Jewish News: February 12, 2024 Issue

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Southeastern Virginia | Vol. 62 No. 9 | 3 Adar I, 5784 | February 12, 2024

Virginia Festival of Jewish Film – Page 32

6 Women’s Philanthropy meeting features JDC

8 3 Tidewater volunteers in Israel

12 BSV holds Biennial meeting

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JEWISH NEWS

UPFRONT

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Pope Francis denounces ‘terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world’ Jackie Hajdenberg (JTA) — In an open letter addressed to the Jewish community in Israel on Friday, Feb. 2, Pope Francis decried the “terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world” in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, calling it a “piecemeal world war” that has created “divisive positions, sometimes taking the form of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism.”

“Together with you, we, Catholics, are very concerned about the terrible increase in attacks against Jews around the world,” Francis wrote. “We had hoped that ‘never again’ would be a refrain heard by the new generations, yet now we see that the path ahead requires ever closer collaboration to eradicate these phenomena.”

In the United States, reports of antisemitic incidents have increased rapidly since Hamas’ invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, according to the Anti-Defamation League, with two-thirds of the incidents including “verbal, written, or contextual references to Israel or Zionism.” Over one weekend in December, hundreds of synagogues received bomb threats, and college campuses have become a major flashpoint for federal civil rights investigations over their handling of antisemitism.

In Europe, too, antisemitic events have been on the rise since Oct. 7 — Holocaust memorial plaques in Italy were repeatedly vandalized between October and November; a Holocaust research center in London was vandalized in November with the word “Gaza,” and a synagogue in Portugal was defaced with pro-Palestinian graffiti.

Francis called for prayers for the return of the approximately 100 remaining hostages, and said, “I would also like to add that we must never lose hope for a possible peace and that we must do everything possible to promote it, rejecting every form of defeatism and mistrust.”

CONTENTS

Up Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 UJFT Women’s Philanthropy briefed by JDC’s Eliza Prince. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Mostofskys travel to Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Three Tidewater men volunteer in Israel. . . . . . 9 Vergie McCall celebrates MLK Jr. and Judaism ..11 Family Shabbat Experience at Ohef Sholom .12 BSV Biennial meeting and vision for the future. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 JELF interest-free student loans. . . . . . . . . . 14 Neighborhood Harvest partners with JFS meal delivery program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Published 20 times a year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

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In recent weeks, Francis called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and humanitarian aid, as well as a hostage release.

“No to arms, yes to peace!” he wrote on X in December.

“May this enormous suffering of the Israelis and the Palestinians come to an end.”

In November, Francis drew criticism after he appeared to accuse both Israel and Hamas of acts of terrorism.

“This is what wars do,” the pope said at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 22. “But here we have gone beyond wars. This is not war. This is terrorism.”

Those comments followed separate meetings with the families of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians with family in Gaza. It also followed an open letter signed by hundreds of Jewish academics and leaders calling on the pope to use his considerable influence to urge Catholics to advocate for the hostages and show solidarity with Jews.

“Together, Jews and Catholics, we must commit ourselves to this path of friendship, solidarity and cooperation in seeking ways to repair a destroyed world, working together in every part of the world, and especially in the Holy Land, to recover the ability to see in the face of every person the image of God, in which we were created,” he added in his Friday remarks on Feb. 2.

Francis echoed similar sentiments as he marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the end of his weekly general audience on Jan. 27.

“The remembrance and condemnation of that horrific extermination of millions of Jews and of other faiths, which occurred in the first half of the last century, help us all not to forget that the logic of hatred and violence can never be justified, because they deny our very humanity,” Francis said.

Special Section: Food and Romance. . . . . . . . 16 Brith Sholom Happenings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 BBYO strikes big with bowling . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Virginia Festival of Jewish Film 2024 . . . . . . 27 Blazing Saddles 50th anniversary . . . . . . . . . . 28 Empowering students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 SIA’s Student Glow Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Shabbat At Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 What’s Happening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

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Upcoming Deadlines for Editorial and Advertising Issue Deadline March 4 Mazel Tov February 16 March 18 Camp/Estate planning March 1 April 8 Passover March 22 April 22 Moms/Women April 5 May 13 20th Anniversary of April 26 Sandler Family Campus

Do what Israelis of all walks of life are doing now, in whatever capacity will help.

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jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 3

BRIEFS ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Billionaire David Rubenstein buys his hometown Baltimore Orioles

J

ewish billionaire businessman and philanthropist David Rubenstein has reportedly agreed to purchase the MLB’s Baltimore Orioles.

Rubenstein, a Baltimore native who is best known as the co-founder of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, is leading a new ownership cohort that includes Jewish former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Orioles Hall of Fame player Cal Ripken Jr. Rubenstein’s group will initially purchase a 40% stake in the franchise, taking over from the Angelos family, who have owned the Orioles since 1993. The deal is valued at $1.725 billion, and Rubenstein will be the lead decision-maker.

“I am grateful to the Angelos family for the opportunity to join the team I have been a fan of my entire life,” Rubenstein said in a statement. “I look forward to working with all the Orioles owners, players, and staff to build upon the incredible success the team has achieved in recent seasons. Our collective goal will be to bring a World Series Trophy back to the City of Baltimore. To the fans I say: we do it for you and can’t do it without you. Thank you for your support.”

Rubenstein, whose net worth is estimated at $3.7 billion, is a prolific philanthropist known for gifts to preserve patriotic sites and objects, including copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation and the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.

He was among the initial group of signatories to The Giving Pledge, the charitable campaign started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to encourage wealthy individuals to contribute at least half of their wealth to charitable causes.

In 2022, Rubenstein donated $15 million to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the museum’s collection was renamed in his honor. Rubenstein, whose father’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine, said the war between Ukraine and Russia inspired him to make the donation.

“My ancestors came from Ukraine; I’m obviously Jewish,” he told The Washington Post at the time. “The Holocaust was an effort to wipe out the European Jews. If you look at the Holocaust and what happened, people say, ‘Why didn’t the U.S. do more? Why didn’t we intervene?’”

“We are living in a similar moment,” Rubenstein continued. “Antisemitism is on the rise in the world. People are saying, ‘What can we do?’ There are many things you can do, and reminding people of the Holocaust is one.”

Rubenstein is also a major donor to the Jewish Life at Duke center at Duke University, his alma mater.

Once the sale is approved by the league, which could take several months, Rubenstein will instantly become one of the MLB’s wealthiest owners.

4 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

Rubenstein, who served in President Jimmy Carter’s administration, also spent 14 years as the chairman of the Kennedy Center, to which he has donated more than $100 million. He previously expressed interest in buying the Washington Nationals, whose previous owner, Jewish real estate magnate Ted Lerner, died last year. (JTA) ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Ben Shapiro raps about his ‘yarmulke, homie,’ in new right-wing song

J

ewish right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro has made his disdain for rap music well-known, tweeting in 2012, “Rap isn’t music. And if you think it is, you’re stupid.”

That made it all the more surprising when Shapiro released his first-ever single — a collaboration with Canadian rapper Tom MacDonald titled “FACTS.” Shapiro, the co-founder of The Daily Wire and a popular conservative commentator, appears in the music video wearing a sweatshirt that displays his catchphrase “facts don’t care about your feelings.” The release came just days after Shapiro appeared alongside Elon Musk on private tour of Auschwitz.

The song, most of which is performed by MacDonald, mentions a litany of culture war talking points, including guns, pronouns, defunding the police, and “woke Karens.”

In the chorus, MacDonald says, “I don’t care if I offend you, I was put here to upset you.” MacDonald is a former wrestler and part of what has become known as “MAGA Rap.” In Shapiro’s verse, he name-drops popular rappers Lizzo and Nicki Minaj — soliciting a response from the latter — and makes reference to his yarmulke: “Dawg, it’s a yarmulke, homie, no cap.” Shapiro ends by imploring his followers to download the song, saying, “I just did this for fun / All my people download this, let’s get a Billboard number one.”

The song has ascended to No. 1 on the iTunes Store top charts. Shapiro changed his profile on X to read “America’s #1 Rapper.” Minaj congratulated him on topping the charts.

While Shapiro’s foray into rap appears to be more an ironic stunt than anything else, it comes just months after the music industry celebrated the 50th anniversary of hiphop, which was heavily influenced and shaped by Jewish artists. (JTA) ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Jon Stewart to return as part-time host of The Daily Show

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s the 2024 presidential election appears headed toward a Trump-Biden rematch, another familiar face is returning to help Americans keep up with — or at least joke about — the news.

Jon Stewart, the iconic Jewish comedian and longtime host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, is set to return to the program once a week this month.

Stewart hosted the show from 1999 to 2015. He will return to the anchor’s desk on Mondays from Feb. 12

through the November election. He will also serve as an executive producer on the show.

Stewart has made his Jewish identity a central part of his comedy for decades, and his 16-year run as host of The Daily Show catapulted the program into the zeitgeist of American comedy and politics. In 2021, Stewart launched a talk show on Apple TV+, The Problem With Jon Stewart, which ended last year over reported creative differences between Stewart and Apple.

Stewart has won 22 Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on The Daily Show and other comedy programs, as well as two Grammy Awards and five Peabody Awards. He won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2022.

Several of his Daily Show correspondents — including Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Samantha Bee — have gone on to host their own successful shows.

The 61-year-old New York native, who was born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, is returning to a program that has been in a state of flux since his successor, Trevor Noah, stepped down as host in 2022. The show has not named a permanent replacement, instead relying on a rotating cast of temporary hosts, including Sarah Silverman and Al Franken. (JTA) ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

NYPD reports 31 antisemitic incidents in January as surge continues after Oct. 7

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he NYPD reported 31 antisemitic hate crimes in January, as a surge in anti-Jewish incidents continued four months after Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel and the ensuing outbreak of war.

Since the start of October, there have been 193 antisemitic incidents reported to police, nearly double the 100 incidents reported during the same four-month period last year.

Antisemitic incidents spiked immediately after Oct. 7, with 69 reported in October and 62 in November. The rate has declined since then, with 31 incidents reported to police in both December and January.

January’s figure was far higher than the same period last year, however, when police recorded 17 antisemitic incidents. If not for the spike in Jewish incidents, the rate of hate crimes in the city would have declined slightly year over year.

Hate crimes targeting Jews accounted for 69% of the 45 total bias incidents in the city last month.

There were 325 total anti-Jewish hate crimes reported to police in 2023, far more than against any other group, according to monthly police data. The figure amounts to nearly one antisemitic incident per day.

Jewish community groups said many incidents likely do not get reported to police.

Not every reported hate crime results in an arrest, and numbers can be revised following the initial tally.

Several incidents that occurred in the weeks after Oct. 7 are being pursued by prosecutors. Recent incidents have included threats against synagogues and graffiti against elected officials and art galleries. (JTA)

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As a “pink lady” Ruth Goodman volunteered more hours than anyone else at the Norfolk hospital where she greeted visitors for years.

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JEWISH TIDEWATER

Women’s Philanthropy meeting features JDC Briefing T

First created to help traumatized (regularly and in the aftermath of Amy Zelenka children during the Second Lebanon October 7th), Prince showed a video he United Jewish Federation of War, JDC has used Hibuki dolls and the featuring JDC’s signature Hibuki doll.

Tidewater’s Women’s Philanthropy counseling curriculums surrounding them This sad-face, long limbed, floppy eared meeting on Thursday, Jan. 18 around the world, distributing them in dog begs to be held and hugged – it even featured Eliza Prince, JDC senior develwar-ravaged Ukraine, in Japan after the has Velcro strips on its oversized paws opment officer. Prince has been with JDC for a few months and works out of the Washington, DC area, serving several Jewish communities in North America. Prior to JDC, Prince worked for Washington Hebrew Congregation and the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County (Boca Raton) as its director of women’s philanthropy.

Prince opened with an overview of the work of the JDC (the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) – historical to conLaura Miller, JDC board member; Eliza Prince, JDC senior development officer; and Annie Sandler, JDC president. temporary, ultimately tsunami, and in Turkey after the earthto keep it secured around a child’s body. zeroing in on the emergency work taking quakes, helping in the healing process of But its true use is in helping children place now in Ukraine and Israel. JDC is hundreds of thousands of children. It was cope in the wake of traumatic events (like one UJFT’s overseas service delivery partimpossible NOT to be moved (in many October 7). Hibuki in Hebrew translates ners – and UJFT is beyond proud to claim cases to tears) when watching the children to “My Hug.” its recently installed national president, embrace their Hibukis and share their The video showed groups of internally Annie Sandler. stories with case workers. displaced children from kibbutzim near the In discussing JDC’s work in Israel “This is just one of many, many Gaza border – now staying programs that JDC provides – on our at hotels across the country – (Tidewater Jewish community’s) behalf receiving Hibuki dolls, which – that help to heal a broken world,” said they adopt as their own – Annie Sandler, JDC president. during counseling sessions Prince spoke to several groups during with child psychologists and her time in Tidewater, including UJFT’s social workers. The children are Israel and Overseas Committee. In each encouraged to place their fears place, she reminded those in the room of and stresses onto these dolls. exactly “why we do what we do” and how But the dolls serve another meaningful the work truly is. purpose: to give the children – – – – – – – – – – –– – – – – – – – – – – – a sense of purpose (of being needed), because these sad dolls For more information about the work of UJFT’s also need care and love and overseas partner, the American Jewish Joint someone to be strong for them.

Distribution Committee (JDC), visit JDC.org.

Children’s therapy in Israel using a Hibuki doll.

6 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

Photograph: Steve Budman

Ruth’s Life Said a Lot About Her

JEWISH TIDEWATER IN ISRAEL

Bar Mitzvah plans morph into supporting IDF soldiers for Mostofskys

Stephanie Peck n anticipation of her nephew’s bar mitzvah in January, Tehilla Mostofsky bought tickets to Israel last July. Along with her husband, Sholom, and her parents, who had not been to Israel in 25 years, she planned to stay for five days to celebrate with her family.

The events of October 7 might have upended these plans, but Mostofsky’s sister and family were not deterred.

“Israel needs the support of tourists and the international community,” Mostofsky says.

While the bar mitzvah was the impetus for the trip, Israel’s war with Hamas remained in the forefront. Before departure, Mostofsky shopped at eight Walmarts so she could fill a suitcase with 800 packets of hot cocoa – a request of Israel Defense Forces soldiers. Another suitcase contained Montreal Seasoning, a staple for barbeques serving these same soldiers.

A one-day “war tour,” led by Ephraim Schwartz, a

I

Included in the war tour was The NOVA 6.29 exhibit founder of the Norfolk Area Community Kollel, led to volin Tel Aviv, named for the exact time on October 7 when unteer opportunities. A man in Beit Shemesh, a town 12 rockets began falling on the miles west of Jerusalem, gave up music festival. Mostofsky says his day job to produce beef jerky she found the exhibit to be with Beef Up Our Boys. IDF extremely emotional and hard soldiers need protein, and this to see. operation, funded completely by At Hostage Square, also in donations, produces and vacuTel Aviv, the Mostofkys met the um-packs the beef jerky. As part nephew of a hostage. “He felt of the volunteer staff, Mostofsky appreciative that Americans included notes in each package, are coming for support,” says sending love and support from Mostofsky. “Israelis need people Tidewater’s Jewish community. to speak out.”

Later that same day, Tehilla – – – – – – – – – – –– – – – – – and Sholom Mostofsky delivered 30 pizzas to an army base and For additional information about spent time with soldiers who are Beef Up Our Boys, go to www. living in shipping containers.

