Special Section - Senior Living 2026

jewishnewsva.org | JULY 13 2026 | JEWISH NEWS | 11

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12 | JEWISH NEWS | JULY 13, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org

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Senior Living

Dear Readers,

The question of who qualifies as a senior produces many responses, depending on who or what entity is answering.

At age 50, for example, it’s possible to become a member of AARP and unlock perks and discounts. At 55, many restaurants, retailers, and senior housing communities begin offering senior discounts or age-restricted living. That’s also when McDonald’s famous Senior Coffee is available and some Wendy’s locations offer free drinks. At 60, shoppers at Harris Teeter are granted a discount on Thursdays.

Age 65, however, is the typical senior benchmark, when people are eligible for Medicare and full retirement status with Social Security.

Reaching the milestone birthdays today, however, rarely translates to past thinking on seniors and this section proves the point – discounts aside! Today’s seniors tend to be active adults who just happen to have more free time – either due to retirement status or to their empty nests – to enjoy their lives. After decades of work and raising families, why not?

This issue’s profiles on Dr. Gad Brosch and Michelle Luria, for example, serve as testimony to knowing how to embrace life with gusto at all ages.

Articles on volunteering with Be A Reader, exercising at the Simon Family JCC, and participating in clubs, highlight some of the easyto-access activities available to “those over a certain age.”

Two articles also confront some of the challenges that sometimes emerge with aging. One is on help available for those facing Alzheimer’s disease, and another on topics to consider when determining the right time and place to move into any form of assisted living.

To quote Dr. Brosch on his prescription for those in the senior category to sustain an active brain, “keep researching and learning.

Surround yourself with younger people and be involved.”

Thanks for reading,

Terri Denison Editor

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jewishnewsva.org | JULY 13 2026 | JEWISH NEWS | 13

Senior Living MICHELLE LURIA: A LIFE REBUILT BY CONNECTION, CONVERSATION, AND COMMUNITY Haley Bartel Michelle Luria didn’t expect to start over. But now, from her Norfolk apartment overlooking the Elizabeth River, she describes a life filled with new experiences and community.

“I love it here,” she says. “The people are so lovely, intelligent, well educated, well-traveled.

Just really nice to be around.”

In fact, she says, “I’ve always loved Virginia. The first time I came here, I was nine years old. I visited Williamsburg.”

After a lifetime in Birmingham, Alabama, Luria and her husband, Herbert, moved to Tidewater approximately four years ago to be near their daughter, Elaine Luria, who had made Norfolk her home. Not long after the couple’s move – about a year later – her husband died following a long illness.

Luria’s roots in Birmingham were deep – a city where she, along with her Michelle Luria.

late husband and daughter, were all natives. There, she was extremely active in Jewish communal life, serving in leadership roles with organizations such as the National Council of Jewish Women. She was also involved in the arts, volunteering for decades at the Birmingham Museum of Art as a docent. In addition, Luria was a Blue and Gold officer for the Naval Academy where she interviewed candidates and helped them through the application process.

In fact, 25 of her candidates were accepted to the Naval Academy and all graduated.

When she relocated, however, she says she was ready to step back.

“I had done so much volunteer work. I was ready to take a rest.”

In Norfolk, Jewish life looks different but is still familiar in feeling. She is a member of Ohef Sholom Temple and speaks

warmly about the congregation and Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg. She attends services roughly once a month, often with neighbors, and occasionally joins Sisterhood events.

Much of her social life, however, is rooted in the broader community of where she lives, at Harbor’s Edge. She has also joined the American Friends of Lafayette and travelled to France, New Orleans and Richmond with the group.

“I just talk to people,” she says. “That’s how I meet everyone.”

That ease of connection has become the foundation of her new life. She rarely eats alone, instead making daily plans with neighbors and friends. Jewish or not, she describes the community as deeply welcoming.

Looking back, she doesn’t hesitate when asked about the move.

“It was definitely the right move for me,” she says.

“There are so many wonderful things to do here – you can’t even imagine.”

