PROOF | Winter/Spring 2022

PROOF A PJ LIBRARY ® MAGAZINE

WINTER/SPRING 2022

3 6 10

More Than a Survey

The Changed Perspective of a New Parent

Telling Stories in the First-Person Plural A Lunar Dance with the PJ Library Perpetual Jewish Calendar

FOREWORD

THE

One day during his first week of preschool, my oldest son Matthew came home and told me about his day. He and his classmates had grapes for a snack, the teacher read them a book, and a new friend told my son a joke that he found hilarious.

Why are those details still in my head some 20 years later? They triggered a realization I didn’t really think about when I became a parent. Until preschool, Matthew’s interactions with me had formed the majority of his experience. But once he started going to school, there was ever-increasing input from other sources; I wasn't the only person impacting him as he grew up.

Through the years, I did my best to make sure that Matthew and his younger brothers Ari and Isaac were exposed to positive influences. I tried to pick a good school district to live in and expose them to new foods, cultures, and experiences. And when a new program launched called PJ Library, I immediately signed up my youngest to start receiving Jewish books at home.

As more and more books on our shelves had Jewish characters who celebrated Jewish holidays and lived by Jewish values, I found I wasn’t as concerned about all of the outside influences in my sons’ lives. What we were doing together — reading, doing our own version of Shabbat, celebrating holidays in new ways — helped my kids feel part of something bigger than themselves and gave them the confidence to go out into the world living by the values they grew up with.

Now, with many years of growth, PJ Library has become a powerful partner to families as they make decisions about what they feel is important to convey to their children. From the books themselves and the conversations that ensue to the programs that welcome families into the Jewish community, PJ Library is a great resource that helps families learn and grow together.

In this edition of PROOF, you can read about the ways that PJ Library impacts families throughout the global Jewish community. Our digital team helps families tackle difficult topics through curated resources and creates new content to fill the gaps in Jewish family experiences. The PJ Library endowment program is building PJ Library for the future.

And the new PJ Library Perpetual Jewish Calendar makes it easy to follow the yearly cycle of Jewish holidays and celebrations.

I hope you enjoy this issue of PROOF and that it will help you reflect on how PJ Library has impacted you and your family. Thank you for being part of the story.

Ellen Frank Director of Donor Relations, PJ Library

MORE TH AN A SU RV E Y: THE CHANGED PERSPECTIVE OF A NEW PARENT

By Herschel Singer

ANALYTICS MANAGER, PJ LIBRARY

I have always believed in the transformative power of data. Whether by diligently tracking mileage and time splits in preparation for running a marathon (five and counting!) or by delivering insights as the analytics manager for PJ Library, I am always curious to know what the data says.

So when my wife and I found out we were expecting our first child, my first instinct was to turn to the data.

I read as much as I could about trimesters, labor and delivery, sleeping and feeding, postpartum support, etc. I figured the more data I could digest, the better prepared I could be to support my wife and child. Of course, I soon learned that all the data and reading in the world simply cannot prepare you for the experience of holding your child, enduring sleepless nights, seeing their smile, or having them fall asleep in your arms.

Since joining the Harold Grinspoon Foundation three years ago, I have led our monthly book survey process.

Surveying thousands of families each month, we create visual dashboards of those responses to ensure that our PJ Library Book Selection Committee understands how parents and children feel about the books we send each month. Until I became a parent, I could only think about this process in the abstract, knowing in principle how significantly this data collection informs future decision making.

Then I became a father and my whole perspective shifted. After signing up our daughter Razie for PJ Library, I received my first book survey invitation email — not as the PJ Library analytics manager but as Razie’s abba (father).

I was so excited to share how Razie’s eyes went wide when she looked at the big blocks of color on the page and how her mouth went even wider when she crammed as many board book pages as she could against her teething gums. I realized that the monthly book survey flattens these moments into usable data, and for the first time, I had a window into what those magical experiences look like before they are reduced to aggregated figures.

The ultimate creators of the PJ Library experience are not the book authors, not the book selection committee, but rather all of you: the families that engage with the PJ Library books that get shipped every month. Hearing from so many of you helps us to better tell the story of each of these powerful moments, show the true impact behind the data, and continue to expand PJ Library to share that joy with even more families. We at PJ Library deeply recognize our partnership with all of you. To know where we should go, we need to know where you — our readers — want to be going. Whether with my analytics hat or my abba hat on, I cannot wait to see where we go next together.

