Jewish News - April 14, 2025 Edition

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Terri Denison

Forgetting isn’t an option

Survey after survey reports that fewer adults and even fewer young people are aware of the Holocaust, or at least of its scale. In fact, denying the Holocaust or its enormity continues to gain followers and receive prominent placement on the national stage. With books about and references to the Holocaust being removed from the nation’s institutions (page 8), it is more important than ever to remember the Shoah and make certain it is taught in public and private schools, at universities, to members of the armed services, and to law enforcement.

Tidewater’s Yom Hashoah commemoration takes place this year on Wednesday, April 23 at Ohef Sholom Temple. “This annual observance, organized by the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, serves as an opportunity to honor those who did and did not survive the Holocaust 80 years after the end of World War II,” says Elka Mednick, director of the Commission.

During the evening, awards will be presented to teachers who have “gone above and beyond” to impart the lessons of the Holocaust. “These educators serve as stewards for survivor experiences so their students may learn about the magnitude of the Holocaust, and the importance of learning from history,” says Mednick.

In The New York Times Magazine on April 6, Taffy Brodesser-Akner writes about the intense Holocaust education she received as a child growing up in Brooklyn in an Orthodox-centered community where it was commonplace for classmates to have survivors as parents and grandparents. Reading her piece, I thought of my daughters’ Holocaust education in Norfolk. They had some Holocaust instruction at Ohef Sholom Temple’s Religious School, read Night and Number the Stars at school, interacted with members of the Commission’s Speaker’s Bureau and through their school, participated in the Commission’s annual contests. But what if they hadn’t had the benefit of learning where Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission was so active with survivors to speak to their classes?

Just a few days prior to this issue going to press, Dana Cohen, the last of Tidewater’s survivors featured in the Holocaust Commission’s What We Carry film series, passed away. Active in the Commission’s Speaker’s Bureau, her passing leaves another vast, empty space impossible to fill. But the Commission, along with area educators, will work to carry on her message. In addition to Dana, Alfred Dreyfus and Colonel Edward Shames, also featured in What We Carry, have died since last year’s Yom HaShoah’s commemoration.

With the alarming rise of both Holocaust denial and antisemitism and with fewer survivors to share stories, this might be the time to support the Holocaust Commission in its efforts and attend Yom Hashoah.

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Dana Cohen

BRIEFS

Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ includes 17% tariffs on Israeli imports, even as Israel cancels tariffs on US goods

The United States will impose 17% tariffs on goods imported from Israel under a sweeping new tariffs system that President Donald Trump unveiled on Wednesday, April 2.

The tariffs on Israeli goods are less than some Trump rolled out, but greater than the 10% baseline that he is assessing on all imported products. They fall into the “reciprocal tariffs” bucket and represent half of the 33% tariffs that Israel has until now assessed on some U.S. goods. Many imports from the U.S. have not been taxed under a 1985 free-trade agreement.

Attempting to avert Trump’s targeting, the Israeli government on April 1 abolished all tariffs on U.S. goods. It was not immediately clear whether Trump would adjust the tariffs on Israeli goods as a result, as he did for other countries that previously eliminated tariffs on U.S. goods under Trump’s trade pressure.

When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the decision on X, owner and Trump’s governing partner Elon Musk tweeted a two-emoji response: the American and Israeli flags, side by side.

The decision could raise prices on consumer goods including kosher food and Judaica that are produced in Israel. Israel is also a major exporter of technology, precious stones, and medical supplies, sending products valued at more than $22 billion to the United States in 2024. (JTA)

Britain’s Tate to return Nazi-looted

painting to heirs of Jewish art collector

When Samuel Hartveld and his wife Claire Melboom fled Belgium in 1940, they left behind a collection of more than 60 paintings that was later looted by the occupying Nazi government.

Hartveld, a Jewish Belgian art collector, never saw his artworks again. But now, the British government has ordered one of those paintings returned to Hartveld’s great-grandchildren.

The painting, a 1654 work by English artist Henry Gibbs, had previously been in Britain’s Tate Gallery collection for more than three decades when the British government ordered it be repatriated.

“It is a profound privilege to help reunite this work with its rightful heirs, and I am delighted to see the spoliation process working successfully to make this happen,” said Maria Balshaw, the director of Tate. “Although the artwork’s provenance was extensively investigated when it was acquired in 1994, crucial facts concerning previous ownership of the painting were not known.”

The order to turn over the painting was recommended by Britain’s Spoliation Advisory Panel, which is charged with resolving claims for items in the British government’s ownership that were lost under Nazi occupation. The heirs of Hartveld initially made their request for the painting to

the advisory panel last May. The family will be united with the painting sometime in the coming months, according to Balshaw’s statement.

“The painting was looted. Hartveld received not one franc for it,” the report from the advisory panel stated. The looting was an act of “racial persecution,” the report added.

Since the advisory panel was established in 2000, it has received 23 claims which resulted in the return of 14 works to the heirs of their original owners. (JTA)

Fine prevails in Florida election, bringing tally of Jewish Republicans in Congress to 4

AJewish Republican backed by President Donald Trump, Randy Fine prevailed in a special election in Florida’s 6th Congressional District last month.

The Associated Press declared Fine the winner 30 minutes after the polls closed, ending attention to a race that turned out to be closer than expected amid frustration with the Trump administration and an aggressive campaign by an unorthodox Democrat who far out-raised Fine.

Fine, who has fashioned himself as a MAGA-style culture warrior, attacked his opponent, a teacher named Josh Weil, over Weil’s Muslim religion and past criticism of Israel.

Fine’s election brings the number of Jewish Republicans in Congress to four, a number that the Republican Jewish Coalition said was unprecedented since at least the 1980s.

After Trump posted excitedly on his Truth Social account about Fine’s win, which solidifies Republican control of the House of the Representatives, Fine shared the post. “Because of you, Mr. President,” he tweeted. “I won’t let you down.” (JTA)

D.C. Jewish federation will distribute $180,000 to laid-off federal workers

Washington, D.C.’s Jewish federation is allocating $180,000 to help laid-off federal workers, the latest way the Trump administration’s slashing of the federal government is rippling out to Jewish organizations.

The sum is a multiple of 18, which signifies life in Judaism, and will be split: $100,000 will be distributed via local synagogue rabbis, and $80,000 will go to social service agencies that partner with the federation.

“Federation is stepping up to ensure that no one in our community has to navigate this hardship alone,” Jewish Federation of Greater Washington CEO Gil Preuss said. “In moments of uncertainty, we must depend on the strength of our Jewish community to provide the foundation we need to rebuild.”

More than 100,000 federal workers have been laid off in the government downsizing of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE agency, according to a CNN analysis. Approximately 20% of the federal workforce lives in the D.C. area.

Preuss said that local rabbis could provide financial assistance of up to $1,500 per family at their discretion to community members impacted by the layoffs, and that

the federation’s fund would reimburse them.

Trump and Musk’s funding cuts have already put the Jewish organizational world on alert, impacting several of their priorities:

• Cuts to USAID have stopped the flow of government money to Israeli-Palestinian peace-building efforts.

• Cuts to FEMA have frozen federal funding for synagogue security.

• Trump also suspended funding for refugee resettlement, though that decision was recently blocked by a judge in a lawsuit brought by several refugee aid groups, including the Jewish group HIAS.

Other Jewish institutions in the D.C. area, including day schools, are feeling the effects of the layoff spree.

Half of the parents of students at the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School in Washington, D.C. are employed in some capacity by the federal government, according to Jewish Insider. (JTA)

200,000 tourists a month visit the Nova massacre site

The Nova music festival, where more than 350 people were murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, has quickly become one of the most visited tourist destinations in Israel.

More than 200,000 people per month visited the site, at Kibbutz Reim near the Gaza border, on average over the last six months, according to Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund. If sustained, that pace would put Nova on track to draw more visitors than the Dead Sea or Tel Aviv’s Anu Museum, which focuses on the Jewish diaspora, each year.

Visitors to the site have included foreign dignitaries and celebrities as well as tourists from both inside and outside Israel who are seeking a personal connection to the site of the single largest massacre of Hamas’ attack.

KKL-JNF says it spent more than $1 million on expanding a parking lot, building bathrooms, and adding memorial signage to benefit the visitors. The site features rows of the victims’ photos attached to posts in the field where the festival took place.

“This place is not just a memory of what was — it is a living testament to the resilience, unity, and sorrow of Israeli society as a whole,” Ifat Ovadia-Luski, KKL-JNF’s chairwoman, said.

Those seeking connection need not make the trip to Reim, located about 60 miles south of Tel Aviv: An exhibit recreating the massacre at the festival, featuring real items left behind there, opened in Israel and has since been staged in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and more.

Other sites ravaged during the Oct. 7 attack, which left about 1,200 people dead and more than 250 taken hostage, initially drew busloads of visitors as Israel sought to ensure that the horrors of the attack were understood. But they have receded as the communities that were attacked have increasingly turned their attention to rebuilding, leaving Nova as the primary site to become an official tourist destination. (JTA)

Vote through May 4 in election for World Zionist Congress –future of Israel at stake

Voting is underway in an election that gives American Jews an opportunity to directly shape Israel’s future.

The U.S. election for seats in the 39th World Zionist Congress will help determine the balance of power in the legislative authority of a Zionist organization founded by Theodore Herzl 128 years ago.

Influence over $5 billion in funding for Jewish causes is at stake, as is authority over quasi-governmental institutions such as the Jewish Agency, which plays a central role in immigration to Israel, and the Jewish National Fund, which owns 13% of Israeli land. The election is seen as a referendum on the future of the country.

Any Jewish adult living in the United States can vote between now and May 4 as long as they accept a set of Zionist principles and pay a $5 registration fee. The entire process takes about two, maybe three minutes.

To vote, go to AZM.ORG.

For information about the slates, go to JewishNewsVa.org and click on the March 24, 2025 digital issue or search World Zionist Congress.

See something wrong? Report it!

Report an antisemitic incident at www.Federation.JewishVA.org/IncidentReporting

In an emergency, always call 9-1-1 first.

If online reporting is not practical, contact local law enforcement and/or the relevant suspicious activity reporting authority.

Also contact Mike Goldsmith, Tidewater’s SCN Regional Security Advisor, at MGoldsmith@ujft.org or 844-SCN-DESK.

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Jewish cultural institutions reeling as Trump defunds arts and humanities

Asaf Elia-Shalev

(JTA) — A museum holding one of the most important photography collections of pre-Holocaust Jewish life wanted to scan thousands of images and make them accessible to the public online.

As part of the fundraising to digitize the archive of the renowned Russian Jewish photographer Roman Vishniac, the museum, known as the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, applied in November for a $250,000 grant from a federal agency called the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

But this month the agency was effectively shuttered by the Trump administration, which called it “unnecessary” in an executive order signed by the president in March. The agency’s staff are on leave and its $290 million budget, most of which goes out as grants to museums and libraries throughout the country, is frozen.

The most significant consequence of the cuts is not the loss of any single grant opportunity: The Magnes, which is part of the University of California, Berkeley, is expecting to make up the difference through additional fundraising from private donors, according to executive director Hannah Weisman.

“The real concern is the ripple effect,” Weisman says. “If I don’t get a grant here from a federal agency, I’m going to go talk to a different donor who may already be talking to a peer of mine. It puts a strain on funding sources across the sector.”

The cuts go beyond museums. Virtually all federal grant-making for arts and culture is in jeopardy following recent and expected cuts across government agencies. The Trump administration, on Thursday, April 3, gutted the National Endowment for the Humanities. The National Endowment for the Arts is likely next, according to the American Alliance of Museums.

A comprehensive accounting is not available, but the impact on Jewish scholars, artists and cultural organizations is widespread:

• The future of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and a related filmmaker residency could be in peril if NEA is shuttered as expected.

• An artist and printmaker announced that they lost NEH funding that would have allowed 25 students to spend their summer learning about the techniques and history of Jewish print culture.

they serve — which they are,” Beresniova says. “These museums represent some of the only places in some communities where our communal rituals, values, and identities are preserved and shared with both Jewish and non-Jewish groups.”

The Trump administration has justified its cuts as a cost-saving measure, but they are also happening against an ideological backdrop. Many conservatives believe that museums and other cultural institutions have come to focus too much on the faults of the United States and

• The Capital Jewish Museum is scaling back ambitions to collect and tell stories about Jews in the Washington, D.C. area.

• A Jewish theater organization is bracing for the potential cancellation of an NEA grant that would help fund its playwriting contest.

The harm of cuts to museums goes deeper than imperiling particular projects and plans, according to Christine Beresniova, executive director of the Council of American Jewish Museums.

“There could be a cascade effect from these kinds of drastic changes not only in terms of funding or staffing but in the latent message being delivered that museums are somehow not essential to the communities

Western civilization.

An executive order last month, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” articulated this criticism.

“Over the past decade, Americans have witnessed a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth,” the executive order reads. “This revisionist movement seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”

The order goes on to say that federally run parks and museums — and the Smithsonian in particular — must

become “solemn and uplifting public monuments that remind Americans of our extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing.”

The disappearance of federal support for private museums comes two years after the U.S. National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism, an initiative of the Biden White House, described museums as a critical tool against the spread of hatred.

The policy push led to a federal grant that paid for a national summit about how museums can combat antisemitism and for a guide for museum professionals. Held a few months after Oct. 7, 2023 amid a wave of antisemitism, the summit was called “Museums Respond.”

Until the gutting of the IMLS, Beresniova was counting on the availability of federal funding to expand outreach and training.

“This content has to be amplified to take hold in the national consciousness, and federal support in this endeavor is vital,” she says.

other issues regarded as existential, he says.

“Donors are saying, ‘The arts are a nice-to-have, but not a need-to-have in a moment of crisis like this,’” Cove says.

But even institutions that work explicitly on the crisis of antisemitism and don’t receive any money from the federal government are expecting fundraising to become more difficult as organizations affected by the cuts turn to donors to help.

The Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center is concerned, for example, about the viability of its annual donor-supported educators conference, which every year trains dozens of local teachers in Holocaust instruction.

It feels calculated to create a society of people who are actively hostile to education, who are actively hostile to knowing and understanding the world.

Federal funding for cultural institutions isn’t just about dollars — it also serves as a powerful endorsement, fundraisers say. Receiving a government grant signals that an organization is doing important work, with clear plans, accountability measures, and oversight in place. It’s a vote of confidence that can unlock private donations, especially for small organizations with less fundraising infrastructure.

The disruption of that dynamic is worrying for Lou Cove, who runs CANVAS, a grant-making and advocacy organization dedicated to increasing Jewish philanthropic support for the arts.

There’s is a feeling among many donors that they are not equipped to evaluate the impact of Jewish arts and culture organizations on their own. The problem is especially dire amid rising antisemitism and

“Organizations that have traditionally relied on government grants are going to be rushing into that philanthropic grant pool,” says Lori Shepherd, executive director of the Tucson museum.

“We’re already seeing it, and it’s making it more challenging for those of us who relied on that support. So, it’s a ripple effect that can be very challenging.”

If Shepherd is worried about the impact on her museum’s finances, she says that she and other museum leaders are aghast at what the cuts represent.

“We’re reeling from these — for lack of a better word — attacks,” she says.

“We’re not able to focus yet on the longterm effects that are going to be true and lasting devastation. This is going to strip our communities of access to educational resources and ideas.”

She says she sees in recent events a repetition of the historical events about which her museum teaches.

“That’s not hyperbole. It feels calculated to create a society of people who are actively hostile to education, who are actively hostile to knowing and understanding the world. And once that’s embedded, it will be really hard for us to turn that page back,” she says.

Meanwhile, at a small organization called the Jewish Plays Project, the attitude

Local Relationships Matter

Jonathan Jacobs, MD, DMD, FACS

“Associates in Plastic Surgery focuses on providing an ethical and caring presennce for the folks with whom we interact. We run our business with the Golden Rule as the guide. We want to treat everyone who interacts with us, the way we would want to be treated by them. I have been active in international volunteer medical services for 35 years. Right now, I am very involved with the Richmond-based, International Hospital for Children and the World Pediatric Project. Our mission is building a better life for children in the Caribbean and Central America by providing surgical care for patients with both congenital deformity and trauma victims. I am senior surgeon for a group which travels to Honduras every January.”

““We had a security breach in our payroll system. Payday found it with their software and notified us immediately. In fact, the CEO called me personally to help us understand the problem and walked us through resolving the issue. Payday Payroll services helped us immensely!”

“

Our client relationships are anything but transactional. We are long-term partners, dedicated to the success of our clients, and most importantly, their people.

is that whatever the perils of the day may be, the show must go on.

Last year, the group was approved for a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to expand its marquee playwriting contest, a national endeavor to discover new Jewish play scripts and advance them to production in theaters around the country.

Staff at the NEA recently told the group’s founder and executive artistic director, David Winitsky, that the money will arrive as promised, and he’s already applied to renew the grant during the

next funding cycle.

But he knows that the staff handling his grants could be out of their jobs at any moment and the money may never materialize. Still, he says he’s refusing to be pessimistic and vowed to continue making Jewish art with whatever support is available.

“I don’t want to be pollyannaish about it,” he says. “The most powerful government in the world really does want to control or limit art. I spend a lot of time talking to artists who are losing their minds about it. I tell them to keep calm and carry on. The world needs what we do.”

MEET:

Holocaust remembrance pages — including one about Tidewater’s Kitty Saks — removed in Pentagon’s DEI purge

Grace Gilson

(JTA) — When she was five years old, Kitty Saks’ home in Vienna was commandeered by the Nazis, leading her family to flee to Brussels, where she was hidden in a convent until the Allies liberated Belgium. Twenty-seven members of her family were killed in the Holocaust.

