Timing is everything. The number of remaining Holocaust survivors is rapidly decreasing. Thirty live in Tidewater. Several were children in Eastern and Western Europe, but many are Russians or Ukrainians who were young children during WWII. Now they are in their 80s...
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A spectacular birthday celebration for Leonard Bernstein
Friday, April 13, Ferguson Center, Newport News Saturday, April 14, Chrysler Hall, Norfolk The Virginia Arts Festival will open its 2018 spring season with a stunning birthday party for Leonard Bernstein. The Festival is joining arts organizations on six continents in...
Calling all student artists for Umbrella Project
Deadline for submissions: Friday, March 30 In celebration of Israel’s 70th anniversary, the Simon Family JCC will be adorned with a sky full of umbrellas to resemble a similar installation in the streets of Jerusalem and other cities around the world. In fact, the...
Kurt Rosenbach to receive lifetime achievement award
Thursday, April 19, 5:30 pm Norfolk Waterside Marriott Volunteer Hampton Roads will honor Kurt Rosenbach with the Lenora Mathews Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding leadership in community service. Rosenbach has served the community by being...
Leon Family Gallery
14th Annual Grieving Children’s Art Show March Jewish Family Service counseling staff, through the Dozoretz Center for Healing and Jessica Glasser Therapeutic Pavilion, specializes in helping individuals of all ages cope with loss and grieving. One component of this...

Visiting Israeli chef and DJ will bring authentic food and music to community Israel Fest
Judaism Through the Arts Thursday, April 19, Congregation Beth El Israel Fest Sunday, April 22, Simon Family JCC Screenwriting professor by day, Tel Aviv DJ by night, Eyal Rob is a Tel Aviv guy, a native of that highly cosmopolitan metropolis of 440,000 people (the...

2018 Holocaust Commemoration to feature new exhibit, author
Wednesday, April 11, 6:45 pm Congregation Beth El The Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s annual Holocaust Day of Remembrance, Yom Hashoah, will take place this year at Congregation Beth El. The free event includes a guest speaker, a...