Tehilla Mostofsky volunteers with Beef Up Our Boys. beefupourboys.com.

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JEWISH TIDEWATER IN ISRAEL

Three local men volunteer near Gaza Stephanie Peck and Terri Denison itan Mor, Nathan Goldin, and Norman Goldin volunteered in Israel for two weeks in January. “Israel faces an existential threat, and I wanted to help and show my support,” says Norman Goldin.

Both Goldins are physicians and hoped to provide medically related services. Instead, they reached a deadend with the Ministry of Health and were unable to get temporary medical licenses. “We’re both Hebrew-speaking and licensed, and the hospitals were interested, but the Ministry of Health is not organized and overwhelmed.

They’re dealing with an unprecedented situation,” Nathan Goldin says.

Mor, a former Major in the IDF, who has lived in Tidewater with his family since 2001, also wanted to volunteer in Israel after October 7. Like the Goldins, he couldn’t find an organization to host him. Having served in wars in Lebanon and Gaza, Mor knows the nearby Israeli neighborhoods, kibbutzim, and moshavim that were impacted by Hamas’ attack. He found that most communities had been evacuated.

The mayor of the small town (about 45,000 residents) of Netivot, however, answered Mor’s call, saying,” Eitan, we will host you, insure you, and feed you. Let’s move forward.”

With a place to go, Mor emailed some friends about the opportunity and connected with the Goldin brothers.

In the south of Israel, Netivot is located between Beersheba and Gaza, and is a sister-city to Philadelphia.

Essentially entering the war zone, the city required passport numbers to cover the three men with both health and life insurance. The city sent a cab to meet them when they arrived at the airport, provided a four-bedroom apartment, and filled the refrigerator for their volunteer guests.

A city volunteer coordinator welcomed them in Netivot.

E

IDF soldiers receiving the hats brought by the Tidewater volunteers.

8 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

Norman Goldin, Nathan Goldin, and Eitan Mor with wounded soldier in the hospital.

“We rented a car,” says Mor, as their activities took place in different locations.

The Israel Defense Forces provides soldiers with field rations, but individual citizens cook about 1,500 hot meals per day for soldiers and evacuees. “We flipped burgers and cut-up tomatoes,” offers Nathan Goldin, while also delivering meals, by way of their rental car, to soldiers guarding the Iron Dome platform.

“The soldiers want home-made food.” says Mor. So, they made shakshuka, meatballs, and rice and took it on a truck through fields to the soldiers.

People from all over Israel – Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa – are all helping. “We are one nation and need to help each other,” says Mor. The three from Tidewater worked in the fields, too, pruning lemon trees, weeding pineapple orchards, and

The Goldins join other volunteers to pick lemons.

JEWISH TIDEWATER IN ISRAEL

Nathan Goldin, Eitan Mor, and Norman Goldin on their patio in Netivot.

picking lemons. Working beside them were students from the north, a dentist from Germany, an Israeli architect, and volunteers from France.

Israel is struggling to keep up with the number of volunteers who want to help.

“Israelis are so appreciative of volunteers. We received a universally, unbelievable reception. It’s a national depression that they’re experiencing. They’re incredibly grateful,” says Nathan Goldin.

When asked if they ever felt unsafe, Norman Goldin recounts how, one day, there was a barrage of missiles.

“We had to run to a shelter, but there was no damage nor casualties. Although, I will admit, it is disturbing to have

to live your life always knowing where the closest shelter is located.” Nathan Goldin adds that the people living around Gaza are used to it.

“I don’t think you’ll find a better time to be in Israel. It is impossible to overstate the support that the civilian population is giving to their civilian army. For example, we met a woman who essentially turned her house into a meals factory, serving 400 Israeli soldiers daily. This food is taken directly to the front,” says Norman Goldin.

Nathan Goldin suggests volunteering in Israel for a minimum of two weeks, if possible, partly because it takes time to acclimate to the time difference. This commitment also allows a volunteer to develop a routine, learn the area, and determine the needs. “Otherwise, you’re doing sympathy tourism.”

Norman Goldin agrees. “Don’t simply go on a bus, take a look, and leave. Do what Israelis of all walks of life are doing now, in whatever capacity will help…. whether it’s cooking or getting your hands dirty in the agricultural arena.”

Before they left for Israel, Mor asked what they should bring to soldiers as a gift. He was told headsets/hats with a light and wifi. They ordered and delivered 170 such hats as requested, giving many to the soldiers in the three hospitals they visited.

“We have seen the needs in communities,” says Mor, and they range from ovens to prepare meals to ping-pong tables in the community centers.

“People are in need,” he says. “This is the time to help our bothers and sisters in Israel.”

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Eitan Mor will speak on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 7 pm at Congregation Beth El about the trip, current needs, and future plans. His presentation, A Journey of Support and Strength is open to the community. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP to ada@bethelnorfolk.com.

Empty Shabbat table for the hostages in central Tel Aviv.

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jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 9

JEWISH TIDEWATER

FIRST PERSON

Vergie McCall brought us together to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King O

“When Mary died last October, so many bat mitzvahed in leaders during Jewish people made donations in her 2012. his too short life n Martin Luther King Day, Vergie honor to synagogues and their sister“I really (1929-1968). Why? McCall was in her element, hoods. It was wonderful.” fell in love with Because we are her not just singing a spiritual to Married and later divorced in 1983, the Jewish faith Jewish mishpacha. residents of Maimonides Health Center McCall has two grown sons living out of because of the “I converted in (formerly Beth Sholom Village), where the area (Richmond, Va. and Harrisburg, connections with 2011,” says McCall, she is a longtime volunteer, but leading a Pa.). She worked in radiology in Philly and Christianity like “nine years after I program with three “other” Jews. as a trainer at CBN in Virginia Beach. baptism whose placed my aunt at Yes, the 76-year-old African American “We have come a long way but still roots were from Beth Sholom and was joined in the social hall by yours truly have a long way to go,” she told the MLK the mikveh began helping with (a former synagogue president), Ron Koas, Day audience, that included, ironically, (ritual bath),” daily religious the rabbi at Congregation Beth El, and Betty Harris, the first black teacher at McCall says, services, starting Elihu Flax, once the cantor at Temple Israel Vergie McCall with her parents and a friend.

Gatewood. Another African American who grew up in with Christian and later religious director at Beth Sholom. resident, Navy vet Duane Williams, Berkley, once one of Norfolk’s most Jewish ones, and then studying with Rabbi Archie McCall asked us to speak about Dr. King, recalled bigotry against his parents who neighborhoods. “I also spent a lot of time Ruberg and others about Judaism.” She was his history, and relationships with Jewish had emigrated to Norfolk from Trinidad as a child in a very Jewish community in and Tobago. “We had trouble finding a Philadelphia, and it had such an impact place to live here because of our color.” At on me that my friends used to say, ‘Vergie, the King Commemoration, Williams read you ARE Jewish’.” The closest elementary aloud a poem by Langston Hughes called school to her in Norfolk was Gatewood, I Too, about being dismissed “from the but she (who would later graduate from table,” an indignity that the author said Booker T. Washington High School) could must end. not go there. “It was the white school, so “Besides, we had to walk They’ll see about three how beautiful I miles to Lincoln am Elementary.”

And be McCall ashamed— speaks openly I, too, am about all she America.” and her family For Vergie endured. “I McCall, religion heard lots of has truly defined stories about her life. She how my grandRabbi Ron Koas, Cantor Elihu Flax, and Vergie McCall. learned to sing parents worked at Mt. Zion AME Church on Filbert Street so hard picking cotton and tying up in Norfolk and was ordained as a minister tobacco leaves.” And she recalls how there in 1996, later conducting Christian some of her Berkley neighbors moved to weddings, at times inserting rituals from white Norview in Norfolk, only to have Norfolk Virginia Beach Jewish ones. That interfaith experience was their houses bombed or crosses burned 220 W. Brambleton 1547 Laskin Road 757-622-0200 757-425-0200 on full display as we celebrated Dr. King, on their lawns. At the same time, she who would certainly have been proud of remembers Jewish retailers like Crockin www.GilbertEyecare.com how she brought us together this day. “My Levy as the only ones that would give journey has been so exciting,” she says. It’s blacks credit. Her sister, Mary, married Monday–Friday 8:00am–5:00pm such a joy for me to be along for the ride.” a Jewish school teacher named Becker.

Joel Rubin

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10 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

JEWISH TIDEWATER

FIRST PERSON

Family Shabbat Experience was a hit at Ohef Sholom

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Joel Rubin don’t “belong” to Ohef Sholom Temple, but on Saturday, Jan. 27, I felt as if I did.

My friend, Paul Terkeltaub, invited me to attend Ohef’s first “Family Shabbat Experience” and to bring my son, daughter-in-law, and their two sons (ages 8 and 5), promising a morning service unlike any other in the region. The shul on Stockley Gardens did not disappoint.

I have long admired the dynamic duo of Rabbi Roz Mandelberg and Cantor Jen Rueben. This day, Cantor Jen barely put down her guitar, bringing traditional melodies alive and introducing contemporary ones, like a number from the Prince of Egypt and another about freedom that celebrated Nachshon, a figure from Exodus who courageously stepped into the Red Sea, just before God parted it.

Rather than call eight people up to chant aliyot and a haftorah, the rabbi and cantor and two volunteers simply held up the scroll, allowing all of us to see the Song of the Sea and the way the Hebrew text seemed to resemble water and waves. “Us” included many young moms and dads and their offspring, some engaged in what emanated from the bimah, others in their parents’ arms, but not for very long.

With the proceedings shortened (based on Conservative standards) by eliminating a formal sermon and certain prayers like Musaf, we were done in about 60 minutes, rising after a communal mourners’ kaddish to walk from Sinai Chapel to Kaufman Hall for a tasty lunch featuring fried eggplant, pasta, sauce, salad, and cookies – a feast for all ages.

I told Cantor Jen (whose Cantorial School thesis was “Music and Jewish Identity Formation in Children”) and Rabbi Roz (plus Paul and wife, Marcy, who sponsored the day) that they had created an “experience” that was lively, spiritual, engaging, and ought to be replicated, here and elsewhere, if the goal is to appeal to our kids and grandkids. And although I do not mean to disparage any other synagogue’s Sabbath service, I would surely come to this one again. And so can you, because Ohef put the welcome mat out to the entire community. Other families besides mine were there from other temples or no temple at all.

A Reform synagogue, Friday evening is Ohef Sholom’s typical big weekly draw.

Good for them, though, for recognizing that they can do Shabbat morning well, too.

The next Family Sabbath Experience will be May 18. Please come.

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JEWISH TIDEWATER

Beth Sholom Village’s Biennial Meeting marks milestone in vision for future Amy Weinstein eth Sholom Village hosted its biennial meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 16, setting the stage for the organization’s transformative journey in healthcare for Jewish seniors in Hampton Roads. The event celebrated the non-profit’s rich history, as well as marked a significant step forward with a re-branding effort, new strategic vision, and installation of new board members and executive committee.

The atmosphere at the event was nothing short of inspiring with stakeholders, community leaders, and supporters gathered to celebrate the past successes of Beth Sholom Village – including the recent sale of the College Park campus, previous home of the organization for more than 40 years.

Larry Siegel, immediate past chairman of the board, said, “Beth Sholom Village was in a position to even consider this move because of the innumerable people and organizations who have sustained us Beth Sholom Village Board of Directors, 2024-2025. throughout our journey.” Siegel thanked decades of supporters and emphasized the importance of the endowment and Foundation in charting Beth Sholom Village’s future.

One of the meeting’s highlights was the introduction of an updated Strategic Vision, as well as new projects that underscore Beth Sholom Village’s dedication to providing cutting-edge and comprehensive healthcare solutions. These initiatives, including the upcoming Aviva Pembroke community and co-managing the Dozoretz Hospice House with Westminster Canterbury, reflect BSV’s commitment to excellence and demonstrate a proactive approach to addressing the challenges and opportunities of the future.

David Abraham, president & CEO, remarked, “The points of this Jewish star serve as our compass. The projects and programs that we seek, that we develop, that we embark on, will tie back to these focal points – at least one, if not two or three in most cases. This is our guidebook to ensure we are meeting our goals of Delivering More Care to More Seniors over More Years.”

The re-branding and new logo are part Larry Siegel, immediate past chairman; David Abraham, president & CEO; Jay Kossman, chairman. of a broader plan that positions Beth Sholom Village as a trailblazer in the evolving landscape of healthcare for seniors in Hampton Roads.

The organization is embracing a forward-thinking approach to meet the evolving needs of the community over the next 40 years. In this new look, the golden hues represent generosity and compassion, symbolizing the community’s generosity and continued compassion for seniors.

The dark blue signifies a deep commitment to Jewish values and traditions. Though not obvious at first glance, the flower is an abstract Star of David, representing the evolution of Beth

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ISRAEL TIDEWATER Sholom Village growing toward the future.

The sense of community and unity at the event was palpable, with participants expressing enthusiasm for the positive changes ahead.

Jay Kossman, newly installed chairman of the board said, “This is the dawning of a new era for Beth Sholom Village. With the sale of the Berger Goldrich and Terrace facilities in College Park, we are entering a period of innovation, collaboration, and opportunity. Our upcoming opening of Aviva Pembroke in the fall of 2024 will signify a visible transformation and demonstrate how we will be able to deliver more services for more people for more years. I am proud to be a part of this exciting journey helping Beth Sholom Village chart its new course.”

The successful biennial meeting celebrated the past and laid a solid foundation for a future characterized by innovation, compassion, and a steadfast dedication to the well-being of the community’s seniors.

Beth Sholom Village Board of Directors • Jay Kossman, Chairman of the Board • Fay Silverman, 1st Vice Chair • Mark Delevie, 2nd Vice Chair • Jason Hoffman, 3rd Vice Chair • Matthew Weinstein, Secretary • Robert Zuckerman, Treasurer • Larry Siegel, Immediate Past Chairman • Edie Schlain, Auxiliary President • Nathan Drory, Terrace President Returning Board Members • Josh Adler • Abby Friedman • Pam Guthrie • Nancy Loewenberg • Mary Prendergast • Sara Jo Rubin • Chris Sisler • Lawrence Steingold New Board Members • Anne Kramer • Joel Nied New Honorary Life Board Member • Robert Lansing

The Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus of the Tidewater Jewish Community is celebrating 20 years!

To commemorate this milestone 20th anniversary, Jewish News is planning a special section in the May 13 issue.

We invite you to share your personal stories, memories, and photos of being on the Sandler Family Campus since 2004.

Think about all the reasons that brought you and your family to the Sandler Family Campus. . . Camp JCC, Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, community events, speakers, athletic leagues, swim team, bar and bat mitzvah parties, Yom Ha’Atzmaut. . . and share them with Jewish News readers!

Send memories and photographs with a contact name and phone number to news@ujft.org with ‘20th Anniversary’ in the subject line.

Deadline for submission is April 12, 2024.

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JEWISH ARTS & CULTURE TIDEWATER

JELF empowers local students with interest-free loans

Application for the 2024-2025 Academic Year is open through April 30, 2024

T

he sole Jewish organization exclusively focused on college financial aid, the Jewish Educational Loan Fund (JELF), has provided more than $16 million to 5,500 students in the five-state region of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia (excluding metro DC), since 1961. It boasts a remarkable 99% repayment rate.

In 2023, JELF provided 0% interest loans to 438 students, disbursing a total of $2,025,261. Among them, 10 Jewish students from Tidewater received support amounting to $54,915 for their academic pursuits.