Until a few weeks ago, that story could be read on the website of a U.S. Air Force unit, one of the many ways the government commemorated the Holocaust.

But now it is gone, one of many Holocaust remembrance articles taken down as part of the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to rid Pentagon platforms of anything related to DEI.

In a February 26 memo titled “digital content refresh,” Pentagon leadership was directed to “remove all DoD news and feature articles, photos, and videos that promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).” More than 24,000 articles could potentially be removed, according to a database obtained by CNN.

Also caught in the net of the anti-DEI purge are articles focused on race, gender, and LGBTQ experiences, as well as others on topics such as cancer awareness, suicide prevention, and sexual assault. An article on Jackie Robinson, who served in the military and is widely admired for breaking baseball’s color line, was removed and has been reinstated.

Also removed was an article on Bea Arthur, the Jewish Golden Girls star who served in the Marines during World War II.

Beyond Saks’ story, at least two more pages documenting Holocaust remembrance were also removed. One page, titled A Cadet’s Perspective: Holocaust Days of Remembrance, described a cadet’s experience visiting concentration camps a decade ago and the ways they informed his experience in the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Another page stripped from the Pentagon’s platforms commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Week and told readers to not forget the importance of religious diversity:

“The first place we must look is within ourselves. Do we allow stereotypes to determine how we think of another based on their religion? Do we diminish another’s beliefs because they are different from our own? It is in examining ourselves and the inner thoughts that we allow to foster, we will be able to create change,” the article read.

In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot — who referred to DEI initiatives as “Woke cultural Marxism” — said pages that had inadvertently been removed would be reinstated but did not detail if or when the Holocaust-related articles would go back up.

“We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms,” his statement said. “In the rare cases that content is removed — either deliberately or by mistake — that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period.”

Saks died in 2021 in Norfolk at the age of 88. (Saks was an active member of United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission and a frequent participant in its Speakers Bureau). In the article about her experience, which can still be viewed on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, she was quoted saying, “I think the Holocaust should never be forgotten and it should be taught in schools, but not just a few lines.”

Son of Holocaust survivors to speak at Yom Hashoah

Wednesday, April 23, Ohef Sholom Temple, 6:45 pm

Dr. Irving Berkowitz is the keynote speaker for the community’s Yom Hashoah commemoration, which is presented each year by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission. Dr. Berkowitz is the son of Holocaust survivors, as well as a Holocaust scholar and educator. Berkowitz holds advanced degrees in public policy and sociology and most recently served as dean of Academic Affairs at Palm Beach State College. Earlier in his

career he served as a dean at Norfolk State University. He says he looks forward to returning to Hampton Roads. Throughout his 42-year-career, Berkowitz has been a passionate advocate for human rights and Holocaust education. He has advised post-communist governments, volunteered with civil rights

organizations, and received numerous awards for his leadership and advocacy. All of Dr. Berkowitz’s work reflects his deep commitment to combating prejudice and preserving the lessons of history. This year’s Yom Hashoah commemoration carries great significance as this observes the 80th

anniversary of the end of WWII and of the Holocaust. The end of the Holocaust also marked the beginning of Holocaust denial and distortion, something the world continues to grapple with.

Ohef Sholom Temple is located on Raleigh Ave. in Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood.

The Holocaust Commission encourages everyone in the community to attend and recognize this important anniversary. For more information, go to holocaustcommission.jewishva.org.

Kitty Saks.

Wendy Auerbach

VIRGINIA

The University of Virginia and the Brody Jewish Center, Hillel at UVA joins Hillel International’s flagship Campus Climate Initiative to address antisemitism on campus

As Jewish college students across North America experience unprecedented levels of antisemitism on campus, the University of Virginia has joined Hillel International’s flagship Campus Climate Initiative (CCI) program.

Hillel’s CCI program is the nation’s leading training and engagement program for college and university administrators to address the alarming rise in antisemitism on campus.

In an effort to strengthen ties among university leaders, Hillel International, and the Brody Jewish Center, CCI will provide tools to address the challenge of antisemitism at UVA and to ensure a safe climate for the university’s Jewish students where they can feel safe and confident expressing their identity and values.

key UVA administrators over the next 10 months, with a constant focus on our goal of establishing tangible ways to improve the campus climate for Jewish students and all students in the coming years.”

“Over the last year and a half, we have identified significant areas of growth for the University of Virginia when it comes to supporting a sense of belonging and respect for our students in the community,” says Annie Weinberg, executive director of the Brody Jewish Center. “These growth opportunities include more training for leadership on Jewish identity and experience as well as ensuring that Jewish students are a respected voice in the UVA community and among their peers. I’m grateful to be working in partnership with

With the addition of the 18 participants in the latest cohort, more than 102 schools across the United States and Canada have now participated in the CCI program.

As part of CCI, University of Virginia officials will create an action plan to combat antisemitism on campus. It is structured to align with the University of Virginia’s longstanding commitment to creating welcoming campus environments for all students to ensure that Jewish students and their needs are integrated into any broader university efforts to combat bias and discrimination.

The Brody Jewish Center, Hillel at the University of Virginia, is the focal point of Jewish life for the estimated 1,000 Jewish undergraduates on the campus. Building upon UVA’s strong tradition of student leadership, the Brody Jewish Center actively and successfully empowers Jewish students to create relevant and meaningful Jewish experiences focused on education, empowerment, and community.

It is a recipient of funds from United Jewish Federation of Tidewater.

In Virginia Beach, Senator Warner speaks about Israel and antisemitism

Terri Denison

U.S. Senator Mark R. Warner met with members of Tidewater’s Jewish community last month to discuss a range of issues, including Israel, the state of college campuses, and antisemitism.

The former governor and senior senator from Virginia began the conversation by reflecting on his first campaign, which he lost to Senator John Warner. “I learned so much from John Warner. The two became dear friends, he said, and worked across party lines. “He did not

view the other side as the enemy – this is something we need more of in politics today.”

Covering a variety of issues, Sen. Warner said he feels the biggest longterm challenge on the global scene is the technology competition with China. This is an area, he noted, where the United States has a great working relationship with Israel.

“No county of Israel’s size (both physical and by population) “so punches above its weight in technology,” as well as

across the board in a series of domains, Warner said.

“My ties to Israel go back to the early 1990s,” Sen. Warner said, referencing his first trip to Israel with AIPAC, and then returning many times as a businessman, as governor, as senator, and with his family. During his trip in January 2024, which was just post Oct. 7, Warner said “you could still feel the shock in the streets.”

Addressing current divisions within Congress over Israel, Warner is firm that “even if one has legitimate concerns

about what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing, this is not a time to allow any light to come between America and Israel because of the enormous rise of antisemitism that we saw” on college campuses post Oct. 7.

Any differences between the United States and Israel that might exist, Warner stressed, should be discussed in private at this point. One reason, he said, is that so much of the alignment of the rest of the world is anti-Israel. “We can’t allow any gap between us to take place.”

Most Americans don’t want the US to conquer Gaza, Pew survey finds

(JTA) — A new study has found that most Americans don’t want the United States to conquer Gaza, a policy that President Donald Trump first proposed in February.

It also found that Americans across age groups and party lines feel less favorably toward Israel than they did before Oct. 7, 2023, and that views of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are divided along partisan lines.

The survey by the Pew Research Center found that 62% of Americans oppose Trump’s oft-repeated proposal that the United States should take over Gaza — including 49% who strongly oppose the idea — while 15% support it. In the president’s own party, 44% oppose the idea and 27% support it.

But 46% of Americans say it is somewhat or very likely that Trump will pursue the policy. The poll was published

Tuesday, April 8 and conducted prior to Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu, when he again floated the policy.

In addition, the survey found that 53% of Americans overall have an unfavorable view of Israel, compared to 42% in 2022. Favorable views have fallen in a range of demographics: • 37% of Republicans view Israel unfavorably, compared to 27% in 2022.

• 69% of Democrats view Israel unfavorably, compared to 53% in 2022.

Young people in both parties have relatively high unfavorables toward Israel: 50% of Republicans under 49, and 71% of Democrats in that age group, view Israel unfavorably.

The only U.S. religious groups that have a majority favorable view toward Israel are Jews (at 73%) and Protestants (at 57%), according to the survey. In particular, 72% of white

evangelicals view Israel favorably. Catholics are split at 53% unfavorable and 45% favorable. Among Muslims, 81% have an unfavorable view of Israel.

The results dovetail with a Gallup poll published in February that also found declining favorability toward Israel among Americans.

The Pew survey also found that Republicans and Democrats are split on Netanyahu: 51% of Republicans are confident that he will do the right thing, compared with 15% of Democrats. Overall, just 32% of Americans say they have confidence in him.

Among American Jews, 53% do not have confidence in Netanyahu and 45% do. The only U.S. religious group to demonstrate confidence in Netanyahu is white evangelical Protestants.

Art Sandler and Senator Mark Warner.

Senator Mark Warner and Aron Slone.

Senator Mark Warner and Jeffrey Breit.

Ben Sales

NATION

US Naval Academy removed books about the Holocaust, antisemitism and Jewish Americans ahead of Hegseth visit

Andrew Lapin (JTA) — At the same time as the U.S. Naval Academy removed a display honoring Jewish female graduates ahead of a visit from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, it also removed books about the Holocaust and antisemitism.

The books, which also covered the history of white supremacy in the United States, were among nearly 400 removed ahead of the visit earlier this month.

The order to remove the books, most of which focused on topics like race, diversity, and gender, appeared to come at the behest of Hegseth himself. The Pentagon chief, whose initiatives against diversity, equity, and inclusion programming have already led to the removal of other Holocaust remembrance content from the Defense Department’s digital platforms, sent a memo to the Maryland school instructing it to comply with larger anti-”woke” purges at the department.

The list of books was made public by the Navy on Friday, April 4. In a statement after this article’s initial publication, Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a Navy spokesperson, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency the books “required removal in order to ensure full compliance with directives outlined in Executive Orders issued by the President.” He added that they “were placed in a room where library patrons cannot access them.”

written by a former director of Boston’s Jewish Community Relations Council; an academic study of Holocaust memorials through a gender lens; two books about sexuality in Weimar-era Berlin; and a history of early Jewish American efforts to censor antisemitic media.

The author of the latter book, M. Alison Kibler, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that “censoring a book about censorship would be laughable, except that banning a long list of books at the USNA is absolutely serious and alarming.

“It’s unclear to me why my book would be dangerous to the education of Midshipmen — adults who are seeking a wellrounded education; and it’s unclear to me why my book is on the list but other books about race and immigration in the history of the United States are not,” Kibler, a professor at Franklin & Marshall College and author of Censoring racial ridicule: Irish, Jewish, and African American struggles over race and representation, 1890-1930, wrote in an email.

Censoring a book about censorship would be laughable, except that banning a long list of books at the USNA is absolutely serious and alarming.

The removals were notable for occurring at the college level; according to free-speech literary advocacy group PEN America, it was the first notable instance of “college-level library banning.” In recent years, K-12 schools across the country have been the sites of high-profile debates over whether and when to ban books.

were also pulled, along with books about Muslim and Palestinian Americans. The removal list also includes several renowned American books about race, including Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, and at least one student thesis by a recent Naval Academy graduate.

While the school said the photos of Jewish female graduates were restored after Hegseth left, the book removals appear to be permanent. A representative for the Naval Academy did not return a request for comment.

The list of removed books with Jewish themes includes:

• Memorializing the Holocaust: Gender, Genocide and Collective Memory by Janet Jacobs

• Legacy of Hate: A Short History of Ethnic, Religious, and Racial Prejudice in America by Philip Perlmutter, former director of Boston’s JCRC

by Katie Sutton

• Hate on the net a study of online antisemitism and hateful ideologies by Antonio Roversi and Lawrence Smith

• Censoring racial ridicule: Irish, Jewish, and African American struggles over race and representation, 1890-1930 by M. Alison Kibler

• Blood and Politics: The history of the white nationalist movement from the margins to the mainstream by Leonard Zeskind, a MacArthur Fellow and researcher of antisemitism

• Josiah Nott of Mobile, a biography of an influential racist 19th-century physician who once wrote a pamphlet outlining “The physical history of the Jewish race,” by Reginald Horsman

Among the removed books with Jewish content were a history of hate in America

Many books studying racism and white supremacy, including neo-Nazis,

• Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity by former U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum fellow Robert Beachy

• The Masculine Woman in Weimar Germany

• American Hate: Survivors Speak Out, an account of minority group persecution under the first Trump administration, including Jewish stories, by Arjun Singh Sethi

• Several other books about white supremacism in the U.S., including American Swastika

Federal spending cuts could affect aid for Holocaust survivors and kosher Meal on Wheels deliveries

Asaf Elia-Shalev (JTA) — Mass layoffs and a sweeping restructuring at the Department of Health and Human Services could disrupt programs that deliver support for Holocaust survivors and kosher meals to homebound seniors and people with disabilities.

As part of the Trump administration’s move to slash federal spending, the department is reducing its workforce by 25% and eliminating the Administration for Community Living, which coordinates federal support for services such as Meals on Wheels, adult day care, elder abuse prevention, and independent living supports.

focused on ensuring that the vital programs it oversees will continue uninterrupted through any potential administrative changes,” David Goldfarb, senior director at JFNA’s strategic health center, says.

Established in 2015, the Holocaust Survivor Assistance Program aims to make welfare service providers more effective by training them in a healthcare approach known as person-centered, trauma-informed care. The program has received strong bipartisan support in Congress, which most recently allocated $8.3 million for it, while cutting many other earmarks, in the budget resolution approved last month.

DHS says it is monitoring immigrants’ social media for ‘antisemitic activity’

(JTA) — The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Wednesday, April 9, that it is now surveilling the social media of people applying to immigrate and international students for “antisemitic activity.”

The new policy will go into effect immediately, and any evidence of antisemitism or the “physical harassment of Jewish individuals” on social media could be used to reject applicants, according to the announcement from the Department of Homeland Security.

“There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. “Sec. [Kristi] Noem has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for anti-Semitic violence and terrorism — think again. You are not welcome here.”

The United States has required visa applicants to share their social media handles since 2019, during the first Trump administration; the Obama administration had requested that information but did not make it mandatory. Many countries say they may scrutinize the social media accounts of potential immigrants.

The DHS press release said officials would be looking for content “endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity.”

Jewish social services agencies throughout the country deliver kosher offerings to peoples’ homes as part of the Meal on Wheels program. Holocaust survivors also receive other assistance from the ACL through a special program administered by the Jewish Federations of North America.

An estimated 40,000 Holocaust survivors live in the United States today, and more than one third of them are living in poverty.

JFNA, which has been fielding calls and emails about the federal cuts from concerned Jewish organizations, says it is advocating with the government to protect services.

“ACL serves a critical role in supporting the independence of people with disabilities and older adults, including Holocaust survivors, and Jewish Federations are

In announcing the move, the department says that the reorganization would not affect “critical services.” It says essential programs housed under ACL will become the responsibility of other agencies in the department including the Administration for Children and Families, Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services come as a spending freeze at another federal agency puts security grants for synagogues and Jewish nonprofits in limbo. Jewish groups and a group of lawmakers from both parties are calling on the Trump administration to resume the Nonprofit Security Grant Program that stalled as part of the freeze ordered at FEMA, the federal disaster relief agency.

It also said the new order would be enforced “to the maximum degree,” and that its purpose was “to protect the homeland from extremists and terrorist aliens, including those who support antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies, and antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah aka: ‘the Houthis.’”

The Homeland Security announcement comes amid a wide shakeup of immigration and border control practices since the Trump administration took office in January, and as the Trump administration pursues aggressive policy changes under the guise of combating antisemitism.

The effort has included a move to revoke the visas of international students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses, and in some cases to detain and deport them. Jewish organizations have expressed concern about whether those efforts are happening in accordance with due process and civil liberties protections in U.S. law.

JEWISH TIDEWATER

Federal cuts to food assistance devastate JFS Food Pantry

Julie Kievit

Recent federal budget cuts have significantly impacted food banks across the country, and the food pantry at Jewish Family Service is no exception.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has eliminated more than $1 billion in funding for programs that helped schools and food banks purchase food. These cuts include $660 million for the Local Food for Schools program and $420 million for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement. For years, these USDA programs played a crucial role in ensuring that food banks could keep their shelves stocked and provide nutritious food to families in need, including those in Tidewater. The removal of these essential programs, part of a broader push to reduce federal spending, leaves vulnerable communities struggling to access basic food supplies.

The JFS food pantry feeds seniors on fixed incomes, parents struggling to feed their children, and individuals facing unexpected hardships. “These are our community members and neighbors that are all seeing the effects of this funding shortfall. With the rising cost of groceries, the need for food assistance is greater than ever,” says

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Kelly Burroughs, Jewish Family Service CEO.

The abrupt termination of these funding sources has had an immediate effect. The JFS pantry, which relies on support from the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia, now faces severe shortages.

Emily Krouse, JFS special projects coordinator, speaks of the stark reality of empty shelves where essential items once stood. “Our shelves are nearly bare, and now more than ever, we need your support to help those in need. We need the help of the Jewish community to come together to support our food pantry.”

With a deep-rooted tradition of Tikkun Olam, Jews have always stepped up in times of crisis. This is one of those moments.

Donations of non-perishable food items, cleaning supplies, and hygiene products may be dropped off at the JFS Pantry box located in front of the Sandler Family Campus.

For information about food donations, contact Emily Krouse at ekrouse@jfshamptonroads.org or 757-321-2227. For monetary donations, contact Brooke Rush at brush@jfshamptonroads. org or 757-321-2238.

