What’s Happening

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...

Thursday, September 19, 9:30–11am Sandler Family Campus For 20 years, Be A Reader (BEAR) mentors have made a meaningful difference in the lives of children by sharing just one hour a week of their time during the school year. BEAR partners with Title 1 schools...

Tuesdays and Thursdays Self-defense: 5:30–6:15 pm Karate: 6:15–7 pm free for JCC members Personal safety has never been more relevant, and the Simon Family JCC membership package has never been more responsive to members’ lifestyle and wellness needs. And, starting...

Tuesday, September 17, 12 pm, Bayville Golf Club, Virginia Beach Tee off with the 31st Annual Bob Josephberg Classic Golf Tournament, presented by Strelitz International Academy (formerly Hebrew Academy of Tidewater), for a good cause and a good time. Golfer...

Monday, September 23, 7:30 pm, ODU’s University Theater A leading voice in klezmer music and Yiddish song for more than 30 years, the Klezmer Conservatory Band (KCB) will appear in concert at Old Dominion University. KCB’s repertoire ranges from Yiddish standards to...

Sunday, October 6, Ohef Sholom Temple, 10:30 am An Ohef Sholom Temple Men’s Club Carpool Cafe will be the occasion for a showing of an important and fascinating documentary film that recounts the story of more than 80 Jewish refugees who were detained in Norfolk...

Begins Saturday, September 14, 9 am What is Judaism? is the name of Ohef Sholom’s course introducing Jewish ideas. The class is open to anyone interested in learning more about the distinctively Jewish way of thinking and relating to life. In recent years, the...

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...

Saturday, March 25, 8 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Israeli singing sensation Gitit Shoval and her family will present an evening of song in a jazz club atmosphere that will include a cash bar and appetizers at the Simon Family JCC. The hits of Leonard Cohen,...

Israel Fest Sunday, April 30, 11 am–4 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Israeli Kitchen Encounters: A Culinary Adventure with Puzzle Israel Tuesday, May 2, 7:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Israeli chefs Guy Marom and Nir Margalith will tantalize...

Saturday, April 22, 6 pm, Hilton Norfolk The Main Joyce Strelitz, of blessed memory, and the Virginia Opera are forever linked. A long-time member of the Opera's leadership, Strelitz served as chair of the state-wide board of directors and also, for many years, guided...

Sunday, April 30, 11 am–4 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus On May 14, 1948, Israel’s future first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, publically read Israel’s Declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel, marking the ending of the British Mandate. The...

Sunday, March 19, 6:30 pm Congregation Beth El In the beginning of Escape to Virginia From Nazi Germany to Thalhimer’s Farm, author Bob Gillette writes, “Hope and courage are the right hand and left hand of the human spirit that keeps suffering people going. They keep...

The Be A Reader (BEAR) program is one of three finalists for Classic Air’s One Hour Cares $5,000 giveaway. The recipient will be chosen at the end of March in a lottery-type drawing, with the more “likes” received at OneHourCares.com increasing the chances to win....

Tuesdays, March 28 and May 2, 7 pm Ohef Sholom Temple’s recent Listening Campaign “indicated that congregants are interested in sharpening their communicative fluency in Hebrew, and that they would like to do so in a fun and relaxed setting,” says Dr. David Metzger,...

Sunday, April 2, 5:30 pm, Temple Israel Shabbos Night Fever is this year’s theme for Temple Israel’s annual spring fundraiser. Guests are encouraged to dress in disco wear—leisure suits, bell bottoms, platform shoes, and, for the more adventurous, full John Travolta...

Four-week session begins Wednesday, March 29, 12:30 pm, Simon Family JCC Classes: Wednesdays, March 29, April 5, April 26, May 3 Dr. Alan Morinis, founder and dean of The Mussar Institute, was the guest scholar for last month’s Milton “Mickey” Kramer...

Sunday, March 19, 2 pm Kehillat Bet Hamidrash/Kempsville Conservative Synagogue’s 17th annual art exhibition and auction will feature auctioneer Rick Brandwein of Marlin Fine Auctions and Creative Events. He plans to bring a variety of media to meet varied pocketbooks...

Wednesday, March 15, 12 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Sharing her journey of recovery from a ruptured aneurysm at age 28 through the restorative power of food and cooking, Jessica Fechtor, author of the award-winning memoir, Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals...

Thursday, March 30 The Westin, Virginia Beach Town Center Since 1963, Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC) has annually honored individuals and organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to heal divisions within their community and to advance a...

Saturday, March 25, 8 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus One of Israel’s singing treasures, Gitit Shoval will share her vocal and storytelling talents through her concert, “From Gershwin to Dylan: the Genius of Jewish Songwriters,” a tribute to Jewish composers, as...

Monday, March 13, 7:30–8:30 pm Boyd Dining Center, Virginia Wesleyan College Rabbi David N. Saperstein is the immediate past United States Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom. Saperstein was a principal advisor to the President and Secretary of...

Sunday, March 12 11:30 am–2 pm, Ohef Sholom Temple Ohef Sholom Temple Youth (OSTY) will hold its annual Purim Carnival at the temple. This year’s carnival will feature games, a dunk tank, pie-the-Cantor and other festivities. The Men’s Club will sell lunch and the...