As the 2024-25 academic year approaches, JELF invites Jewish students to apply for interest-free loans tailored for higher education, covering college, graduate school, and vocational programs. The application period is open through April 30, 2024.

JELF works with Michelle Walter from Jewish Family Service of Tidewater to aid local Jewish students in achieving their educational aspirations.

Applicants must meet the following criteria to be eligible for a JELF loan: • Permanent resident of FL, GA, SC, NC, and VA (excluding metro DC) • Enrolled full-time in a program leading to a degree or certificate.

•U .S. citizen or have lawful immigration status.

• In good academic standing.

• Able to provide a co-signer that resides in the U.S. • Planning to accept federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans.

JELF’s interest-free loans cover educational and living expenses often overlooked by traditional financial aid, including travel, rent, food, and books. By offering 0% interest loans, JELF saves borrowers thousands of dollars annually, alleviating the burden of high-interest student loan debt that affects 45 million Americans.

The unique strength of JELF’s “free loan” model lies in its sustainability. Repaid funds continue to serve the next generation of students, forming a cycle of support.

While former recipients pay back their loans, community donors remain essential to meeting the challenges of rising tuition and inflation.

For more information about JELF and to support its mission, visit jelf.org, email info@jelf.org, or call 770-396-3080.

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Local Relationships Matter

YOUR DOLLARS AT WORK

Birthright trippers find visiting Israel during war is a unique and invigorating experience Elana Sztokman When Alon Fishman visited Israel in early January on a group trip, it wasn’t his first time in the country. But Fishman, 23, had never seen Israel like this before.

When his Birthright Israel group arrived at the Western Wall, they found it uncharacteristically empty, and the plaza featured a new memorial with the names of the 1,200 victims of the Oct. 7 attack. For Fishman, a native of Rockland County, NY, the muted visit was a poignant reflection of the times — and a powerful emotional experience.

“It was a blessing to have that space and time to reflect, and an opportunity I may never get again,” Fishman says of the experience of visiting Israel in wartime.

“It made me understand not only how hard we got hit but also how we face these things, how we are still standing and come out ahead.”

Many participants traveling to Israel on Birthright Israel trips these days say the experience is unique and affirming at a time when many Jews around the world feel at a loss for how to respond to the atrocities of Oct. 7 and public displays of anti-Israel sentiment in their communities.

In Israel, they say, they feel safe, embraced and a sense of belonging being around Israelis and fellow Jews.

“The friendships I made — it’s nothing I’ve ever felt before,” says Noah Solomon, 25, from Boca Raton, Florida.

“The amount of Israelis who I met who now say ‘You are my brother for life, my friend for life, come to my house for Shabbat’ — it’s incredible.”

More than 400 Jews visited Israel in January on Birthright, which offers free 10-day Israel trips to Jews ages 18-26.

Participants came from the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, France, and Russia.

When Gillian Zitrin, a 21-year-old Skidmore College senior from New York’s Westchester County, told friends she was going to Israel, many of them expressed

surprise.

“There was a lot of concern from people — like, there’s a war happening, don’t go,” Zitrin says. “But I felt very safe and had such an amazing experience. I’m glad I didn’t listen to those people.”

Since November, more than 1,200 Birthright Israel alumni have come to Israel to volunteer in the country. Seeing their enthusiasm as well as hundreds of new Birthright Israel participants come on the 10-day trip has been extraordinary and heartwarming, said Noa Bauer, Birthright Israel’s vice president of marketing.

She adds, “Some may be concerned with safety or that they will miss the ‘real’ Birthright Israel experience, but I want to assure them that safety is our top priority and we will not compromise on anyone’s gift of their free trip to Israel.”

Birthright’s current trips include all the typical highlights of the organization’s tours, including visits to popular sites and encounters with Israelis, but they also offer opportunities for participants to volunteer, bear witness to what happened on Oct. 7 and go beyond the headlines to learn about what’s happening on the ground in Israel.

Participants visit Tel Aviv’s “Hostage Square” to learn about Israel’s captives in Gaza and spend time volunteering on farms. They also hike Masada, swim in the Dead Sea, eat their way through shuks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, sleep in Bedouin tents and visit national sites like Yad Vashem. They currently do not spend time near the border conflict zones or in the Golan Heights.

Birthright Israel is booking trips now for the spring and summer both for traditional 10-day tours for Jews ages 18-26 as well as for volunteer-focused programs for Jews ages 18-40 who want to spend their time volunteering.

“We expect thousands of young Jews to visit Israel this summer,” Bauer says.

Fishman says that visiting Schneider

MEET: Karen Joyner As the Chief Executive Officer at the Peninsula Foodbank, she believes the Foodbank not only distributes food but is also the spokesperson for those who otherwise don’t have a voice.

“There are so many low income individuals who haven’t received any benefit from the recovering economy and those who because of their life circumstances need help every now and then. We are there to help ensure their voices are heard.”

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Children’s Hospital, where he learned about how the hospital dealt with the historically unprecedented challenge of caring for children recently released from Hamas captivity, was one of the most meaningful moments of his January trip.

Zitrin says her trip helped equip her to better deal with challenges of being a representative of the Jewish community at home, especially on her college campus.

“The trip changed me,” she says. “I now connect more with Israel and understand the importance of Israel and I feel like I can now advocate in my community.”

Solomon says the trip made him reflect

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on his Jewish observance in a way he had never before considered. Solomon grew up in a religious household but stopped practicing as an adult. After spending Shabbat on a kibbutz during the trip, he says, he realized for the first time that Shabbat is not about restrictions but about connecting with community.

“I feel so much lighter. I can genuinely say that I enjoy Shabbat,” Solomon says. “I tell everyone I know that they have to visit.”

––––––––––––––––––––––––– Birthright Israel is a recipient of funds from United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

jewishnewsva.org jewishnewsva.org | May 1, |2023 February | Israel 12,@2024 75 | JEWISH NEWS | 15

JEWISH TIDEWATER

JFS CONTINUES MEAL DELIVERY PROGRAM WITH NEW PARTNER J

John Trant and Jody Laibstain.

16 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

Kelly Burroughs and Jody Laibstain ewish Family Service’s Home Delivered Meals program is a continuum of the organization’s food service programs. Geared to older and disabled adults throughout Virginia Beach who qualify, a steadfast group of volunteers has been supporting the delivery of these meals for years. Sometimes, the delivery volunteer is the only friendly visitor the client has all week.

For years, JFS contracted with Beth Sholom Village to prepare the meals. When Beth Sholom sold the former College Park Campus, they endeavored to continue the meal preparation through the new vendor, Maimonides.

According to BSV’s David Abraham, the costs of the service began to outweigh the amount of reimbursement, and the program was discontinued through Beth Sholom and Maimonides.

JFS, however, chose to continue to provide Home

Delivered Meals and sought a new vendor, selecting The Neighborhood Harvest for a new partnership.

“The JFS Home Delivered Meals Program makes such a positive impact on so many people in our community and is just one of the many areas that JFS is committed to in caring for others,” says John Stein of the Neighborhood Harvest.

“The Neighborhood Harvest is thrilled about partnering with JFS to provide chef-prepared and nutritionist-approved healthy meals, hand-made locally with fresh ingredients right here in Virginia Beach. With a focus on nutrition, we are very excited about this opportunity to serve alongside JFS!” he says.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– JFS receives funding from a grant by Senior Services of Southeast Virginia, individual contributions, and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater to help support the Home Delivered Meals Program.

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jewishnewsva.org jewishnewsva.org | May 1, |2023 February | Israel 12,@2024 75 | JEWISH NEWS | 17

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18 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

jewishnewsva.org jewishnewsva.org | May 1, |2023 February | Israel 12,@2024 75 | JEWISH NEWS | 19

Food & Romance Dear Read ers, R I S TOR A N T E I N S P I R E D

B Y

I TA LY

A quick internet search for “food and romance” turns up seemingly countless films, books, places to dine, gift ideas, and recipes. Clearly, there’s no shortage of ways to make the connection between the two.

And we’re doing the same with this special section.

To make the point, Stephanie Peck asked several couples of varied ages to recall their first “date meal.” Their responses are fun and sentimental, and readers might even feel the start of a romance. Do you remember your first meal together as a couple? This collection starts on page 21.

Although Alene Jo and Ron Kaufman probably recall their first meal together (we didn’t ask them), for this section they write about going through the emotional and meaningful experience of planning for the financial future of their family and of Jewish Tidewater with Tidewater Jewish Foundation. Their article is on page 29.

For last month’s Shabbat of Love, a 35-foot-long challah was braided, baked, and presented at a congregation in New York’s Upper West Side with hopes of making it into the Guinness World Records. The challah’s story – which involved two states, two bakeries, lots of hands, and an 18-wheeler – can be found on page 28.

The article on page 24 about Israelis determined to find their match while a war is taking place highlights both a desire for love and a positive attitude that life will, in fact, return to normal.

It’s difficult to have romance without a heart, and since February is Heart Month, we asked Tom Purcell, Simon Family JCC’s Wellnes Director, to offer some heart-healthy advice. Page 26.

However you find and express romance, choose your menu, and keep your heart healthy, all of us at Jewish News wish you lots of good tastes and love.

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Terri Denison Editor

Food & Romance

FIRST DATES, FIRST MEALS

W

hile not every first date is centered around a meal, most involve some sort of dining, even if it’s not fancy fare or a sit-down meal. When Jewish News asked these couples to share their first dining experiences together, one unexpected result was that the settings ranged from shorts to black-tie.

No matter the circumstances or what was on the menu, the dates must’ve all received a five-star rating.

Lindsay and Ross Bangel (as told by Lindsay)

O

ur first dinner together was in Norfolk in December 2010. I was home for Christmas break, and Ross asked if he could take me to dinner at Luna Maya. I had never been there, but he knew what to order. I just couldn’t believe how good the food was – and as I am complimenting every bite, he’s smiling and laughing at me, because it’s no secret, I love food. We love food.

This night was beyond special, because I knew this night, I had a guy that is not only going to be my forever eating partner – he is someone I can be myself around and vice versa. He has always brought out the best in me, and I feel this dinner made us realize how similar our childhoods, family, morals, and values were. It was the beginning of a future we were beyond excited to explore.

Luna Maya will forever and always dance on our stage of memories!

Carol and David Hirschler (as told by David)

O

ur first date, when we went out to eat, was in April in Lexington, Kentucky. We went to Wings Teahouse for dinner. We had egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken, and beef and broccoli.

And, of course, fortune cookies.

Terri and Steve Budman (as told by Steve)

M

y first date with Terri was at a family wedding for Audrey Aleck and Scott Koltun on Memorial Day weekend in 1994. More than what we ate, what I remember was walking into Congregation Beth El and being scrutinized by her elegant pair of elderly aunts. They smiled and let me pass with Terri, so I guess that was approval.

Catered by Ruby Swartzchild, the spread was gracious and generous with steak and salmon, lots of vegetables, and four or five desserts. (I was hooked!)

After some spirited dancing, a cousin of Terri’s approached and asked, “How long have you been dating?” Terri and I both looked at our watches and said, “Oh, about a couple of hours.”

Ronnie and Marcus Friedman (as told by Marcus)

W

e remember the first date vividly. . . June 13, 1958. We went to the Ocean View Amusement Park to ride the roller coaster and everything else that moved.

The meal was cotton candy!

It was warm, but not hot, which made dashing from the Ferris Wheel to the Merry-GoRound fun. I grabbed her hand. . .a bold move on my part! jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 21

Food & Romance Amy and Mark Metzger (as told by Amy)

O Jody and David Laibstain (as told by Jody)

D

avid and I had our first date on January 5, 1991. It was a blind date.

He took me to Shine Shine Palace at Waterside. I definitely remember what we ate. He suggested ordering the whole fish; it was fun taking it apart and sharing it as part of our first date.

It was also delicious.

When I recently asked him why he ordered the fish, he said he had it before and wanted to share it. I think he wanted to impress me!

22 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

ur first meal together is hard to quantify after all these years. We were friends for nearly a decade before we officially dated, and we shared many dinner parties with our group of friends.

Our first “date” meal together would have been around the summer of 2009 at the Polaris restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. It was especially memorable as it is a revolving rooftop restaurant and Mark had made the reservation well in advance to surprise me!

Food & Romance Shikma and Danny Rubin (as told by Danny)

S Lisa and Howard Roesen (as told by Lisa)

I

t was the summer of 1993. I was living in the D.C. area and just got back from a singles mission to Israel. A girl named Marcy was on my trip, and we became fast friends. She grew up in Newport News, and one of her best friends was a guy named Howard. She thought Howard and I would make a great couple. He had just finished his podiatric residency program and was living in Virginia Beach.

Marcy convinced me to meet her in Dewey Beach, Delaware for the weekend to celebrate her birthday and meet Howard. Howard and I literally met on the beach in our bathing suits! Later that evening, we hung out at the bars with our friends. At the end of the night, while walking me back to the place I was staying, we stopped at Grotto’s Pizza, sat on the curb, and shared a pie.

Thirty years later, whenever we are on the Eastern Shore heading north, we always stop at Grotto’s. It’s a special place to us….and they have great pizza too!

hikma and I met for the first time on a blind date in April 2010.

We were set up by Dana Rosen, a longtime family friend.

We met at Gordon Biersch at Town Center (today that location is Three Notch'd Brewery). I did not know what Shikma looked like. Truly, it was a blind date.

I'm pretty sure we just had drinks and not a full meal.

The first date led to a second...and a third... and now we've been married 11 years and have two kids!

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jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 23

Food & Romance ‘I want to get married before a rocket lands on my head’: War has amped up Israel’s passion for matchmaking Deborah Danan (JTA) — Katie Silver had already mastered volunteering and racing to safe rooms when she hopped on another Israeli wartime trend. Silver, a pilates instructor in Jerusalem, logged onto a Facebook group called Secret Tel Aviv and announced that she was looking for love.

Like many single 30-somethings, Silver had tried dating apps but felt burned out. But she saw something different in what was happening in the Secret Tel Aviv group, where diverse residents of Israel’s hippest city — and, increasingly, others from elsewhere in the country — were furiously posting their personal details and romantic ambitions.

In the flood of beach photos and biographies, she detected a national mood that matched her own.

“There’s a sense of urgency of creating togetherness, family, community, and bringing more good people into the world with good values … not to let evil win out,” Silver says. “To celebrate life and have joy and simcha and weddings and bar mitzvahs and, of course, to make more Jewish babies so the population numbers can go back up.”

She adds, “Plus, I want to get married before a rocket lands on my head.”

According to Secret Tel Aviv’s administrator, Jonny Stark, the matchmaking trend began in the first weeks of the war amid daily rocket fire, with posts from people seeking to find “the one to run to the bomb shelter with.”

Those soon morphed into more general personal ads, which peaked in December but have continued since, increasingly with humorous twists on the theme.

Hundreds of posts seeking partners poured into the group. Posters include new members like Liat Admati MacKie from Be’eri, one of the “envelope” communities near Gaza that was hardest hit on Oct. 7, and veteran members like Ben Raul Maizel, whose humorous post racked up more than 4,000 likes. Maizel’s post reads: “I want to take my girlfriend to a B&B in the north. Can anyone recommend a girlfriend?”

“People are looking for connection,” Stark says. “I’m super happy about it. The goal of Secret Tel Aviv is to help people connect and this is a great example of it happening.”

The Facebook group is hardly the only example of wartime matchmaking on overdrive. In the days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, as soldiers massed on the border with 24 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

Gaza, pictures of soldiers flexing their “miluim mustaches” — using the Hebrew word for reserve duty — punctured the somber mood. Some noted that they were single and would be available once they were released from duty.

