What’s Happening

Wednesday, September 13, 1 pm Simon Family JCC, free Seniors at the Simon Family JCC will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, with a Rosh Hashanah Paint Social featuring artist and art teacher Michele Barnes. The New Year ceremony will be facilitated by a...

September 8 weekend The alumnae of Sigma Omega Pi sorority (SOPS) will celebrate their fifth annual reunion next month. SOPS was a national, Jewish social/ service organization for Jewish high school girls in Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach. It flourished in...

Monday, September 18, 11 am Sandler Family Campus Be A Reader kicks-off the 2017-2018 school year with a welcome breakfast and meeting next month. The event is an opportunity for potential new volunteers to learn more about the program, and for returning volunteers to...

Sunday, Sept. 10 and Sunday, Sept. 17, 2 pm Sandler Family Campus Panelists for the second session of Tidewater Chavurah’s two-part program on marriage between Jews and non-Jews, “Making Jewish Choices,” will explore issues arising from intermarriage such as...

Sunday, October 29 Since 2010, the Janet Gordon Mah Jongg Tournament, a tribute to Janet Gordon, of blessed memory, has been a creative, fun, and successful fundraiser for Beth Sholom Village, a campus that has served the community for more than 35 years. The wife of...

Friday, August 18, 5 pm The annual End of Summer Shabbat dinner and pool party has expanded this year to include more games, more food, and more fun. Young at heart participants will enjoy a surf n’ slide, a water balloon challenge, and a tzedakah dive. For adults,...

2017–2018 Israel Today series begins with David Hazony, managing director of The Israel Project Tuesday, September 12, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus After returning from an eight-month stint teaching English in Myanmar, I had to figure out my next move. I thought a...

August, Leon Family Art Gallery A Vintage Jewish fashion 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, will be on display in the Leon Family Art...

Sunday, Sept. 10 and Sunday, Sept. 17 Sandler Family Campus A two-part program on intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews, Making Jewish Choices, presented by Tidewater Chavurah, will take place at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus. The first session will present...

Thursday, August 3, 6:30 pm Hilarity is coming to the Simon Family JCC when comedian, writer, and actor Elon Gold performs at Laughter on the Lawn. Gold, born in the Bronx and currently living and working in Los Angeles, is “a favoured son in the proud tradition of...

Friday, July 21, 5:15–6:15 pm Ohef Sholom Temple Experience inner peace, soul nourishment, and personal transformation through the vibration resonance of chanting texts and quartz and gemstone singing bowls. A brief teaching, chant practice, sound healing, and time...

Sunday, July 9, 10 am Just as Hans Christian Andersen’s Rumpelstiltzken spun straw into gold for the miller’s daughter, every year Congregation Beth El spins its members’ gently used clothing, jewelry, and other items into funds to support the synagogue’s operations....

Saturday, Sept. 28, 7:30 pm—Sunday, Sept. 29, 9 am Six through eighth graders are invited to join friends at the Simon Family JCC Middle School Lock In. Kick off the new school year with plenty of fun, food, games, movies and more. $15 for JCC members; $30 for...

Tuesday, Sept. 24, 11 am Mindle Crystel Gross, a teacher of conversational Yiddish, will be the featured speaker at The Yiddish Club at the Simon Family JCC. This meeting is open to everyone, Yiddish club members and nonmembers, Yiddish speakers, and those who speak...

Sunday, Sept. 22, 5–6:30 pm “PJ” stands for “pajamas,” and invokes that time at the end of the day when parents and children strengthen their bond through love and learning by cuddling up with a book. The PJ Library® is an international, award-winning Jewish family...

September brings a new Spinning® program, Power Yoga, and Tai Chi in the water class, among other new additions, to the Simon Family JCC Fitness Center. On Sept. 22, JCC cycle instructors will participate in a day-long Spinning® certification to become Spinning®...

Wednesday, Sept. 11, 4:30 -6:30 pm The Afro-Semitic Experience, a band beyond categorization, will perform their special, “soul-driven” music in a concert presented by Old Dominion University’s Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding. The bad is a...

Saturday, Sept. 21, 7 pm The UJFT’s Young Adult Division is hosting a progressive dinner like you’ve never seen before! Join this Sukkah Hop, at the homes of several YADian’s living in Middle Plantation in Virginia Beach. For $10, the evening will include appetizers,...

Sunday, Sept. 22, 10 am Temple Israel and the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater invite the community to join them for a free community briefing at the temple. Professor Amos Guiora will share insight on the renewed...

A trip for eligible young adults who have not gone on their free 10-day trip to Israel with Taglit-Birthright Israel, is being offered by Network JCFR. The organization is sending a group of 22–27-year-olds to Israel this winter. Registration opens Sept. 9, so...

Monday, Nov. 11, 11 am When the nation celebrates Veterans Day, a solemn ceremony will also take place at the Jewish Veterans Memorial on the Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish community. Now three years old, the memorial was created through significant...

Mondays, Sept. 16 and 30 and Oct. 14 and 28, 7–8:30 pm You know it isn’t true. You want to stand up for Israel. You’ve got 30 seconds before you lose them. What do you say? Actually, it takes about three minutes to make a clear case that Israel isn’t a racist state,...

The aftermath of the July 3 ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has been tragically bloody, yet deeply illuminating for students of the Muslim Brotherhood. The secretive organization, once mislabeled as secular and moderate by U.S. Director of National...

Aug. 5-6 In his 2006 book Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, co-author Jud Newborn explores the actions of a group of college students in Nazi Germany who protested against the human and civil rights violations they saw occurring in their country. Despite certain...

Tuesday, August 20, 8 am A caravan of Simon JCC “Day Trippers” is headed to Petersburg and Richmond. Open to adults of any age, the first stop of the day will be at the Virginia Diner for breakfast and shopping. The bus will then travel to Old Towne Petersburg, an...

Sunday, July 28, 7 pm Area rabbis promise a lively discussion following the showing of a critically acclaimed film at the Naro Expanded Cinema. They will discuss, Fill the Void, an award-winning Israeli drama about a naive 18-year-old girl in an ultra-orthodox Hasidic...

Wednesday, July 24, 7:30 pm Wednesday, August 7, 7:30 pm The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center will present the second program of the Summer Music Series, “Summer Serenade” featuring members of the Virginia Chorale accompanied by Charles Woodward, artistic director on...

Sunday, August 11 As it does every year, Gallup released its findings earlier this spring regarding American sympathies towards Israelis and Palestinians. Historically, support for Israelis has been stronger than support for Palestinians, so this year’s results...