And, of course, it doesn’t hurt to have her daughter’s family – Elaine, Robert, and Violette – close by.

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14 | JEWISH NEWS | JULY 13, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org

Senior Living

Steering through Alzheimer’s: A journey of hope, community, and connection others who are newly diagnosed. Rather Lauren Krajesky, LNHA, CDP than withdrawing from family, friends, Few diagnoses change the course of a or community support, she encourages family’s journey quite like Alzheimer’s people to focus disease. It reaches on what they can far beyond the still do rather than individual, what they can no touching spouses, longer do. “I feel children, lucky,” she says, grandchildren, explaining that she friends, and entire is more intentional communities. than ever about Today, more nurturing than 7.4 million relationships and Americans age 65 finding joy in and older are living everyday moments. with Alzheimer’s, Linda Spindel and Marcia Brodie.

Her husband, and nearly 13 Ron Spindel, says much of Linda’s positive million family members and friends outlook can be attributed to the support provide care and support for loved ones living with dementia.

Behind every statistic is a personal story; one of resilience, adaptation, love, and connection. While there is still much to learn about Alzheimer’s, researchers now know that changes in the brain associated with the disease can begin years before symptoms appear. For most families, however, the journey begins with subtle changes in memory, thinking or daily routines, prompting a search for answers and, ultimately, an opportunity to find support, resources, and community.

That was the case for Linda Spindel, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease two years ago. Spindel speaks openly about her diagnosis and proudly shares the small victories that continue to bring her joy.

Losing her ability to drive has been the most difficult adjustment, Spindel says. Yet even that challenge is something she approaches with optimism. In a moment that perfectly captures her spirit, Spindel reflects on her diagnosis through the lens of driving: “It’s been a good ride.”

While there are more red lights than she would like, she laughs and adds that she knows the road well. Her positivity is both inspiring and contagious.

Spindel offers encouragement to

they have received from family and the broader community. In particular, he credits Marcia Futterman Brodie, founder of Marcia Trains, LLC, with helping them navigate this chapter of life by providing guidance, resources, encouragement, and understanding. For Brodie, this work is personal. “No one should have to walk this journey alone,” she says.

That philosophy is shared by Beth Sholom Village, where leaders have witnessed how the support of caring professionals, friends, and loved ones can make a profound difference for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and the families who care for them, helping them find strength and connection along the way. To help meet these needs, Beth Sholom Village has

earmarked funding for Jewish Family Service to launch an Alzheimer’s Café under Brodie’s guidance. The initiative will create opportunities for families to gather, share experiences, and find support in a welcoming environment, helping ensure that no one faces the journey in isolation.

Spindel’s story serves as a powerful reminder that while Alzheimer’s disease may alter the road ahead, it does not diminish the importance of joy, purpose, or meaningful relationships. With the right support and a caring community, even the most challenging roads can be traveled with hope.

Lauren Krajesky, LNHA, CDP is Beth Sholom Village’s executive director.

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Senior Living

The keys to retirement with Gad Brosch Sarah Cooper Strolling the streets of downtown Norfolk, one might hear the smooth sound of live jazz wafting from a condo’s windows. “We get together quite often, at least once a week to play,” says Gad Brosch, MD. A gynecologist who retired after 35 years in practice, he now spends most of his time playing jazz piano. Musicians join him for jam sessions in his home, including various vocalists and saxophone, trumpet, and bass guitar players.

Does he get complaints from the sessions? “I invite my neighbors, they join us!

Preventative medicine,” says Brosch.

His love for jazz music started many years ago in Israel. Born in Haifa, Brosch took piano lessons as an adolescent and remembers one of his teachers, Mrs. Schall, a Hungarian woman who escaped Nazi Germany.

Her husband, a jazz pianist, played for the British soldiers and would play songs when he picked up his wife. All the Things You Are by Ella Fitzgerald is the song that initially turned a young Gad Brosch.

Brosch on to jazz.

Since retiring in 2005, playing music has become his focus, his mission, and his purpose. “I’m fighting to keep my music alive,” Brosch says.