Just a few days into the ground war, an Orthodox influencer who had been called up posted that his unit received, among the letters of support from people at home and abroad, a note from a young woman who was

looking for love.

The woman shared that Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, an influential Hasidic rabbi from the early 19th century, taught that wars “are about moving people around so that single people can find each other.” The message may be apocryphal, but it left a mark on the unit and later that night, they tried to connect the woman with a friend in the army, Arky Staiman, said on Instagram.

“It didn’t end up working out, but the message was very interesting,” Staiman says, before issuing a charge to his followers to each identify three people to set up after the war. “There are girls and guys, single people, who are alone right now alone in Israel, alone throughout the world. It’s probably very scary. And I think that this is a perfect opportunity to try and set them up.”

Actress Maya Wertheimer, one of Israel’s most widely followed social media influencers, has peppered her accounts with singles ads since the beginning of the war.

She has used her Instagram platform to showcase soldiers who are looking for love, sharing their basic details along with pictures of the men in and out of uniform — often submitted by their sisters and friends.

Other influencers, including the American-Israelis

Kerry Bar-Cohn, a dancer with almost 30,000 Instagram followers, and Aleeza Ben Shalom, the celebrity matchmaker, have sought to highlight soldiers who are single, as well as comfort the love-lorn.

“These guys, our soldiers, who are out there and they are fighting — a lot of them are single. And when they come back, we’ve got male and female soldiers and they are looking for soulmates,” Ben Shalom told her followers in December. “So, if you are looking for your soulmate, it just might be a soldier, so hang in there, they are going to take care of everything and then they’re going to come back and marry you.”

And in New York City, an Orthodox synagogue launched a matchmaking initiative in response to the war in November. Hundreds of people signed up within days, and at least a few relationships have started.

“Everyone’s trying to figure out what to do from here,” Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt, the congregation’s co-founder and rebbetzin, told the New York Jewish Week at the time. “I felt very much that the best way to respond to darkness and death is to bring in more light and more love and to bring people joy. Traditionally, that is the Jewish response to catastrophe.”

Stark understands the impulse to find a partner well.

One of the reasons he founded Secret Tel Aviv — where anything from parking places (or the lack thereof) to the best ramen in the city is discussed — was to find a partner. He ultimately found one elsewhere and now has two children — but his group has taken on a life of its own since its launch in 2010. It has exploded to nearly half a million members — exceeding the size of Tel Aviv’s entire population — and at one point even counted Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg among them. The potential for pairing up is huge.

Stark says he knows about at least three couples who met and married through posts on Secret Tel Aviv. While it may be too early to tell if this round of posts had yet had the desired effect, he is trying to stack the deck in their favor: Secret Tel Aviv has partnered with DateNight, a platform that hosts online speed dating nights, and recently attracted more than 150 people to one event.

Members of the Facebook group have reported wide-ranging experiences. Noa Salant, 40, says she had

& gotten direct messages only from “some perverts and a married man.” Shlomit Pery, 65, says she had been bombarded with responses to her post, one of the most-liked in the group — but mostly from people who say they were impressed that she had the courage to put herself out there at her age.

In a Hebrew-language post, Silver, who immigrated to Jerusalem from London in 2012, included a brief biography and several photos of herself. She said she was only searching for a serious relationship before ending the post quipping: “I hope you all find ‘the one’ so that this group can return to being a place to advertise apartments instead of ourselves.”

She says she was so overwhelmed with offers of dates that she had to turn off her phone — and when she finally went on a few, she didn’t find a lasting match.

“It hasn’t led to love — yet — but it’s been eye opening,” Silver says. “It’s also allowed me to be much more honest about what I’m looking for. It removed the stigma. You’re no longer too proud or too embarrassed to put yourself out there because you sort of see that we’re all in the same boat, looking for love.”

Some group members have lambasted the trend, charging that it distracts from the original purpose of Secret Tel Aviv or is even a catfishing effort by Hamas to collect information about Israelis.

But others say simply watching the posts unfold has kept them connected to others at a challenging time. Limor Stika, who did not put up a post herself but who commented on several others’, says it made sense that the war was bringing the trend to the fore.

“In times of crisis and wars, people want support and love, comfort,” Stika says. “Someone to hug and vent to.”

Recently, Wertheimer posted news of a success story. “I must tell you that because of you I got to know my partner of the last three months,” read a note she posted on. “I thank you very much.

There’s no doubt that he is the best match for me in the world.”

The note came with five heart emojis and a comment from Wertheimer: “Yalla, friends, we’ve waited long enough!”

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jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 25

Food & Romance

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Hilltop North Shopping Center 757-422-0888 · kitchenbarnonline.com 26 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

February is Heart Month: Tune it up!

Tom Purcell he heart is the engine that circulates oxygen throughout the blood stream to keep the body vital. A continuous engine, the heart can run for more than 100 years without stopping. With an electrical current that’s not plugged into a wall, the heart is a self-contained energy source of complex cells.

When working efficiently, the heart will beat on average between 60 and 90 beats per minute.

This constantly working engine supplies the blood’s oxygen through the body via vessels and arteries – very similar to a car’s engine moving fluid (gas and oil) throughout the vehicle so it can run.

For someone who lives to be 80 years old with an average heart rate of 80 beats per minute, the heart would beat more than 3.3 billion times! Cardiovascular exercise can help maintain the involuntary muscles of the heart so it can continue with a strong stroke volume to produce the strength necessary to regulate oxygen for life. While a car is taken for a tune up every three months or 3,000 miles Tom Purcell to operate properly, cardiovascular exercise should be conducted weekly, if not daily, for the heart/engine to perform at a high level.

So, take a walk, go for a swim, or join a gym to “tune up" your heart “engine” today to ensure a smooth ride traveling through life.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Tom Purcell is Simon Family JCC’s wellness/fitness director. He may be reached at tpurcell@simonfamilyjcc.org.

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Food & Romance Michael Solomonov’s famous Zahav hummus now available at Whole Foods — with kosher certification

( JTA) — Israeli-American celebrity chef Michael Solomonov’s renowned hummus has only been available in his Philadelphia and New York City restaurants — until now.

Hummus, using the recipe from Zahav, Solomonov’s flagship Philadelphia restaurant, is now available at more than 150 Whole Foods stores. The packaged hummus, like that at Zahav, doesn’t use oil — just a lot of tahini. Unlike the hummus at Zahav, however, it is certified kosher, bringing the recipe to a new cohort of customers.

The Whole Foods expansion comes at a tense time for Israeli food, with fights spurred by the Israel-Hamas war that have ensnared both hummus and Solomonov in multiple ways.

In December, one of the James Beard Award-winning chef’s kosher falafel restaurants, Goldie, was targeted by pro-Palestinian activists in Philadelphia.

Protesters chanted, “Goldie, Goldie, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”

Protest organizers said they were targeting the restaurant over its $100,000 donation to the Israeli emergency medical organization United Hatzalah. Their critics, who included Jewish leaders in

Philadelphia, said the protest inappropriately targeted an Israeli over the actions of the Israeli government.

A fracture in Solomonov’s longtime friendship with the Palestinian chef Reem Kassis had already become public. Kassis, who also lives in Philadelphia, told the New York Times that she and Solomonov were no longer speaking several weeks into Israel’s war in Gaza.

“My experience of late has confirmed for me that food diplomacy does not work and that you cannot solve problems like the Israeli occupation of Palestine over the proverbial plate of hummus,” Kassis told the newspaper. (Solomonov did not comment for the story.)

And Sabra-brand hummus products were reportedly vandalized in suburban Philadelphia supermarkets in December, with stickers advising shoppers to boycott Israeli products placed on their packages.

The vandalism came amid renewed allegations that Israel has culturally appropriated hummus and other foods that are Palestinian in origin — including in a 1,000-signatory petition by food industry professionals.

For Solomonov, hummus is personal.

He decided to focus his culinary career on Israeli and Jewish food after his brother was killed while serving in the Israeli army. David Solomonov volunteered to swap shifts with another soldier who wanted to attend synagogue on Yom Kippur in 2003; he was shot to death by a sniper.

Solomonov co-founded Zahav, the restaurant known for its hummus, salads, and skewers, with entrepreneur Steve Cook in 2008. They are the coowners of CookNSolo Group, which also owns Goldie, Laser Wolf, Merkaz, and K’Far.

While Zahav is not kosher-certified, the restaurant does not mix meat and dairy and does not serve pork or shellfish, in keeping with traditional Jewish dietary customs. Its hummus is one of its specialties.

“It’s the dish that brings people to the restaurant in the first place,” Solomonov said in a statement on Instagram, of hummus. “And more often than not, it is what brings people back. There’s something transcendent about the perfect bowl of hummus that tells our guests they’re in the right place.”

jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 27

Food & Romance

A 35-foot challah in NYC attempts to break a Guinness World Record in time for Shabbat of Love

JFNA Vladimir Kolenikov

28 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

JFNA Vladimir Kolenikov

JFNA Vladimir Kolenikov

in attendance was Manhattan Borough President Mark easier to measure.

(New York Jewish Week) — New York City kitchens Levine.

Eisenman says she reached out to the Orthodox are notoriously small. Nonetheless, on Friday, Jan. 19, “I was shocked it was edible actually,” Eisenman jokes, Union for help with logistics and they immediately Congregation Rodeph Sholom on the Upper West Side adding that although the bake was “doughy” in parts, jumped on board. unveiled a 35-foot-long challah that they and their partcommunity members of all ages ners hope will break a world record. were excited to dig in.

The gargantuan loaf was made Eisenman says the collaboin collaboration with the Jewish Federations of North America and ration between the Orthodox the Orthodox Union with the aim Union, the non-denominational of besting the current record-holJFNA, and Rodeph Sholom, a historic Reform congregation der: a challah baked in Australia in with many Israeli members, is 2019 that was just over 32 feet. “exactly the kind of unifying The 35-foot challah — braimessage we need right now.” ded in Borough Park and baked in The challah measured 35 feet, New Jersey before being trans2 inches, Eisenman says. JFNA ported to the Reform synagogue and the Orthodox Union sent the — was made in honor of Shabbat measurements and video evidence of Love, a JFNA initiative that to the Guinness World Records. took place on Jan. 19 across North If Guinness accepts the America. JFNA, OneTable, the measurements, the challah would Orthodox Union, and 250 other break — by several feet — the partner organizations helped Jews The 35-foot-long challah was baked in a tunnel oven at David's Cookies in New Jersey. It was then loaded onto a wooden plank and current record set by Grandma organize and host thousands of transported to the Upper West Side where it was unveiled at a day school's Shabbat assembly. ( JFNA/Vladimir Kolesnikov) Moses Bakery and the Jewish Shabbat dinners.

National Fund chapter in New South Wales, Australia.

“We came up with the idea of doing the Shabbat of “They said, ‘Let’s do it,’” she says. “Without the OU, -The New York-based groups also baked a backup Love to uplift people and to communicate the idea that we wouldn’t have been able to do it, because they knew challah that turned out even longer than the challah you’re loved for who you are and you’re loved for being who to call right away.” that was unveiled on Jan. 19 — Eisenman says it meaJewish, as opposed to a lot of the messages that I think That call was to Strauss Bakery, a kosher bakery in people are absorbing right now from social media,” says Borough Park, Brooklyn, who pitched in by creating the sured roughly 35 feet, 11 inches but, as it happens, was Sarah Eisenman, the chief officer of community and dough. Said dough weighed in at more than 200 pounds Jewish life at JFNA, who spearheaded the initiative alongand was mixed and braided at the bakery on Thursday night, Jan. 18. side the challah-baking effort.

Braiding a 35-foot challah is one thing; baking As for the challah, “I was thinking about what we it is another story. The unbaked challah was then could do that was a record-breaking, feel-good, prideful loaded onto an 18-wheeler truck and driven across thing,” Eisenman says. She had thought about trying to state lines to a kosher commercial kitchen in New break a record for the world’s largest Shabbat dinner but Jersey operated by David’s Cookies, which has a realized that the challah would be less complicated and 40-foot long tunnel oven — one of the only places in the tri-state area that can fit a challah of that size, according to Eisenman.

Once the challah was baked Thursday night, it was loaded back on the truck and transported to Congregation Rodeph Sholom, where Eisenman’s children go to school.

There, a crowd of dozens of volunteers showed up to help too long to fit on the wooden planks that transported unload the oversized challah. Some spontaneously broke it from the bakery to the truck. The back-up challah out into song, singing Am Yisrael Chai (The People of Israel remained in New Jersey, where it was cut up into a Live) as they maneuvered the challah into the building. dozen three-foot long chunks and donated to all the Come Friday morning, the challah was finally Moishe Houses in New York City, where the communal revealed at an all-school Shabbat assembly for Rodeph residences, designed for Jewish 20-somethings, were Sholom Day School students and their families. Also hosting their own Shabbat of Love dinners.

Food & Romance FIR S T PER SON

Challenges to charity: Alene and Ron Kaufman give with TJF Alene Jo Kaufman arriage has its ups and downs, challenges and stability, joy and sadness, romantic moments, and “just everyday” happenings. We often simply react and respond to what is happe-

M

Ron and Alene Jo Kaufman at their wedding.

ning around us. Sometimes, however, we are intentional – when we purposely start a process. Planning for the future – when we are alive and when we are not – certainly counts as one of those intentional times.

My husband, Ron, and I are celebrating our 49th anniversary this month. A few years ago, we worked with an attorney and financial advisor to draft the documents we would need for the upcoming years. It was an emotional and meaningful experience.

Looking back, we acknowledged those early days in our marriage during the unemployment crisis of the 70s – the situation that impacted our move to Virginia. We reminisced about the arrival

of our children and grandchildren and thought about the joy and celebrations of our family’s life. It was a time for warm fuzzies when we reflected on where we are today and how we got here when we appreciated how lucky we are. It was an intentional and intense experience as we looked at the values we each brought into our marriage and how those moral and ethical principles shaped and impacted the decisions we made in our lives as individuals and as a married couple.

Ron and I feel very lucky to have ended up in this community.

We have great friends and belong to a warm and welcoming synagogue (KBH), our spiritual home for almost 40 years. Ron and I held careers and engaged in volunteer opportunities that challenged and changed us. Our children were educated at Hebrew Academy of Tidewater, my professional home for 36 years, and loved growing up in this supportive Jewish community. The Jewish agencies were there when we needed them - HAT educated our sons; Jewish Family Service was at the ready when we needed estate to them for their futures. However, emotional support; UJFT provided partial the organizations that helped us grow and funding when our sons went on their USY trips to Israel. We are so grateful, and we wanted to find a way to show our gratitude.

Our children (and grandchildren), indeed, are the jewels in our crown. At some point, we will no longer be here and have planned Alene and Ron Kaufman in Richmond at Date with the State 2023, on their anniversary. to leave most of our

develop have futures, too. By working with our financial advisor and the professionals at the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, we will be able to ensure that the institutions and agencies who played meaningful roles in our lives will continue to do the same for others. Not only is it our way of saying thank you, but it is a way to show our heirs and our community how much we treasure our Jewish life in Tidewater. I encourage others to do the same.

––––––––––––––––––––––––– For more information about Tidewater Jewish Foundation, contact Naomi Limor Sedek, president and CEO, at nsedek@tjfva.org or 757-965-6109.

jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 29

VIRGINIA

Food & Romance

ARTSFESTIVAL MARCH 7

Glass hearts to relax – straight from Hawaii

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Stephanie Peck arry Gitelson is a Hawaiian Jew. He practices tikkun olam, or kuleana, on a daily basis, to whoever is in need.