Dr. Gary Moss Dr. Greg Pendell Dr. Craig Koenig Dr. Marguerite Lengkeek

TIDEWATER

Building Bridges: A conversation with Maurice Hawkins on community, dialogue, and combating antisemitism

Olga Eskinazi and Shikma Rubin

In a time when combating antisemitism requires strong allies and open conversations, expanding circles and having friends is more important than ever. One such friend who has deepened his engagement with the Jewish community by attending events and having meaningful conversations is Maurice Hawkins. Through discussions, values have been shared and the importance of standing together and combating antisemitism has been strengthened.

Hawkins’s journey is a testament to the power of connection. By welcoming new voices into the Jewish community, the fight against hate can be expanded. Here, Maurice Hawkins shares his experiences, what drew him to get involved, and why building bridges matters.

Jewish Community Relations Council: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Maurice Hawkins: I’ve been a resident of Virginia Beach since 2018, though I previously lived in Norfolk. I’m a proud veteran of the United States Air Force and I’m committed to serving my community and making a positive impact. I graduated in 1998 from Norfolk State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism, concentrating in advertising.

I’m deeply passionate about community involvement, civic engagement, and leadership development. I’m an active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and have been honored by numerous organizations for my contributions to community service. Over the years, I’ve gained diverse professional experience across the public, private, academic, and non-profit sectors, which has provided me with a well-rounded perspective on the challenges we face in our community.

I’m dedicated to finding innovative solutions to improve the quality of life for all residents. I particularly focus on building powerful, diverse coalitions to tackle complex issues and foster understanding between communities with different values. A lifelong learner, I’m also an avid fan of the Washington Commanders and a big enthusiast of cinema.

Through my work and personal commitment, I strive to help create a more inclusive, connected, and prosperous community for everyone.

JCRC: How did you get involved with the Jewish community?

community due to the shared experiences of unfair treatment both groups have endured over the years. Attending the AIPAC Policy Conference was a pivotal moment for me—it not only deepened my understanding of the Jewish faith but also solidified the importance of strengthening my personal alliance with the community.

Unfortunately, when the world shut down due to COVID-19, much of the relationship-building I had been eager to pursue was stunted by the aggressive social distancing and isolation we all faced. Fast forward to 2024 when I attended the Israel Independence Day Celebration (Yom Ha’Atzmaut community celebration of Israel @76) at the Sandler Family Campus. This event provided me

MH: In 2020, I was invited by my good friend, Arielle Schwartz, to attend the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. Honestly, I was awestruck by the rich history of the Jewish community.

As an African American, I’ve always felt a deep connection with the Jewish

with another opportunity to further my knowledge and deepen my connections with individuals who worship and celebrate the Jewish faith.

JCRC: Tell us about your journey this past year – better understanding of

antisemitism, forging strong ties with the Jewish community, your own educational path.

MH: I attended several events at the Sandler Family Campus and even visited a synagogue for the first time in my life. However, the most impactful experience was watching a documentary and listening to the panel discussion that followed about the horrific events that took place at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After viewing that film, I realized I needed to become a stronger and more consistent ally to the Jewish community. This experience reaffirmed my commitment to standing in solidarity with those who face discrimination and injustice.

JCRC: Why is this (fighting antisemitism, being an ally to the Jewish community) important to you?

MH: The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This powerful quote has become my guiding principle when it comes to standing up against hate. I also recognize that during the Civil Rights Movement, many members of the Jewish community stood shoulder to shoulder with the African American community, helping to usher in an era of progress and equality for all Americans.

In light of the global rise in antisemitism, which has only intensified in the aftermath of the tragic events of October 7th, it feels more important than ever to elevate my support for my friends in the Jewish community. I am committed to standing in solidarity with them and amplifying my rhetorical advocacy against this despicable form of hate. It is through these united efforts that we can continue to fight for justice, equality, and understanding for all people.

TIDEWATER

JCRC: What has helped you this year to form your opinions?

MH: Two key experiences have shaped my desire to increase my support for the Jewish community. First, I had the privilege of engaging in honest, thoughtprovoking conversations with my friends Robin Mancoll, Shikma Rubin, and Olga Eskinazi. These discussions, where we explored the specifics of antisemitism and the intersectionality of hate, were incredibly enlightening and played a crucial role in my decision to be a stronger ally. Second, attending various events has greatly expanded my awareness of the Jewish community and its unique challenges in combating antisemitism. These experiences have deepened my understanding and reinforced my commitment to standing up for the Jewish community in meaningful ways.

JCRC: What has surprised you the most?

MH: It is deeply concerning how easily some individuals spread disinformation and misinformation about the Jewish community. Many unknowingly share antisemitic content on social media or make harmful statements, unaware of the damage they cause both to the Jewish community and to themselves. This level of ignorance highlights the urgent need for knowledgebased strategies to combat the pervasive

threat of antisemitism in our society.

JCRC: What do you see as the role of nonJews in the community to be in fighting antisemitism?

MH: In my humble opinion it’s up to all of us to stand up against antisemitism and hate in all of its forms. Based on what I’ve witnessed, more people need to stand with the Jewish community against antisemitism because IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

JCRC: What can Jewish people do to connect with more allies in the community?

MH: Continue reaching out to leaders and members of organizations as well as individuals who prioritize standing up against injustice. For example, the motto of my fraternity is “First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All.” My interpretation of this motto is that we should be the first to stand up for those experiencing injustice. The lack of understanding about antisemitism that keeps many people on the sidelines in this fight highlights the importance of directly engaging with those outside the Jewish community to strengthen these alliances.

Olga Eskinazi and Shikma Rubin are steering committee members of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. To connect with them, email Robin Mancoll, JCRC’s senior director, at RMancoll@ujft.org.

Bring a friend, neighbor, or colleague to Yom HaAtzmaut – Israel @77, the community celebration of Israel at the Sandler Family Campus on Sunday, May 4. Introduce these friends to Jewish Tidewater and start or expand those meaningful conversations. Share your experience with Olga Eskinazi and Shikma Rubin or other members of the Jewish Community Relations Council.

Have a favorite camp memory?

Jewish News wants to hear from you!

The memory could be from last year, the last decade, or the previous century. The memory could be from a Day Camp or Residential Camp, as a Camper or Counselor.

Length: 100 - 150 words, plus the camp’s name and a photo of the camper –then or now.

Please also include a phone number in case anything needs to be verified. Deadline is Friday, April 25. Early submissions appreciated!

Email speck@ujft.org with the subject: Summer Camp Memory

KID’S SHOULD GROW STRONGER, BUT THEIR NEARSIGHTEDNESS SHOULDN’T.

If your child has trouble seeing far away, there’s a treatment that can correct, and help protect their blurry vision from getting worse as they grow.

Schedule an appointment today.

JEWISH TIDEWATER

BETH EL’S NEW RABBI IS A MAN OF MANY TALENTS Jacob Herber arrives in Norfolk July 15

Joel Rubin

Cyclist, scholar, father, mentor, musician, soccer, hockey, and baseball fan, U.S. history buff, Coast Guard Chaplain…and rabbi.

That pretty much describes Jacob Herber, who assumes the pulpit at Norfolk’s Congregation Beth El in mid-July. “I am really looking forward to living and working in your community,” says Herber, who grew up in Beacon, a small town outside New York City where he received his grounding in Judaism. “At 13, I was often the 10th in a minyan.”

But his family moved to the suburbs of Sacramento shortly afterwards where “I was one of two Jews in my high school.” College was at UC Davis. “I majored in history and thought I was headed to law school, even worked for a while for the chief of staff for San Francisco Mayor George Moscone.”

Ultimately, though, Herber decided his interest was more in Jewish than secular law, so it was back east to New York. “I spent six years at the Jewish Theological Seminary, then became an assistant rabbi outside Philadelphia before moving to Milwaukee to be chief rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid for 15 years.” He also served two terms as head of the Wisconsin Board of Rabbis, taking time off in 2008 to travel to Uganda with a host of other leading conservative rabbis to supervise the formal conversion of more than 200 members of the Abayudaya community that had long practiced Jewish rituals.

A rising star in the rabbinic ranks, Herber next earned a fellowship at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, a leading research and educational center serving Israel and world Jewry, then joined their national staff. “That experience, which included working with rabbis across the country, taught me how to look at Torah in a different way, particularly focusing on values and pluralism,

seeking truth through debate but without disrespecting others.” Oh do we need that today.

Missing the day-to-day life of being a shul clergy, Herber returned west, becoming rabbi at Herzl Ner Tamid outside of Seattle, serving there the past five years. When he wasn’t delivering sermons or leading classes, the rabbi was often tending to the spiritual needs of Coast Guard personnel as a chaplain, which also included assisting Navy personnel in the area. An avid outdoorsman, Herber was often on his bike. “I was on a major racing team in Milwaukee, and when I got to Washington state, I started an affinity group within the synagogue.”

But Rabbi Herber, who also plays a mean electric guitar, missed the east coast. “My teams are the Yankees in baseball and the Rangers in hockey, as well as the Chelsea Soccer club in England.”

Now divorced, he is very close with his two accomplished adult children. “My daughter went to Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and while there earned an internship in the Israeli embassy in Washington DC.” Herber says she was so impressive that they offered her a job after graduation. “Today Mychal is the communications director, working closely with the ambassador.”

Son Adin could be here in Hampton Roads someday.

“He is currently in Navy boot camp with hopes of becoming a Seal,” says his proud dad. “After training in Coronado, he might be assigned to Virginia Beach.”

“Jacob Herber’s background was so impressive that when he applied to be our rabbi, we couldn’t wait to meet him,” says Beth El president and former Navy Admiral Herm Shelanski. “He blew everybody away when he visited and led services. It was an easy decision for our search committee.”

Both Herber and Shelanski are American history enthusiasts. Indeed Shelanski, who has already bonded with his new hire over their shared Philly roots, is anxious to take the Rebbie to places like Monticello, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. “I cannot wait to do that,” says Herber, “and it’s wonderful that I’m coming to Virginia right as the country is about to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. I hope to engage the congregation in programs around that period.”

Herber plans to be in his Ghent office sparingly. “I am very aware that most of the congregants live in Virginia Beach, so I intend to spend time in coffee shops there including the Cardo Café (at the Sandler Family Campus) to meet congregants and others in the Jewish community. I want to listen and get to know your customs and traditions, hopes, and dreams. I am very forward looking though, appreciating that the conservative movement has challenges, and we need to adapt.”

When in Tidewater in February, “it was so comfortable and welcoming,” he recalls, “a place I knew immediately I could be happy and productive. It felt like putting on gloves that fit perfectly.” Sounds like this experienced Jewish professional will find a home where he can share his multiple talents and love of his faith.

Rabbi Jacob Herber with his children, Mychal and Adin.

Rabbi Jacob Herber.

Investment

Is Senior Living Worth the Gamble?

When families consider senior living, one question o en comes to mind: Will my money last? When it comes to balancing quality care with your preferences, do you hold your cards or take the chance?

e cost of senior living can vary depending on factors like the level of support you need and the size suite you select, while other aspects, like peace of mind, are hard to put a price tag on. Staying at home may seem like the safer bet, but is it worth the gamble?

Commonwealth Senior Living has been helping families navigate this journey for over 20 years. We’ll work with you to explore all your nancial options including savings, Long-Term Care Insurance, home equity, Social Security, and, for veterans, Aid & Attendance bene ts.

Investment

Dear Readers,

The current (at press time, anyway) volatility of the stock market and the overall economy is stressful at best. For investors, it certainly is a time for nerves of steel and/or trusted financial advisors. Personally, I’m working on my nerves and am grateful for the advisor.

Still, no matter the market condition – up, down, or lately seemingly sideways –having a financial plan with an investment strategy is critical to warding off sleepless nights and preparing for the future. Afterall, as the French writer, Antoine de SaintExupéry, best known for his novella, The Little Prince, said, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Several articles in this section speak to that philosophy.

On the adjacent page, for example, Rob Goodman discusses how to make charitable giving a component of a family estate with the client’s wishes preserved in a plan.

Marcia Brodie and Scott Alperin explain the importance of developing a financial plan that includes a power of attorney and a roadmap in the event of a dementia diagnosis. The article is on page 26.

Lois Einhorn and her late husband, Barry, made a plan with their investments for where they would live during their senior years. The plan is working. Page 30.

Tidewater Jewish Foundation’s Life & Legacy program helps both donors and organizations plan for their financial futures. Read about the layered initiative that is all about connections, engagement, and Jewish Tidewater’s ability to move forward for years to come on page 27.

Another investment tool gaining traction is for funeral planning. Read about some of the options and reasons on page 31.

If you don’t already have a financial plan, now is as good of a time as any to develop one. And if you do, like Goodman suggests, it’s always an excellent idea to conduct a review as changes in one’s life might translate to changes in a will or trust.

In addition to many other articles, this section also features some advertisers who can offer suggestions and guidance for future investments and living options.

Thanks for reading,

Investment

Family estate planning can include charitable giving

Stephanie Peck

Robert C. Goodman, Jr., an attorney at Kaufman & Canoles, has practiced law for more than 50 years. His knowledge and expertise cover an array of subjects, including the complexity of estate planning and charitable giving.

When consulting with clients about wills, trusts, and estates, Goodman takes time to consider multiple aspects of their lives. “It takes a lot of thinking, walking through what makes sense for each family,” he explains. He says he likes to touch base with clients every five years to potentially update an estate after changes in one’s life or family. “The focus is different with young children vs. older children.”

One benefit of a lifetime revocable trust is that a court does not oversee the estate, and, therefore, there is privacy and no cost of probate. The only time to probate a will, Goodman suggests, is when there should be a record for historical purposes. Goodman cites as an example a client who had papers dating back to the Civil War era that had been handed down through generations of the family. Goodman saw that these assets became public record.

When clients have significant financial wealth, over-funding the kids may not be a good idea, according to

Goodman. After taking care of health and education and such additional amount as the client thinks appropriate, he recommends considering a donor-advised fund, leaving the family a charitable instrument. Money from the estate and retirement accounts can be moved into the fund, tax-free. “Don’t deprive your children of the pleasure of their own success. Every generation needs achievement and accomplishment,” he says. He offers an example where an estate may be rightfully subsidizing an heir who has a lower-paying job or raising a family, but the donoradvised fund also gives this child the financial ability to join a board as a fully participating member.

adviser can sponsor the ball, but they still need to buy their own dress clothes.”

Goodman continues the discussion of charitable giving, adding the concept of break-through philanthropy. When

an annual gift of $75,000 instead, which the client found easy to embrace. During her lifetime, she was able to see the impact of her annual giving and opted to leave a much larger donation at her death.

Robert C. Goodman, Jr.

Goodman considers a multigenerational donor-advised fund as a gift to children and future generations. It doesn’t diminish their work ethic. “The donor

Graduation season is almost here, and Jewish News wants to celebrate Jewish Tidewater’s students as the Class of 2025 graduates from high school, college, and graduate schools.

a family has larger wealth, is there an opportunity where a gift can make a significant difference? One client was uncomfortable when asked to donate $1.5 million to jump-start a new initiative. The client resisted until Goodman suggested

“Estate planning can include investing in something today rather than just waiting until you’re gone,” says Goodman. “Why not see the benefits while living and decide whether to leave more upon death?”

CALLING ALL 2025 GRADUATES

To help us acknowledge as many graduates as possible, please submit, along with a photo, this information by Friday, May 9:

Name

School

Awards, special notes What’s next (college, grad school, job) Parents names

Send to speck@ujft.org with Graduate in the subject line. You will receive an email acknowledging receipt. If you don’t, please call 757-965-6129. Thank you!

Investment vehicle for Jewish community now on NY Investment

The groundbreaking JLens 500 Jewish Advocacy U.S. ETF (exchange-traded fund) is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TOV.

TOV was designed by ADL affiliate JLens to empower investors to combat antisemitism, support Israel, and embody Jewish values while investing in some of America's largest companies.

Why TOV? Why Now?

New challenges call for new tools and strategies. The TOV ETF is a timely response to the alarming rise of antisemitism and attempts to weaken Israel’s economy. It is also a recognition that anti-Israel activists are increasingly targeting corporations, while many Jewish employees find themselves in difficult workplace environments.

TOV is a new investment vehicle for the Jewish

community to directly address these challenges and hold corporations accountable to ensure their products, platforms, and workplaces remain free from antisemitism and all forms of hate.

How Does It Work?

TOV tracks the JLens 500 Jewish Advocacy U.S. Index, which provides exposure to the 500 largest U.S. public companies and screens out companies whose activities do not align with Jewish values. The remaining companies are then assessed based on their performance on Jewish values scorecards. JLens uses this information to advocate for Jewish communal interests through engagement with management and boards of directors, proxy voting, and other forms of shareholder advocacy. The Fund aims to deliver performance comparable to

other US Large Cap index funds and amplify the Jewish voice in the corporate arena.

Learn more about the TOV ETF at investjewishly.org.

This article is provided by ADL, an affiliate of JLens. JLens is a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

Refer to the JLens ETF website for more information on ETFs and their respective risks and disclosures. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results. For more detailed information, review the prospectus or contact JLens directly.

HRCC celebrates 75th anniversary

Thoughout 2025, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation is celebrating 75 years of philanthropic service to the local community.

Since it began in 1950, the Foundation has grown to become the largest provider of grants and scholarships in the region, supporting nonprofits and students with more than $26 million each year.

Donors can create an endowed fund or leave a bequest for a gift that gives forever. The Foundation’s knowledgeable and experienced staff is always ready to discuss charitable giving options.

