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( JTA)—Jewish tourists from North America are likely to notice one big difference when visiting synagogues around the world. Though a plethora of symbols, such as stars of David and menorahs, may be displayed, national flags are rare inside the sanctuary. Meanwhile,...

NAHAL OZ, Israel (JTA)—Dani Ben David fiddles with his radio, switching between it and his cellphone as he drives through the Beeri Forest, a nature reserve located on the border of Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. As his Jeep jolts over the dirt road, he...

United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Society of Professionals (SOP) held its annual spring event ‘An Evening at the Cavalier’ on Wednesday, April 25. Sponsored by Insco Insurance Group, more than 100 people convened at the new Cavalier Hotel Crystal Ballroom to...

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israeli leaders and citizens responded with euphoria as the Trump administration moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem on Monday, May 14, designating a pre-existing consular building as the official U.S. diplomatic mission to the Jewish State. Hundreds...

Promoted as a major celebration of the Jewish state on the eve of its 70th anniversary, Israel Fest lived up to its billing on Sunday, April 22. Some 2,500 persons from across the community, double what attended in 2017, filled the backlot of the Simon Family JCC to...

David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, publicly read the Declaration of Independence of Israel on May 14, 1948. The anniversary of this date on the Jewish calendar is known as Yom Ha’atzmaut, and this year is Thursday, April 19. As the Tidewater Jewish...

The school shooting in Parkland, Florida last month has impacted and mobilized the Jewish community from Florida to Massachusetts and beyond. Consider: • Five of the 17 killed were Jewish. • The Sheriff leading the investigation is Jewish. • The Congressman...

How often are you asked by a state legislator for help with pushing his tax credit effort or guidance as to the current status of anti-Israel divestiture efforts? Probably not very often. But in my case, at last month’s statewide Jewish Advocacy Day in Richmond, I...

( JTA)—The world is about to revolve around Pyeongchang, a mountainous county in the northern half of South Korea, for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Jewish fans won’t have quite as many standout athletes to cheer for this year as they did in 2016, when multiple...

Show up, give of yourself, and take your place in the story of our community’s future. That was Steve Sandler’s message, delivered in rousing fashion to a packed house of young leaders at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Ben-Gurion Society and National...

25 Annual Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg* and Patricia & Avraham Ashkenazi Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018 – Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018 Multiple theaters throughout Virginia Beach and Norfolk Free—Pre-Festival event Marshall Monday,...

Janet Mercadante, 2018 Women’s Cabinet chair, welcomed more than 75 participants to the 2018 Lion-Tikva Chai luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 9. In her opening remarks, she thanked each one for their part in the successes of past campaigns. She shared the current state of...

Thank you Harry Minium. On July 1, the topic of Minium’s column in the Virginian-Pilot sports section was a life-altering trip to Israel in June by one of Tidewater’s most renowned athletes and residents, NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer Bruce Smith. On Monday, Oct. 30,...

Tuesday, November 14, 7:30 pm,Reba  and Sam Sandler Family Campus Dr. Rachel Fish visits Tidewater to discuss her latest book, Essential Israel: Essays for the 21st Century, a compilation of essays from authors describing the cultural, political, and historical...

Next Gen Judaism, a Jewpanese Love Story, Essential Israel, Jewish Heritage, and Yiddish Stories Wednesday, November 1–Monday, November 20 Authors from around the nation are headed to Tidewater for the annual celebration of Jewish writers, books, and ideas, otherwise...

MEXICO CITY (JTA)—I was on the 11th floor of an office building here when the ground started moving. There had been a mock evacuation that same day in remembrance of the 1985 earthquake that killed more than 10,000 people, but this was no drill. According to protocol,...

We have now completed the month of Elul, a time when individuals begin to intensify their process of repentance in anticipation of the Yamim Noraim or the Days of Awe. It is during Elul that individuals will begin offering sincere apologies to and seeking forgiveness...

WASHINGTON (JTA)—An array of Jewish groups and lawmakers attacked as immoral President Donald Trump’s decision to end an Obama-era program granting protections to illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. The Trump administration said Monday,...

Ignites year-long celebration of Israel @70 Tuesday, September 12 Reception: 6:30 pm; Program: 7:30 pm free and open to the community Sandler Family Campus The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater will launch a year-long celebration of Israel’s 70th birthday, as it...

Laughter on the Lawn: Thursday, August 3, Simon Family JCC Speaking with Elon Gold is like talking to a funny friend. Only he’s funnier. Jewish News recently caught up with him via telephone as he’s gearing up for his 11th year at the Montreal Just for Laughs...

The 2017 Biennial Meeting of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater was held June 7 in the Fleder Multipurpose Room on The Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus. The community was invited, and leaders from temples and synagogues, other Jewish agencies, and the UJFT...

On a less-than-sunny day in May, the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Women’s Cabinet held its annual Spring Lunch at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach. Weather woes kept the crowd intimate and the speaker from flying in from New York,...

NEW YORK (JTA)—On the morning of June 5, 1967, as Arab armies and Israel clashed following weeks of tension, Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg sat anxious amid his congregants at daily prayers—fearful that the Jewish people would face extinction for the second time in 25...

This year’s Yom Hashoah Commemoration, honoring the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, as well as liberators and righteous gentiles, brought the community together around not just awareness and sadness, but honor, hope, and music on a rainy Sunday night. Yom...

Get hearts pumping at the 13th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll Sunday, May 7, 24th Street Park at the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Spring means it’s time for Jewish Family Service’s m o s t anticipated event of the year: the 13th Annual Run, Roll or Stroll. In addition to the...

Celebrate the State of Israel’s 69th birthday (Yom Ha’Atzmaut in Hebrew) at the annual community-wide Israel Fest. TASTE #WITHISRAEL Fresh Israeli fare made by visiting chefs from Puzzle Israel with desserts and drinks prepared by local synagogues and agencies •...

Sunday, April 23, 6:45 pm, Ohef Sholom Temple Virginia Beach native and author Dr. Jay Grymes is this year’s featured speaker at the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s annual Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day program. Celebrating...

(JTA)—Almost daily accounts of vandalized cemeteries, spray-painted swastikas and bomb threats to JCCs and other Jewish agencies have naturally evoked considerable alarm. Clearly, we must never reconcile ourselves to an America where this is considered normal. Yet we...