What’s Happening

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....

Shira Low Itzhak, a United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Women’s Cabinet member, will undertake a grueling bike ride on July 19. Along with 250 other women, she will ride 75 miles from New Jersey through the Catskill Mountains of New York. The World’s Greatest Finish...

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...

Applications for a Summer 2013 mission to the Jewish communities of Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic are now being accepted by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. The mission, scheduled to depart on Sunday, July 14 and return on Monday, July 22,...

Sundays, beginning Jan. 6 An informal robotics team that may compete regionally in 2013-2014 will form at the Simon Family JCC. BrickHeadZ classes introduce younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO® based robots to complete tasks on a...

Tuesday, Dec. 25 The Young Adult Division of UJFT is putting together a group of volunteers to participate in “Switch Day” at Beth Sholom Village on Christmas Day. Four two-hour shifts are available starting at 7 am. YAD spots are limited. Contact Amy Weinstein at...

Monday, Dec. 17, 6:30-8 pm Local architects Paul Turok and Rob Berz will lead a discussion of the history of their trade in Jewish communities around the world, as well as a careful study of the Sandler Family Campus, and how its construction was influenced by Jewish...

Tuesday, Jan. 22 For years, members of Jewish communities across the Commonwealth have converged at the State Capitol in Richmond to collaborate on Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day, also known as “Date with the State.” This annual Date with the State has proven to be a...

Saturday, January 19 The Simon Family JCC’s 20th anniversary of the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presented by Alma* and Howard Laderberg will begin with a movie and gala opening night party to commemorate the festival’s longevity and success. The Film Festival,...

Sundays, Dec. 9 and Jan. 13, 2 pm The Jewish Museum & Cultural Center continues its new series to discuss the many differences in religious cultures, yet similarities. Each event is open to the public and suitable for all ages. Donation of $5 per person. The...

Sunday, Jan. 6, 3 pm In January it will have been a year since the Holocaust Commission’s Speakers’ Bureau was cut in half, when David Katz and Hanns Loewenbach passed away. To try to continue to fulfill its mission of sharing personal survivors’ stories, the...

Monday, Dec. 10, 12 pm The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater invites the community to weigh in on the issues that will be lobbied on in Richmond with the annual Date With the State— Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day on Tuesday, Jan....

Saturday, Dec. 1, 8–11 pm The Young Adult Division of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is celebrating Chanukah this year with a bash they’re calling “Sushi, Sake, Latke.” Steve Zuckerman, Chanukah Party planning committee co-chair, says “we wanted to do...

All proceeds from the purchase of books, toys, magazines, DVDs, gifts, Nooks, and even from the cafe at Barnes and Nobel on Nov. 29 will go to Temple Emanuel’s Religious School and the Temple Library for scholarships, textbooks, supplies, books for the library and new...

With two decades of outstanding films, this is a milestone 20th year for the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presented by Alma* and Howard Laderberg. The 20th anniversary of the festival offers an eclectic collection of films that won’t be available anywhere else...

All proceeds from the purchase of books, toys, magazines, DVDs, gifts, Nooks, and even from the cafe at Barnes and Nobel on Nov. 29 will go to Temple Emanuel’s Religious School and the Temple Library for scholarships, textbooks, supplies, books for the library and new...