What’s Happening

2023 Holocaust Day of Remembrance Sunday, April 16, 6:45 pm Temple Israel, 7255 Granby Street, Norfolk Yom Hashoah, a time to remember and reflect on the Holocaust, will take place in Tidewater on Sunday, April 16 at Temple Israel in Norfolk. The entire community is...

Thursday, April 20, 7:30 pm, Zoom Old Dominion University’s Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and ODU’s Women’s Studies present a talk by Anne Gessler, PhD. Gessler’s talk explores the period between 1900...

By visiting Jewishva.org/IsraelFest and registering for the free Israel@75 challenge this April, community members of all ages will automatically get access to a VIP prize, which they can pick up at the community Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration on Sunday, April 30. A new...

Next class: Sunday, March 26, 10 am Ohef Sholom Temple, free The Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is partnering with Ohef Sholom Temple to offer the course, The Foundations of Jewish Family Living. These classes take place on...

Monday, April 3; Reception: 6:15 pm, Lecture: 7 pm Brock Commons, Virginia Wesleyan University In a world that seems to be defined by conflict and seemingly endless divisions, music continues to function as a steady thread through individual and shared...

Sunday, April 16, 6:45 pm, Temple Israel The Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater invites the community to attend the annual Holocaust Day of Remembrance, Yom Hashoah. The commemoration will feature a speaker, candle lighting ceremony, and...

Wednesday, April 26, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus The world-renowned PhotoHouse is one of Israel’s most valuable and monumental private archives of historical photographs. Founded in 1936, it has been owned and operated by the same family for three generations. Rudi...

Thursday, March 23, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus, Free Admired for his engaging and boundary pushing photography, Roie Galitz is equal parts passion and commitment in his pursuit to get the best shots of animals in their natural habitats. His innovative work has been...

Celebration slated for Sunday, April 2 is sold-out. A young Rabbi Michael Panitz, his wife Sheila, and their three children—Emily, Zeke, and Benjamin—came to Norfolk to assume Temple Israel’s pulpit in 1992. Trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was...

First-hand experience with the Virginia Beach Police Department is offered through its Cadet Program. The Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) Cadet Program is primarily for individuals 18 to 20 years old interested in a future career with VBPD. Candidates must be...

Thursday, March 2, 12 pm Israel Today’s On Assignment with Lahav Harkov on Thursday, Feb. 2 was another exciting and informative way to learn about who’s who, and what’s happening in the Israeli political world, beyond the front page of the newspapers. Harkov,...

Thursday, March 9, 7–8 pm, Blocker Hall Auditorium, Virginia Wesleyan University The overruling of Roe v. Wade last year brought many Jews across the nation to speak about Jewish perspectives related to reproductive and religious freedom, as well as the scripture that...

Sunday, Dec. 4, 11 am, Masonic Temple Brith Sholom’s December’s social event will feature its deluxe brunch catered by Beth Sholom Village and a performance by a jazz trio. The 504 Trio’s musicians play and sing New Orleans Jazz with songs such as When the Saints Go...

Thursday, November 17, 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy Letty Cottin Pogrebin Post Hill Press 432 pages, 2022 The 2022–23 Lee and Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival continues with author Letty Cottin Pogrebin, who will...

When it comes to bias and discrimination, what actually changes people and cultures? Thursday, December 8, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus Bias robs individuals of their futures, organizations of talent, science of breakthroughs, and communities of justice. The End of...

Sunday, December 4, 5 pm, Congregation Beth El Congregation Beth El’s 2022 FUNdraiser will bring music from the Rocky Mountains of Vail, Colorado, to the shores of Norfolk, Virginia. Cantor Michelle Cohn Levy of B’nai Vail Congregation and Coleen Dieker, an...

Thursday, November 3, 12 pm The first session of the Israel Today series, On Assignment with Lahav Harkov, took place on Thursday, October 6, and was an exciting and informative conversation about the upcoming Knesset elections, related polling, and more. Harkov,...

Sunday, November 13, 1 - 4 pm, Simon Family JCC Gather friends and family and head to the Simon Family JCC for an afternoon of fall-themed games, music, crafts, and a sweet treat. See familiar faces, meet new and friendly people, and while Tidewater’s ShinShinim lead...

Dan Grunfeld Wednesday, November 2, 7:30 pm, Free Alla Shapiro, MD Monday, November 7, 12 pm, Tickets include lunch Letty Cottin Pogrebin Thursday, November 17, 7:30 pm, Free Family is at the forefront in the minds of the first three authors of the United Jewish...

Conversation with author Mira J. Amiras and illustrator Josh Baum on Malka’s Notebook: A Journey into the Mystical Aleph-Bet Tuesday, November 29, 12 pm, Watch from home, Free Mira Z. Amiras was raised on her father’s tales of the Hebrew aleph-bet letters and their...

November–December Workshop: Monday, December 12, 12 pm Illustrations from Malkah’s Notebook will be on exhibit in the Leon Family Gallery at the Simon Family JCC. A hands-on creative workshop with Mira J. Amiras and local artist and Jewish educator, Sharon Serbin,...

Wednesday, November 30 7:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Jewish Community Relations Council will host the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia’s United Against Hate program next month. This exciting program...

Wednesday, October 26, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus Veteran educator and Israeli map expert Joe Perlov will offer the opportunity to go back in time to the founding of the State of Israel as he guides an interactive exploration of the nation’s map. Perlov’s...

Tuesday, November 1 6 pm (Dinner), 6:30 pm (Show) Ohef Sholom Temple Benji Lovitt presents a hilarious picture of Israel by deconstructing cultural differences and the immigrant experience in Israel. Audiences laugh out loud as he sheds light on embarrassing Hebrew...

JCC’s Leon Family Gallery Exhibit through October. Interdisciplinary artist Shony Rivnay’s art is on display in the Leon Family Gallery. The exhibit is presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Simon Family JCC,...

Community conversation: Monday, November 7, 12 pm Sandler Family Campus Russian speakers conversation: Monday, November 7, 2 pm Sandler Family Campus   While the world watches, fighting has continued around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine since...

Holocaust Commission pick for Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival Wednesday, November 2, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus   Basketball was first included as a medal event in the Summer Olympics in 1936 in Berlin. During those Olympics, Hitler showed...

The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Be a Reader (BeAR) program is out of hibernation and heading back into schools at the end of October. Returning to the classroom means BeAR needs more volunteers. Just an hour a week...

Friday, October 28, 6:30 pm, Ohef Sholom Temple During Shabbat Services and at a festive Oneg Shabbat, Charles (Chuck) Woodward will be honored for his 40 years as Ohef Sholom Temple’s music director. Known throughout Tidewater as a choral conductor and keyboard...

Tuesday, November 15, 7 pm, Wells Theater A one-man show, this  is the inspiring true story of Simon Wiesenthal filled with hope, humanity, and humor. Sometimes referred to as the “Jewish James Bond,” he devoted his life to bringing more than 1,000 Nazi war criminals...

The world-renowned PhotoHouse is one of Israel’s most valuable and monumental private archives of historical photographs. Founded in 1936, it has been owned and operated by the same family for three generations. Rudi Weissenstein captured millions of photos of...

Begins Tuesday, September 20, 9 am Sandler Family Campus Twice a month, Baby and Me offers a time for a parent to bring their baby, up to 18 months old, to the Simon Family JCC for an hour of baby games and activities, social time with other parents and guardians, and...