Jewish News

Jewish-related news made more mainstream headlines in 2022 than most of us could ever recall. The topics receiving the most national and global coverage included news about Ukraine’s Jewish president, Jewish U.S. politicians, Israel’s election (again!), the synagogue hostage situation in Texas, Holocaust education in schools, security needs for synagogues and Jewish organizations, and certainly [...]

As we light our menorahs during Hanukkah and approach the end of 2022, I think back on all we have accomplished together. When Russia attacked Ukraine, Jewish Tidewater responded quickly, as we always do, raising almost $800,000 to provide support directly to Ukrainians through the creation of our Tidewater Ukraine Emergency Fund. This was in [...]

Established by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Virginia Commission to Combat Antisemitism released its report earlier this month, receiving national, as well as international attention. On January 15, 2022, his first day in office, the governor signed Executive Order 8, “Establishing the Commission to Combat Antisemitism.” The 15-member commission was convened on May 6 and from [...]

Education Matters (December 19, 2022)  

As the executive director at William & Mary Hillel in Williamsburg, Rabbi Gershon Litt’s responsibilities include development, bookkeeping, education, interaction with the university, counseling, and student and faculty meetings. Add all of that to his having headed up nearly 40 Birthright Israel trips, and it’s a wonder he has any time left over in his [...]

Happiness was overflowing on Sunday, November 6 as current and former members of Congregation Beth Chaverim gathered at the Sandler Family Campus to celebrate the congregation’s 40th anniversary with food, drink, an abundance of hugs, smiles, laughter, and memoires. Chad Bornstein, president of Congregation Beth Chaverim since 2019, said he was “very honored to work [...]

As investment stewards, Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Investment Committee recognizes its fiduciary responsibility to oversee the investment of the community’s assets and continues to review TJF’s Investment Policy Statement (IPS) and evaluate its implementation. TJF’s Investment Committee recently completed an extensive review of the implementation of the “Main Investment Pool” as it is described in the [...]

Strelitz International Academy plans to launch a new transitional kindergarten program for eligible new and re-enrolling students for the upcoming school year. The SIA TK program is designed for students old enough for kindergarten, but who need an extra year to develop kindergarten readiness skills. Transitional Kindergarten bridges the gap between preschool and kindergarten, providing [...]

The BeAR program started 2022 with plenty of questions, as volunteers were still not permitted in the schools. Calls to BeAR schools with offers to help resulted in many schools requesting supplies, reading and writing games, and books. They also asked for the BeAR volunteers to create video recordings of mentors reading the books that [...]