A native of Washington, D.C., Gitelson moved from the east coast to Hawaii in 1970 to avoid the Vietnam War. As an anti-war activist with a low-draft number, he changed his name, went “offline,” and worked off the coffee lands for cash.

After his New Jersey-based mother worked with Amnesty International to get all charges of draft avoidance dismissed, Gitelson opened Barry’s Nut Farm, creating a stainedglass sign for his new business after taking one class in this medium.

A mostly self-taught Gitelson now fuses glass into art and jewelry. During the height of COVID, he started perusing the internet for new ideas and noticed that someone had fused glass into small heart shapes. He re-interpreted the design and fused his own small batch of 50 from mismatched glass. Within a few hours of posting these new creations on Facebook, he was completely out of hearts.

Aloha Hearts was born from this experiment, and Gitelson has since given away 6,000 fused hearts.

“Kuleana basically just means responsibility, and I knew that this was one of my purposes, that I had been guided to do this, to help people out this way,” says Gitelson.

He adds that people have carried little stones in their pockets for years, even centuries.

Gitelson describes them as stones that people could rub, when worried, to distract the mind.

During the Lahaina fires on the Hawaiian island of Maui, Gitelson distributed 1,700 glass worry hearts to those injured and displaced.

“Some people think that there are nerve endings in your fingertips that go right to your brain, and that by rubbing this, you’re massaging your brain. And helping you to relax,” he says.

Fifty glass worry hearts are ready for distribution to Israel. Gitelson asks that they go to those who have been affected by the war directly, since there are so few hearts in this delivery from Hawaii to Virginia on their way to Isreal.

While the need for glass worry hearts seems to only increase, Gitelson does find time to laugh and enjoy.

And he signs every email, “Shaloha!”

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30 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

IT’S A WRAP

BRITH SHOLOM HAPPENINGS Rona Proser

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ore than 100 members of Brith Sholom gather at the Simon Family JCC on the first Sunday of each month to enjoy camaraderie, wonderful brunches, interesting speakers, and a variety of entertainment.

The Independent Order of Brith Sholom (Covenant of Peace) was founded in February 1905 in Philadelphia, Pa. Forty-four men realized that existing agencies could not integrate the large influx of immigrants who came to America in the early 20th century due to differences in language, customs, and social norms.

The organization’s primary purpose was to provide sick benefits to the mostly-immigrant poor when they were unable to earn a living or obtain insurance for their families in the event of death. Brith Sholom quickly became involved in civic, social, and charitable activities.

The Norfolk City Lodge was chartered by 16 men in 1915 and became the Brith Sholom Center of Virginia. Today, it boasts more than 250 members.

Since the sale of Beth Sholom Village last year, the group has been enjoying catering by Eitan Altshuler. The main fare continues to be bagels, lox, and eggs, with the addition of a variety of delicious Israeli salads Dr. Bruce Longman helps prepare and serve brunch at a recent and dishes, which have gotten a meeting. thumbs up from members.

Sharon Schloss, a third-generation member, says, “I come for social reasons. The first time I came to a meeting, I saw people that I hadn’t seen in 30 to 40 years; you don’t often see people who go to different temples. The brunches are unbelievable, the entertainment is wonderful, and they have great speakers. I think everyone should join!” That sentiment is echoed by nearly every member.

To start the new year on a happy note, The Doorway Singers performed on January 7. Their salute to the USO, with music from WWII to the Desert Storm era, was a hit. With no additional programming on February 4, there was extra time for brunch and socializing – which vice president, Ray Rebby refers to as a "Feed and Smooze" program. On March 3, one of the group’s all-time favorite musical acts, Fond Memories, will return, as everyone will stroll down (or dance down) memory lane with hits from the 40s, 50s and 60s. More programming and trips are being explored for the spring.

Although best known as a social group, Brith Sholom is also a charitable one. In 2023, it distributed funds to 14 agencies and institutions to further Jewish education in Tidewater. In addition, Brith Sholom conducts annual food drives to benefit the Jewish Family Service Food Pantry.

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For membership information, contact Rhoda Ehrlich at 757-408-8000. For information about the organization or programming, contact LeeAnn Mallory at brith.sholom1@gmail.com.

BBYO bowlers at Pinboys.

BBYO strikes a winner with its bowling event

Simone Nied hirty area Jewish teens attended BBYO’s bowling event at Pinboy’s on Sunday, Feb. 4.

BBYO’s winter kickoff, the event was a perfect program, allowing potential members and newer members to meet older teens.

Both Old Dominion AZA and Simcha BBG chapters led an opening ceremony that included welcoming speeches and introductions from board members. In addition to bowling, there was a team-building activity and icebreaker games to ensure that everyone felt included and comfortable. This provided a mix of friendly competition and collaborative spirit.

The event successfully set the tone for future programs, which will include a variety of activities ranging from community service projects to outdoor adventures.

Tidewater BBYO is included in the larger BBYO network. Approximately 15 Tidewater members are scheduled to attend the International Convention alongside 3,700 other Jewish teens in Orlando, Fla. over Presidents’ Day weekend.

For more information about Tidewater BBYO, contact Evan Gordon at egordon@bbyo.org.

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Simone Nied is a member of Simcha BBG.

Coming soon in Jewish News

March 4 – Mazel Tov (Deadline: Feb. 16) March 18 Camp/Estate Planning (Deadline: Mar. 1) April 8 – Passover (Deadline: Mar. 22) April 22 – Moms/Women (Deadline: Apr. 5) To advertise, call 757-965-6100 or email sgoldberg@ujft.org.

jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 31

VIRGINIA FESTIVAL OF JEWISH FILM

O

ne of the nation’s longest-running Jewish film festivals, the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg, entertains, educates, and engages the Tidewater community by presenting world-class films, repertory cinema, and associated programs that are inspired by Jewish or Israeli history, heritage, and values.

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A Celebration of Israeli Short Film In memory of the victims of October 7 Sunday, February 18 • 2:30 pm Simon Family JCC Sandler Family Campus 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Virginia Beach he Virginia Festival of Jewish Film holds in its thoughts the tragic events of October 7, 2023 when more than 1,200 people were murdered in southern Israel. Additionally, those thoughts extend to the hostages who died in captivity in Gaza and to the members of the IDF who have fallen in the line of duty, defending the people of Israel since the start of the war. In their honor, the Festival presents these four short films.

The Boy was written and directed by filmmaker Yahav Winner, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists while helping his wife and their newborn daughter escape. All of these films, born from the depths of Israeli reality, provide an unfiltered glimpse into what daily life is like in Israel.

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The Boy

Director Yahav Winner z”l • 25 min • Israel • 2023 Hebrew with English subtitles vinoam and Barak, father and son from a kibbutz bordering the Gaza strip, face an approaching war each in their own way. Barak wants to stop everything, and Avinoam wants to stop Barak. One night, when Barak disappears, Avinoam is forced to accept that his child needs help.

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Director Erez Tadmor • 22 min • Israel • 2017 Hebrew with English subtitles s missiles rain down on Tel Aviv, a frustrated Israeli couple faces a series of misadventures after an early morning call from the fertility doctor in this frantic, funny, and surprisefilled Israeli Academy Award winner for Best Short Film.

Thursday, February 22 • 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm Cinema Cafe Kemps River 1220 Fordham Drive, Virginia Beach Director Benny Fredman • 111 min • Israel • 2023 Hebrew, Yiddish with English subtitles

Sirens

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Home

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Asa Turns 13

Director Sali Elimelech • 30 min • Israel • 2017 Hebrew with English subtitles s Asa prepares for his bar mitzvah, he must also cope with his mother’s death. He embarks on a sad and sometimes humorous journey through the neighborhoods of Netivot, a southern Israeli town where his mother's grave, which he has never visited, is waiting for him at the end of the street.

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Dear God

Directors Erez Tadmor and Guy Nattiv • 13 min • Israel 2014 • Hebrew with English subtitles ear God depicts romantic Jerusalem seen through the eyes of Aaron, a guard at the Western Wall.

One day, a beautiful, mysterious woman puts a note between the holy stones and Aaron decides to fulfill her deepest wish.

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young and recently married Orthodox man’s dream to open a computer store in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem turns into a violent nightmare when the entire neighborhood sees him as an existential threat. Turning his entire world upside down, the threat enters his home and puts his marriage to the test as he faces the reality of his own free will within a predetermined world.

VIRGINIA FESTIVAL OF JEWISH FILM –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

THE BIG SATURDAY NIGHT CELEBRATION OF JEWISH FILM Remembering Gene Wilder

Includes a conversation with the film’s director, Ron Frank, followed by a dessert and champagne reception Sponsored by Bank of America –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Saturday, February 24 • 7:30 pm Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art 2200 Parks Avenue, Virginia Beach Director Ron Frank • 92 min • United States • 2023 English

north of New York City that served as a refuge for Jewish immigrants fleeing poverty as well as a lavish playground for affluent Jewish families. Bungalow colony proprietors, guests, waiters, comedians, hoteliers, and beauticians share colorful tales of Catskill farms, boarding houses, and luxury resorts, painting a picture of vibrant American Jewish life and culture in the 20th century.

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SHTTL

Monday, February 26 • 7:15 pm Naro Expanded Cinema 1507 Colley Avenue, Norfolk Director Ady Walter • 109 min • Ukraine • 2023 Yiddish with English subtitles

Thank you to the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film Screening Committee Anne Fleder, chair, Arts + Ideas Beth Scharlop, chair, festival William Laderberg, co-chair, screening Mark Robbins, co-chair, screening Rob Copeland Evalyn Horowitz Scott Levin Amy Levy Neil Rose Judit Roth Gloria Siegel Larry Stein Shelly Stein Herb Zukerman

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Ticket Pricing The BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film: $25 Celebration of Israeli Short Film: Suggested donation of $18 (All funds raised will benefit UJFT’s Israel Emergency Fund) Tickets for all other films: $12

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orn Jerome Silberman to an assimilated Milwaukee Jewish family, his childhood buddies called him Jerry—but the world would come to know him as Gene Wilder. The endearing comic genius starred in an extraordinary string of films, from the timid Leo Bloom in Mel Brooks’ The Producers to the strange and magical title role in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, to the comedy classics of Blazing Saddles, The Frisco Kid, and Young Frankenstein. Now, in this affectionate and touching documentary, the full measure of Wilder’s gifts is on display – as a comedic actor, writer, director, and mensch.

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The Catskills

Preceded by the short film, The Peacock That Passed Over, and followed by a conversation with documentary subject Steve, Gold.

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Sunday, February 25 • 2:30 pm The Samuel C. Johnson Theater at Norfolk Academy 1585 Wesleyan Drive, Norfolk Director Lex Gillespie • 86 min • United States • 2023 English

Kids Night Out

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hotographed in a shtetl that the production team constructed outside Kyiv, this single-shot film is entirely in Yiddish. Set in the 24 hours before the Nazi invasion of Ukraine, SHTTL tells a story about life, love, and hope in an unnamed Yiddish Ukrainian village at the border of Poland. Amid communal tensions between tradition and modernity, two young men fight over a woman they both desire to marry.

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The Story of Annette Zelman

Presented in partnership with the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater Wednesday, February 28 • 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm Beach Cinema Alehouse 941 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach Director Philippe Le Guay • 93 min • France • 2023 • French with English subtitles

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ith a trove of lost-and-found archival footage and a cast of characters endowed with the gift of gab, The Catskills journeys into the storied mountain getaway

hat begins as a charming wartime romance between Jean—a sweet Catholic boy in Paris— and Annette—his feisty Jewish artist girlfriend—turns into a gripping tale of star-crossed lovers in this handsomely realized drama based on actual events. Set in Nazi-occupied Paris, The Story of Annette Zelman is a tale of love and resistance that plumbs the depths of human passion, prejudice, and betrayal.

Kids Night Out babysitting is available at the Simon Family JCC for the BIG Saturday Night Celebration of Jewish Film. Registration is required in advance. Space is limited. Register at JewishVA.org/KNO.

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For tickets and additional information: JewishVA.org/ FilmFest.

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The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film is presented by the Alma & Howard Laderberg Virginia Festival of Jewish Film Restricted Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation and funded in part by the citizens of Virginia Beach through a grant from the City of Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission.

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Support those in need while enjoying a night out The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film is supporting Jewish Family Service of Tidewater's Community Food Pantry.

Donations to the food pantry will be accepted at the check-in table for each film.

The pantry needs: • Cleaning products (dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, disinfectants, Clorox wipes, etc.)

• Personal hygiene products (shampoo, body wash, bars of soap, deodorant, etc.)

• Toilet paper and paper towels • Cooking oil • Condiments (ketchup, mustard, pickles, and relish, etc.)

• Snack foods (cookies, crackers, pretzels, etc.)

Learn more about JFS’s food assistance programs at JFSHamptonRoads.org/Services/Food-Assistance.

jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 33

ARTS & CULTURE

Blazing Saddles marks a half-century of hilarity — and controversy

SIMON FAMILY PASSPORT TO ISRAEL

Simon Family Passport to Israel: APPLY NOW Administered by the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, the Simon Family Passport to Israel Fund provides grants to help Jewish students (ages 13–22) participate in an Israel trip experience.

Learn more and apply online at foundation.jewishva.org

For more information, contact: Ann Swindell aswindell@tjfva.org 757-965-6106 foundation.jewishva.org

Stephen Silver (JTA) — The phrase “that movie could never be made today” has probably been said more about Blazing Saddles than any other movie in history.

Mel Brooks’ spoof of Hollywood Westerns is full of the N-word and racial and ethnic jokes, and gay stereotypes are played for laughs.

There are rape jokes aplenty and more than one reference to a Black man’s endowment. A character punches a horse in the face, and one scene likely broke Hollywood records for sustained flatulence.

Those things, the argument goes, would never be accepted by the sensitive audiences of today, much less greenlit by skittish Hollywood decision-makers.

This may be true. But it’s also true that most of the things that are controversial about Blazing Saddles Mel Brooks now were just as controversial back when it was first released, 50 years ago this week.

Blazing Saddles arrived in theaters on Feb. 7, 1974, as a sharp parody of the Hollywood Western, borrowing and upending the cliches of a classic genre as well as some of the actors who had worked in it. Hollywood’s Hays Code — prudishly dictating what could and couldn’t be done on film — was phased out only six years earlier.

Thomas Doherty, American studies professor at Brandeis University, places the film in the context of the New Hollywood era of the 1970s, including the way the taboo-breaking directors of that period deconstructed established genres like horror (The Exorcist), film noir (Chinatown) and the gangster flick (The Godfather).

“It was the first time ever that American cinema (virtually) was free from censorship — so filmmakers were showing things on screen that audiences had never seen before,” Doherty says.

“There were few guardrails for race, sex, vulgarity. You could even blaspheme against the sacred genre of the Western — which we had all grown up with and whose generic conventions we knew by heart — with farting around the campfire, saloon gals who really were hookers, and Black sheriffs.”

But there’s another aspect of Blazing Saddles that’s timely today: It was made as an anti-racist statement. As Brooks writes in All About Me!, his 2021 autobiography, “In Blazing Saddles, there’s a very serious backstory. Racial prejudice is the engine that really drives the film and helps to make it work.”

Directed by Brooks and written by a quartet that included both Brooks and comedy legend Richard Pryor, who was Black, Blazing Saddles takes place in the 19th-century frontier town of Rock Ridge. The town stands in the way of a railroad that will enrich the politician Hedley Lamarr (Jewish actor Harvey Korman, desperate not to have his name confused with that of the bombshell Jewish actress Hedy Lamarr, who wouldn’t be born for another 40 years).

