GUIDE TO JEWISH LIVING IN TIDEWATER

park, gymnasium, pickleball courts, and more, in a state-of-the-art facility. The JCC also offers dozens of free group exercise classes, including Spin, Pilates, Zumba, and Yoga. Members get discounts on Personal Training, on specialty classes and programs.

YOUNG ADULT DIVISION (YAD) AND YOUNG LEADERSHIP CAMPAIGN (YLC)

JewishVA.org/yad facebook.com/YAD

Young Leadership Manager: Open at time of printing

Contact: Amy Zelenka – Chief Development Officer 757-965-6139; AZelenka@ujft.org

The Young Adult Division of UJFT offers and promotes a variety of social, cultural, leadership, and philanthropic opportunities for young Jewish adults in the community.

Both YAD and YLC foster Jewish identity, involvement, and responsibility among young Jewish adults (ages 25 – 45) in Tidewater, to strengthen and enrich a vibrant Jewish community at home, in Israel, and around the world. YAD aims to cultivate relationships, build networks, and develop highly skilled leaders to ensure the next generation of Jewish community leaders. YLC seeks to engage young philanthropists and campaign advocates to educate and encourage their peers and others about the importance of Jewish community involvement and giving.

A recent addition to the “YLC universe” is the Nadiv Men’s Giving Circle. Now in its fifth year, Nadiv brings together young men to engage in active and lively discussions and activities surrounding individual and group philanthropic values – illustrating the importance of giving and strengthening the bonds of friendship and community among the group. A similar Giving Circle for women (Adira) is also beginning to form.

YAD hosts a wide variety of programs throughout the year, including regular happy hours, holiday parties, business networking, and Shabbat dinners. The newest program is YAD’s Pop-Up Shabbat dinner program hosted for and by members of the YAD community. Made possible by a generous grant from the Richard S. Glasser Foundation, Pop-Up Shabbats bring together young singles, couples, and even families to share in the joys of Shabbat and to strengthen the bonds of community.

YLC and YAD recruit promising young members of the Jewish community for participation in their flagship Hineni leadership development program, where together, cohorts of future leaders learn, network, develop leadership skills, and most importantly, create community. Hineni fellows are invited to participate in a week-long, exclusive mission to Israel, heavily subsidized by the Tom Hofheimer Fund, and known as the Tom Hofheimer Young Leadership Mission to Israel.

Youth Programming

BBYO

Evan Gordon 757-510-3708, egordon@bbyo.org

BBYO involves Jewish teens in meaningful Jewish experiences, guiding them into leadership positions that will last a lifetime. Teens meet weekly on weekends, September through June, at the Simon Family JCC, and focus on community service and social action programs with their chapters, BBG (girls) and AZA (boys). The teens attend a variety of regional and national conventions.

Congregations

B’NAI ISRAEL CONGREGATION

420 Spotswood Ave., Norfolk, VA 23517 757-627-7358, fax 757-627-8544 bnaiisrael.org, office@bnaiisrael.org

Rabbi Shlomo Eisenberg

ORTHODOX

B’nai Israel Congregation is an exciting, family-oriented, full-service Orthodox synagogue in the heart of a diverse and dynamic Jewish community in the Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk. It offers daily morning and evening prayer services. The synagogue houses the Norfolk Area Community Kollel, BINA High School for Girls, and the Norfolk Community Mikvah. It is affiliated with the Orthodox Union and the National Conference of Young Israel.

• Adult classes

• Children’s programming www

• Teen programming

• Weekly Kiddushes