For three years, Brosch played at Sentara Heart Hospital, Sentara Leigh Hospital, and Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital under the “Music and Medicine” initiative. At one time, he also performed at places such as Westminster-Canterbury and Beth Sholom Village. One could imagine how effective it must be in raising the spirits of patients in the healing process.

Today, Brosch accompanies other vocalists and plays frequently in hotels and casinos such as The Rivers Casino in Portsmouth and Varia Italian Restaurant at the Hilton Main Hotel. He is often seen alongside vocalists Danielle Roby and Frank Cubillo of Frank Sings Frank. Although playing jazz is his passion, it’s not the only reason he does it.

At his self-proclaimed “89 years plus,” the active retiree tries to stay busy and believes that it is the key to a long, happy life. He works out three days a week via Silver Sneakers and rides his bike to run errands at least twice a week. A main concern for him is that so many adults do not have a plan to stay active after retirement.

“Pick something you enjoy, that belongs to you, and plan for it. Try to be the best you can be.”

Brosch is a member of the JCC Senior Club and attends Roundtable Conversations.

To keep the brain active, “keep researching and learning. Surround yourself with younger people and be involved,” he says.

For information on senior activities at the Sandler Family Campus or to learn about a Gad Brosch future performance, contact Sarah Cooper at scooper@ujft.org.

16 | JEWISH NEWS | JULY 13, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org

Senior Living

Planning ahead: Four conversations every family should have before a crisis Ashley Harris Conversations about aging are often postponed because they can feel overwhelming or uncomfortable. Yet some of the best decisions families make happen long before they are faced with an urgent medical event or unexpected hospitalization. Planning ahead allows older adults to express their wishes, understand their options, and make informed decisions with confidence.

One of the first conversations every family should have is about when additional support may be beneficial.

Whether it’s help with daily activities, medication management, or simply the desire for greater social connection, understanding the differences between independent living, assisted living, memory care, rehabilitation, and skilled nursing can make future decisions less stressful.

Another important discussion centers on financial planning. Many families have questions about how to pay for senior living, whether selling a home is necessary, what resources may be available, and how to prepare financially for the years ahead.

Having these conversations early can help families make thoughtful decisions rather than rushed ones.

Families should also discuss estate planning and legal documents. Ensuring wills, powers of attorney, advance medical directives, and other essential documents are up to date provides peace of mind and helps loved ones honor an individual’s wishes.

Finally, understanding Medicare and insurance options can be invaluable.

Navigating healthcare coverage can be

confusing, and learning about available benefits before they are needed helps families make informed choices with confidence.

Jewish tradition teaches the importance of honoring elders with dignity, compassion, and respect. Planning ahead reflects these values by ensuring older adults remain at the center of decisions about their own care and future.

Whether personal planning or helping a loved one, starting the conversation today can make tomorrow’s decisions easier.

Ashley Harris BS, CTRS, CDP, is director of community relations at Village at Maimonides Health Center of Virginia Beach.

Senior Planning Educational Panel Thursday, August 6, 4:30 – 6 pm The Village at Maimonides Health Center To explore important conversations related to seniors, The Village at Maimonides Health Center of Virginia Beach will host a panel where local professionals will discuss transitioning to senior living, selling a home to help pay for care, estate planning, and understanding Medicare insurance options.

The event is designed to provide practical guidance, answer questions, and connect families with trusted local resources in a relaxed, educational setting.

For additional information and to RSVP, contact Ashley Harris at 757-593-0249 or AHarris@mhcofvb.com.

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18 | JEWISH NEWS | JULY 13, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org

Senior Living

More than a language: keeping Yiddish alive

Haley Bartel Yiddish was the first language Harriet Meier ever spoke.

Born in Germany to Polish Holocaust survivors who met in a displaced persons camp after World War II, Meier grew up hearing the language at home and among her parents’ friends. English eventually became her dominant language, but decades later, Yiddish still connects her to the people who shaped her childhood.

Today, she reconnects with that heritage at the Simon Family JCC's Yiddish Club, where members gather monthly to explore the language through conversation, music, poetry, film, and more.