Scheming to drive its residents away, he gets the dim and drunken

34 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

governor (Brooks) to appoint a Black railroad worker named Bart (Cleavon Little) as the new sheriff, banking that the racist townspeople will clear out.

The all-white residents — all with the last name “Johnson” — react predictably. But soon, the sheriff teams up with a drunk, down-and-out gunslinger known as the Waco Kid (Gene Wilder, sport- ing an untamed Jewfro under his Stetson) to foil the plan.

Eventually, they marshal a multiethnic alliance to defeat a racist army that includes Klansmen and a few anachronistic Nazis. And even the townspeople, up to a point, come around on Bart.

Blazing Saddles is a story about politicians and ruthless capitalists seeking to leverage racism in order to make money. It was made in the same year that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act made it illegal for creditors to discriminate based on race, religion, and national origin. Every time a modern politician gets elected by leveraging a culture war, with the goal of helping big business, they’re in a sense reenacting the plot of Blazing Saddles.

While Blazing Saddles is often described as a movie that “offended everyone,” it mainly denounced people who under the guise of defending “family values” are closed-minded and bigoted. Or, in the famous words of Wilder in the film, “the common clay of the new West — you know, morons.”

Similar to what the late Norman Lear — like Brooks, a Jewish veteran of World War II — was doing on television around the same time with groundbreaking shows like All in the Family, Blazing Saddles threaded the needle between uproarious comedy and social satire. And it’s that balance, much more than the all-around “offensiveness,” that’s made it the standard to which other satires aspire.

Blazing Saddles is one of the great triumphs of one of the top Jewish directors (Brooks) and one of the most beloved Jewish movie stars (Wilder) of the 20th century. And in the fine Brooks tradition, there’s Jewishness sprinkled throughout the proceedings, even if it’s parodying a genre that’s traditionally been mostly devoid of Jews.

Before Hedley Lamarr lands on the scheme of hiring a Black sheriff, his henchman Taggert (Slim Pickens) suggests something biblical: “We’ll kill the firstborn male child in every household.”

“Too Jewish,” the politician replies.

Later, Brooks shows up as a Yiddish-speaking Indian chief (a gag, writes Brooks biographer Jeremy Dauber, that suggests a “kind of racial solidarity”). And speaking of Yiddish, the lisping German seductress played by the Jewish actress and Brooks perennial Madeline Kahn was named “Lili Von Shtupp” — her last name Yiddish slang for her favorite activity.

“I think what Brooks might have been doing with both the Black and the Jewish stuff was inserting characters who had traditionally been erased from the Hollywood Western,” Doherty says.

Create a Jewish legacy for the community you love through planned charitable giving . . .ask us how

IT’S A WRAP

Empowering students on rising antisemitism and misinformation about Israel Nofar Trem ising antisemitism after the October 7 attacks in Israel was the impetus for United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Konikoff Center for Learning and Jewish Community Relations Council to organize Empowering Students, a three-part series designed to help participants navigate misinformation and address antisemitism, particularly on high school and college campuses.

Mark Rotenberg, vice president for University Initiatives and General Counsel at Hillel International, started the series by addressing rising antisemitism and misinformation, focusing on college campuses. Rotenberg emphasized proactive measures to create safe and supportive environments for students. Through programs such as Hillel International’s Climate Initiative, attendees were encouraged to contribute to fostering positive change within their communities.

Mike Goldsmith, Regional Security Advisor for Tidewater’s Secure Community Network (SCN), shared strategies for enhancing personal safety through a Be Aware training. Goldsmith provided students practical tools and resources to stay informed and safe.

The series concluded with an online presentation by Ambassador Brad Gordon, a seasoned expert in Middle East affairs. Ambassador Gordon gave students a comprehensive overview of Israel’s history in a fast-paced hour, including insights into the geopolitical landscape, helping attendees gain a deeper understanding of the historical context leading up to the war between Israel and Hamas, empowering them to engage with these complex issues with confidence.

“The Empowering Students series was an extremely important part of my winter break,” says Danial Watts, a junior at Virginia Tech. “After a semester experiencing and hearing about increased antisemitism, this series was the perfect thing to be a part of. Not only did I gain a deeper understanding of the history of Israel, the region, and the conflict, I also gained valuable skills and knowledge to combat antisemitism and educate others on my campus. I hope to be a part of more events like this in the future!”

Ambassador Gordon will be in Tidewater as a part of UJFT’s Jewish Community Relations Council, Simon Family JCC, and community partners’ Israel Today series on Tuesday, March 26 at 7:30 pm. “Beyond the Headlines: From the Warfront in Gaza to the Frontlines on Capitol Hill” will address the most pressing issues facing Israel’s security and American Jews’ critical role. Learn more or register at JewishVA.org/IsraelToday.

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To access some of the resources shared with students during the Empowering Students series, visit JewishVA.org/EmpoweringStudents.

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY BETH SHOLOM VILLAGE

Director of Philanthropy

Beth Sholom Village (BSV), a non-profit organization located in Virginia Beach, is seeking a Director of Philanthropy and Community Relations to join our team.

This role is essential in building relationships with donors, residents, families, and the community at large. The ideal candidate will possess a unique blend of fundraising expertise, marketing talents, and the genuine commitment to enhancing the lives of seniors.

Beth Sholom Village is a 501(c)3 organization that has been in existence for over 43 years. Our promise is to deliver more care to more seniors over more years. It is through this initiative that we look to preserve our superior reputation as a preferred provider in the senior living community.

If you are passionate about philanthropy, committed to making a significant impression, and enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute to the well-being of seniors, we invite you to apply.

Key Responsibilities • Develop and facilitate comprehensive fundraising and marketing strategies aligned with BSV’s goals and mission.

• Develop and nurture relationships with donors, both individual and corporate, to secure financial support.

• Plan and implement fundraising events, campaigns, and other initiatives to engage residents, families, staff, and the local community.

• Work with marketing and communications teams to create compelling materials and stories that communicate our mission.

Requirements • Bachelor’s degree • 2-3 years progressive experience • Attention to detail • Strong organizational skills • Ability to be flexible • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment • Knowledge and experience working with a donor database, included but not limited to Donor Perfect • Experience working in senior living communities and/or the nonprofit sector

Submit cover letter, resume and salary requirements to: kallsbrook@bethsholomvillage.com

Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 35

Don’t miss this powerful afternoon...

a celebration of israeli short film IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF OCTOBER 7

SUNDAY 2:30 FEBRUARY 18 PM

Simon Family JCC Tickets: Suggested donation of $18

ill ised w a r s d n All fu Israel ’s T F J U t benefi und ency F g r e m E

The Boy Director Yahav Winner z”l • 25 min • 2023 • Hebrew with English subtitles

sirens Director Erez Tadmor • 22 min • 2017 • Hebrew with English subtitles

Asa turns 13 Director Sali Elimelech • 30 min • 2017 • Hebrew with English subtitles

dear god Directors Erez Tadmor & Guy Nattiv • 13 min • 2014 • Hebrew with English subtitles TO PURCHASE TICKETS OR FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:

JEWISHVA.ORG/FILMFEST

IT’S A WRAP

Student Glow Run sparks spirit and dollars Carin Simon trelitz International Academy began 2024 with an event that boosted school spirit as well as inspired students and families to participate in fundraising for the school. The first Strelitz International Academy Glow Run, which took place on January 19, served as the centerpiece of a month-long initiative designed to foster community engagement, promote physical activity, and raise funds for the school’s programs and activities.

The festivities launched with a series of Spirit Days throughout January to motivate families to fundraise. Each week featured a unique theme, encouraging Liam Kruger competes in the Glow Run. students, teachers, and staff to showcase their SIA School Spirit – all aimed to build excitement and a sense of togetherness within the school community.

The fundraising initiative’s highlight was the student Glow Run. In the Sandler Family Campus’ dark gym, black lights and a glow light track created a fun and exciting atmosphere.

Students circulated between the “Glow Up” stations with glow sticks, paint and neon tattoos, and running around the glow track while cheering on their friends to energizing music.

In addition to the Glow Run, Strelitz International Academy implemented a family-driven fundraising component, encouraging families to contact their extended networks, friends, and colleagues, seeking donations to support the school. This collaborative effort ensured that the fundraising initiative extended beyond the school walls, creating a network that amplified the campaign’s impact.

By leveraging the power of perCarin Simon, director of advancement at Strelitz International Academy with top fundraiser, Shaya sonal connections, Strelitz International Brashevitzky, for his fundraising efforts Academy reached its fundraising goals.

SIA supporters Renee and John Strelitz generously contributed a $25,000 match campaign to further SIA Family Fundraising. Thanks to motivational videos, text solicitations, and old-fashioned phone calls to friends and extended family, SIA students and parents raised more than $33,000.

Strelitz International Academy’s Glow Run was not just about raising funds; it was about illuminating the spirit of the school community. As families raised dollars for the school, they also contributed its bright future.

Strelitz International Academy is Tidewater’s Community Jewish Day School serving infants through grade 5. To learn more about the school, go to:https://strelitzinternationalacademy.org/. Scan the QR code to learn more about the SIA Glow Run Campaign.

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Carin Simon is director of advancement at Strelitz International Academy.

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IT’S A WRAP

Shabbat at Home: Nurturing family ties through rituals and creativity Sierra Lautman espite it being a Tuesday, the spirit of Shabbat was alive and thriving at the Sandler Family Campus on January 23, as families gathered for a Shabbat at Home event. The second in a five-part series that explores ways to build ritual and tradition into Friday nights, this was a delightful evening focused on blessing the children – filled Lillian Mae and Grayce Burnette. with crafts, blessings, and community bonding. Attendees also had the opportunity to create glass mosaic frames to hold personalized blessing cards for their Shabbat tables on Friday nights.

Families learned and created together, and children bonded while playing between crafting sessions.

Rabbi Avi Farkas from Ignite 757 played a pivotal role in the event, sharing insights into the biblical history of Shabbat blessings for the children and guiding participants

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on how to say them. “My mom and dad started whispering a special wish into my ear after the Hebrew blessing on Friday night after learning about that from Rabbi Avi,” says Rinoa Lautman, age 10. “I like it when they do that, and I also like watching my uncle whisper a special wish to my cousin Lily every week now.”

One participant, Anna Fox Burnette, says, “Our family really enjoyed learning about ways to expand our Shabbat experience and getting ideas for how to add to our own traditions. It was great that the interactive celebration included all our kids, ages 3-10.”

The Shabbat at Home series is presented by the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and PJ Library in Tidewater. The series continues March 12 at 5:30 pm, when families will learn about making kiddush (the blessing over wine). As

families continue to weave newfound insights and creations into their Shabbat traditions throughout the year, they will build memories and Jewish connections for their children.

For more information about the Shabbat at Home series or Jewish education and engagement in Tidewater, visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman, senior director of Jewish Innovation, at SLautman@UJFT.org.

Steven and Rinoa Lautman.

Early Years 3 class ‘hunts bears’ S Ally St. Pierre tudents in Lavette Ricks’ Early Years 3 class at Strelitz International Academy were inspired

by Michael Rosen’s story, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt to go on their own ‘bear hunt’ at school. So, Ricks brought the story to life and created the experience for her students who gathered binoculars and maps and prepared for the big adventure.

To start this lesson, Ricks introduced the story to her students as well as the adapted song version sung

by The Kiboomers. Since the text is predictable and the rhythm is catchy, the students developed creative-thinking skills to dramatize the story over a few days. Ricks focused on the prepositions in the story such as over, under, and through. Next, the students made a list of what they might need in each scenario, and together they analyzed the list and started preparing. Each child designed their own binoculars and a map to navigate to the cave. Maps included the elements mentioned in the story such as tall wavy grass, a big river, mud and, of course, their end location; a cave.

Outside of the classroom, Ricks set up each site.

The first scene was ‘tall wavy grass,’ where students enjoyed pushing through green streamers. Next there was a ‘big river,’ and with the help of blue streamers, students had to “swim” their way through. The third obstacle was mud. To create this scene, Ricks used a sensory table and brown paper which hid colorful Baby Bear Counters. As students sorted through the ‘mud,’ they counted and collected the bears they found, which tied in their math skills. And finally, what is a bear hunt without a bear? Students made their way to a ‘dark cave’ where two stuffed bears were waiting. Just like the story, the kids spotted the bears and ran all the way back to their classroom.

Teaching students to go beyond the book is SIA’s approach. It starts in the Early Years program and follows students throughout their educational journey.

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Early Years 3 students Rocky Ferraro and Emelia St. Pierre prepare for their bear hunt with binoculars and maps.

The Strelitz International Academy is the community’s Jewish Day School and International Baccalaureate® World School for infants through grade 5. For more information, contact Ally St. Pierre, admissions and marketing manager, at 757424-4327, ext. 4188 or astpierre@strelitzacademy.org.

jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 37

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WHAT’S HAPPENING

Contextualizing Orthodox Jewish life in film Home: Thursday, February 22, 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm Cinema Café Kemps River, $12

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on people’s perception of Jews. This can cause additional antisemitism or just a negative attitude towards us.

What bothers me tremendously about the movie, Home, is the negative connotation of Chasidim and Orthodox Jews.

Although it may be based on a true story, the viewer now thinks this is the way that Orthodox Jews roll. That Jews are money-hungry and that we will fight and harm anyone who disagrees with us.

However, there is nothing further from the truth. Although there are definitely exceptions, Jews are overwhelmingly generous, kind, and peaceful.

Additionally, granted that there are sometimes religious disagreements, they are almost always handled in a respectful way, and, Heaven forbid, with violence.

Rabbi Shlomo Eisenberg.

For anyone who wants to experience an authentic Jewish Shabbat with some of the nicest and most generous people you will meet, I extend an open invitation to come to B’nai Israel for Shabbat.

Like all films, Home is art, and art is subjective. A film should challenge one’s preconceived notions, and the Festival Screening Committee hopes that community members will view all of the festival’s offerings with an open mind and within the context of one man’s story.

Tickets can be purchased at JewishVA.org/FilmFest.

Rabbi Shlomo Eisenberg of B’nai Israel Congregation in Norfolk, may be reached at Rabbi@BnaiIsrael.org or by calling 757-627-7358.

Hunter Thomas is director of Arts + Ideas at the United

Photo: Steve Budman.

Hunter Thomas he mission of the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film, presented by Alma & Howard Laderberg, is to educate and engage diverse Tidewater communities, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, by presenting world-class films, repertory cinema, and associated programs that are inspired by Jewish or Israeli history, heritage, and values.

As such, the festival strives to offer broad portrayals of Jewish life, from modern secular Israeli cinema to films portraying religious traditions and characters to documentaries that are simply of Jewish interest with no specifically “Jewish” content.

One of this year’s films, Home, portrays a young Orthodox Jewish man in a Jerusalem neighborhood and his dream of opening a computer store. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of the at-times violent pushback against the store owner from the Orthodox establishment in the neighborhood.

The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film Screening Committee asked Rabbi Shlomo Eisenberg, rabbi at B’nai Israel Congregation, to view the film and share his thoughts. His message below has been edited for length and clarity.

As an Orthodox Jew in 2024, I am deeply concerned when social media, Hollywood, or any other form of influence portrays Jews, especially Orthodox Jews, negatively. As an Orthodox rabbi, I believe we have a mission to be a light upon the nations and to be a positive force in the world with our behavior and character. When a film projects ultra-orthodox Jews negatively, it has a tremendous impact

Jewish Federation of Tidewater. He may be reached at HThomas@UJFT.org or 757-965-6137.