For more information, contact Kay Stine, HRCC’s vice president for development, at 757-622-7951 or KStine@ HamptonRoadsCF.org or go to HamptonRoadsCF.org.

Kay Stine, vice president for development, Hampton Roads Community Foundation.

Investment

TJF SEEKS ENDOWMENT FOR ONE HAPPY CAMPER®

Each summer, local Jewish children could be eligible for a one-time, One Happy Camper® grant to help cover some of the costs associated with Jewish overnight camp.

To secure the future of this opportunity, Naomi Limor Sedek, Tidewater Jewish Foundation president and CEO, wants to create a One Happy Camper endowment to help fund these summer experiences. “The Foundation is always looking for those who want to leave a legacy gift for programs or services that are critical to the tapestry of our community,” Sedek says.

“An endowed legacy gift of $500,000 would enable 20 kids from our community to attend Jewish summer camp with a One Happy Camper incentive grant,” she says.

Immersive Jewish residential summer camp experiences are critical to building a strong Jewish identity, according to Limor Sedek. TJF’s website explains the importance that a Jewish camp plays in connecting a child with Judaism. Ruach (spirit) is part of every activity— from dancing to hitting a home run— allowing campers to explore their connection to Judaism in a meaningful way while

having the summer of their lives.

“If you found Jewish residential summer camp to be a transformative experience in your life, consider a legacy gift that will provide this same opportunity for countless children in the Tidewater community in perpetuity,” Sedek says.

To learn more about this endowment opportunity, contact Naomi Limor Sedek at nsedek@tjfva.org.

To learn about applying for a One Happy Camper grant, see article on page 35.

Fun.Elevated.

Stephanie Peck

The Ben of Ben & Jerry’s is asking Unilever to free his ice cream brand Investment

Grace Gilson

(JTA) — In the latest bid to cleave Ben & Jerry’s from its parent company, Unilever, co-founder Ben Cohen is attempting to buy it back.

Cohen is making moves to gather investors for a potential buy-back, according to the Wall Street Journal, a step that would sever ties with Unilever 25 years after it bought the Vermont ice cream brand — and following a churning, years-long battle centered on Israel.

“In the year 2000, Unilever loved us for who we were,” Cohen told the Journal. “Now we’ve gone separate ways in our relationship. We just need them to set us free.”

The move is the latest in a saga of icy relations between the Jewish-founded creamery and Unilever. In 2021, Ben & Jerry’s announced that it would stop selling in “Occupied Palestinian Territory” — a boycott of West Bank settlements that prompted an outcry among many Jewish groups and a spate of legal challenges in

states with legislation against Israel boycotts.

Cohen and co-founder Jerry Greenfield called the accusation of antisemitism following the announcement “painful” and “absurd.”

About a year after the announcement, Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever reached a deal to continue selling their pints in Israel and the West Bank. But Ben & Jerry’s later came out against the decision, writing in a post on X that selling their products in Israeli settlements was “inconsistent with Ben & Jerry’s values.”

The independent board of Ben & Jerry’s advocates for a range of progressive causes, and the fight with Unilever

has periodically resurfaced in recent years. In November, Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever, accusing it of censorship and intimidation over its stances on the war in Gaza.

Last month, Ben & Jerry’s accused Unilever in Manhattan federal court of axing its CEO Dave Stever over the brand’s social activism. The corporation denied the allegations, saying it had supported the brand but that its recent advocacy had evolved into “one-sided, highly controversial, and polarizing topics that put Unilever, B&J’s, and their employees at risk,” according to Reuters.

Cohen’s action comes one year after Unilever announced that it would spin off Ben & Jerry’s along with its other ice cream brands. But Unilever has rebuffed Cohen’s efforts, saying that it would not sell Ben & Jerry’s as a stand-alone business, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“Ben & Jerry’s is a company with a soul,” Cohen said to the Wall Street Journal. “Business is the most powerful force in our society, and for that, it has responsibility to the society.”

Investment LORI: LEAVING A LEGACY OF INCLUSION AND HOPE

she knows exactly what she would do: “I would speak about inclusion and how

Lori (who requested that her last name not be used) is passionate about democracy and inclusion and holds a deep appreciation for JFS’s mission to ensure that people with disabilities are not forgotten in the Jewish community. This is why she’s made a legacy gift to JFS.

Fearful of the rise in antisemitism, Lori doesn’t leave the house much these days. Her connection to the Jewish world now happens mostly through Zoom services for temple, and through the services she receives from Jewish Family Service. One of the small joys

JFS provides Lori is something many might take for granted: the chance to go out for lunch. It’s not just about the meal, it’s about feeling seen, included, and valued. For her, JFS is more than just an organization; it’s a place that brings people in and accepts everyone. JFS gives her a sense of belonging, something she wouldn’t have otherwise. “JFS keeps me connected to the Jewish community.”

Everyone deserves to feel included, valued, and remembered.

struggle to find acceptance and community. Her decision to leave a legacy gift speaks volumes about her personal values and her commitment to the Jewish community and inclusion for all.

With government cuts to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, Lori worries about what the future holds for people like her, people who already

Through her legacy gift, Lori is ensuring that JFS can continue its work long into the future, providing support and connection for people with disabilities who might otherwise be left out. She is turning her fears into action, leaving behind not just a donation, but a lasting message: Everyone deserves to feel included, valued, and remembered.

THE VALUE OF FAMILY.

After more than 100 years as a law firm, Kaufman & Canoles understands the importance of building a legacy that lasts. Our experienced Estate, Trust & Wealth Transfer team has had the honor of counseling families (sometimes even three and four generations of the same family) to strategically preserve wealth for the future. Now we can help you transform your personal goals into a holistic long-term action plan–one that merges business and financial advice with proactive planning and smart tax solutions. We can. And we will.®

THANK YOU

Today, we honor our Legacy donors whose contibutions will help secure a vibrant future for the Tidewater Jewish community. Your generosity will provide lasting support and help meet the needs and aspirations of our community for generations to come.

Names in BLUE signify those who have formalized a Life & Legacy gift through the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, thereby empowering our cherished organizations to pursue their missions with renewed vigor. Thank you for your dedication to shaping Jewish futures in Tidewater and beyond.

*of blessed memory | as of 3/21/25

Bertram* Aaron

Laurent Abitbol

Rachel & David Abraham

Rachel & Marc Abrams

Adelle & Herman* Adler

Helen & Warren Aleck

Janice Aleck

Kimberley & C. Earl Allsbrook

Benjamin* & Candace Altschul

Sylva B. Altschul*

Jasmine Amitay

Tamar & Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz

Karen Ashkenazi

Patricia* & Avraham

Ashkenazi

Leslie M. Auerbach

Rosalyn Levy August

Gail & Thomas* Bachman

Jody Balaban

Linda & Leigh Baltuch

Babbi & Brad Bangel

Bessie Banks*

Roslyn & Michael Barney

Elena & Gary Baum

Bobby & Jack Barr*

Helen Jayne & Melvin Barr*

Dolores & Alan Bartel*

Gary Bartel

Marlene Bass*

Susan & Jon Becker

Linda & Calvin Belkov*

Lisa Benjamin

Gail & Bill Berger

Marcia & Amos Berkovich

Beth Hirsch Berman

Carole & William Bernstein*

Richard Beskin

Roy Beskin

Frances Levy Birshtein*

Paula & Michael Blachman

Leyba & Herman Blumenthal*

Moira Wright Bodner

Bonnie & David Brand

Rashi & Rabbi Levi

Brashevitzky

Isabel & Louis Brenner*

Bernice & Percy Brill*

Elyssa Brinn

Joan Brock

Edmund Brodie*

Wendy Jo Einhorn Brodsky & Ronald Brodsky

Eleanor & Leonard Brooke

Marjorie & Robert Brotman

Beryl & Steven Brown

Carol & Allan Brum

Larry Bublick

Norbert Bublick

Kelly Burroughs

Aaron Busch*

Alice E. Buxbaum

Marilyn & Stuart* Buxbaum

Stephanie Calliott

Elyse & David Cardon

Rose & Armond Caplan*

Deborah Mancoll Casey

Marsha Chenman in Memory of Sol & Bertha Chenman

Jeffrey Chernitzer

Rita Cogan*

Charlene & David* Cohen

Leo Cohen

Ronnie Lynn Jacobs Cohen

Ruth & Aaron Cohen

Sol W. Cohen*

Barbara & Harvey Coleman

Barry Comess*

Jean* & Allan Comess

Raizy & Rabbi Velvel Cook

Allison & Jeff Cooper

Minette & Charles* Cooper

Monica & John Cooper

Ann & Robert Copeland

Robin & Todd Copeland

Edward Cross*

Stuart Davis*

Lisa & Mark Delevie

Renee & Arthur Diamonstein*

Esther & Glenn Diskin

Judy & Larry Dobrinsky

Susan & Allan Donn

Ronald Dozoretz*

Abby & Mark Draluck

Leora & Nathan Drory

Bronia Drucker*

Barbara Dudley

Ingrid & David Edery

Susan & James Eilberg

Lois & Barry* Einhorn

Susan & Martin* Einhorn

Devorah & Morris Elstein

Dianne Epplein

Adrienne Lehman-Winkleman

Epstein & Edwin S. Epstein

Shayne R. Evans

Thelma Fantuch*

Jeffrey Feld

Mary & William Feldman

Freda & Jules Feuer*

Barbara & Andrew Fine

Jan* & Morris Fine

Karen & Matthew Fine

Hyman Fine*

Minnie S. Fine*

Nancy & Sheldon Fineman

Kim & Andrew Fink

Mandi & Ross Firoved

Gail & Joel Flax

Mona & Jeffrey Flax

Anne Fleder

Esther & Alan Fleder*

Gail Fleder

Joseph Fleischmann*

Nataly & Seth Fleishman

Barbara Fletcher*

Kristy & Adam Foleck

Sandra & Pete Forte-Nickenig

Colleen & Andy Fox

Helen Frank

Rita Frank

Edwin Franklin

Barbara Fried

Harry Fried

Cantor Wendi & Gigi Fried

Kathleen & Walter Fried*

Claire & Marvin Friedberg

Beverly & Alan Frieden

Jodie & Jack Frieden

Rosa Frieden*

Alicia London Friedman & Robert Friedman

Celia & Jay Friedman

Debbie & Mark Friedman

Jerome Friedman

Leslie Friedman

Shari Dozoretz Friedman

Ann & Louis Friedman*

Fannie & Milton Friedman*

Margaret & Leonard* Frierman

Penny & David* Gallo

Sidney Gates*

Karen Gershman

Helen G. Gifford*

Amy Ginsburg

Pam & Arty* Gladstone

Martha Mednick Glasser

Rose Frances Glasser*

Hara Glasser-Frei

Pearl Glassman*

Carly Glikman

Gail L. & Donald Gogan

William Goldback*

Farideh & Norman Goldin

Charles Goldman

Elaine Goldman

Jane Klein Goldman

Beatrice & Harry Goldman*

June & Joseph Goldman*

Bootsie & Morty* Goldmeier

Lawrence Goldrich*

Steven A. Goldstein

Laura & Keith Goldstein

Ann Goodman*

Martha & Robert Goodman

Victor Goodman*

Barbara S. Gordon

Janet* & Daniel Gordon

Paula & James Gordon

Freda & Tavia Gordon*

Joyce & Harry Graber

Helene & Bernie Grablowsky

Susan M. Graves

William Greene*

Carol & Ralph Greenhut

Helen & Yehudah Griffin

Laura & Fred Gross

Louis Grossman

Sharon & Michael Grossman

Rose Ann Grossman*

Carla O. Grune

Fay & Norris Halpern*

Jeri Jo & William* Halprin

Amie & Byron Harrell

Ellen & Jonathan Harris

Susan C. Alper & Steven J.

