Enriching Education - A Time to Grow: A PJ Library Family Guide for Starting the Jewish New Year

 PJ Library, the non-profit program that sends free monthly children’s books to families who want to bring more Jewish stories to reading time, is helping answer some questions for the High Holidays this September and October. Why do we blow a shofar? What’s the importance of apples and honey? What is a lulav and etrog? The answers to these and more can be found in “A Time to Grow: A PJ Library Family Guide for Starting the Jewish New Year.” This beautifully illustrated guide offers families myriad creative ways to celebrate Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (Festival of Small Huts), and Simchat Torah (Rejoicing with the Torah) is available for all to download for free.

 

The three-week Jewish holiday season is an annual celebration of growth that Jewish tradition invites us to take year after year. Make the High Holidays in 2023 that much more meaningful, memorable, and fun with the colorful, enriching guide offering a visual introduction to the holidays, step-by-step rituals for family meals, kid-friendly activities, and recipes such as “Make Your Own Shofar” or “Round Challah-braiding,” and prompts for family conversations about reflection and growth. In addition, you can visit the online companion filled with helpful how-to videos, music, and audio versions of blessings and prayers, adding to the interactivity of the guide.

 

Families can download “A Time to Grow” in English, Russian, Portuguese, or Spanish. There is also an English only version on the PJ Library Amazon store for those looking to purchase a keepsake printed edition. Also available for purchase is PJ Library’s Perpetual Calendar which invites families to experience the uniqueness of the Jewish calendar. The colorful dry-erase calendar features sheets of reusable stickers uniquely shaped to illustrate how Jewish holidays start and end at sundown, with additional stickers marking family events, Gregorian months, and more.

 

About PJ Library

PJ Library sends more than 670,000 free Jewish children’s books to families in over 35 countries every month. The non-profit Harold Grinspoon Foundation (HGF) created this program so that a family’s reading time can inspire them to explore what they love about Jewish life. In addition to the beloved stories, PJ Library also shares family activities, ways to connect with other Jewish families online and in person, and a variety of resources like holiday guides, story podcasts, and Jewish parenting advice. The HGF partners with local Jewish organizations to fund PJ Library and make it available in their community at no cost to subscribing families. To learn more or sign up kids ages 0-12, visit pjlibrary.org.