The Virginia Festival of Jewish Film is presented by the Alma & Howard Laderberg Restricted Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation and funded in part by the citizens of Virginia Beach through a grant from the City of Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission.

The Art of Judaica: Tradition, Ritual, and Ceremony Sunday, February 18, 2 pm, Torggler, Christopher Newport University, Newport News

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bigail H. Meyer, museum educator for Judaica and Jewish Material Culture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, will discuss her work with the Met’s Judaica collection in conjunction with the Torggler Fine Arts Center’s presentation of The Guiding Hand: Torah Pointers from the Barr Collection. A reception will follow the program.

For information, call 757-594-0800.

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This program is presented with the support of the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Christopher Newport University and the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula.

jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 39

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Liel Leibovitz returns Examining the impact of to Tidewater to explore Elsie Robinson’s ‘Listen, How the Talmud Can World!’ with Allison Gilbert Change Your Life and Dr. Amy Milligan Thursday, March 14, 7:30 pm, Monday, March 25, Sandler Family Campus at 6:45 pm, online Sierra Lautman n a tumultuous world filled with distressing news and unsettling anti-Jewish sentiments, many are desperate to find a guide to navigate such challenges. Liel Leibovitz, editor-atlarge for Tablet Magazine, will be in Tidewater next month to discuss how an ancient text, the Talmud, might just be that perfect guide.

Leibovitz’s new book, How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, explores how the Talmud can offer wisdom in challenging times and should be considered the greatest self-help book ever written. The Talmud’s unique structure, resembling an ancient precursor to the internet, weaves intertwined links of text and commentary on the same folio. Leibovitz decodes the complexity, revealing pearls of wisdom that offer guidance even in the toughest of circumstances.

Someone who wears many hats in the Jewish community, Leibovitz is the co-host of Unorthodox, the world's most popular Jewish podcast, and the host of Take One, a daily Daf Yomi podcast. His contributions to publications such as New York Post, Wall Street Journal, City Journal, and First Things magazine showcase his influence in the literary and journalistic spheres.

With a Ph.D. Liel Leibowitz in video games and a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces, Leibovitz’s rich experiences shape his perspective, making him a compelling voice in discussions about Jewish culture and history.

Under Leibovitz, the Talmud, which is often perceived as a collection of minute details, becomes a guide for life. While certain rituals may not directly apply to contemporary life, studying Talmud serves as an essential mental exercise.

Join Leibovitz and thousands of other Talmud scholars in exploring the Talmud’s profound teachings. The evening will be an opportunity to participate in a conversation that transcends generations and offers timeless wisdom for today's challenges.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– For more information or to register for this free program, visit JewishVA.org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman, senior director of Jewish Innovation, at SLautman@UJFT.org.

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Sierra Lautman trailblazing figure in American journalism, Elsie Robinson took center stage nearly a century ago when she launched her nationally syndicated column, Listen, World! Robinson, then the most-read woman in America and the highest-paid female writer in the William Randolph Hearst media empire, utilized her platform between 1924 and 1956 to address critical social issues. With a readership exceeding 20 million, she tackled gender inequality, racism, and antisemitism.

At a time when societal conversations were often limited, Robinson empowered her readers by inviting them to participate in the discourse.

Decades ahead of her time, Robinson printed her readers’ fiery letters in her pages. This approach transformed her column into a dynamic platform for dialogue, setting the stage for future generations of journalists and activists.

Allison Gilbert, co-author of Listen, World! will join Dr. Amy K. Milligan online for a conversation about Robinson and how she used her writing as a tool for tikkun olam – repairing the world and speaking truth to power. Described by The New York Times as someone “one does not tire of spending time with,” Allison Gilbert Robinson's story is unveiled with a careful blend of historical detail and personal narrative. The Wall Street Journal has hailed the book as “an important contribution to women's history,” recognizing the significance of bringing Robinson's struggles and triumphs into the spotlight.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– This event is the third and final part in the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s SHEroes of History series, which celebrates the often-overlooked contributions of American women to history and aims to shed light on their impactful legacies.

Learn more or register for this free online program by visiting JewishVA.org/ UnsungSHEroes.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING

Rabbi Sacks Tidewater Community Book Club begins this month Sunday, February 25, 10 am, Congregation Beth El addition to connecting with the Jewish Craig Schranz community, he extended torah values to he last few months have been a the wider world. In recognition of his difficult time for the Jewish people. efforts, he was knighted by the Queen Since the devastating attacks of of England in 2005 and made a Life October 7th, those living in the diaspora have had difficulty formulating an effective response to a changed world.

Public displays of antisemitism on college campuses have forced us to reexamine the position of the Jewish people among the most elite academic circles, leaving us Photo from A Biography of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks | The Rabbi Sacks Legacy questioning how Peer, taking a seat in the House of Lords to respond. One trend is a spirit of in 2009. After his retirement as Chief achdus (unity) that has brought dispaRabbi, he continued a prolific schedule rate elements of the Jewish people to of teaching, public speaking, and writing stand together. This was most visible at until his death in 2020. His published the large DC rally. While gratifying to works include more than 40 books of see, it was also noticeable that the only wide-ranging topics from in-depth biblical clergy on the stage was John Hagee, the commentary to writings on morality in the pro-Israel Christian pastor. This was public sphere. intentional. To unite the Jewish people, One remarkable characteristic of the organizers realized the difficulty of Rabbi Sacks’ writings is his ability to offer having a rabbi speak who would be well a perspective that is both timely and timereceived by the diversity in thought and less, keeping even his earliest teachings practice currently represented in the relevant. Another unique attribute was his modern Jewish world. ability to connect to Jews across denominaIt is times like this when the voice tions and even non-Jews across the globe. of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is missed.

Recognizing that Jews composed roughly Raised in a traditional Jewish home in 0.5% of the United Kingdom’s population, England, while studying philosophy at the he knew that to strengthen the moral fabric University of Cambridge, Sacks travelled of British society he would have to comto New York City to discuss questions he municate ideas to a diverse audience. His had with philosophy and religion with success led him to becoming a household two of the leading rabbis of the time, name in the United Kingdom, a close conRabbi Soloveitchik a scion of the Modern fidant of prime ministers, and a frequent Orthodox movement and the Lubavitcher guest on the BBC. Rebbe, Rabbi Schneersohn. These converThere are many ways to respond to the sations led him on the path to rabbinical explosion of antisemitism and the unfair ordainment while continuing his academic global isolation of Israel. In my mind, one pursuits in philosophy. He was quickly of the most productive is to turn inward recognized for his outstanding talents and and double down on our own Jewishness… was appointed Chief Rabbi of the United take a deeper dive at the ideas that have Kingdom in 1991, serving until 2013. In

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formed the ethical foundation of Western Civilization and take this moment to learn with and from each other.

This was the impetus for the formation of the Rabbi Sacks Tidewater Community Book Club, supported in part by the Konikoff Center for Learning of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Throughout 2024, the club will study six books from Rabbi Sacks involving a broad range of the big Jewish ideas that can unite us. From our relationship to the land of Israel, Jewish peoplehood, the relevance of the biblical narrative to our understanding of the modern world – it will be a year of profound fellowship. A guided discussion on a different book will take place every two months at various synagogues. Choose to read along in

advance or simply show up.

The first book club event on Feb. 25 will discuss Future Tense: Jews, Judaism and Israel in the 21st Century, which is available on Amazon. It explores the origins of antisemitism and its many mutations, the need for a Judaism engaged in the world, and the future of the Jewish people.

For more information or to register for this year-long exploration of the big Jewish ideas that form the foundation of 3500 years of Jewish history, visit JewishVA. org/KCL or contact Sierra Lautman at SLautman@UJFT.org.

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Craig Schranz is a physician and Norfolk resident with a personal interest in sharing the teachings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.

Save on summer camp!

Register for 5 or more weeks before March 31 & receive $20 off per week!

(Does not include Last Blast.)

campjcc.org To learn more about Camp JCC, contact Dave Flagler, Director of Camp and Teen Engagement, at DFlagler@UJFT.org or (757) 452-3182.

jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 41

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Join the Israel Trail Challenge and help Israel Through Sunday, May 19, Simon Family JCC

The popular Israel Trail Challenge is back.

Instead of trekking all 622 miles of the actual Israel Trail, Simon Family JCC members and exercise enthusiasts can sign up to hike, jog, walk, dance, row, or swim the equivalent without ever leaving the gym. Participants will log steps/miles and hit as many of the 15 milestone stops that are on the actual Israel Trail — and learn about Israel’s terrain on the way.

Participating in the challenge is fun for friends, family, and anyone who wants to set some health goals in 2024. The Challenge culminates on Sunday, May 19, when participants will be celebrated at Yom Ha’Aztmaut.

A new twist this year is the opportunity for participants to have sponsors. All proceeds will go to the Tidewater Israel Emergency Fund. Find an athlete, friend, or family member to sponsor and help with emergency efforts in Israel at JewishVA.org/IsraelTrail or contact TPurcell@ SimonFamilyJCC.org to join the Challenge.

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Attend on single days or all week!

Sports, Swim, Arts, Crafts & Fun!

CampJCC.org

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2nd Annual Daffodil Blooming Day Sunday, March 3, 1 – 3 pm Jewish Museum and Culture Center Allan S. Zeno and Myrna Teck he Jewish Museum and Culture Center is continuing its participation in the Daffodil Project, whose mission is to remember and honor the 1.5 million children who were murdered during the Holocaust, as well as all children everywhere who are victims of violence – past and present – by planting 1.5 million daffodils, world-wide.

The daffodil’s petals are symbols of the six-pointed Jewish Star/Magen David.

The yellow color embodies the concept of energetic optimism and remembrance.

The event will include a welcome by JMCC President Karen Plotnick, greetings from Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover, and an overview of daffodils from Dr. William Brostoff, a botanist. Dr. David Metzger, dean of the ODU Honors College, will address the topic of L’Dor V’Dor, from generation to generation, and Howard Horwitz will offer a musical interlude, concluding with Hatikvah, the Israeli National Anthem. Rabbi Michael Panitz will deliver a closing prayer. An optional tour of JMCC will follow the program.

More than 5,000 bulbs were purchased this past fall through the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center and were added to the 3,800 planted the previous year. In addition to those planted at the JMCC, bulbs were planted at four Portsmouth churches (St. John’s Episcopal Church, Court Street Baptist Church, Fourth Baptist Church, Ebenezer Baptist Church) and four synagogues (Ohef Sholom Temple, Congregation Beth El, Temple Israel, and Temple Emanuel), Portsmouth public space, The Moses Myers House, and many private sites.

These beautiful blooms remind to NEVER FORGET the horrors of the past as well as the present. They also represent the beautiful lives of the 1.5 million children who could have lived—and how they might have contributed their unique essence to the improvement of the world. The flowers serve to encourage the importance of working together as one unified body to carry forward Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover and Rabbi Ron Koas. the idea of never having these horrific injustices happen again.

JMCC will support local college students’ attendance by reimbursing each car $5 towards the tunnel toll. Refreshments will be provided at this free event. JMCC is located at 607 Effingham Street in Portsmouth.

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CALENDAR FEBRUARY 13, TUESDAY Yiddish Club. The Yiddish Club is a vibrant hub for preserving and promoting the Yiddish language and its rich heritage. Meets the first Tuesday of each month. 1 pm. Simon Family JCC. Information and registration: JewishVA.org/YiddishClub or contact Mia Klein at MKlein@ujft.org or 757-452-3184.

FEBRUARY 15, THURSDAY Moon Circle Gathering. The popular and soul-nourishing Moon Circle Gatherings return this month, the Hebrew month of Adar, with participants focusing on courage. 6:45 pm. Simon Family JCC. $7 donation suggested. Registration: Jewishva.org/Moon.

FEBRUARY 16, FRIDAY Young Adult Shabbat Dinner. Organized by UJFT’s Young Adult Division, with a generous gift from the Richard Glasser Family Foundation, these Shabbat dinners bring young Jewish adults together to share Shabbat traditions. Interested in hosting? Shabbat Kit and reimbursement available. Free to attend as a dinner guest. Contact Elana McGovern at emcgovern@ujft.org or JewishVA.org/PopUpShabbat.

FEBRUARY 18, SUNDAY A Celebration of Israeli Short Film. In memory of the victims of the October 7 attacks on Israel

by Hamas, the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presents four short films: Sirens, Asa Turns 13, Dear God, and The Boy. All films provide an unfiltered glimpse into what daily life is like in Israel.

2:30 pm. Simon Family JCC. Free with a suggested donation to UJFT’s Israel Emergency Fund.

Information and tickets: JewishVA.org/FilmFest. See page 32.

Employment Opportunity

Director of Human Resources The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater/Simon Family JCC seeks a proven experienced candidate for the position of Director of Human Resources.

The Director of Human Resources serves as an integral member of the professional leadership team, under the direction of the Executive Vice President/CEO, and is responsible for the development and implementation of human resource policies for the agency covering areas such as recruitment and hiring, employee relations, compensation, performance management, and compliance with applicable employment laws and regulations.

Additionally, the Director of Human Resources is responsible for all HR functional areas for the Tidewater Jewish Foundation and the UJFT Community Campus, LLC., (aka, Sandler Family Campus).

A bachelor’s degree in human resource management, business administration or related field required from an accredited university or college with a minimum of 7 years demonstrated progressive leadership experience in all HR functional areas. Master’s degree preferred. SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP credential strongly desired.

Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Publisher, and PowerPoint.

The successful candidate will possess strong interpersonal and listening skills and understand the mission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

Position start date: April 1, 2024.

Salaries are competitive and commensurate with experience.

Complete job descriptions at www.federation.jewishva.org and www.simonfamilyjcc.org Submit cover letter, resume and salary requirements to: resumes@ujft.org Attention: Taftaleen T. Hunter, Director of Human Resources – Confidential 5000 Corporate Woods Drive, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462

Equal Opportunity Employment

FEBRUARY 19, MONDAY JCC Book Club will discuss Speaking Yiddish to Chickens by Seth Stern. Meets the third Monday of each month. Join in person or via Zoom. 1:30 pm. Simon Family JCC. Free. Contact Sherry Lieberman at joeann124@aol.com.

FEBRUARY 20, TUESDAY Maccabi Games Team Virginia Beach 2024 kickoff meeting. Hear the ins and outs of the JCC Maccabi Games being held in Houston, Texas, August 4-9, 2024. Simon Family JCC will send a delegation of Jewish teens to compete in soccer, swimming, flag football, and Access Games (for athletes with disabilities). 6 pm. Simon Family JCC. JewishVA.org/TeamVB or contact TEdwards@ SimonFamilyJCC.org.

FEBRUARY 21, WEDNESDAY Seniors Club meeting. Seniors Club is for adults ages 55+ who seek to add education, culture, and connections to others and the Jewish community. Meets the third Wednesday of each month. 12 pm. Lunch and presenter at 1 pm. Simon Family JCC. Membership $15 per year. $6 monthly charge for lunch. Contact Mia Klein at MKlein@UJFT.org.

FEBRUARY 22, THURSDAY Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presents Home. $12 or purchase a full festival pass for $60.

1:30 pm and 7:30 pm. Cinema Café Kemps River. JewishVA.org/FilmFest. See page 32.

FEBRUARY 24, SATURDAY Virginia Festival of Jewish Film presents Remembering Gene Wilder. $25. 7:30 pm.

Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. JewishVA.org/FilmFest. See page 33.