Harwood

Mickey & Stuart Held

Zena Herod

Denise & Jason Hoffman

Marcia & Thomas Hofheimer*

Marilyn & Stanley I.* Holzsweig

Brenda & Abbey* Horwitz

Susan & Howard Horwitz

Ellen Rostov Hundley

Shyrlee Hurwitz

Connie & Marc* Jacobson

Nancy Sacks Jacobson & Edwin* Jacobson

Beth & Nathan Jaffe

Michael Jaffe

Lee & Bernard Jaffe*

Rose & Joseph Jaffe*

Carol & Joel Jason

Gabriele Jiannas & Dr. Fred Pugh

Paul & Barbara Johnson

Sheila & Robert Josephberg

Dorothy & Howard Kahn*

Eileen & Stewart Kahn

Marcia Samuels & David Kamer

H. Lee Kanter*

Kathy & Jerry Kantor

Reatha & Barry* Kantor

Bruce Kaplan

Erica & Scott Kaplan

Bernice & Milton Kaplan*

Libbie & Albert Kaplan*

Phyllis & Arthur Kaplan*

Sue Ellen Kaplan

Roberta Joy Kaps

Mimi & Warren Karesh*

Betsy & Ed Karotkin

Florence Karp*

Melissa & Aaron Kass

Juliet A. Katz*

Ellen & Larry* Katz

Alene & Ron Kaufman

Linda Kaufman

Ted G. Kaufman

Marilyn & Steven Kayer

Debra Keeling

Reva & Lee Kelberg*

Marissa & Benjay Kempner

Arlene & Isidoro Kessel

Arlene* & Howard Kesser

Kay & Barry* Kesser

Janna & Arnold Kestenbaum

Jodi & Jay Klebanoff

Hanna & William Klebanoff*

Esther & Andrew Kline

Sofia* & David Konikoff

Wendy & Albert Konikoff

Melanie & Alex Kordis

Joyce & Jay Kossman

R. Mark & Brenda O. Kozak

Anne & Edward Kramer

Cindy & Ron Kramer

Milton Kramer*

Rabbi Marc Kraus

Celia Krichman*

JoAnn Kroll

Irwin Kroskin*

Sylvia & David Krug*

Adel & David Kruger*

Sue & Jeff Kurtz

Nichole & David Kushner

Alma & Howard Laderberg*

Harry Laderberg

Jody & David Laibstain

Phyllis* & David Lannik

Robert Lansing

Selma & Leon Leach*

Sharon Leach

Mavolyn B. & Sanford L. Lefcoe*

Edward Legum

Leslie* & Jay Legum

Lorna & Steven Legum

Ina & Martin Leiderman

Corrie Lentz

David Leon

Lisa Leon

Sandra & Miles Leon

Telsa & Arnold Leon*

Betty Ann & Scott Levin

Natalie Levinson*

Amy & Kirk Levy

Paula Levy

Gail & Joel Lewis

Mark Lipton*

Sara & Rabbi Gershon Litt

Elayne & Jeffrey Littman

Robert Liverman*

Rabbi Dr. Mordechai

Loiterman

Karen & Richard Lombart

Joan Kaplan London

Becca Lovitz

Jason Lovitz

Marcia Lovitz

Bernard Lubschutz*

Joseph Lust

Herman Mallick*

Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg

B. Thomas Mansbach

Raizel & Rabbi Shmuel

Margolin

Rychel & Rabbi Aron Margolin

Martin Marin

Brandy Martire

Paola & Noah Matilsky

Jordan Asher & Jody Mattison

Debra & Bernard Mayer

Andrea McGuinness

Thomas McGuinness

Deborah & Jerry Meltsner

Shaina Ettel & Rabbi Menda

Janet W. Mercadante

Ellen & Bryan Mesh

David Metzger & Alicia

Willson-Metzger

George Metzger

Laura & Jerry Miller

Hallie Miller*

Tanya Miller

Heather & Doug Moore

Betty Moritz

Melvin Morrison*

Marcia & Burton Moss

Alyssa & Jonathan Muhlendorf

Evelyn Munden

Rena & Michael Myers

Judith & Stuart Nachman

Sara & Norbert Newfield

Mimi & Frederic* Nicholson

Alan Nordlinger

Rosalind & Harry Norkin*

Joan Nusbaum*

Lois & Bertram Nusbaum*

Robert Nusbaum*

Marlene Nusbaum

Nancy & Charlie Nusbaum

Sharon & Bill Nusbaum

Carolyn & Charles Osman*

Kelli Anne & Bryan Pace

Abbey Pachter

Barbara & Joseph Patish*

John Patton

Pincus Paul* Charitable Trust

Linda R. Peck

Nancy & Stanley Peck

Stephanie & Paul Peck

Alex Pomerantz

Erinn & Felix Portnoy

Rona & David Proser

Eleanor & Julian Rashkind*

Ann & Allen Richter*

Zelma & Bernard Rivin*

Gina & Neil Rose

Joan Rose & Peter Sharpe

Rose & Kurt Rosenbach*

Diane & Malcolm* Rosenberg

Estate of Carol Rosenberg*

Carol Rosenblatt

Judith Rosenblatt

Barbara Rosenblum*

Ellen Rosenblum

Sharon & Gene Ross

Beverly & Louis Rostov*

Jane Rostov

Joanne & Philip Rovner

Miriam & Arthur Ruberg

Judy & Robert Rubin

Mark Roesen*

Abraham Rubin*

Sara Jo & Joel R. Rubin

Malka & Rabbi Gavriel Rudin

Paula Russel

Sarita & Bert Sachs*

Karen & Warren Sachs

Annabel & Hal* Sacks

Ada S. Salsbury

Linda & Stanley Samuels

Annie & Art Sandler

Harry Sandler*

Reba & Sam Sandler*

Toni Sandler

Judy Saperstein

Terri & Lonny Sarfan

Laure & Richard Saunders

Natalie & Larry Saunders*

Margaret & William Sawyer

Marge & Steve* Schechner

Edie & Louis Schlain

Lynn Schoenbaum

Rachel Schoenbaum

Joanna & Craig Schranz

Elaine & Joash Schulman

Peter Schulman

Helen & Buzzy Schulwolf*

Ruby & William Schwarzschild

Ruth Schwetz*

Naomi Limor Sedek

Miriam & Bob Seeherman*

Patti & Paul Seeman

Deborah & Peter Segaloff

Lynn & Robert Seltzer

Sandy & Norman Sher

Carol & Louis Sherman

Annette Shore*

Laurie Goldsticker & Gary Siegel

Leslie & Lawrence Siegel

Marilyn & Kenneth Siegel

Barry Simon

Carin & Mike Simon

Marilyn & Marvin* Simon

Shelly & Britt Simon

Simon Family Foundation

Cheryl & Harris* Sloane

Jill & Larry Smith

Pamela & Louis Snyder

Harry Snyder*

Helen & Daniel Sonenshine

Spigel Family

Linda & Ron Spindel

Dorothy and Ron Spitalney

Deborah E. Stadlin

Alan Stein

Herbert & Ronda Stein*

Jane Stein

Michal & Rabbi Yisroel Stein

Robert Stein

Stuart Stein

Jean & Ira Steingold

Joseph Steingold

Lawrence Steingold

Neal Stern

Robert Stern*

Randi Strelitz

Renee & John Strelitz

Joyce & Leonard Strelitz*

Burle Stromberg

Steven Suskin

Sandra Tabachnick

Kevin & Gary Tabakin

Marcy & Paul Terkeltaub

Marian Bear Ticatch*

Linda & Alan Troy

Hilary Truman

Nancy Tucker

Jody & Alan Wagner

Patti Wainger

Mark Haris & Diane Sutton Waitsman

Nancy & Alvin Wall

Doris Waranch

Trudy & Martin Waranch

Carol & Stanley Waranch*

June & Oscar Warner*

David Warsof

Joel Warsof

Lisa & Steven Warsof

Herbert L. Weinberg*

Amy & Eliot Weinstein

Barb Gelb & Kenny Weinstein

Carol Downing & Lawrence Weinstein

Matthew Weinstein

Miriam & Harry Weisberg*

Diane & Sam* Werbel

Adam White

Eric White

Matthew White

Harriet & Samuel White*

Matthew & Valeria Williamson

Danica & Josh Wnuk

Dorothy & Manuel Wyron*

Syvia Yavner*

Steven Yetiv*

Tina Yomtob

Amy Zelenka

Harold Zedd

Betty & Henry Zetlin*

Dorothy Zimmerman*

Ashley & Greg Zittrain

Ann* & Herbert Zukerman

To formalize your commitment or discuss donor opportunities, contact Naomi Limor Sedek at nsedek@tjfva.org.

If you have already formalized and your name appears in black, contact us to ensure we have the formalized documents.

Early financial planning helps ease ramifications of cognitive impairment diagnosis Investment

Stephanie Peck

Rarely does a day go by that Marcia Brodie doesn’t have a conversation with people who are unprepared for the unknown.

Through her business, Marcia Trains, Brodie teaches caregivers and family members the best practices for working with someone with cognitive impairment. As she explains how to care for an individual on a day-to-day basis, she often finds that family members are at a loss regarding financial decisions on behalf of their loved one.

“I see situations where someone has been recently diagnosed with dementia and they have nothing in place,” she says. “Sudden cognitive issues arise and there’s no control of the money.”

Scott N. Alperin, the principal attorney at Alperin Law, agrees. A lawyer

for 30 years, Alperin has spent the last 20 years focusing on estate planning and elder law. “Timing is critical when it comes to a dementia diagnosis. There’s a limited time period when you have the cognitive ability to make decisions.”

In many cases, adult children who are not involved in their parents’ finances discover that the parent with mild cognitive impairment, dementia, or Alzheimer’s is succumbing to scams or moving money between accounts. With

Trey Kelleter represents and advises defendants, witnesses, and victims in federal and state criminal investigations. Put his decades of experience as a trial lawyer and skilled negotiator to work for you.

no mechanism in place, such as a power of attorney, what happens to the assets? “This person with cognitive decline can no longer speak for themselves.

And no one has the power to manage the estate,” Brodie says.

“There’s a lost opportunity when they wait too long.

There are more legal hurdles,” Alperin adds. Without plans in place, guardianship and conservatorship proceedings are required. “Then the court is making decisions instead of you,” Alperin says.

Mild cognitive impairment often precedes a more serious diagnosis, and a family may think there’s time to make these decisions.

However, Brodie says, this is a progressive disease – so as the parent ages, it advances. She suggests acting sooner rather than later to determine what will happen to personal assets.

“Don’t wait for the unknowns. Don’t be left second-guessing.”

The legal definition of capacity, or the mental ability to understand personal decisions, has several components, according to Alperin. An individual must know who the natural objects of one’s bounty are (the likely recipients of the estate), understand the nature and composition of their assets, and understand the nature and consequences of their decisions. While a neuropsychologist may be part of this evaluation, Alperin says that a lawyer can also make the determination. “There’s

no litmus test for capacity,” he adds, though he often sees clues or red flags that don’t meet the threshold ability to make informed decisions.

The most important document to create is the general durable power of attorney (POA); all other planning can be done later even if the cognitive impairment gets worse. However, Alperin notes, an online POA does not comply with Virginia law. Two key powers in a well-drafted, elder law POA are often not included in a more general durable POA. Specifically, these powers include the right to unlimited gifting and the ability to create irrevocable trusts (where someone is given the authority to make decisions, enter into contracts and generally act on the behalf of the person granting the power).

In many cases, Alperin suggests engaging an attorney who practices elder law to draft the POA. “Many attorneys not practicing elder law are not dealing with Medicaid recipients or veterans, people who will run out of money if they need to pay $10,000 per month to a nursing home,” Alperin says. The goal is to protect the assets to pay for things not covered by Medicare or Medicaid. Planning keeps a pot of money for these expenses.

Many of Alperin’s clients with mild cognitive impairment don’t meet the definition of incapacity, but they are experiencing diminished or waning capacity and do not qualify for guardianship. However, they are prone to financial exploitation and their assets need to be repositioned to avoid scams. Like Brodie, Alperin suggests communicating with family members before losing this mental capacity. “Create a road map for them,” he says.

Marcia Brodie.

Scott N. Alperin.

Life & Legacy helps future look brighter

TJF staff

When “Judy” sat down with her daughter over Rosh Hashanah dinner, their conversation drifted from brisket to legacy. She had just learned about the Life & Legacy program and felt inspired to share her own hopes for the future of Tidewater’s Jewish community. “It’s not just about money,” she told her daughter. “It’s about making sure what matters to me lives on — through you, through our values, and through the community that shaped us.”

That quiet conversation is exactly the kind of ripple Life & Legacy Plus aims to create. This initiative, in partnership with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, builds on the success of the original Life & Legacy program to ensure the sustainability of Jewish organizations and causes.

Life & Legacy focuses on more than just enrolling participants; it prioritizes donor education, cultivation, and maturation. Through tailored guidance, comprehensive resources, and a focus on relationship-building, Life & Legacy Plus empowers organizations to engage

donors in meaningful conversations about their legacies. Eleven partners, including synagogues, schools, and human services agencies, are part of the program, reflecting a shared commitment to securing the future of Jewish life in Tidewater.

Since Tidewater Jewish Foundation relaunched the Life & Legacy program in May 2024, participating organizations have experienced growth in several areas, including donor engagement, interest in legacy giving, and strengthened connections within the Jewish community. Five new legacy gifts have been formalized, valued at nearly $1.4 million. Five presentations have been delivered to boards and stakeholders of TJF’s affiliate partners, planting seeds for future growth. Over the High Holidays, more than 2,000 marketing pieces were distributed, reminding that the future of Jewish Tidewater is something that is built together.

Beyond the numbers, a cultural shift is taking root—one that embraces storytelling, multigenerational planning, and thoughtful stewardship. From synagogue leaders to school administrators, lay leaders are

We are happy to meet with you to make suggestions for preparing your home for sale, explain the transition process, and discuss available downsize options, both for sale and for rent. Whether you are looking to move in the next few months – or in the next few years- we serve clients throughout Hampton Roads.

engaging in dozens of meetings with TJF’s Legacy Teams, learning how to talk about impact, articulate values, and plan boldly for what’s next.

The initiative is also creating meaningful conversations with community members about what legacy means to them. For some, it’s a way to honor family traditions. For others, it’s a chance to involve the next generation in building a future they’ll one day inherit.

“This program is about more than commitments,” says Amy Weinstein, development strategist at TJF. “It’s about nurturing a culture of giving that reflects who we are and what we hope to pass on.” Four stewardship events are being planned across several agencies this spring and fall. On May 20, TJF will welcome back Kathy Sarlson, national director of Life & Legacy at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, for an evening dedicated to the “why” and “how” of stewardship— because celebrating impact is just as important as creating it.

– To learn more or get involved, visit https:// foundation.jewishva.org/life-legacy or contact Amy Weinstein at aweinstein@tjfva.org or 757-965-6114.

2024 Life & Legacy Kick-off event with Amy Weinstein, TJF development strategist, Kathy Sarlson, national director of Life & Legacy at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, and Eddie Kramer, TJF board chair.

$181,818,181.80

e

Ben Sales (JTA) — A venture capital firm co-led by Arielle Zuckerberg has announced a new $181.8 million fund that will back “magically weird” tech startup founders and seek to support “life and creation.”

The number — it’s actually $181,818,181.80 — is no accident. Two of the three main venture capitalists behind the new fund at the firm, called Long Journey, are Jewish: Zuckerberg is the sister of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Lee Jacobs, Long Journey’s managing partner. The third is Cyan Banister.

Jacobs wrote that the new fund, announced last month, is inspired in part by his reaction to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

“What’s up with all the 18s? In Jewish numerology, 18 represents ‘chai’ or ‘life.’ Growing up, I was often given gifts in increments of 18; it was a blessing for life,” Jacobs wrote. “The horrific attacks in Israel on October 7th awakened something dormant at my core—a deep inner knowing of my purpose and what I’m willing to fight for. This fund, with its repetition of 18s, embodies my commitment to supporting life and creation.”

Zuckerberg tweeted that the number is a “a symbol of life, health, and prosperity.”

Long Journey has a reputation for quirkiness: It is housed in a large Victorian house with tropical wallpaper, per Bloomberg, and people often walk around barefoot. Jacob’s announcement seemed to signal the same mood.

“The magically weird are founders with independently derived insights, the courage to pursue ideas no one else has considered, the will to tackle problems others won’t touch. They’re the ones who arrive at unique conclusions through their own path, not by following the crowd,” he wrote.

Investment

Weeks after selling NYC building, Hebrew Union College sells part of LA campus to USC

Asaf Elia-Shalev (JTA) — Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is selling part of its Los Angeles campus to the nearby University of Southern California, in the latest in a series of cost-cutting moves for a legacy Jewish institution facing years of declining enrollment and financial stress.

The agreement between HUC and USC will fund a major renovation of the Jack H. Skirball Campus and boost HUC’s endowment. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

HUC students, faculty, and staff will continue to occupy the campus’ west wing, but the majority of the property will belong to USC. The two academic institutions have been neighbors since HUC opened its Los Angeles campus in 1954 and partners in joint academic programs since 1972.

The downsizing in Los Angeles is part of a larger strategy that has also affected two other U.S. campuses of

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the Reform movement’s academic and leadership training institution, in New York and Cincinnati.

“The decision to reinvest in the Los Angeles campus…accomplishes the college’s goal of aligning its real estate footprint with academic program and operational needs across all its campuses,” HUC said in its announcement.

The sale comes weeks after HUC announced it was selling its downtown Manhattan campus for about $75 million to New York University and relocating to a smaller $32 million building on the Upper West Side. Recent years have also seen the Cincinnati campus lose its rabbinical program and graduate programs in Jewish studies as part of the restructuring plan.

The Reform movement is not the only Jewish denomination downsizing its educational real estate in Los Angeles amid enrollment declines. American Jewish University, one of Conservative Judaism’s two major educational centers, last year completed a deal to sell its hilltop

Approved by all area Rabbis and Chevrah Kadisha

campus after announcing plans to relocate its rabbinical school to a leased space in an urban Jewish neighborhood.

Renovation plans for the HUC campus include upgraded technology infrastructure and more natural light for the building’s interior, but the project is still being shaped with input from a community-led task force.

Leading the renovation work is Israeli-born, California-raised architect Hagy Blezberg. Among Belzberg’s previous projects are the Los Angeles Jewish Federation’s BAR community center that is currently under construction in Venice

Beach and the Holocaust Museum LA.

The HUC sale puts the institution in a better position to fulfill its mission of educating future rabbis and Jewish communal leaders, according to Rabbi Joshua Garroway, the dean of HUC in Los Angeles.

“This sale allows us to invest in our future here in Los Angeles and make much-needed renovations and improvements to the Jack H. Skirball Campus – as we continue to evolve alongside our community and expand access to Jewish leadership education,” Garroway said in a statement.

Chris Sisler, Vice President, Member of Ohef Sholom Temple, Board member of the Berger-Goldrich Home at Beth Sholom Village, James E. Altmeyer, Jr., President, James E. Altmeyer, Sr., Owner

Investment INVESTMENT PLANNING FOR SENIOR LIVING

Lois Einhorn and her late husband, Barry, moved to The Talbot in 2019. The senior, independent living community in Norfolk opened more than 20 years prior to their move, in the same neighborhood as the couple’s long-time home.

A random solicitation in the mail offering to buy houses “as is,” convinced the Einhorns that it was time to sell. “We loved our house, but it was a mess with flooding,” Einhorn says.

Retired since 1994, the couple invested the proceeds from the sale of their home, and, along with their Individual Retirement Account and other investments, moved into the same rental apartment that Einhorn admired when The Talbot was first built. With its many amenities, including dining, housekeeping services, and exercise classes, residents pay one monthly fee to cover all costs. As a bonus, the on-site physical therapist is recognized by Medicare.

Residents are driven to medical appointments and weekly grocery store visits by the facility’s bus or station wagon. Other outings include excursions to the Chrysler Museum or area restaurants. Among The Talbots’ in-house events, an activity director on staff plans ice cream get-togethers.

Einhorn reflects on how times have changed. Years ago, people didn’t live as long. “You didn’t anticipate you’d be alive at age 95,” she laughs. Since people now live longer, she says, they need to think differently about many things – especially money.

“It’s getting so expensive,” Einhorn says. “People are afraid of running out of money.”

Thirty years ago, adults hoped they had enough retirement money and social security; all that has changed. “You need more money when you retire,” says Einhorn, adding that she sees people working longer to avoid running out of funds.

residents. “Often, people decide it’s time to move in, and once they get here, they wish they had done it 10 years earlier,” she says.

Hartway views senior living as an investment in brain health through socialization. “Isolation leads to brain deterioration,” she adds. She recalls the outlook of one resident at The Talbot, who said, “I can basically have as much privacy as I want but I don’t have to eat alone.”

Hartway is aware of the fear of running out of money, although in her six years at The Talbot, she has not asked anyone to leave because of finances. Preparing for senior living should be part of a retirement plan, she notes, so an individual can age in place. Some residents hire outside care for 24 hours each day; a senior living environment allows for the resident and the aide to sit in the lobby and be social.

By choosing senior living, people are investing in security and safety, which are essential as individuals age and face challenges in mobility or health.

Vicki Hartway, area manager of Five Star Senior Living, owner of properties such as The Talbot, The Reserve at Greenbrier, and The Gardens of Virgina Beach, remembers when the Einhorns became

“By choosing senior living, people are investing in security and safety, which are essential as individuals age and face challenges in mobility or health,” says Stephen Boyd, executive director at Commonwealth Senior Living at the Ballentine. Care is personalized, ensuring that an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional needs are met.

“Many families may not have the time or resources to offer that level of attention, but senior living provides a structured environment with skilled professionals ready to meet those needs, 24/7,” says Boyd. Planning for the future requires time and research, and this process can feel overwhelming and filled with uncertainty. According to Boyd, families often ask, ‘How

will we pay for senior living?’ Many facilities, including Commonwealth, offer various experts to help potential residents explore all the options, including long term care insurance, home equity, savings, and veterans’ benefits.

“It’s important to recognize that it’s not just about securing a place to live but ensuring a higher quality of life for your loved one in the future. Many families may not plan for senior living when thinking ahead, and it often becomes a reactive process, full of stress and uncertainty,” Boyd says. Investing in senior living offers far more than just a roof over someone’s head – it provides a well-rounded, holistic approach to care that benefits the resident in multiple aspects of their life.

“Ultimately, senior living is more than just an expense—it’s an investment in the well-being, happiness, and future of your loved one,” says Boyd, “offering them the resources and support they need to thrive during their later years.”

Stephanie Peck

Lois Einhorn with her great grandchildren, Talia and Noah Schulman.

Funeral pre-planning benefits grieving loved ones

Stephanie Peck

Estate planning prepares assets for future generations, while advanced funeral planning prepares for another inevitable future, diminishing some of the stress for grieving loved ones.

“You can face it now and take care of it or let it fall on your family at that time,” says Roger Seay, funeral director and manager of the pre-planning department at H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments, about the benefits of prearranging a funeral.

Tracy Bradshaw, advanced planning specialist, funeral director, and certified life celebrant at Altmeyer Funeral Home, says that the average age of those planning their future funeral is between 60 and 70 years old. “Sometimes there’s a catalyst or event that causes people to think about it themselves. Maybe the death of a loved one or a sick friend – a scare that gets someone thinking.”