For Meier, Yiddish was always close to home, but with time and assimilation it became just out of reach.

“My parents would speak to me in Yiddish, but quickly I started answering them in English,” she says. After she entered preschool in the United States, where “everybody spoke English,” eventually “they just gave up and started speaking to me in English.”

Still, Yiddish remained present in her family’s life. Her parents and their friends continued speaking the language, sharing jokes, stories, and Yiddish Club member listens to Harry Graber. memories.

“Even amongst their friends, when they got much older, they were pretty much speaking English most of the time,” Meier says. “But they’d get together with friends and speak Yiddish.”

Though her father never taught her the language, she remembers him preserving it through music. “My father sang beautifully,” she says. “He would sing songs in Yiddish, and I remember a lot of them.”

Rabbi Israel Zoberman remembers a similar shift in his early years.

“When I came to Israel, I was about four years old,” Zoberman says. “We were told, 'Don't speak Yiddish on the street. No one will play with your kids if they hear them speak Yiddish.’”

Born in Kazakhstan in 1945 to Polish Holocaust survivors, Zoberman spent his infancy moving across postwar Europe before his family settled in Israel.

At home, his parents spoke Yiddish – even though it wasn’t welcome outside.

In the years following Israel’s founding, Hebrew became a symbol of national renewal. Many immigrants embraced it while leaving Yiddish behind, seeing it as a language associated with exile, persecution, and the destruction Screenshot of Der Tog from The National Library of Israel. of European Jewish life.

Senior Living For club organizer Harry Graber, however, Yiddish was never a reminder of the past – it was his first language.

He grew up speaking it on the Lower East Side, where Yiddish was part of everyday life in many Jewish neighborhoods.

Today, he sees the club as a way to show that Yiddish was not only a language of survival, but a language of creativity, humor, and culture.

“I want people to understand that the language is fun, that the language was used by people in very complex ways,” he says. “It was their everyday language… they used it for poetry, literature, and music.”

Now, once a month, members of the Yiddish Club gather at the Sandler Family Campus to read, laugh, and explore a language that once connected millions of Jews across Europe – and continues to connect them today.

Meier says part of what makes Yiddish so difficult to translate is its humor. “There are so many wonderful Yiddish expressions,” she says. One favorite saying she remembers is, “With one rear end, you can’t dance at two weddings.” Another colorful curse wishes someone would “grow like an onion with your head in the ground.”

With the Yiddish Club, they’re preserving not only a

language, but the memories it carries — something deeply personal to club member Myrna Amdursky.

“What comes up is a part of my life that is now gone,” she says. “That was the language of my parents and grandparents’ generation.”

Similarly to Meier, Amdursky’s parents were set on helping their children fit into American life. She says her father intentionally chose not to teach the language to his children.

“He did not want me and my brother to learn Yiddish because he thought it would influence our English pronunciation,” she says.

Yiddish became what Amdursky calls, “a language for parents only” – something spoken among adults when they didn’t want children to understand the conversation.

But while some may assume the group functions as a language class, Amdursky says that’s not quite accurate.

Members discuss contemporary efforts to preserve and revitalize the language while exploring Yiddish films, music, and other forms of media.

Yiddish sayings are woven throughout the meetings, but the main point of the group is remembrance and discussion.

“It is not a structured learning environment. We are not studying Yiddish as a language,” Amdursky says.

I want people to understand that the language is fun

“We’re absorbing the culture.”

While Yiddish is often associated with prewar Europe and the Holocaust, Graber hopes the club can expand that understanding.

“Yiddish is so much portrayed, and to some degree rightfully so, as the language of pre-World War Two Europe,” he says. “But I tried to do some stuff that’s postWorld War Two, so to see how it’s being used today.”

To Graber, preservation does not mean freezing Yiddish in the past. Instead, he sees it as a language that has evolved. “Not a language that died, but a language that has changed.”

