This past year has brought unprecedented challenges to the Tidewater Jewish community. However, the pandemic, and the hardships produced by it, have also brought out the best in our community. While I have only been in Tidewater for less than a year, I have witnessed an extraordinary amount of care, compassion, and philanthropy in this wonderful community.  

As the President and CEO of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, I've had a front-row seat to the incredible support this community has given to each other. Whether it was donating to the food pantry at the Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, helping local congregations with streaming needs, feeding frontline healthcare heroes, or giving money to the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, I have been left in awe of the transformative and communal response of Jewish Tidewater.

Just like last year, we are once again celebrating a socially distant Passover during a pandemic. Unlike last year, however, we have cause to celebrate the tremendous successes of our entire community. From establishing safe protocols for our children at Strelitz International Academy to vaccinating staff and residents at Beth Sholom Village, to ensuring the survival of our agencies and congregations as they innovate to continue to serve, the Tidewater Jewish community has continually found ways to help those in need.

So, this year, I wish you, your family, and your loved ones a happy, safe, and socially distant Passover. May this year be the last we celebrate so distant from each other as slaves to the pandemic. I look forward to the day we can celebrate freely as a community together once again. As we conclude our Passover Seders every year, may we be next year in Jerusalem.  
 
Sincerely,  
Naomi Limor Sedek