Fest, honors Israel’s 69th Independence Day. This annual festival offers the chance to experience some of the diverse culinary, cultural, and artistic...

Monday–Friday, May 30–July 31 Boys and girls, ages 5–18 Registration Deadline: May 26 The Simon Family JCC’s Athletic Leagues are gearing up for a season of good sportsmanship and teamwork. Open to all boys and girls, ages 5–18, the recreational competitive swim team...

Friday, April 14, 7 pm Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill will lead Tidewater Chavurah’s second Friday of the month Shabbat service at the home of Hal and Elaine in the Great Neck Meadows area, Virginia Beach. A “congregation without walls,” events are held in members’ homes or...

Sunday, April 30, 11 am–4 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Tuesday, May 2, 7:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Puzzle Israel’s mission to taste, explore, experience, and discover Israel defines the creative life work of Israeli chefs and entrepreneurs, Guy...

Sunday, April 30, 11 am–4 pm, Simon Family JCC More than 1,600 people attended last year’s Simon Family JCC’s annual Israel Fest to experience a little piece of Israel without traveling more than 5,000 miles. Local temples and synagogues, volunteers, vendors, and...

Sunday, April 23, Ohef Sholom Temple Brunch: 10:30 am—Award presentation: 11 am For more than 35 years, Ohef Sholom Temple Men’s Club has bestowed the Henry B. Kaufmann Award upon a congregant who has demonstrated outstanding service to the temple and the community....

Through Wednesday, April 26, Sandler Family Campus A Jewish Sports Photography exhibit from the collection of Beit Hatfutsot, The Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, and the Bernard H. and Miriam Oster Visual Documentation Center, is now on display in the Leon...

Monday, June 5, Heron Ridge Golf Club Early Bird Registration Deadline: April 30 Raising funds for children’s programming at the Simon Family JCC, as well as experiencing a fun, relaxing day of golf are two of the goals of the Simon Family JCC’s 7th Annual Presidents’...

Friday, March 24–Sunday, March 26 The Main, Norfolk This weekend of visual and performing arts, fine dining, and luxurious accommodations hopes to raise $1 million for Hampton Roads Arts organizations. Susan Hirschbiel and the Honorable Paul Fraim are the event’s...

Thursday, April 13, 7:30 pm Sandler Center for the Performing Arts Undeniably the reigning virtuoso of the violin, Itzhak Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician. In this return engagement at the Virginia Arts Festival, Perlman will...

Wednesdays, March 29, April 5, April 26, May 3 12:30-1:30 pm, Simon Family JCC While commonly translated as ethics, Mussar is really much broader. Dr. Alan Morinis, founder of the Mussar Institute, recently spent a weekend in Tidewater as the guest scholar for the...

Through March 31 Dozens of handmade posters from the 5th Annual Israel Poster Contest presented by the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater were on display in The Leon Gamily Art Gallery through March 10. Designed by first through...

Sunday, March 26, 1-4 pm, Simon Family JCC Camp JCC invites parents and their children, two years old through 11th grade, to experience a "taste of camp." The children will become happy campers with a fun-filled day of arts and crafts, mini golf, Israeli dodgeball...

Monday, April 17, 7:30 pm ODU's Chandler Recital Hall The Norfolk Chamber Consort concludes its 48th season with "Two Rivals." Dedicated to the two most illustrious names to have emerged out of Soviet Russia -- Sergey Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich -- this program...