“It is important to me for people to understand that the Yiddish language is not simply a folk language but a sophisticated language used by Ahkenazi Jews for one thousand years,” says Graber. “Hebrew was the language of the bible and Aramaic of the Talmud but Yiddish was the language of a civilization of Jews expressing itself in philosophical, theatrical, literary, scientific, academic and all other terms and formats reflective of a people successfully reaching beyond the limits of oppression.”

The Yiddish Club meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 1 pm at the Sandler Family Campus. Information: jewishva.org/Adults or contact Sarah Cooper at SCooper@ujft.org.

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jewishnewsva.org | JULY 13 2026 | JEWISH NEWS | 19

Senior Living

Finding balance in flowing waters “Breathwork Before discovering helps reset our Flowing Waters, nervous system, she was a regular and it puts us at many JCC back into a classes. Then life parasympathetic brought significant mode.” In this health challenges, state, combined including knee with the warm replacements water, particiand major pants can fully heart surgery. work through Movements that pain points once felt simple without accuon land, such as mulating further Jennifer Lenay leads a Flowing Waters class. stepping sideways, tension. shifting weight, The class is a gamechanger for many and maintaining balance, became of its participants who come with a variety difficult. When she tried Flowing Waters, of health concerns. she found that the therapy pool provided Sue Ellen Crounce, 78, for a safe container to work through those example, has been deeply involved in limitations. the JCC’s fitness community for years.

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Haley Bartel.

Haley Bartel “Let’s gather. Let’s offer. Let’s receive. Let’s ground.”

This is how Jennifer Lenay, Simon Family JCC fitness instructor, guides students through gentle, breath-synced movement in Flowing Waters, an aquatic take on traditional tai chi.

Held Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon in the indoor therapy pool, the class combines slow, intentional movement with warm water, making it well-suited for people managing pain, injury, or limited mobility.

Movements are paired with steady inhalation and exhalation, creating a rhythm that participants carry through each motion. That connection between breath and movement helps shift the body out of stress responses.

“When we are stressed… we absorb those things,” Lenay explains.

explaining the benefits of underwater exercise for older adults.

“With water, there is minimal impact, if not zero,” she says. “The strengthening is inevitable. Once that injury is under the water, you’re going to strengthen that area.”

Crounce is one of many seniors who have regained the confidence to strengthen vulnerable muscle groups without fear of injury. “I still feel safe,” she says. “But I can see what I need to work on.”

That sense of safety and feeling of stability extends beyond the class. “When I leave and go home after being in the therapy pool, I can sleep,” Crounce says.

“I’m not achy.”

In fact, Crounce recalls nearly tripping over her rocking chair in the middle of the night and catching herself at the last moment using balance skills she developed in Flowing Waters. To her, the class is now a necessity.

“I need this,” she says.

Crounce describes the class as her sanctuary and advocates for its future.

When enrollment was low earlier this year, she was among a group of participants who petitioned the JCC to keep the class running.

To reinforce the class’s mental and spiritual benefits, Lenay asks participants to choose a word to carry with them through the movements. On a recent afternoon, Crounce chose “joy.”

“I have to find joy,” she says.

“Even with everything happening, we can still find it in our day. We have life. We can pray for other people and remain in joy.”

For Crounce and many of her classmates, Flowing Waters is more than an exercise class. It is a place to find balance in mind, body, and spirit that can be carried into life outside of the pool.

For information on Flowing Waters and other fitness classes at the Simon Family JCC, go to simonfamilyjcc.org.

20 | JEWISH NEWS | JULY 13, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org

Senior Living FIRST PERSON

ONE HOUR CAN CHANGE TWO LIVES Robin Ford When people think about volunteering, they often focus on the difference they can make for someone else. What I have learned through the Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation’s Be A Reader Literacy Project (BeAR) is that the volunteers often receive just as much as they give.

Our BeAR mentors spend one hour a week reading with a second grader in a local Title I school. Robin Ford.

That may not sound like much, but that hour can be the brightest part of a child’s week. Yes, we help children strengthen their reading skills, but we also provide something many kids desperately need: a caring adult who is there just for them.

