What’s Happening

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...

Thursday, February 16, 7:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus, free In a world of visual media communication, a radio podcast might seem like a throwback to an earlier era, but Mishy Harman, a curly haired, 30-something Jerusalemite, experienced an epiphany during...

Wednesday, February 8 Deadline for registration: Tuesday, January 31 One of the great strengths of the Tidewater Jewish community is that so many people are willing to take action when it comes to issues impacting Israel or Jews locally and abroad. As such, the CRC...

Sunday, January 29, 1–4 pm, Sandler Family Campus In response to the rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment on university campuses, the Anti-Defamation League has created a workshop designed to empower and equip students and their parents with effective and...

Deadline: Monday, Feb. 13, 4:30 pm Cool facts about Israel: • Israeli scientists have produced a clean energy alternative from spinach. • 2,000-year-old seeds were discovered in 1963 inside an ancient jar in Israel. They were planted in 2005 and a tree that had been...

Wednesday, Feb. 8, Richmond The annual Community Relations Council’s delegation to Richmond for Jewish Advocacy Day is the Federation’s flagship political action event. With remarkable events taking place in last year’s national election cycle, no Jew can remain...

A film where dreams and the internet collide Sunday, Jan. 22, 5:30 pm TCC Roper Performing Arts Center A 21st century real-life fairytale, Presenting Princess Shaw follows the life and dreams of Samantha Montgomery. During the day, Montgomery cares for the elderly in...

Wednesday, Jan. 18, 7 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus To address the resurgence of anti-Semitism on American college campuses and to illuminate the nuanced relationship between anti-Semitism and anti-Israel propaganda, the Community Relations Council of the...

Through Monday, Jan. 30, Sandler Family Campus Photojournalist Ricki Rosen, whose photography has been published by New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, People, and Figaro, will exhibit her work in the Leon Family Art Gallery on the second floor of the Simon...

Thursday, February 16, 7:30 pm Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus, free Master storyteller and host of the hit podcast series, Israel Story, Mishy Harman will be in Tidewater as part of the Community Relations Council (CRC) and community partners’ 6th annual Israel...

Four days of learning and exploration hosted by a variety of organizations in different Jewish settings, Tidewater Together began in 2013 as part of United Jewish Federation’s Strategic Plan. The Tidewater Synagogue Leadership Council planned and supported the concept...

Sunday, Jan. 15 TCC Roper Performing Arts Center, Norfolk The Holocaust Commission of the UJFT has a unique opportunity to collaborate with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film to show the award-winning documentary, Defiant Requiem...

Begins Sunday, Jan. 8, 6–8 pm Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill, spiritual leader of Tidewater Chavurah, will continue her popular class Torah Study for Skeptics, meeting in the parish hall at Old Donation Episcopal Church. The class meets on the second and fourth Sundays of...

Sunday, Dec. 25, 7 am–2 pm Spend time with residents and be part of a more than 30-year-tradition. Volunteer activities include: • Serving food • Reading books • Playing board games • And, more! Well-behaved animals are also welcome. A Switch Day social for residents...

Sunday, Jan. 15, 12:30 pm Temple Sinai Newport News Bring an appetite for a showing of the documentary Deli Man at Temple Sinai. Feast on deli meat or cheese sandwiches, Sabra hummus, chips and dill pickles, Dr. Brown’s sodas and more (including popcorn), while...

Sunday, Dec. 25, 9:30 am–3 pm Mister G concert: 11 am Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus Partaking of delicious and comforting food during the holiday season spans all religious traditions. With Hanukkah and Christmas sharing the same date this year, what could be...

Thursday, Jan. 12, 12 pm, Sandler Family Campus To prepare for this year’s Date with the State on Wednesday, Feb. 8, the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Legislative Action Committee will host a meeting to discuss potential...

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 7 am–4 pm For years, members of Jewish communities from across the Commonwealth have gone to the State Capitol in Richmond to collaborate on Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day, also known as Date with the State. This annual event has proven to be a...

Sunday, Jan. 22, 9 am – 1 pm Super Sunday, the Tidewater Jewish community’s largest single fundraising day of the year, is as predictable as eating latkes during Hanukkah. Volunteers from throughout South Hampton Roads will gather at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family...

The Emmy-nominated documentary film, Defiant Requiem, will be shown as part of the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film at the Tidewater Community College Roper Performing Arts Center in Norfolk. The film tells the story of Rafael Schachter, a brilliant young Czech...

Founder and president of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Kenneth Marcus has written an indispensable book about the manner in which anti-Semitism has evolved from the ancient world to the present. Tracing the history from anti-Judaism to...