Top Stories

The phrase “we’re in this together” has never rung truer than in the last two months. Our Jewish Tidewater community continues to rise to the extremely difficult challenge that the COVID-19 has presented all of us. Consider these examples: Beth Sholom Village is...

Last month, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Tidewater Jewish Foundation established the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Community to support individuals, agencies, and synagogues through financial difficulties caused by the pandemic....

Camp Katan (lower camp) is canceled for 2020; Camp Gadol (upper camp) delays start until July 6 Parents try to drill it into their children’s heads. The best decision is not always the easy one. Doing the right thing for the right reasons takes grit. “Faced with the...

Medicine is science and science is predictable, but treating real people is well…complicated. Patients are teachers. That’s the big takeaway here. Each patient experience might start out routine and mundane, but years of experience prove the unforgettable ones are...

Wednesday, June 3, 7 pm David Harris, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, will brief Tidewater’s Jewish community on the rise of global anti-Semitism. The event is presented by the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Community Relations Council and Holocaust...

Growing up in Martinsville, Virginia, Barbara Dudley knew Judaism was an integral part of her life—and that her parents’ strong sense of Zionism guided their involvement in Jewish philanthropy. As a young girl, each year she attended Kol Nidre services with her father...

Kids Connection and Camp JCC kids received Goody Buckets earlier this month “to lift their spirits and let them know that we’re thinking about them,” says Sarah Cooper, Simon Family JCC’s Kids Connection Before & After School Program manager.

Make no mistake. At times like this, when record numbers of jobs are lost, restaurants are closed, hospitals are beyond capacity, social isolation is the ‘safe’ choice, and no live fundraising events can be scheduled for the foreseeable future, Jewish Family Service...

The Class of 2020 may be without a traditional graduation ceremony, but they shouldn’t be without recognition. Jewish News wants to honor Jewish Tidewater’s 2020 graduates so that they get at least some of the acknowledgment they have earned and deserve. High School,...

The distressing effect of COVID-19 on overworked health care professionals at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital (SPAH) roused more than sympathy. It led to an outbreak of grassroot organizers like Pam Moss Blais. Blais, a former Emergency Department (ED) nurse didn’t...

Kol Yisroel Aravim Zeh b’zeh. All Jews are responsible for one another. COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Community opened earlier this month in response to growing anticipated needs of the community—for local agencies and institutions, as well as...

Stay connected with Jewish Tidewater through virtual resources, classes, programs, services, and each other. During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical doors may be temporarily closed, but Jewish agencies, schools, and synagogues are all virtually open. At JewishVa.org,...

In ways both similar and different, Jewish summer camp and Jewish bubbes create a space for kids to grow up feeling good about being Jewish. The Jewish bubbe is fun, free, and a little twisted: She sees no harm in spoiling her grandkids with chocolate chip pancakes...

In a time of unquestionable uncertainty, one thing is certain, the students at Strelitz International Academy continue to learn, engage, and connect virtually with their classmates and teachers since school went online on March 16. Early in March, when no one would...

Even before COVID-19, social media has proved itself to both—a cause of, and cure for—social isolation. Then Facebook Live and Zoom zoomed in to save the world. You know the world has changed when the social editor for the New York Times travel section issues the...

Passover gets props as one of the most universally celebrated holidays on the Hebrew calendar. Even disengaged and unaffiliated Jews find their way to the Seder table once a year. What is it about Passover that attracts Jews of all stripes, and arouses wonder in...

For decades, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s partnership with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, known as JDC, has been an integral component of the Federation’s global outreach. JDC was founded in 1914, during World War 1, as the first Jewish...

Great stories have the power to fuel and feed people. Epic ones grab your attention and hold it until your mind’s altered and your heart’s pounding. That lust for transformation never dies and was the driving force behind the 2020 Virginia Festival of Jewish Film....

On February 5, I joined more than 40 fellow early morning risers and got on a bus to Richmond for Virginia’s annual Jewish Advocacy Day with the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Nearly 200 advocates from Tidewater, the...

In the car business, mentors make better models. Early in his career, Charles Barker was fortunate enough to work under a successful businessman in the car industry who inspired him and put him on his path to financial and personal success. Before Charles Barker...