For active senior adults, BeAR is a wonderful way to stay engaged, connected, and involved in the community. Our mentors tell me all

the time that they look forward to their BeAR day. They love hearing about their student’s week, celebrating their successes, and watching their confidence grow.

Many of our volunteers say they signed up to help a child, but quickly realized the child was helping them, too.

As we begin planning for another school year, now is the perfect time to think about becoming a BeAR mentor. One hour a week is so easy to do, and I have seen firsthand the difference it makes. I’ve watched children discover a love of reading, and light up when their mentor walks through the door. I’ve also watched volunteers find friendship, purpose, and joy in these relationships. It is a simple commitment that creates something truly special.

For more information about becoming a BeAR mentor, contact Robin Ford at 757-321-2304 or email rford@ujft.org.

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– COMING SOON – A new hub for senior connection, learning, and wellness The new Center for Active Living is being launched by United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and Simon Family JCC. The program is made possible through a grant from Beth Sholom Village and support from the Joseph Fleischmann Memorial Fund of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation.

This new project will bring together fitness, lifelong learning, cultural, and social opportunities to help older adults across Tidewater stay active, connected, and engaged. By building on existing programs and strengthening community partnerships, the initiative will expand

access and create more opportunities for meaningful connection.

Rooted in connection, lifelong learning, wellness, and purpose, this evolving approach is designed to help older adults across Tidewater stay active, engaged, and thriving.

More details will be announced soon. In the meantime, to learn about the current myriad opportunities for engagement, visit JewishVA.org/adults or contact Sarah Cooper, Center for Active Living manager, at Scooper@ujft.org or 757-452-3184.

jewishnewsva.org | JULY 13 2026 | JEWISH NEWS | 21

Your Y Yo ur Legacy. Our Future

Senior Living

David Caldwell and Philip Liebman enjoy the view.

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Harriet Meier played the sound healing tongue drum.

Seniors visit Edgar Cayce Museum

Sarah Cooper The JCC Senior Club took a trip to the Edgar Cayce A.R.E. Center at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Wednesday, June 17.

Boarding a charter bus, the 30 participants first stopped at the Session Café located in the original hospital building at the top of a hill on 67th Street. The Cafe’s seating boasts an almost entirely clear view of the oceanfront as tables wrap around a sun porch of the front and sides of the building. It also overlooks a stone labyrinth and reflexology path, as well as a meditation garden with a fishpond and bamboo forest.

Next, the group moved to the main Visitor Center and spent half an hour perusing the bookstore and gift shop. It was a warm day, so others sat and gathered in the foyer watching an informational video on Cayce.

Two knowledgeable guides led the group on a tour that started on the third floor where the Meditation Room is located. The room has seating for about 40 people, with a floor-to-ceiling view of the ocean, as well as large crystals in each corner. Vibrant stained-glass box windows shone at the top of one of the walls, each color representing one of the chakras.

Originally from Kentucky, Cayce decided to build the hospital in Virginia Beach after “being directed to do so in a reading.” Attendees learned that he saw himself as a servant and his mission was to offer practical, spiritual, and holistic guidance for living a purposeful life. Known as the Sleeping Prophet, the guide explained Cayce’s process of giving readings in a self-hypnotic state.

The library is located on the second floor and although it was closed for renovations, it houses the sofa that Cayce laid on during his readings as well as an abundance of books on all aspects of spirituality. Detailed readings by Cayce are also archived and available for members of the center to view and study.

The trip was a success and proved that outings are desired by the senior community. In fact, at least five people wanted to join after the registration date closed.

For more information on the Senior Club, senior activities, or to offer suggestions and feedback, contact Sarah Cooper at scooper@ujft.org or call 757-452-3184.

Naomi Limor Sedek nsedek@tj t fv tj f a.org | 757.965.6109 nsedek@tjfva.org

Judy Rosenberg and Harriet Siebert explore the gift shop.

22 | JEWISH NEWS | JULY 13, 2026 | jewishnewsva.org

Adrienne Royes, Philip Liebman, and Rabbi Israel Zoberman chat before the guided tour.