Kids Night Out. Members and future Simon Family JCC members can drop off children to enjoy a night filled with games, crafts, snacks, and swimming (without a flotation device). Lifeguard supervised. For children 4- 12 years old. 6 - 10 pm. Those attending the Film Festival may pick-up at 10:30 pm. Simon Family JCC. Free. Registration: https://jcc.jewishva.org/kids by 4 pm on Friday, Feb. 23 or before it sells out.

Employment Opportunities Development Director, Community Campaign

The Director will organize and facilitate the activities of UJFT’s Men’s and Women’s divisions’ annual community campaign, including lay leadership development and succession planning; donor ratings, and assignments; outreach to new donors; recognition of donors. The position is a key senior role on the development team. Planning and budgeting of campaign events and programs, including those of campaign affinity groups. Responsible for personally managing a selected portfolio of donor prospects to engage, steward, and solicit.

Bachelor’s degree with 3 or more years’ experience in fundraising or equivalent combination of relevant education, experience, and skills required. Excellent written and verbal communications skills and customer service skills required.

Experience in volunteer management.

Development Director

This Director is responsible for developing an overall strategy of donor engagement and non-traditional resource development, including (but not limited to) affinity groups, giving circles, outreach events, grants, individual and corporate sponsorships, planned giving initiatives and other related engagement and fundraising opportunities. The position’s goal is to maximize financial resources while broadening the donor base. Director works closely with development department members to strategize how to connect donors with their philanthropic interests and UJFT’s priorities. Director will solicit, cultivate, and steward a portfolio of mid-level donors and prospects.

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution and 3-5 years of experience with donor engagement and solicitation.

Salaries are competitive and commensurate with experience.

Complete job descriptions at www.federation.jewishva.org Submit cover letter, resume and salary requirements to: resumes@ujft.org Attention: Taftaleen T. Hunter, Director of Human Resources – Confidential

Equal Opportunity Employment jewishnewsva.org | February 12, 2024 | JEWISH NEWS | 43

OBITUARIES Lewis Greenhouse VIRGINIA BEACH - Lewis Greenhouse passed away peacefully on December 20.

Lew was born in 1935 and graduated from Syracuse University in 1957. Due to the war and the draft, he joined the army that same year and served until 1959.

After the Army, he moved to Norfolk where relatives lived and began his search for a job. He did production work for various TV stations.

After only a few months of living in Norfolk, he was fixed up with a blind date. Well, that blind date is his wife Glenda who became the love of his life for 63 years!!!! They were married a year later and then came along their daughters, Deborah and Stephanie, which completed the Greenhouse family.

Lew became the sales manager at WCMS country/music radio, where he remained for 14 years before opening the Greenhouse Advertising Agency. The love of his life, Glenda, began working by his side each and every day. They were in

business together for 35 years before retiring and enjoying life even more.

Lew’s pride and joy were not only Glenda and his daughters, but also his two sons-inlaw, Perry and Mark, and his grandchildren,

honor of life membership.

Lew loved to travel as a family and loved the beach!!!

Pre-COVID, he found such pleasure and joy in going to shul every Saturday

A graveside service took place at Forest Lawn Cemetery on January 24.

Donations may be made to Virginia Beach Rescue Squad.

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May the Source of Peace send peace to all who mourn, and comfort to all who are bereaved.

Mitch, Jonas, Lindsay, and Carly.

Lew was the most loving, kind, gentle man. He never had anything unkind to say about anyone. He was so loved by all his family, friends and neighbors.

He was a charter member of the Lions Club and religiously attended those meetings. He was later presented with the

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morning and helping to make a minyan throughout the week.

Lew will be missed beyond words as will his gentle presence.

The funeral was a graveside service at Forest Lawn in Norfolk. Donations may be made to the charity of your choice.

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Malcolm “Mal” Bruce Gutterman VIRGINA BEACH - Malcolm (“Mal”) Bruce Gutterman, 84, passed away peacefully on January 21, surrounded by his loving family.

Mal was born to Norman and Rose Silver Gutterman in Norfolk, Virginia.

Mal attended Norfolk public schools and graduated from Maury High School.

Mal successfully ran Gutterman Iron and Metal throughout his adulthood and then retired in his home in Virginia Beach.

Nothing was more important to Mal than family. He was married to the love of his life for 55 years, Maida Meschel Gutterman, and they raised two beloved children, Sean Michael (of blessed memory) and Stacey Dawn. Mal was a devoted husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, and cousin. His kindness, warmth, humor, and genuineness were felt by everyone he met.

In addition to his dedication to family, Mal loved golf and watching football, and he was an avid coin collector.

Survivors, besides Maida and Stacey (Brad Lerner), include his grandchildren, Silver and Locke, and Mal’s siblings, Robert Gutterman (Audrey), Elayne Litman (Jeff) and Herbert Gutterman (Carol).

Virginia Morrisette VIRGINIA BEACH - Virginia Morrisette, affectionately known as Mom, Grandma, Mamoo, and Sister, bid her final farewell on January 28. She passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, at her home in Virginia Beach.

VIrginia was born on April 23, 1936, in Tazwell, Va. Her journey took an unexpected turn, at age three, when she was placed in an orphanage in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Virginia met the love of her life, her late husband Howard Morrisette Sr., when she was 27 years old. Their love story was one for the books, filled with laughter, adventures, and a bond that could never be broken. Although Howard has already departed from this world, their love continues to live on in the hearts of those who were lucky enough to witness it.

Her children were Virginia’s biggest passion in life. She loved all of her babies until the very end. They were her everything, and her love for them knew no bounds.

Virginia is survived by her six children, 12 grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren.

As we say our final goodbyes to Virginia, let us remember her as a woman who loved deeply, laughed wholeheartedly, and lived life on her own terms.

A visitation was held at New Life Church in Virginia Beach. A funeral service followed with burial at Rosewood Memorial Park.

The family asks that donations be made to St. Jude or Shriner’s Charities.

OBITUARIES ––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Harvey Leonard Nissman

VIRGINIA BEACH - Harvey Leonard Nissman passed away on January 25 at the age of 74.

Harvey, a devoted father, brother, and esteemed psychiatrist, leaves behind a legacy of profound compassion and commitment to the well-being of others.

Born in Brooklyn, NY to the late Irving and Rosalynn Nissman, Harvey attended college at the University of Buffalo and medical school at New York University.

He completed his residency in psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Mass.

Harvey managed a private practice in Virginia Beach, specializing in family counseling. He also served as a provider for QTC Medical Services, where he conducted psychiatric evaluations for U.S. military veterans who experienced combat.

Among colleagues, friends, and family, Harvey was known for his unwavering kindness and patience. He was an avid gardener, a dedicated Baltimore Orioles fan, and a lifelong advocate for economic equality.

He is survived by his two loving sons, Andrew Nissman and Matthew Nissman, both of Virginia Beach, and his dear sister, Sharon Fusco and her husband Richard Fusco, both of Rye Brook, NY. Harvey's life was celebrated with a funeral at HD Oliver with interment at Princess Anne Memorial Park in Virginia Beach.

Consider a donation to the PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease) Foundation in honor of Harvey’s remarkable personal health journey.

Harvey Nissman will be dearly missed, but his legacy of compassion and service will live on in the hearts of those he touched. May he rest in peace. Online condolences may be offered to the family at hdoliver.com.

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Marina Veniaminovna Ponizovskaya

VIRGINIA BEACH -Marina Veniaminovna Ponizovskaya, 84, died at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital on January 10 following a prolonged illness.

She was a model of intellect, humanity, resilience, and dedication.

She was born Marina Solomonik on April 23, 1939 in Moscow, USSR. In 1941, during World War II, when Germans were advancing to Moscow, Marina, her sister, and their mother were evacuated to Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Women, children, and elderly were packed for two weeks in a cattle car, with little food and no sanitation. In Uzbekistan, which was overrun by evacuees, the family barely survived near starvation, disease, and lack of sanitation. In 1944, the family returned to Moscow.

Marina graduated from high school in 1956 with the gold medal for the highest academic achievement. In 1961, she graduated at the top of her class from the Moscow Institute of Construction Engineering as a civil engineer. In 1961, she married Solomon Ponizovskiy, and the family started their life’s journey building a new city, Zelenograd, a special administrative division of Moscow. Marina was in charge of supervising construction, operation and maintenance of an underground water supply and sewer lines, including residential high-rise buildings, industrial plants, schools, hospitals, and department stores.

Having witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of the lack of running water and sanitation, Marina was passionate about her job. Marina was a well-respected industry leader. She knew every building in Zelenograd, because she helped to build it.

After 35 years of tireless service to her profession and her thriving city, Marina retired. In 1995, Marina and Solomon immigrated to the United States, where they reunited with the family of their daughter, Yuliya, and Marina’s sister, Tamara.

Marina loved living in the United States. She liked the friendliness of people, warm weather, sunshine, the ocean, and how clean everything was.

Marina had a sharp mind and boundless energy. She made friends easily and was always ready to help. She spoke English very well, often helping her Russian-speaking friends with everyday tasks and endless paperwork. She learned to drive in her late fifties – and loved it!

Above all, Marina was completely dedicated to her family. As a grandmother (babushka), she enormously contributed

to raising her grandson while taking care of the entire family. These were her most important duties.

Marina’s last years were plagued by multiple health problems, partly stemming from a severe COVID infection in 2021. But she was tough. Marina survived against all odds and lived for another three years, though these years were mostly full of pain.

Marina is survived by her daughter Yuliya Dobrydneva (Boris) and the light of her life, her grandson, Ilya Dobrydnev (Casey). She was predeceased by her parents, Berta and Veniamin Solomonik, her husband Solomon Ponizovskiy, her sister Tamara Solomonik, and her nephew, Mikhail Solomonik.

May Marina’s memory be a blessing to her family and friends.

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OBITUARIES

Jewish Life Stories: A nurse who met Churchill, a rabbi who warned about the Internet Andrew Silow-Carroll Remembering those who made an outsize impact in the Jewish world — or just left their community a better or more interesting place.

David Karp, go-to photographer for New York’s Jewish groups David Karp, a news photographer who could often be seen snapping honorees, philanthropists and staff at Jewish events throughout New York City, died Sunday, Jan. 7 at age 70. His wife, Jin Cao, told the Associated Press that he suffered a massive brain hemorrhage.

Born in Holon, Israel, Karp served in the Israel Defense Forces during the 1973 Yom Kippur War and moved to the United States in 1992. In addition to working on assignment for Jewish organizations, he was a freelance photographer for the AP for almost 30 years.

“David was our go-to freelance photographer for all of ADL’s events in New York City for well over two decades,” Todd Gutnick, senior director of communications at the Anti-Defamation League, says. “His photography captured the essence and spirit of Jewish life and leadership in America. David never missed a shot, and he had a knack for whispering stage directions to his subjects in Hebrew, English, and sometimes even Yiddish. I’ll deeply miss his sense of humor, his kindness, his love of Jewish food and traditions, and the many stories he shared about his previous life in Israel, and his celebrity encounters.”

Hannah Deutch, a refugee and nurse who cared for Britain’s wounded Hannah Deutch frequently spoke to audiences about fleeing Nazi Germany as a teenager and arriving in England, where she trained as a nurse and treated war casualties as an enlistee in the British army. “I remember Churchill came to visit, a cigar in his hand, and thanked us for our service,” she once recalled. “That was something.”

She followed her Canadian husband to Canada, 46 | JEWISH NEWS | February 12, 2024 | jewishnewsva.org

and after his early death traveled to Chile for a reunion with her mother, who had survived the Holocaust. She later moved to New York to work as an accountant in an advertising agency and was a member of the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights for more than 40 years. “To save a life is God’s work,” she once said. She died Jan. 29 at age 101.

Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon, who warned of online dangers Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon, a dean and spiritual adviser at Lakewood, New Jersey’s massive Beth Medrash Govoha yeshiva, who in May 2012, organized a stadium rally to warn against the dangers of the internet, died Tuesday, Jan. 2. He was 86.

More than 40,000 haredi Orthodox men filled Citi Field in Queens, New York to hear rabbis decry the online world, which one speaker called a “minefield of immorality.” Born in Gateshead, England, Salomon served almost 30 years as assistant “mashgiach” at the Lakewood yeshiva, stressing ethics and piety in his lectures and one-on-one encounters with students. “With his clarity of thought and eloquent delivery, he reached the minds and hearts of Yidden [Jews] and inspired them to enhance their Torah learning, performance of mitzvos, and improve their middos,” or virtues, according to the Haredi news site Hamodia.

Lawrence Langer, scholar of Holocaust survivors’ testimonies “One of the first things I learned is that you cannot generalize about the Holocaust experience,” Lawrence Langer told an interviewer in 2004. “ We have to particularize constantly. So that’s what I devoted my life to try to find out: What was it really like?’’ In dozens of books and essays — most famously “Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory” (1991) — Langer, a longtime professor of English at Simmons University in Boston, analyzed survivors’ accounts of the Holocaust and insisted that they not be sentimentalized.

“One cannot open a book that deals with any aspect of Holocaust memory, testimony, or literature without encountering not only Langer’s name but also a discussion of his ideas,” the editors of the Journal of Holocaust Research wrote in 2020. Langer died Monday, Jan. 29 at a hospice near his home in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He was 94.

Pearl Berg, world’s oldest Jewish person and 9th-oldest overall (JTA) — Pearl Berg, thought to be the oldest Jewish person in the world and the third oldest American, died Thursday, Feb. 1 in Los Angeles. She was 114.

A philanthropist active in her local Hadassah chapter, Berg was married for 58 years to Mark Berg, a businessman and investor. He died in 1989.

“She maybe had a sip of Sabbath wine but she didn’t drink, she didn’t smoke, she ate sensibly, she had good emotional balance, and she clearly had remarkable genes,” Berg’s youngest son, Robert Berg, told the Los Angeles Times.

Berg was born Oct. 1, 1909, in Indiana and raised in Pittsburgh, where she was confirmed at Rodef Shalom Congregation and attended secretarial school. In a tribute written on her 114th birthday, Rabbi John Rosove of Temple Israel of Hollywood, where Berg was a member, remembered that her parents, Archiebald and Anna (née Gerson) Synenberg, were “itinerant photographers” who traveled widely looking for work, and her father later ran a used car business. When that enterprise failed, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Berg met her husband.

“Jewish life was always a priority in Pearl’s life,” wrote Rosove. “She and Mark joined Temple Israel of Hollywood in 1938 where they raised their sons Alan and Robert,” who survive her, as does a granddaughter, Belinda Berg. “She was an avid supporter of Hadassah,” serving for two years as served as president of the Nordea chapter in Los Angeles, “and a lifelong supporter of the State of Israel.”

After the death of her husband, Berg joined a book club, regularly attended concerts and plays, and became more involved with a bridge group, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which studies “supercentenarians” and confirms their ages. As a member of Temple Israel’s Sisterhood, she wrote “notes to bereaved families on behalf of the temple, which she continued to do until the age of 105,” according to the GRC. At the time of her death, Berg was the ninth oldest living person in the world.

Another Jewish member of the supercentenarian study, Louise Levy, died last year in New York at 112. There are no other Jews among the verified 50 oldest people in the world. But a Jewish sculptor named Morrie Markoff recently entered the supercentenarian club, turning 110 in January.

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When we work together, our whole community

Checkered Flag has always been about more than selling cars. For nearly 60 years, we’ve been driven to support our community every chance we get, including dozens of local schools, teachers and children’s charities that help local kids learn, grow and get on the road to success.

That’s always a win for everyone.

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