Although Bradshaw says that seven out of 10 Jewish clients choose cremation as part of their planning (Seay says that less than 1% of his clients mention the idea), Altmeyer follows the rubric of faith when consulting with a Jewish individual or couple. These conversations include elements such as bathing and shrouding, burial garments, and the presence of a rabbi or cantor at the service and burial. “Advanced planning keeps it simple.

Someone can choose what they want or don’t want, but they also take financial responsibility for their future funeral,” Bradshaw says.

A contract with Altmeyer includes three parts: information for a death certificate, decisions about details such as a graveside or synagogue service, and the option to pre-pay in full or upon death. “Knowing one of life’s biggest expenses is the death of a loved one, why not pre-plan?” Bradshaw suggests.

Altmeyer’s agreement reflects today’s prices for services and merchandise, guaranteed in a funeral trust where the money is growing until death occurs, and a cash advance to cover future external expenses such as the opening and closing of the grave at the cemetery. “Would you rather pass on more money to your family when you die or give more money to the funeral home?” Bradshaw asks, saying that he expects the inflation of funeral expenses to outweigh

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any growth from an investment.

According to Seay, preplanning relieves families of the burden of having to make several immediate decisions and gives them more time and energy to focus on healing and remembrance. If a client moves out of state, H.D. Oliver’s record of preplanned arrangements and prepayments are easily transferable to any funeral home in the United States. “We look for small, family-owned funeral homes who belong to the same organizations that we do,” when recommending a funeral home outside of the area. Under their Return Assured Travel Plan, should a death occur anywhere in the world, H.D. Oliver will bring back the body at no expense to the family.

“We’re all going to leave this world one day,” Altmeyer’s Bradshaw says. Preplanning offers peace of mind to the client and their family.

“The values of tzedakah, building Jewish community, and caring for those in need were clearly passed down from our parents, and we are committed to imparting these values to our children. It is our hope and dream that our children will pass the same values of Jewish philanthropy onto their children as were instilled in us. Signing this pledge strengthens our link in the Jewish chain of generations dating back thousands of years and helps to ensure its future.”

— Renée and John Strelitz

Secure the Jewish Future. Start with a Promise.

Over the next 25 years, $68 trillion will pass from one generation to the next—$6.3 trillion to charity. By signing the Jewish Future Promise, you commit that at least 50% of your charitable giving in your will or estate plan will support Jewish causes or the State of Israel.

This non-binding pledge is a powerful step toward preserving our heritage, culture, and values. Join Tidewater Jewish Foundation and others in making this moral commitment to future generations. Together, we can ensure a vibrant Jewish tomorrow.

This Israeli Krembo

cake is the perfect

Passover dessert

Rich chocolate cake topped with whipped cream and ganache, like the Israeli treat.

This story originally appeared on The Nosher. Passover kashrut laws are always challenging, and the biggest challenge has to be finding a good kosher-forPassover cake. If you need the cake to be pareve (dairy free), that’s even harder.

So, when a festive and good-looking Passover cake, made of layers of chocolate cake and whipped cream, first appeared in a national newspaper in Israel in the 1980s, it was immediately adopted by many home cooks, my mother included.

The cake was a revelation! At the bottom rests a rich chocolate layer made of whipped eggs and melted chocolate. When cooled down, the cake is topped with simple whipped cream lightly mixed with a drizzle of melted chocolate. The cake was not only kosher for Passover but could easily be made pareve (using nondairy whipped cream), which is always a bonus.

For my family, the cake became synonymous with Passover, sort of an old-fashioned treat that everyone waits for the whole year.

Then, in recent years, I started noticing versions of it pop up in every Israeli food blog and column, only this time around the cake got a fancy name — it was now called a Krembo Cake.

Krembo, in case you’re unfamiliar, is a treat that’s popular in Israel during the winter. It consists of a plain cookie that’s topped with a soft marshmallow cream that’s dipped in chocolate. The treat originated in Denmark in the 19th century and versions of it are available throughout Europe.

Israelis love Krembo, and giving a new name to a favorite old cake did the trick. The cake (with a facelift) is in again, and everyone gets to enjoy it.

• Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes

• Yield: Serves 12

Ingredients

For the chocolate cake:

• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

• 6 Tbsp sugar

• ¼ tsp kosher salt

• 6 oz (170 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (can be parve or vegan chocolate)

For the cream topping:

• 3 ½ cups heavy cream, very cold (or parve whipping cream substitute, see notes)

• 2.8 oz (80 g, 8 Tbsp) instant vanilla pudding powder

(kosher for passover)

• grated zest of one lemon

For the chocolate ganache:

• 4 oz (115 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (can be pareve or vegan chocolate)

• ¼ cup heavy cream (or pareve whipping cream substitute, see notes)

• 2 Tbsp butter (or pareve/vegan butter substitute)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Grease a 9-inch round springform pan.

2. Put eggs in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip for 1 minute on medium speed. With mixer running, slowly add the sugar in a steady stream, then add the salt. Increase the speed to high and whip for 8 minutes until the eggs quadruple their volume.

3. In the meantime melt the chocolate on bain-marie or in 20-second intervals in the microwave, mixing between intervals.

4. When eggs have quadrupled in volume, reduce speed to medium and slowly pour the melted chocolate in. Increase the speed of the mixer again and mix until chocolate is combined. The mixture will lose some of its volume.

5. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes, until cake feels soft but not runny in the center. Transfer to a cooling rack.

6. After 10 minutes, use a knife to release the cake from the sides of the pan (do not open the pan, keep the cake inside). Put a clear cake strip around the cake to make for a cleaner presentation (optional) and transfer the cake to the fridge for 30 minutes.

7. Put the cold heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer. With mixer running on low, slowly add the vanilla pudding powder to the cream. Stop the mixer to scrape the powder from the sides of the bowl as needed. Turn mixer speed to high and mix for a couple of minutes or until the mixture creates soft peaks. (Make sure not to over whip, the mixture should still be soft. It will get firmer in the fridge over time.) Remove bowl from mixer, add lemon zest and fold it in. Use a spatula to transfer the cream to the cake pan on top of the chocolate cake and smooth the top. Transfer to the fridge for 1 hour.

8. To make the ganache, put all the ingredients in a bain-marie or in a microwave safe bowl and melt in 20 seconds intervals, mixing between intervals.

9. Take the cake out of the fridge and slowly pour the chocolate ganache all over the top. Use an icing spatula to spread the ganache evenly all over the top.

10. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and transfer to the fridge for at least 4 hours to set.

Notes:

• This cake can be made pareve by using a pareve heavy cream substitute, such as Rich’s Richwhip, parve or vegan chocolate, and vegan butter. It’s one of the rare cases where these substitutes work well.

• In order for the eggs to whip nicely they should be at room temperature.

• Use a clear cake strip (or cake collar) for a more elegant presentation.

• The cake keeps in the fridge for up to five days. Serve cold.

HOW MATZAH GETS MADE: A PEEK INSIDE THE STREIT’S FACTORY

Joseph Strauss

(New York Jewish Week) — Streit’s, the kosher food company that’s best known for its matzah, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

And while many things have changed since the matzah bakery was first opened on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side in 1925 — most notably, the bakery left the city in 2015 for a bigger, more modern factory in Rockland County — one important detail remains the same: Streit’s is still run by the same Jewish family.

“It’s an honor to be doing what we’re doing for so long,” Aaron Gross, the great-great-grandson of founder Aron Streit, tells the New York Jewish Week during a recent tour of their matzah factory. “We’re a family business. I think it’s amazing that we’ve made it this far. I don’t think many businesses make it to 10 years, let alone 100, owned by the same family, especially.”

When the duo gave the New York Jewish Week a tour of the factory on the last day in March, the busy season of pre-Passover production was already winding down. While most Jews start thinking about matzah mere weeks before the holiday begins, for Streit’s, their Passover season starts in the fall, after the High Holidays, with the manufacturing of essential matzah-adjacent Passover products like matzah meal, matzah farfel and cake meal.

Gross and his cousin, Aron Yagoda, are co-owners of Streit’s (Aron Streit, Inc., officially), and are respectively fifth- and fourth-generation descendants of the original Aron. Family tradition is at the core of the company’s identity — not just on the leadership side of things, but also on the factory floor.

“There’s a lot of generational employees in the factory,” Yagoda says. “Some of their fathers are now bringing in their sons and daughters to work here as well. So, it’s family inside and outside the factory.”

But family tradition isn’t just important within the company — it’s also intrinsic to their customer base, according to the cousins.

“There is a halachic value to the matzah we’re making. You have to have it on Passover,” Gross says of the obligation to eat matzah on the first night of Passover. “But we also want to create a memory, create a tradition that you want as well.”

Yagoda concurs. “Our family becomes part of their family by being on their table year after year after year, as it goes down through the generations,” he says. “Many times, people will buy whatever their grandmother bought, which was whatever their grandmother bought.”

Yagoda adds, “We take a lot of pride in making sure everyone has a nice seder and that Streit’s is part of it.”

Then, usually beginning in November to account for long transit times, they start baking and shipping Passover matzah overseas to their international customer base — which, this year, included Canada, Mexico, Turkey, South Africa, and Israel, as well as some of Europe, according to Gross. By that point, at least six rabbis are on-site 24 hours per day to ensure that everything is kosher for Passover.

A rabbi will oversee the entire matzah-making journey, from the flour being processed at the company’s mill in Mifflinville, Pa., to the mixing of the flour and water, to the sheeter, which flattens the dough, and all the way through the oven. (There’s some urgency, too: To be kosher for Passover, the dough must be mixed, flattened and baked within 18 minutes.)

Passover production for the U.S. market begins in December and runs through the winter. Gross says the company “really [tries] to push” quality and freshness. And as a New York brand whose factory is in Orangeburg, just about a half-hour drive from the city, Streit’s “could be making something that could be in the grocery store the next day,” he says.

By the time of this reporter’s visit, production was shifting from Passover matzah to so-called “daily” matzah, so rabbis were no longer posted around the factory. Nonetheless, Streit’s matzah-making process continued unabated. According to Gross’ calculations, the factory produces about 108,000 sheets of matzah per day.

While the factory floor buzzes with the thrums of conveyor belts and sheeters, with a couple dozen employees scattered across the various stages of production, the area by the entrance functions as a sort of Streit’s museum, with old machines and tools from the original factory out on

display. Here, the walls are adorned with century-old photos of rabbis surrounding stacks of matzah and men smoking cigars on the production line.

The old machines looked like relics of a bygone era — and yet somehow, they had been in use until just 10 years ago. “We used basically the same technology that my great-grandfather used,” Yagoda says. “We didn’t do much [differently] from 1935 until 2015 when we moved here.”

Moving from the old Lower East Side factory to the new one essentially allowed Streit’s to leap a century in time. Buttons on screens now help fix machine jams that employees used to fix with wrenches, and high-tech robots now rapidly package the matzah.

Though Streit’s has been settled in their new spot since 2017, the move from the city required some adapting. For example, Gross says it was “really important” to maintain the same flavor of matzah and replicate the process from the Lower East Side factory. One “very rare” aspect of their process, according to Gross, was the use of a convection oven to bake matzah, which is much hotter and creates a “more even, crispier bake” than more commonly found direct fire ovens. Streit’s bought a new convection oven for the new space — designed by Baker Perkins, the same manufacturer that they used on Rivington Street.

“One of our biggest concerns when we moved up here was retaining as many of our employees from Rivington Street as possible,” Gross says. “The guys we have out in the factory, they know matzah. They know how to bake matzah. They know what it’s supposed to taste like.”

One employee, Michael Abramov, has worked in the Streit’s factory since 1989, when he was hired by the late Jack Streit, Aaron Gross’ grandfather, whom Abramov refers to warmly as “Mr. Jack.” From the age of 6 or 7, Abramov says he helped his mother make hand-made matzah back home in Uzbekistan.

Abramov says his work at Streit’s is fulfilling. “This is [a] very, very big mitzvah,” Abramov says. “This is already 100 years.”

To celebrate those 100 years, Streit’s has partnered with PJ Library, the program that provides free Jewish books to families, to include two origami-style “question catchers” inside each of the Streit’s five-pound boxes of Passover matzah. These small, interactive games — one designed for younger children, the other for older kids — “marry the tradition of imagining oneself in the Passover story to dynamic family-first Jewish experience that PJ Library is known for,” according to a press release.

“Anything we can do to get the younger generation involved in the holiday is important,” Gross says, “just passing on traditions.”

Summer Camp 2o25

Summertime is right around the corner, with camps of every sort – day, overnight, specialty, and general – busy planning an exciting 2025 experience for campers. Whether campers stay close to home or embark on a few weeks away for an overnight experience, many opportunities exist to provide a fulfilling summer to make new friends, learn a new craft, and simply be carefree.

Camp JCC Tidewater

5000 Corporate Woods Drive

Virginia Beach, VA 23462

757-452-3182

www.campjcc.org

Camp JCC Tidewater welcomes children of all faiths and backgrounds, offering a safe and inclusive environment for campers and staff to grow, connect, and embrace traditions infused with Jewish culture.

This traditional day camp provides enriching experiences for children in kindergarten through eighth grade, emphasizing values such as friendship, courage, responsibility, and communitymindedness. Campers enjoy a wide range of activities, including daily swimming (instructional for younger groups), arts and crafts, gaga ball, fishing, sports, spirit days, Fun Fridays, and much more.

Camp JCC runs weekly sessions from June 16 to August 8, with two additional “Last Blast” weeks, August 11 - 22. Registration is available for single, multiple, all, or any combination of weeks to fit summer schedules

Capital Camps

12750 Buchanan Trail E Waynesboro, PA 17268

301-468-2267

For more information or to register, visit www.campjcc.org or contact Dave Flagler, director of camp and teen engagement, at DFlagler@UJFT.org or 757-452-3182.

www.capitalcamps.org

Overnight camp offers children a unique opportunity to grow, build resilience, and develop independence in a supportive, fun environment. At Capital Camps, enrollment is soaring among younger campers, and middle schoolers are matriculating even at 13 and 14 years old.

It's never too late to experience the joys of camp—making friends, engaging in outdoor activities, and gaining life skills. With a village structure tailored to each age group, Capital Camps provides a nurturing, immersive Jewish experience where every camper can thrive, build confidence, and create lasting memories in a welcoming and inclusive community.

For more information, contact Penny Hartzman at info@capitalcamps.org.

Chesapeake Bay Academy

821 Baker Rd. Virginia Beach, VA 23462

757-497-6200

https://cba-va.org/summer-enrichment/

All students, from public and private schools, are welcome to attend CBA’s Summer Enrichment Program. Intensive reading, summer learning, and academic therapy programs are available to children in first through eighth grades with full and half day options available to help children improve skills and build confidence.

Academic mornings offer small group and individualized instruction while afternoons feature recreational activities including culinary and science experiments, arts and crafts, and makerspace projects to support a well-rounded camp experience.

Register online at cba-va.org/ summer or contact Elizabeth Waranch, director of institutional advancement, at 757-497-6200

x1414.

Summer at the Cape

Cape Henry Collegiate

1320 Mill Dam Road

Virginia Beach, VA 23454

757-963-8241

https://www.capehenrycollegiate.org/student-life/ summer-programs

Spend the summer learning, growing, and having fun at Summer at the Cape. Cape Henry Collegiate offers day camps for children ages three through 12, featuring plenty of outdoor play and activities. Age-appropriate weekly themes keep kids active and engaged while helping them avoid the “summer slide.”

Specialty camp options allow children to explore a huge variety of interests, from chess, art, and line dancing to coding, surfing, and cooking — it even offers two Taylor Swift fan camps.

Run by championship-winning Cape Henry coaches and other seasoned staff, the Cape’s athletics camps are a great way to develop skills and techniques in baseball, soccer, lacrosse, cheerleading, wrestling, and more.

Summer at the Cape weekly sessions begin the week of June 9 and end August 1. Children do not have to be current or prospective Cape Henry students to participate in summer camps.

Register online at capehenrycollegiate.org/ summer or contact Mark Hall at 757-963-8241 or markhall@capehenry.org.

camps It’s in the air, summer is within reach

Dave Flagler

Even though it is only Passover, there are many hints that Camp JCC is right around the corner.

Some signs are unmistakable: warmer weather, spring break, and a greener looking outside. Other hints are more subtle. Camp stealthily sneaks its way into many conversations throughout the year. For example, a mention of camp could pop up during complaints about cold weather and longing for summer days. Another mention might come at the end of a basketball practice after having fun with familiar friends. Sometimes, excitement about camp is expressed directly, whether it is excitement to be at camp or something that triggers a reference to a happy memory from a previous summer.

As the weather continues to warm, an increase of camp references will certainly be sprinkled into conversations, building excitement for the summer ahead.

To learn more about Camp JCC, or to hear about year-round opportunities for teens in the community, contact Dave Flagler, director of camp and teen engagement, at DFlagler@UJFT.org or 757-452-3182.

Role Models Wanted:

By Dave Flagler

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” “Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!”

Dr. Suess, quoted above, must have known exactly what it means to work at Camp JCC. Staff members are hired because of WHO they are. They stand out in so many ways, but mostly, by simply being themselves. They help campers to discover and empower them to become their true selves. They, being who they are and leading by example, are the role models that campers want to emulate.

Camp JCC is seeking to add a few more role models to its already amazing summer team. This is a chance to go make a difference, positively shape the future, while having fun “being true and you.”

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.”

To learn more about becoming a Camp JCC staff member, or to hear about year-round opportunities for teens in the community, contact Dave Flagler, director of camp and teen engagement, at DFlagler@UJFT.org or 757-452-3182.

