Top Stories

Purim is a dark story marked by a crazy party. I’m still unsure why a close brush with extermination became, in the Middle Ages, an opportunity for costumes and farce, but there you have it. It’s the fifth century BCE, about a hundred years after the First Temple’s...

(JTA)—Trees have stories, and Israel’s trees have lots of stories. Scattered throughout the country, scores of ancient and historic trees help shed light on fascinating aspects of Israeli history, from the biblical to the modern, that are often overlooked by the...

The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater condemns, without reservation, the decision of the Obama administration not to use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to defeat a resolution criticizing Israeli settlements. The measure is clearly a blow, despite...

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate who became a leading icon of Holocaust remembrance and a global symbol of conscience, died Saturday, July 2 at 87. His death was the result of natural causes, the World Jewish Congress said in a...

The 2016 Biennial Meeting of the Simon Family JCC took place on Wednesday, June 15. During the meeting, outstanding community accomplishments were acknowledged, awards were presented, a president bid his farewell, and a prospective president explained that the...

Successful nonprofits must change with the times. And so, to remain vital to their communities, Jewish organizations across the nation are making strategic structural moves. In the Tidewater Jewish community, two organizations with a closely aligned vision, the Simon...

Premiere of short documentaries at free screening Sunday, May 22, 2 pm, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts “My name is Alfred Dreyfus. I was born in Rastatt, Germany in 1923.” “My name is Mary Sigillo Barraco. I was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1923.” “My...

Wednesday, May 4, 6:45 pm, Temple Israel Choosing the most powerful and meaningful moment of Tidewater’s annual commemoration of Yom Hashoah, the Holocaust Day of Remembrance, is difficult. This year, there will be an abundance of these moments. Each part of the event...

World-renowned physician from The Cleveland Clinic to speak in Norfolk Wednesday, April 13, 7 pm, Chrysler Museum Approximately 82 million Americans are currently diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Millions more think they are healthy, but actually are at risk....

The 130 Operation Hamantaschen volunteers did everything they were asked, and more, at the March 6 communitywide “make and bake” program held at the Simon Family JCC. Including the tasting. Quality control wasn’t part of the volunteer description publicized by...

Before the sun had a chance to fully rise, members of the Jewish community rose to take action at the state capitol in Richmond on Tuesday, Feb. 2. More than 50 participants, Tidewater’s largest group for Virginia Jewish Advocacy Day, gathered to make their voices...

TEL AVIV (JTA)—Israel’s government on Sunday, Jan. 31 approved a compromise to expand the non-Orthodox Jewish prayer section of the Western Wall, putting to rest the decades-long fight between Women of the Wall and Israel’s haredi Orthodox religious establishment. The...

Thursday, Feb. 4–Sunday, Feb. 7 For more than four decades, Rabbi Eric Yoffie has embraced his role as teacher, leader, thought-provoker, and change-maker. He’s spoken in front of small congregations and large. He’s met with presidents, prime ministers and leaders of...

Sunday, Jan. 31, 9 am – 1 pm Developing a theme for Super Sunday, The Tidewater Jewish community’s single largest fundraising event, has been a coming-of-age responsibility for hundreds of young adults since the inaugural event was held in 1981. This year is no...

presented by Alma* and Howard Laderberg January 16 – 24, 2016 The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film celebrates and supports International Jewish film and filmmakers, presenting the newest and best films worldwide. The Festival brings together community and provides...

Dear Readers, “It’s not personal, it’s strictly business,” Michael Corleone says to his brother Sonny in The Godfather. A renowned line from the famous film, it is exactly the opposite of what the articles in this section on business emphasize. For those featured,...

The week of October 19-25 was billed as an extraordinary one for the Tidewater Jewish community. Volunteers worked on committees and with the staff at the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, planning events to help make life better for others, while also...

All events are free, open to the community and held at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus in Virginia Beach The Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater is joining with community partners, including all area synagogues and Jewish...

Sunday, Nov. 1–Sunday, Nov. 15 Eight authors will speak at the Simon Family JCC as part of the Lee and Bernard Jaffe* Family Jewish Book Festival, enlightening the minds of the young and old, history buffs and environmentalists. Seth M. Siegel will kick off the...

Sunday, Oct. 25, 1:30–4:30 pm, Sandler Family Campus All ages. Free and open to the community. Register at www.JewishVA.org/mitzvah-day Last year’s inaugural Mitzvah Day attracted more than 300 community members who leapt at the opportunity to do mitzvot (good deeds...

At three-years-old, Sam Sachs was visiting his grandparents’ house when he picked up one of his great grandpa’s (Rabbi Sam Sobel, of blessed memory) old shofars. “He just blew the roof off the house,” says his mother, Jenny Sachs. “For my entire life, I cannot get any...

Thursday, Sept. 17, 6:45 pm He’s casual, he’s passionate, he’s earnest and he heads up a movement that ranks collectively among the top 10 charities in the world. “He,” is Jerry Silverman, president and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America. Silverman will be...

The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and its Community Relations Council believe the proposed nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is cause for grave concern. We share the Administration’s goal of achieving a negotiated, peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear...

The 2015 Biennial of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater was more than a public meeting where new officers and board members were installed. The evening event, held on June 16 at the Sandler Family Campus, was a celebration of leadership, volunteerism and...

The answer could be determined by the June 30 deadline for a final agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany (known as the P5+1 which includes the U.S., UK, China, Russia, France and Germany). The outcome has...

It was 2004, and the Tidewater Jewish Community celebrated. Years of research, planning, fund raising and construction culminated in the opening of the Sandler Family Campus on 20 acres at the end of Corporate Woods Drive in Virginia Beach, just off the I-264...

NEW YORK (JTA)—The Pew Research Center’s newly released 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study offers a trove of data on American Jews based on interviews with 35,071 American adults, 847 of whom identified their faith as Jewish. Here are some of the more interesting...