Jewish News

Women’s American ORT, Organization for Rehabilitation and Training, has always been an educational and vocational game changer for students in the U.S. and around the world. Lifelong volunteer Sara Trub has been ORT-immersed for 48 years. An e-mail she received from a graduate of ORT Buenos Aires, demonstrates ORT’s future impact on the world. “What [...]

Each year the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater sponsors the Elie Wiesel Visual Arts Competition. Hundreds of student artists from Tidewater, as well as nationally, create works of art that respond to various topics and guidelines which generally include the Holocaust, social issues, moral courage, and heroes who inspire them to [...]

One year ago, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) released a groundbreaking piece of research—the first-ever survey of American Jews on anti-Semitism in America. Released on the first anniversary of the deadly Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the worst anti-Semitic attack in American history, the findings revealed grave cause for concern about rising anti-Semitism and deep concern that [...]

When the COVID-19 pandemic started breaking out across the United States, Pam Blais began receiving a slew of phone calls. A former 18-year-emergency department registered nurse, Blais had countless friends and co-workers that were suddenly thrust to the frontlines during the biggest global pandemic in more than 100 years. “People were just calling to vent [...]

Now in its 11th year, the Stein Family College Scholarship will begin accepting applications on December 1, 2020 for the 2021-2022 academic year. The annual grant for Jewish students in Tidewater provides a scholarship of up to $10,000 a year for college tuition. The deadline to apply is March 1, 2021. The Stein Family College [...]

Freda H. Gordon Hospice & Palliative Care Celebrates November as National Hospice and Palliative Care Month Throughout November, Freda H. Gordon Hospice & Palliative Care joined organizations across the nation hosting community activities in recognition of National Hospice and Palliative Care Month. For more than 40 years, hospice has helped provide comfort and dignity to [...]

Rabbi Batya Glazer has been building relationships between the Jewish community and representatives of faith and ethnic communities through dialogue, working in coalition, and educational programming for years. She says she finds these relationships to be “an opportunity to listen deeply and develop an understanding of the concerns and the cultural context of diverse communities, [...]

Not many people (if any) have fields to harvest or vineyards to glean, but as Jews, can still perform the mitzvah of Pe’ah by feeding the hungry—and Temple Israel does, generously and often, in gifts to Mazon, the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund, and its annual High Holy Days Food Drive. While the pandemic might have prevented [...]

Kehillat Bet Hamidrash, Kempsville Conservative Synagogue, also known as KBH, is a small, do-it-yourself Conservative Synagogue. Its modest building is home to 60 plus family units. Throughout the pandemic, the leadership has faced many of the same challenges as the larger area synagogues. They have responded to engagement, communication, spiritual, and safety issues—and are pleased [...]

We are thrilled to bring the Florence Melton School of Adult Learning back to Tidewater as part of the Konikoff Center for Learning. Over the past year, I have spoken to many Melton graduates who had wonderful things to say about their time with the mini-school when it was last in town. Most can hardly [...]