Climbing Sinai

This entry has been cross-posted at the JPS Blog.

The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago recently announced that the PJ Library is launching its free book program in the city. Each month for three years, the PJ Library will send a new, free book to thousands of young Jewish families in the Chicago area. Children receive the gift of a great, age-appropriate Jewish storybook, and families receive the gift of being able to enrich their children’s Jewish learning experiences, and of feeling embraced by the broader Jewish community. Chicago, in fact, is only one of 100-plus communities throughout North America where PJ Library operates – each month, the program reaches over 50,000 children! According to the Chicago Federation announcement,

In each community where it is available, the PJ Library receives enthusiastic praise from parents and grandparents who cite the high quality of the books, and the thoughtful accompanying guides for parents to provide background on topics, among their favorite aspects of the program.

[...]And then, there is the excitement felt by children each month when an envelope arrives in the mail addressed to them, and the joy the parents feel when they watch their children’s faces light up when they learn something new. “The program isn’t just free—that it makes learning about Judaism fun, is priceless,” commented Deborah Cooper, PJ Library program director.

The books that PJ Library selects are age-appropriate and are meant to engage a broad spectrum of Jewish families. Themes tend of focus on Jewish holidays, the Bible, Jewish values, and folklore.

Wishing all the littlest residents of the Windy City happy reading,
Naomi

It’s late, and I should go to bed.  (Big day tomorrow, hanging out with the family!)  But not before I quickly share this blog post from eJewishPhilanthropy which just caught my eye:

“BBYO – Writing the Playbook for Jewish Engagement”

Starting in 2002 when it became independent of B’nai B’rith and recommitted itself to engage Jewish teens in ways that were relevant to them, BBYO created a powerful model of online and real time connection that offers lessons for every Jewish organization. Whether your constituency is seniors, 40-somethings or young families, BBYO has developed a playbook for how to marry new technology tools with traditional ones and give teens the social connections they seek, the traditions we all want them to embrace and the ability to personalize and shape their Jewish world is ways that will last a lifetime.

Intrigued?  Read the rest of the post here.

Now I dearly wish that Bnei Akiva – the religious Zionist youth group where I was an active member for over a decade – had the know-how and the wherewithall to follow BBYO’s lead.  Sadly, BA is Zionist almost to a fault.  After all, you’re not really Zionist unless you’re just as disorganized as a real Israeli organization!  (This, of course, is said out of love, and with a healthy dose of good humor.)