Mishy Harman returns to Tidewater to launch latest Israel Story tour
Mixtape: The Stories Behind Israel’s Ultimate Playlist Sunday, April 15, 7:30 pm, Harbor Club at Waterside I first met Mishy Harman a year ago at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He was there to speak to my daughter’s group of Nachshon Fellows and I sat in on the...
Seniors Celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut
Wednesday, April 18, 12:30 pm, Simon Family JCC Seniors are celebrating Yom HaAtzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, with DJ Eyal Rob of Tel Aviv. As a young thriving nation, Israel has been through radical social transformations in its 70 years. The changes in Israeli...
Seniors decorate umbrellas for Yom HaAtzmaut
Thursday, March 29, 12:30 pm Sandler Family Campus Based on an installation of 1,000 umbrellas adorning Yoel Moshe Solomon Street in the historic Nachalat Shiva district of Jerusalem during the summer of 2015, UJFT’s Community Relations Council is launching a similar...
Seniors Seder
Wednesday, March 21, 12 pm Simon Family JCC and Joseph Fleishmann Memorial Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation present Seniors Seder. Rabbi Israel Zoberman and Cantor Elihu Flax will lead the senior community in a traditional Passover Mini Seder at the Simon...
Beautiful
Tuesday, March 13–Sunday March 18, Chrysler Hall Beautiful, The Carole King Musical, tells the inspiring true story of Carole King’s (Carol Joan Klein) amazing rise to stardom… from being part of a hit songwriting team with her first husband Gerry Goffin, to her...
National Jewish Health presents New Directions Speaker Series
Thursday, Sept. 18, 4–5:30 pm, Town Point Club, World Trade Center in Norfolk When it comes to heart problems, most physicians focus on the heart alone. But how many know that lungs can play a critical role in heart health, too? Dr. Brett Fenster, assistant professor...
Lecture series at Jewish Museum and Cultural Center
Begins, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2 pm “American—With a Jewish Accent” is the subject for the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center’s 2014–2015 Sunday afternoon lecture series. The series will address the history of Jewish humor, the garment trade and other pertinent subjects. The...
Introduction to Judaism classes ready to begin at Ohef Sholom
First class: Sunday, Sept. 14, 10–11 am Each year Ohef Sholom Temple offers a series of classes called Introduction to Judaism. These sessions are designed for those interested in becoming Jewish, those curious about Judaism without plans for conversion, interfaith...
The Empress and the Nightingale presented by the Virginia Opera
Sunday, October 19, 2:30 pm, Simon Family JCC The Virginia Opera will perform The Empress and the Nightingale at the Simon Family JCC for families and children. This adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic children’s story of a small bird sharing her gift of...
Religion, Ethics, and Dying: Controversies and Perspectives—Bio-Ethics Lecture Series
Thursday, Sept. 4, 7 pm Old Dominion University, Chandler Recital Hall Join Dr. Jonathan Crane and Dr. Gerard Magill for a presentation that sheds light on what patients and families can expect from medicine to support a good death. Medical technology increasingly...
Open house at Ohef Sholom
Sunday, Sept. 7, 10 am–12:30 pm Ohef Sholom Temple will host an Open House for guests to get a “taste” of what the temple is all about, including High Holy Day services and activities information, samples of a children’s prayer service led by Rabbi Roz Mandelberg and...
Get Shakin’ and fight hereditary cancer Zumbathon to Benefit FORCE
Sunday, Sept. 7, 1 pm, Simon Family JCC by Leslie Shroyer A two-hour party with dancing, sweating, fun and door prizes to benefit FORCE’s lifesaving work will take place at the Simon Family JCC. FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered) is a national non-profit that...
Shabbat Shirah at Temple Emanuel
Saturday, August 23 by Jason Lovitz “This is a game-changer when it comes to synagogue worship!” proclaimed one attendee at Temple Emanuel’s first monthly ‘Shabbat Shirah’ service. “We wanted to create something joyous, soulful and engaging,” says Kevin Tabakin, the...
Popular lifting class at the JCC
Classes begin Monday, Sept. 8 by Leslie Shroyer Designed for those who want to get lean, toned and fit fast, BODYPUMP tm is on its way to the Simon Family JCC. Members will have their choice of five classes offered weekly in the fitness center. The class, called “The...
Football competition for young athletes
Sunday, September 21, 10 am–3 pm (rolling enrollment) Simon Family JCC The Simon Family JCC will host a local Washington Redskins competition for NFL Punt, Pass & Kick. The competition is free and open to all boys and girls ages 6 to 15 (a valid birth certificate...
Ohef Sholom Temple offers free membership for young adults under 30
“We understand that starting off after college can be a financial challenge, especially for those with student debts to pay off,” says Barbara Dudley, chair of the dues committee. “So we are making it financially stress-free to get involved with our Temple community”...
Leadership group plans community-wide Mitzvah Day
Sunday, Sept. 21, 1:30–3:30 pm by Laine Mednick Rutherford An unpredicted outcome of the leadership group ATID (Hebrew for future) was the connection its members felt with each other, and with the Tidewater Jewish Community. When the United Jewish Federation of...
When one day isn’t enough: The UJFT Week of Extraordinary Deeds
Monday, Sept. 15–Sunday, Sept. 21 “Will It, Create It, Achieve It” Monday, Sept. 15, 7 pm • Mitzvah Day VA, Sunday, Sept. 21, 1:30 – 3:30 pm Every year, in order to nurture and enrich Jewish life in Tidewater, strengthen the global Jewish community, and care for...
Stop the Sirens
United Jewish Federation of Tidewater has initiated an Emergency Stop the Sirens Israel Relief Fund to provide agencies with the funds necessary to provide humanitarian services and support to Israelis affected by this crisis. Visit JewishVA.org/StopTheSirens for more...
UJFT Maimonides and Business & Legal Societies Summer Parties
Maimonides Society Summer Social, Sunday, July 27, 5:30 pm Business & Legal Society Summer Social, Sunday, August 10, 5:30 pm The Maimonides Society and the Business & Legal Society of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater are hosting Summer Socials in the...
Temple Israel and JCC to co-sponsor special Shabbat Morning Service
Saturday, July 19, 10 am, Sandler Family Campus Always innovative, Temple Israel will relocate its Saturday, July 19 morning service to the Fleder Multipurpose Room at the Sandler Family Campus to give its congregation and the community a chance to meet an innovative...
“An Honest Day’s Work” The life of a Jewish immigrant, artist Jacob Pell
Tuesday, July 29 – Friday, August 29, Leon Family Gallery, Sandler Family Campus Several months ago, Yeda Strasser, a beloved member of Tidewater’s Jewish community schlepped a large canvas bag into the Simon Family JCC’s cultural arts department. It was filled with...
Linda Spindel honored at Arthritis event
Saturday, August 16, 6 pm ‘Seas the Day,’ Arthritis Ball 2014 will honor Linda Spindel at its gala event, which includes cocktails, a program, live and silent auctions, a seated dinner and dancing. “My beloved Grandfather, Jack Leterman, taught us by example the...
Bringing Israel Home for college students enters fifth year — Sneak preview of film
Thursday, August 14, 8 pm, Azar’s at Hilltop, in Virginia Beach — free for college students (with RSVP) The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater continues it support of local college students with their fifth annual program,...
HUNGER FEAST: Young adults plan experiential event
Wednesday, August 6, 6 pm, Simon Family JCC Hunger Feast, an experiential event designed to instruct about local and world hunger, will take place in partnership with The Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, Jewish Family Service, and the...