One Happy Camper® grants available

Through Tidewater Jewish Foundation, in partnership with the Federation for Jewish Camps, local Jewish children may be eligible for a one-time, need-blind grant up to $1,000 toward a Jewish residential camp experience. Only campers who have not attended Day School are eligible.

More than 150 traditional and specialty overnight camps qualify for this stipend. Jewish federations, foundations, individual camps, Small Community Incentives and PJ Library all sponsor the One Happy Camper® grant for their communities and provide help, support, and local perspective so families can find the right camp for their child.

According to the website, jewishcamp.org, Foundation for Jewish Camp invests in young people because they are the Jewish future. “Study after study confirms that Jewish summer camp remains one of the most effective tools for changing lives – providing opportunities for individual growth, building community, and strengthening connections to Judaism, the Jewish people, and Israel. Simply stated, Jewish camp works!”

For more information about a One Happy Camper grant, contact Dave Flagler, director of camp and teen engagement, at DFlagler@UJFT.org or 757-452-3182.

To apply for One Happy Camper in Tidewater, visit https://foundation.jewishva.org/one-happy-camper.

The ADVENTURE BEGINS CAMP JCC 2025!

Now hiring fun and creative staff.

Great opportunity to earn extra $$ for the summer.

Excellent Career Experience for College Students: Special Ed., Education or Early Childhood majors, High School students (rising Juniors, Seniors) or graduates

All positions will serve as role models for campers and each other:

⭐ Sr. Counselors

Minimum requirement 18 years old or high school graduate.

⭐ Jr. Counselors

Minimum requirement 16 years old entering junior year of high school.

Staff Orientation

June 8 – June 12

Camp JCC Adventure

June 16 – August 8

Last Blast (Post Camp)

August 11 – 22

⭐ Activity Specialists, Camper Care Specialist, Special Needs Shadow Counselors, Camp Nurse

Employment Application available on the Simon Family JCC Camp JCC "Work at Camp” tab.

jcc.jewishva.org

IT’S A WRAP

Toras Chaim students share Purim joy

On the Tuesday prior to Purim, in coordination with Rabbi Levi Brashevitsky, the seventh and eighth grade boys from Toras Chaim took a trip to Harbor’s Edge in Norfolk to deliver Mishloach Manos packed at the school.

The boys had a special opportunity to dance and talk about Megillas Esther with the residents.

Free Mazel Tov listings!

Tell Jewish Tidewater about your simchas and have a photo published in Jewish News to remember for years to come.

Up to 100 words and photo at no charge.

Send your listing and photo to speck@ujft.org with Mazel Tov in the subject line.

If you do not get a response or have a question, call 757-965-6100.

Have a favorite camp memory?

Jewish News wants to hear from you!

The memory could be from last year, the last decade, or the previous century. The memory could be from a Day Camp or Residential Camp, as a Camper or Counselor.

Length: 100 - 150 words, plus the camp’s name and a photo of the camper –then or now.

Please also include a phone number in case anything needs to be verified. Deadline is Friday, April, 25. Early submissions appreciated!

Email speck@ujft.org with the subject: Summer Camp Memory

Later in the afternoon, Kayla Weinreb took the second-grade class to Greentree Healthcare’s Maimonides Health Center of Virginia Beach (formerly Beth Sholom Village), where the students presented a special performance, delivered Mishloach Manos, and made masks with the residents.

Simcha was felt by everyone.

Asher Schoenfeld, Dovid Stein, Menachem Merenfeld, Nosson Gruber, and Nehorai Hillel load car prior to the trip.

Toras Chaim’s second-grade class.

Nosson Gruber dances for residents.

The second-grade class at Maimonides.

Axes and apps for YAD

A dozen young Jewish Adults from United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s YAD division got together last month for an evening of food, drinks, and… axe throwing!

Josh Leibowitz, YAD chair, distinguished himself as the most improved thrower (while still guarding his hands from blisters and splinters). Everyone enjoyed improving their skills and getting to know each other.

BBYO was busy in March

Tidewater BBYO had an active agenda last month. The teens volunteered, socialized, and celebrated Shabbat as part of their March calendar.

During Operation Hamantaschen for PJ Library at the Simon Family JCC, the teens set up the event, baked, and delivered the hamantaschen to program participants on Sunday, March 9.

On Sunday, March 16, Tidewater chapters Old Dominion AZA and Simcha BBG held pick-up pickleball games with BBYO members from Richmond and Columbia, S.C.

Hattie Friedman, Simcha BBG’s Sh’licha, applied for and received a Jewish Enrichment Chapter Grant with BBYO. The chapter was awarded funds to purchase Shabbat items including candlesticks, candles, a kiddush cup, and a challah cover to be used for all future chapter Shabbat programming. The grant also included funds for Havdalah materials.

The Portnoy family hosted BBYO members in their home for Shabbat dinner on Friday, March 21. Another Shabbat dinner is already being planned.

Tidewater BBYO will host a joint BBG/AZA potluck seder on Sunday, April 20.

For information on BBYO in Tidewater, contact Courtney Krutoy, Tidewater BBYO city director, at ckrutoy@bbyo.org.

YAD members at Axe Throwing.

Josh Leibowitz, YAD chair, began as a novice and left as an expert.

Leah Steerman, Amelia Portnoy, Hattie Friedman, Sam Levin, Logan Hoffman, and Hayden Caplan.

Shayna Lovitz, Hattie Friedman, Amelia Portnoy, Simone Nied, and Leah Steerman celebrate Shabbat.

Leah Steerman and Amelia Portnoy “work” in the kitchen.

Nicoletta Shapovalova, Silver Lerner, Ayla Kell, Leah Steerman, Chloe Zuckerman, Lainey Goldman, Amy Gendil, and Simone Nied on the Pickleball court.

Operation Hamantaschen: A sweet gathering

An excellent community turnout greeted Operation Hamantaschen’s return to the Simon Family JCC on Sunday, March 9.

The JCC was abuzz with cookie-making and engagement for people of all ages. BBYO volunteers jumped to the challenge of setting up for the event, running trays, cleaning and resetting cookie tables, boxing cooled cookies, and delivering them to their owners. The Jewish Innovation Steering Committee offered a big hand in manning the ovens and helping with the mitzvah project. Plus, the Children and Family Committee gathered a few days before the event to make the dough and prepare the fillings. Everyone’s assistance contributed to making Operation Hamantaschen run smoothly.

As last year, PJ Library of Tidewater decided to make Misloach Manot (gift baskets), one of the other main activities of the day. Participants donated snacks and candy, and the Jewish Community Relations Council purchased lots of hamantaschen to add to the baskets. The JCRC delivered these baskets to 45 local agencies and organizations that have shown and continue to support Tidewater’s Jewish community.

What makes this event special is the hands-on aspect of everyone involved. From dough making to rolling the dough to packaging cookies, it’s a day of creating sweet memories with family and friends and showing appreciation to others.

To learn more about PJ Library in Tidewater or learn about upcoming programs, visit JewishVA.org/PJLibrary or contact Sarah Cooper at Scooper@ujft.org.

Sarah Cooper

Mara and Avery Goldstein focus on their cookie making.

The Beasley family works together.

Logan Hoffman, a BBYO volunteer, runs a tray to the kitchen.

Grayson Lautman helps other children

Mimi and Teresa Greer carefully add the fillings.

Shinshinim Danielle Hartman leads fun Purim games with the children.

The tables were set with everything needed.

IT’S A WRAP

Daffodil Project blooms throughout Tidewater

Ira Steingold, Esq. and Myrna Teck. Ph.D.

Each year, the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center (formerly Chevra T’helim) in Portsmouth, sells daffodil bulbs as part of The Daffodil Project (www. daffodilproject.net). On site, JMCC has planted more than 7,000 bulbs in recent years. The goal is to plant 1.5 million bulbs worldwide to remember and honor the 1.5 million children who were murdered during the Holocaust/Shoah, as well as all children who were and are victims of violence.

This past year, The Daffodil Project donated 250 bulbs to United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, which Betty Ann Levin, executive vice president/CEO for UJFT and Simon Family JCC, had planted at the entrance to the Sandler Family Campus in Virginia Beach. The process was facilitated by Myrna Teck, PhD and Allan Zeno, DDS. Last month, the daffodils bloomed with beautiful yellow flowers, making the entrance to the JCC a vista of remembrance of the children lost and a beautiful yellow carpet of love.

All of this occurred under the aegis of The Jewish Museum and Cultural Center. Jews began to congregate in Portsmouth in 1886, eventually becoming so numerous that three synagogues dotted the landscape of the fine city. The Jewish community was vibrant, as well as civic-minded. Accepted with open arms, Portsmouth Jews cared about their Judaism and about their fellow citizens. Businesses prospered, professionals prospered, and the community’s children became well educated in Torah and in secular studies. They went on to become “machers,” (important people) within the United States. A great legacy was left in Hampton Roads because of Portsmouth’s Jewish community.

Nadiv, BBYO join for Strelitz Garden cleanup

Two generations of young Jewish men combined forces on Sunday, March 30 to revitalize the garden at Strelitz International Academy.

In 1922, Chevra T’helim (Congregation of Psalms) was constructed as an orthodox synagogue at 607 Effingham Street. Approximately 20 years ago, a few forward-thinking Jews from Portsmouth and Norfolk, led by the late Zelma Rivin, bought and preserved the synagogue’s building. Today it operates as the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center in the heart of Old Towne Portsmouth. In addition to The Daffodil Project, the museum offers a Summer Music Series, a Springtime Lecture Series, a Winter Cinema Series, and various other special programs. All are open to the public.

Within the totally renovated orthodox synagogue is a Holocaust Czechoslovakian Torah. Details about visiting and events are available at www.jmccportsmouth.org.

Nadiv, the young professional men’s fundraising group for United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, worked with Old Dominion AZA, the boys’ chapter of BBYO, to pick weeds, add fresh soil and provide general maintenance of the garden.

The staff at Strelitz, especially Elyssa Brinn, director of the Early Years Program at Strelitz, coordinated the needed supplies.

Nadiv and BBYO also planted a pomegranate tree, which in time will bloom orange leaves, in memory of the Bibas boys who were killed in captivity in Gaza.

Nadiv hopes to do more shared programming with OD AZA and show the teenagers what it means to participate in the Jewish community after college.

OD AZA plans to assist Nadiv with the first-ever Nadiv Poker Night, which will take place on Tuesday, May 13, 6 - 10 pm. The evening’s goal is to field 100 poker players inside the Fleder Multipurpose Room at the Sandler Family Campus. To register and for more information, go to jewishva.org/nadivpoker. Top prizes include a $500 Amazon gift card and more.

Sam Molofsky

Nadiv member Aaron Glassman and his son, Liam, pour new soil into a garden box.

Members of Nadiv and Old Dominion AZA take a break from the Strelitz garden cleanup to pose for a group photo.

OD AZA members: Nate Simon, Henry Ashe, Hayden Caplan, Jonah Kass, Sam Levin, and Randall Nied stand next to the tree they planted with Nadiv to honor the Bibas boys who were killed in captivity in Gaza.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Israeli Chef’s Table Experience with renowned Israeli Chef Moshe Basson

Thursday, May 1, 7 pm

Sandler Family Campus

Celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut—Israel’s Independence Day —with an extraordinary evening of flavor, heritage, and storytelling at the second annual Israeli Chef’s Table Experience, presented by Avraham and Karen Ashkenazi.

This exclusive event will feature Chef Moshe Basson, founder of Jerusalem’s acclaimed Eucalyptus restaurant and one of Israel’s most celebrated culinary figures.

A native of Iraq, Basson and his family left for Israel in 1951 following a farhud (pogrom) against the Jewish community. Growing up, Basson’s family owned a small bakery in the Arab neighborhood of Beit Safafa. Today, Basson’s menus incorporate biblical foods, the Iraqi Jewish kitchen, as well as traditional Arab and Jewish dishes into contemporary cuisine.

At the event in Virginia Beach, guests will be treated to a curated three-course kosher meat dinner, thoughtfully paired with premium Israeli wines. The dinner is sponsored by Bank of America with generous support from Mit Habrim (Connections) and the Helen G. Gifford Foundation.

To learn more and purchase tickets (starting at $118 per person for dinner and drinks), visit JewishVA.org/YH or contact Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org.

Celebrate Israel’s 77th Independence Day with Tidewater

Sunday, May 4, 12 - 3 pm

Sandler Family Campus

Get ready for a joyful afternoon of culture, connection, and celebration at the Yom Ha’Atzmaut Community Celebration.

Presented by Avraham and Karen Ashkenazi, this free, family-friendly celebration honors Israel’s 77th Independence Day with music, food, art, and interactive activities for all ages. Kids will be able to enjoy face painting, inflatables, and carnival games, as well as explore Israeli culture through crafts, games, and activities with Camp JCC, PJ Library, local synagogues, the Tidewater ShinShinim, and more.

This year’s event also highlights support for Israeli artists, featuring unique products and artwork available for purchase—offering a substantial way to uplift Israeli creativity and resilience. In addition, some of Virginia’s universities’ Hillels will be available to discuss what is offered on campuses to support and guide Jewish students.

Admission is free and open to everyone. Tickets for food and select activities will be available to purchase at the event, or online at a discount before Friday, April 25.

Yom Ha’Atzmaut is sponsored by AIPAC, Allegra Marketing, Harbor Group International, and Hatcher & Frey Orthodontics. It is made possible through the generous support of the Simon Family Foundation and the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission.

For more information and to register, visit JewishVA.org/YH or contact Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org.

BeARing down on another great year

BeAR Appreciation Luncheon •

As the 2024-2025 school year draws to a close, the Be A Reader (BeAR) Literacy Project is celebrating another extraordinary season of reading, mentorship, and making a meaningful impact on the lives of its young BeAR students.

Watching children grow within the program, it is exciting to witness the ripple effect of their learning and compassion, knowing they will inspire and uplift everyone around them. L'Dor V'Dor, as the BeAR family works together. This year has literally “been one for the books.” Reluctant readers have transformed into enthusiastic book lovers and celebrated small victories in reading, spelling, comprehension,

Friday, May 9, 11 am – 1 pm

and, most importantly, with meaningful connections between mentors and students. The impact of a caring adult taking the time to read with a child is immeasurable, and the program is grateful for each mentor who made the year special.

Although school is not yet over, BeAR is already focused on the 2025-2026 school year, with plans in full swing to continue the legacy of BeAR’s 25th anniversary.

The BeAR Appreciation Luncheon in May is a time for mentors to come together, reflect on the year, and celebrate the incredible volunteers.

For more information about the Be A Reader Literacy Project, contact Robin Ford, at 757-321-2304 or rford@ujft.org.

Robin Ford

Maggie Moore works with her BeAR student at Willard Elementary in Norfolk.

Phil Walzer works with his BeAR student at Willard Elementary.

CALENDAR WHAT’S HAPPENING

APRIL 14 - 18, MONDAY - FRIDAY

Camp JCC: Spring Break Camp. For campers (K-5th grade) attending Norfolk, Virginia Beach, or Chesapeake Public Schools, Strelitz Academy, or for campers who have a spring holiday. Join for any single day, combination of days, or the entire week. Space is limited. Sandler Family Campus. Information and registration: www.campjcc.org or Dave Flagler at dflagler@ujft.org or 757-452-3182.

APRIL 21, MONDAY

JCC Book Club. The club will discuss Confessions of a Female Rabbi with an introduction from author Rabbi Rebecca Keren Jablonski. Book Club meets the third Monday of each month. 1:30 pm. In person or via Zoom. Free. Sandler Family Campus. Information: Mia Klein at MKlein@UJFT.org.

APRIL 22, TUESDAY

YAD Happy Hour. Join the Young Adult Division of UJFT at Hank’s Filling Station to eat, drink, and play games. 6 pm. 4301 Colley Ave., Norfolk. Registration: jewishva.org/ community-calendar/yad-event-1734972873.

APRIL 23, WEDNESDAY

Yom Hashoah. Honor Holocaust survivors and remember those who perished. 6:45 pm. Ohef Sholom Temple. Information: www.holocaustcommission.org or Elka Mednick at emednick@ujft.org.

APRIL 26, SATURDAY

Kids Night Out. Members and guests can drop off children to enjoy crafts, games, snacks, and swimming (children who can swim without a floatation device). Ages 4 - 12 years old. Pack a kosher-style dinner for your child(ren). 5 - 9 pm. Sandler Family Campus. Registration by 4 pm on Friday, April 25 or before it sells out: https://jcc.jewishva.org/kids .

APRIL 27, SUNDAY

Fishing Derby. Lake Sandler opens to shore-cast fishing during this catch-and-release event. Bring fishing gear. Bait, lures, snacks, and drinks for purchase. Lifeguard supervised. Children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult. 1 pm; last cast at 3:55 pm. $15 entry fee includes JCC all-access day pass. Sandler Family Campus. Information: JewishVA.org/Fishing Derby or 757-321-2338.

APRIL 29, TUESDAY

MAY 1, THURSDAY

RoundTable Conversation: What’s Your Take? Agree to Disagree. Discuss, Don’t Dismiss. The United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC invite curious members to discuss timely topics. Bring an article that intrigues you or something that stumps you. 1 pm. Sandler Family Campus. Free. Information and RSVP: visit www.Jewishva.org/RoundTable or Mia Klein at MKlein@UJFT.org.

Israeli Chef’s Table Experience. Internationally renowned Chef Moshe Basson will treat guests to his innovative and authentic Israeli cuisine. 7 pm. Sandler Family Campus. Information and registration: JewishVA.org/YH or Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org. See p. 42.

