Every week on Shabbat, we pray for peace—for our loved ones, for our world, and especially our extended Jewish family in Ukraine. Beginning this month through April, we’re ensuring 700 to 800 Jews from various cities in Ukraine will share in the peace of a 12-day respite from the frigid cold and ongoing conflict as [...]
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A Bluffer’s guide to the wine list
January 19, 2023
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We have all been there. You are in a fine restaurant with a good looking date (in some cases your spouse), and the waiter or steward presents you with a wine list. It may be a small card. It may be the size of a book. What do you do? Many folks in this situation [...]
Tidewater’s seventh annual Great Big Challah Bake serves up lessons and fun
January 19, 2023
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Women of all ages spent an evening in November at B’nai Israel Congregation celebrating the Jewish tradition of preparing for Shabbat and the spiritual joys of making challah. A partnership between B’nai Israel and the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, it was just one of thousands of similar events [...]
Jewish Book Festival wraps up First Half of Season
January 19, 2023
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Four engaging authors presenting on a variety of topics were featured in the first half of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC’s Lee & Bernard Jaffe Family Jewish Book Festival in November and December. Italian cookbook author Benedetta Jasmine Guetta spoke of the surprising Jewish history behind some of Italy’s most cherished [...]
Temple Israel honors police officers at Law Enforcement Appreciation Shabbat
January 19, 2023
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It wasn’t long ago that no one could have imagined needing armed guards to conduct Shabbat services. Accustomed to hearing about that kind of thing in Europe, it wasn’t thought possible here—not in the U.S.A. That thinking was wrong. For Temple Israel, the “it can’t happen here” illusion started to crack around 2011, when the [...]
Camp JCC Winter Camp wraps with happy campers
January 19, 2023
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Camp JCC wrapped up a successful Winter Break Camp with diverse days, fun, and plenty of good spirit. Activities included gym games, free swim, winter crafts, indoor gaga, Israeli culture with the community ShinShiniot, Alma Ben Chorin and Aya Sever, and a daily “camper’s choice” elective. Special activities, which were facilitated by beloved summer camp [...]
Beyond the Bible course explores history not often studied
January 19, 2023
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In Sunday School, it is typical to learn the highlights of the sacred memories of the Jewish people of the Biblical period. Then, it gets a bit fuzzy. After the Bible, what was there? Some rabbis, perhaps? It gets clear again with the modern era, the past quarter millennium of Judaism’s long history. The Jewish [...]
The Holocaust as reflected in diaries and memoirs, offers a collaborative learning experience
January 19, 2023
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A 10-session intensive course on the Holocaust, The Holocaust as Reflected in Diaries and Memoirs, invited students to dig into the first-person accounts of living through the Holocaust. Diaries and memoirs served as a looking glass into these individuals’ daily experiences, lending a remarkable insight into this devastating time in history. Taught by Wendy Juren [...]
A workshop through the Journey of Your Name
January 19, 2023
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In a hands-on workshop offered by the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, community members explored the meaning of their name through a mystical interpretation of the aleph bet. Josh Baum, illustrator of Malka’s Notebook: A Journey into the Mystical Aleph Bet, streamed his way into the room from Israel [...]
PJ Library in Tidewater’s January Sunday Fun Day
January 19, 2023
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The Simon Family JCC was filled to the brim with children and their families during the January Sunday Fun Day on Jan. 8. Some made winter-themed crafts, others played interactive inflatable sports games, and all enjoyed spending time with friends, new and old, from all around the community. Middle schoolers embraced an exclusive piece of [...]
January 19, 2023
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