What’s Happening

Wednesday, September 13, 1 pm Simon Family JCC For seniors at the JCC, Rosh Hashanah will arrive a bit early this year and include an afternoon of art. Michele Barnes, an artist and art teacher, will lead the group in a painting event. Following the painting portion...

Tuesday, October 17, 12 pm, Simon Family JCC As part of its mission to provide educational classes to Tidewater’s Jewish community, The Norfolk Kollel is partnereing with the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Community Relations Council and Society of...

Tuesday, October 17, 7:30 pm Sandler Family Campus A scholar of law and religion and comparative Jewish Law, Dr. Mark Goldfeder will speak about Israel’s relationship with the United Nations, the perceived bias toward Israel, and how it relates to the Boycott,...

September Yoni Alter’s Cities exhibit brings a splash of pop-art style to the Leon Family Gallery. Featuring skylines of some very recognizable cities, as well as fresh interpretations of city architecture and objects, Alter’s work joins a line-up sure to excite art...

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...

Thursday, Feb. 21, 7:30 pm Moderated by Eric Michael Mazur, Gloria & David Furman Professor of Judaic Studies Hosted by Virginia Wesleyan College See leaders from the Tidewater Jewish community fight to settle this age-old question: “Which is better, the latke or...

Sunday, April 14, 1–4 pm • Simon Family JCC parking lot No need to get out of the car. Drive through and your car will be unloaded! www.jewishva.org/recycle Items accepted for recycling: Cell phones, VCRs, PC towers/ desktops, circuit boards, keyboards, iPods/MP3...

Opening reception: Sunday, Feb. 10, 3–6 p.m. The Mike Kantor who worked in Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan after he graduated from college could hardly have pictured himself as an aspiring artist in his 60s. But that is how Kantor identifies himself these days,...

Saturday, Feb. 23, 6:30 pm Be Happy! It’s Adar! Purim is coming with a busy night at Beth El. The Megillah reading and costume parade begins at 6:30 pm. A children’s program will take pace in Barr Hal with refreshments, a balloon artist and a magician after their...

Sunday, Feb. 10, 11 am What does an African American, an evangelical Christian and a Jewish college student have in common? They are the featured speakers at this year’s AIPAC brunch at Ohef Sholom Temple. As in years past, the Ohef Sholom Temple Men’s Club,...

Sunday, Feb. 17, 10–11:30 am With Purim approaching on Feb. 24, thoughts turn to the great heroine of the Tanakh, Queen Esther. Esther had the courage to use her position to save the Jewish people. Few people have the opportunity for such dramatic heroism today, but...

Tidewater’s first through 12th graders are invited to participate in an Israel Poster contest sponsored by the Community Relations Council of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Students and teachers can find a list of cool facts about Israel at...

Sunday, Feb. 10, 11 am The Changing Face of Pro-Israel Activism in America is the theme of this year’s brunch and briefing at Ohef Sholom Temple. The congregation will again open its doors and invite the community to join them for this free event featuring guests...

Sunday, Feb. 10, 1 pm Operation Hamantashen, a joint venture of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Young Adult Division and the Simon Family JCC, Children and Family Department, will take place at the JCC for the third year in a row. Last year, more than 100...

Sunday, Jan. 27, 2 pm “It is amazing how small coincidences can bring about a completely different set of events than we might have thought,” says Elena Baum, director of the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. After reading the film...

Thursday, Jan. 24 The Virginian- Pilot’s veteran film reviewer, Mal Vincent has been a part of the Simon Family JCC’s Virginia Festival of Jewish Film since its inception in 1993. Vincent began reviewing movies such as Leon the Pig Farmer (which ran in 1993 and will...

Sunday, Jan. 20, 11 am The adult education committee at Ohef Sholom Temple presents Marty Mandelberg speaking on “Why the Jews,” a session that will trace the history of European anti-Semitism that enabled the Holocaust to occur. Exploring publications, events,...

Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day is Tuesday, Jan. 22 Program begins at 11 am in Richmond Bus departs from Simon Family JCC at 8:45 am Preparations for Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day, or “Date with the State,” when Jews from throughout the Commonwealth descend on the...

Constantly in the public view, there is much more to Israel than meets the eye. To spread the word about the lesser-known details, the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is taking JerusalemOnlineU on the road with five different...

Sunday, Jan. 6, 3 pm A standing-room-only crowd of more than 800 packed the Tidewater Community College’s Roper Theater in downtown Norfolk last March to attend the premiere of the documentary, What We Carry. Featuring the memories, insights and inspirational messages...

Sunday, Jan. 13, 10:30 am The Community Relations Council organizes the Tidewater community each year to prepare for the “Date with a State,” when representatives from Jewish communities across Virginia descend on Richmond to lobby for issues considered pertinent to...

Tuesday, Dec. 25, 7 am–3 pm Switch Day is going Retro. Volunteer at Beth Sholom Village on Dec. 25 and dress up like a “greaser” or pull out a “Poodle Skirt,” “grease your hair,” or put it in a “beehive.” Shifts: 7–9 am 9–11 am 11 am–1 pm 1–3 pm Volunteer...