MAY 4, SUNDAY

JFS 21st Annual Run Roll or Stroll. This year’s Fun Run will be full of surprises, a little color, lots of bubbles, obstacles, and more. Live music, face painting, balloon animals, fairy hair, and photobooth. 10:30 am. Sandler Family Campus. $20 per participant. Packet pickup on Friday, May 2, 8 am - 4 pm at Simon Family JCC. Registration: https://runsignup.com/runrollstroll.

Yom Ha’Atzmaut Community Celebration in honor of Israel’s 77th birthday. 12 – 3 pm. Sandler Family Campus. Information and to pre-purchase ticket bundles for food and select activities: JewishVA.org/YH by April 25 or Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org. See p. 42.

MAY 6, TUESDAY

Jewish American Heritage Month Tours at the Chrysler Museum of Art. Embark upon a guided exploration of art related to Judaic themes or created by Jewish artists in the Chrysler Museum’s collection. Presented in partnership with United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. 3 pm. Free. Chrysler Museum of Art. Additional date: May 25 at 2 pm. RSVP: JewishVA.org/JAHM.

Yiddish Club. A new book will be introduced to transform discussions into engaging lessons that foster the Yiddish language. 1 pm. Sandler Family Campus. Free. Information and registration: www.Jewishva. org/YiddishClub or Mia Klein at MKlein@UJFT.org.

MAY 15, THURSDAY

Meet the authors of Miri’s Moving Day. Stephanie Wildman and Adam Ryan Chang celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with their book, Miri’s Moving Day! An interactive read-along featuring a craft activity for pre-K through 3rd graders. 10:30 am. Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library. Information: JewishVA.org/JAHM.

MAY 18, SUNDAY

History Speaks: Building on a Foundation of Hope. Explore Norfolk’s early Jewish history through the lens of the Myers family, the first permanent Jewish residents of Tidewater. Featuring Rabbi Michael Panitz. 1 - 3 pm. Myers House, 323 E. Freemason Street, Norfolk. Free. RSVP: JewishVA.org/JAHM.

Monthly Moon Circle. UJFT’s Konikoff Center for Learning presents a tradition that spans thousands of years: a monthly holiday known as Rosh Chodesh, meaning “head of the month.” 6:45 pm. Free. Sandler Family Campus. Information and registration: JewishVA.org/KCL or Sierra Lautman at SLautman@UJFT.org.

APRIL 30, WEDNESDAY

Yom Ha’Zikaron Memorial Ceremony. Join Tidewater’s Shinshinim, Danielle Hartman and Emily Patyuk for Israel Remembrance Day, to support, honor, and remember the Israeli civilians and soldiers who have died in battle and terror attacks. 8:30 am. Sandler Family Campus. Information: JewishVA.org/IsraelToday or Nofar Trem at NTrem@UJFT.org.

MAY 21, WEDNESDAY

JCC Seniors Club Learns About the Myers House. Featuring Myers House coordinator Karen Dutton. Tickets including lunch, $6. 12 pm. Sandler Family Campus. Information: Mia Klein at MKlein@UJFT.org.

MAY 28, WEDNESDAY

Jewish American Heritage Night at the Tides. Inaugural Jewish American Heritage Night with the Tides playing the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Celebrate Jewish contributions to America’s favorite pastime with discounted tickets and an exclusive JAHM 2025 t-shirt. First pitch 6:35 pm. Harbor Park. Purchase tickets: JewishVA.org/JAHM.

Dana Cohen

NORFOLK - Dana Cohen, 92, passed away peacefully in her home on April 6, 2025.

She was born in Lwow, Poland, the daughter of the late Mauricy Sygal and the late Frederycka Sygal.

A survivor of the Holocaust, Dana was a dedicated member of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission and a beloved member of its Speaker’s Bureau. One of its What We Carry documentaries tells her story of survival and hope. She spent many years speaking to students and military personnel about her experiences and the importance of tolerance of all people.

After arriving in the United States in 1957, she met her late husband, William, in Washington, D.C. After they married in 1963, Dana joined her husband in Norfolk, Va., where he had opened a business. Dana became its bookkeeper and office manager for several years, while also being a devoted and loving mother to their son, Michael.

Dana is survived by her son, Michael; her lovable cats, Tiger and Lily; and numerous other family members. A funeral service was held at

Ohef Sholom Temple, followed by a burial at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Her family would like to thank the management and caregivers from Visiting Angels, who gave Dana care and support at home in her final years.

Contributions may be made in Dana’s name to a charity of one’s choice. H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts., Norfolk Chape.

Paul Andrew Moore

PORTSMOUTH - Paul Andrew Moore, 72, passed away, March 24, 2025.

He is survived by his wife Debbie, daughter Angela Woody (Chris), sons Daniel and Jeremy (Sarah), brother Marvin Moore (Donna), sister Connie Moore (Sam), brother-in-laws Ken Lubar (Suzi) and Steven Lubar (Lisa), grandchildren Ashton and Kassidy Carey, and several nieces and nephews.

Paul retired from the Portsmouth Fire Department and was the owner of Moore’s Lawn Service.

Online condolences may be made at www. LovingFuneralHome.

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

Benn Lewis Richels

NORFOLK - With heavy hearts, we share the passing of Benn Lewis Richels, a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and cherished friend, on March 20, 2025, at the age of 82.

For over 20 years, he led BMR (Berlin, Miles, Richels) as its dedicated president, bringing wisdom and integrity to his work. He also served as president emeritus of B’nai Israel Congregation, strengthening the Jewish community he loved so deeply. As past president of the Old Dominion Intercollegiate Foundation, he worked tirelessly to support young athletes, and for more than two decades, he found great joy as a Little League coach, mentoring and inspiring his players.

A proud member of Old Dominion’s Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity, he was a lifelong Yankees and Washington Redskins/Commanders fan, never missing a chance to cheer on his teams.

More than anything, he was a family man. He shared 60 beautiful years of marriage with his beloved wife, Jackie Richels. He was the loving father of Elise and Asher Wolf, David and Natalie Richels, and Ira and Ellen Richels. His legacy lives on in his nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, who will forever hold his wisdom, kindness, and love in their hearts.

A graveside service at B’nai Israel Cemetery took place.

Jon Franklin Sedel

VIRGINIA BEACH - Jon Franklin Sedel passed away March 29, 2025, from cancer.

He grew up in Birdneck Point, son of the late Dr. Norman Sedel and Reitha Sedel.

Jon graduated from First Colonial High School in 1969 and Virginia Commonwealth University in 1973 with a degree in business. He was a licensed real estate broker in Virginia and North Carolina and a Class A general contractor.

In partnership with his brother, Bruce, Jon established Sedel & Associates Realty, Inc. in 1978, specializing in commercial real estate

brokerage, leasing, and property management. Jon believed that a strong work ethic was the key to being successful.

At age 14 he became a lifeguard on the Beach Service. Later as a businessman, he formed Sedel Construction Co. which built condos, duplexes, and single-family dwellings and later developed La Promenade Shopping Center.

As a community leader, Jon served on several boards and committees, including the Virginia State Bar’s Disciplinary Board.

Jon loved the outdoors, traveling, and keeping fit. He was a gym enthusiast who enjoyed his daily workouts at Wareing’s Gym as well as sharing his health-focused life choices with others. He was kind and supportive, a loving husband, brother, and friend. His positive attitude and infectious spirit graced all who came to know him and call him friend.

Jon is survived by his wife of 28 years, Kathi, sister Gail of Virginia Beach, and brother Bruce of Chesapeake.

A service was held at H.D. Oliver Funeral Apts. Memorial contributions may be made to the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad or any charity of choice. Online condolences may be made to the family at hdoliver.com.

Steve Jay Spindel

PORTSMOUTH - After 85 years, Steven Jay Spindel, a plumber and a drummer, left this earth on March 24, 2025.

As a master plumber, he worked with his father and two brothers at I. Spindel & Sons Plumbing & Heating until 1976. He retired from Norfolk Naval Shipyard in 1998. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army 1960-1963. He served in Korea as a sergeant.

He was a 1958 graduate of Craddock High School and a 1960 graduate of Frederick Military Academy College, where he was a Battalion Commander, Drum & Bugle Corps member. Steve played drums beginning at eight years old, played through school and as an adult in several local bands including The Henry Lee Band and was a member of local Musician’s Union.

OBITUARIES

He is survived by his children Crystal Gaston (Dennis), Shawn, and Brady, his brother Ronald F. Spindel (Linda), grandchildren Austin, Evan, Kai, and George, and a niece and nephews.

He was predeceased by his parents Irving and Esther Spindel of Dania, Fla., brother Sam Spindel of Plantation, Fla., his nephew Jeff Spindel of Virginia Beach, and his best friend Earl Cofield.

His family imagines he is now surf fishing on the Outer Banks listening to Big Band music in the beyond. May his memory be a blessing.

Mark D. Stadler

CHESAPEAKE - Mark D. Stadler passed away on March 29, 2025.

He was born September 24,1944 in Norfolk, Va. and was the son of M.G. “Mike” and Jeanne G. Stadler, of blessed memory.

A hallmark of his disposition was his convivial nature, patience with students, and good humor. Mark loved folk and classical guitar music which he continued to play until the end of his life. One of the highlights of his early years was attending a summer session in Siena, Italy with the North Carolina School of the Arts and his teacher Jesus Silva.

Mark’s deep devotion to Judaism began even before age 13. His Bar Mitzvah gift was a trip to NYC to visit the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He has been affiliated

with Temple Israel in Norfolk from its very inception and was active in its youth group and religious school. He lived his entire life as an observant Jew. This deep-rooted love was demonstrated in his many religious-based career positions including principal of the United Hebrew School in Tidewater, and 24 years with Congregation Beth El, Highland Park, Illinois, retiring as full-time ritual director. While there is no formal training to become a ritual director, one must be “synagogue savvy,” religiously observant, and know the important roles of the synagogue, including leading services and reading Torah.

Left to cherish his memory are his sister, Ellyn Chapel (Stephen); nephews Ian Chapel (Natasha) and Michael Chapel (Kelleigh), and niece Frani Chapel Heilman (Adrian), plus grand-nieces and nephews Victoria and Natalia Chapel, Alana, Serena and Marlin Heilman and Atrayu Polhemus and many Gladstone, Stadler, and Rubin cousins. He is also survived by his great aunt Margie S. Weinstein of Jacksonville, Fla.

Graveside services were conducted by Rabbi Michael Panitz at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Mike & Jeanne Stadler Tzedakah fund of Temple Israel, Norfolk or a charity of the donor’s choice. Online condolences can be made to the family at hdoliver.com.

Stef Wertheimer, one of Israel’s richest men

(JTA) — Stef Wertheimer, one of Israel’s richest men and a former lawmaker, has died at 98.

Wertheimer’s granddaughter Maya Wertheimer, an Israeli actress and model, posted on social media last month that he had died in his sleep.

“The man who taught me what derech eretz was and lessons on love,” she wrote, using a Hebrew term connoting common decency. “May we be able to do a tenth of the good you did. May we continue your legacy. You are my hero grandpa.”

Wertheimer became one of the wealthiest men in Israel in 2006 when he sold 80% of his Iscar metalworking company for $4 billion to the billionaire investor Warren Buffett. He later sold the

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remainder to Buffett for an additional $2 billion. Bloomberg estimated his net worth at his death to be close to $10 billion.

Wertheimer came from humble beginnings. He was born in 1926, and in 1937, he and his family fled the Nazis. They emigrated to Palestine, settling in Tel Aviv. Wertheimer served as a technician in the British Royal Air Force in World War II and then in the Palmach, the elite Jewish militia. He fought in Israel’s War of Independence, according to Haaretz

Wertheimer started his company, Iscar, which is short for Israel Carbides, in the backyard of his home in the northern Israeli city of Nahariya in 1952. From 1977 to 1981, Wertheimer also served

in a centrist party in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and founded the northern Israeli town of Kfar Vradim. He was also known for his philanthropy and for investing in the creation of industrial parks around the country that he hoped would advance Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eulogized Wertheimer as “a man of industry, vision and the Land of Israel” in a statement. He called Wertheimer “one of those who built the country, and a pillar of Israeli industry,” and said he “left behind a legacy of initiative, giving and

abiding faith in the power of humanity to create and to do good.”

In 1991, Wertheimer was awarded the Israel Prize for his “contribution to society and the state,” according to Bloomberg. He was also honored in a torch-lighting ceremony for Israel’s 58th Independence Day in 2006.

He was married to Miriam Wertheimer until her death in 1989. Together, they had four children including a son, Eitan Wertheimer, who died in 2022. He is survived by his remaining children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Chris Sisler, Vice President, Member of Ohef Sholom Temple, Board member of the Berger-Goldrich Home at Beth Sholom Village, James E. Altmeyer, Jr., President, James E. Altmeyer, Sr., Owner

Florida’s Todd Golden becomes first Jewish coach to win March Madness since 1988

Ben Sales

(JTA) — Todd Golden became the first Jewish coach in 37 years to win the NCAA men’s basketball tournament as his Florida Gators edged Houston 65-63 in the final on Monday, April 7.

Golden’s championship capped an especially Jewish- and Israeli-inflected Final Four. Along with Florida, Duke and Auburn were coached, respectively, by Jon Scheyer and Bruce Pearl, both of whom are Jewish. Houston player Emanuel Sharp is the son of longtime Maccabi Tel Aviv player Derrick Sharp, and himself played for Israel’s national youth team.

Golden, 39, is also the youngest coach to win it all since the tournament expanded it its current structure in 1985. After playing college ball himself, he played for Maccabi Haifa, an Israeli pro basketball team, for two seasons. In 2009 he also played under Pearl in the Maccabiah Games in Israel.

He was also an assistant to Pearl at Auburn, and had stints at Columbia and San Francisco, before coming to Florida in 2022. Golden faced, and beat, his mentor on Saturday, April 5 as Florida topped Auburn in the semifinal. Ahead of that game, Pearl and Golden sat for a joint interview.

The most recent Jewish coach to win the tournament before Golden was Larry Brown, who led Kansas to a championship in 1988.

Noah Wyle, star of HBO’s The Pitt, recites Shema on screen

Grace Gilson

(JTA) — Jewish fans of HBO’s The Pitt heard a familiar verse in one of the hit medical drama’s latest episodes when the show’s main character, Dr. Michael Robinavitch, consoled himself by reciting the Shema.

A scene at the beginning of the 14th episode featured the character, known as “Dr. Robby,” clutching his Star of David necklace and shakily singing the verse, one of Judaism’s central prayers, as he experiences a mental breakdown in the emergency room where the show is set.

Wyle, who is an executive producer on the show, collaborated with its creators, R. Scott Gemmill and John Wells, to help create the character of Dr. Robinavitch, who is Jewish.

During initial conversations about the show, the group adopted Wyle’s father’s Russian-Jewish heritage as a starting point for the character.

In an interview with Kveller where he recounted the charter’s origin, Wyle recalled being asked by Wells, “Well, what’s a name? What can we play with there? Would you want to play in that blood memory?”

While religion was not a large part of his upbringing, Wyle’s parents’ backgrounds were still influential in his experience growing up, according to the Kveller interview. His mother was Episcopalian.

The Pitt takes place in Pittsburgh, which is home to around 50,000 Jews. In one scene, the city’s heavily Jewish neighborhood Squirrel Hill is mentioned as Wyle’s character’s step-son visits him in the emergency room.

At the end of his character’s breakdown, Wyles tucks his Star of David necklace into his shirt and scrubs, and reenters the chaos of the ER.

WEST END PLAY ABOUT ROALD DAHL’S ANTISEMITISM WINS 3 OLIVIER AWARDS

(JTA) — A show by a Jewish playwright interrogating the antisemitism of acclaimed children’s book author Roald Dahl took home three prizes at the Olivier Awards earlier this month.

At the prestigious London theater awards ceremony on Saturday, April 5, Giant earned the prize for best new play, and its star John Lithgow won the award for best actor. Lithgow’s co-star, the Jewish actor Elliot Levey, won best actor in a supporting role.

Written by Mark Rosenblatt, Giant portrays a fictional lunch with Dahl and two Jewish publishers as they embark on a conversation pleading with the late author to issue an apology for a 1983 essay in which he suggested that Jews had turned into Nazis.

In the essay, a review of a photobook about Israel’s war in Lebanon, Dahl wrote, “Never before in the history of man has a race of people switched so rapidly from being much-pitied victims to barbarous murderers. Never

before has a race of people generated so much sympathy around the world and then, in the space of a lifetime, succeeded in turning that sympathy into hatred and revulsion.”

Dahl added, “The authentic tales of horror and bestiality throughout this book make one wonder in the end what sort of people these Israelis are. It is like the good old Hitler and Himmler times all over again.”

The author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and many other children’s classics made several antisemitic statements throughout his life. He identified as antisemitic shortly before he died in 1990, and in 2020 his family apologized for the “lasting and understandable hurt” he caused.

The year he wrote the essay, Dahl also said, “There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on

them for no reason.”

The impetus for the play came from Rosenblatt’s reaction to present-day rhetoric around Israel. He told The Guardian he had become “alarmed, as a British Jew, by how openly antisemitic language and stereotyping was blurring with meaningful, constructive debate around Israel and Palestine.”

The play, he said, provided a platform for that conversation to play out. Rosenblatt chose Dahl as the subject because of people’s “affectionate relationship” with him, he told The Times.

A revival of another Jewish play, Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Jewish director Jordan Fein, also took home three Olivier Awards including best musical revival, best set design and best sound design. What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, an adaptation of the Nathan Englander short story that starred Jewish actor Joshua Malina, was nominated for best new production but did not win.

Grace Gilson