P RO O F

WINTER /SP RING 202 2

3

DID YOU KNOW … ?

At its heart, PJ Library is about continuing the Jewish story.

PJ Library subtly teaches children (and adults!) about Jewish values, customs, heritage, and history through the lens of beautiful, engaging, and heartwarming stories and fun activities. It's a joyous celebration of the past, present, and future of the Jewish people. But PJ Library is so much more than a simple Jewish children's book program for families. Here are just some of the ways that PJ Library helps families make Jewish life part of each and every day.

PJ Library reaches Jewish families in places all around the globe.

As you can see throughout this issue of PROOF, PJ Library isn't just for families in your neighborhood. PJ Library books reach all types of Jewish families located in over 30 countries, such as Japan, China, South Africa, Brazil, Israel, Ukraine, Germany, Australia … The list goes on! And PJ Library also sends books and resources to military families who are always on the move. We are working to bring PJ Library to Jewish families wherever they live.

PJ Library makes finding entertaining, diverse, and award-winning Jewish children's books easy.

One of PJ Library's primary goals is to make sure that families have a bookshelf filled with beautiful Jewish storybooks that kids love and that represent the diversity of Jewish families, traditions, and customs around the world.

The PJ Library Book Selection Committee searches diligently to curate and showcase the best Jewish children's books for PJ Library families. It's a tough job, but the results are rewarding for both the committee members and the families that receive the great titles that are discovered and chosen.

Bagels from Benny

PJ Library isn't just about Jewish education for children; it's great for adults too.

Some parents feel unqualified to be their child's first Jewish teacher, but PJ Library is here to help.

Each book and resource is filled with information about Judaism in a way that is digestible for children of all ages and their parents, regardless of their Jewish background. PJ Library is the perfect program for blended families, families that are beginning their Jewish journey together, and families that want to pass on their Jewish traditions to the next generation. And because the books are age-appropriate and grow along with kids, there is always something new to learn and explore.

The Forever Garden

Tea with Zayde PJLI BRARY.ORG RG 44 PJLI BRARY.O

Chik Chak Shabbat

PJ Library spurs important conversations about Jewish life.

Onions and Garlic

Bear Feels Sick

Todah

PJ Library books and activities inspire adults to share their stories when kids ask about the holidays and traditions that their family celebrates each year.

By making those memories come alive, families seamlessly pass down their heritage to the next generation.

PJ Library is creating and evolving the Jewish literary canon.

Did you know that PJ Library has its own publishing imprint? PJ Publishing helps to realize the dreams of excellent authors and illustrators who share the vision of bringing Jewish ideas and history to kids through stories. With inspirational author trips to Israel, PJ Library-sponsored writing conferences, and author and illustrator incentive awards for those currently working on a Jewish book project, PJ Library invests in authors and illustrators to support them as they expand their knowledge of their craft. To learn more about the PJ Publishing process and see how one PJ Publishing book came to be, check out “How a Book Becomes a Book” on page 8.

The books from PJ Library are a gift.

In 2005, philanthropist Harold Grinspoon established PJ Library so that kids can discover the beauty and richness of Jewish life during childhood. Families already spend time reading together, so it makes sense to combine this cozy ritual with Jewish education, making it easy for families to learn and laugh together. And thanks to loyal donors — many of whom are PJ Library parents and grandparents — PJ Library is free to families to ensure that they receive their books each month without having to worry about cost or endlessly researching to find the best Jewish storybooks available.

The best part? Families keep the books that they receive so they can enjoy them over and over again. Our greatest hope is that one day kids will pass on their PJ Library books to their own kids.

P RO O F

WINTER /SP RING 202 2

5

TELLING STORI ES I N TH E FIRST-P ERSON PLUR AL

By Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld

Illustration by Sophia Vincent Guy from In Every Generation: A PJ Library Family Haggadah. Copyright © 2020 The Harold Grinspoon Foundation.

PRESIDENT, HEBREW COLLEGE

When my son was about 3 years old, we visited my great aunt. She was 102 at the time, the oldest person my son had ever met. He sat quietly at my side for a while, watching her cautiously from across the room, and then, with more than a trace of wonder in his voice, he whispered in my ear, “Was she actually in Mitzrayim?”

Mitzrayim — the ancient land of Egypt where our ancestors were slaves to Pharaoh. Where, as we recite at the Passover seder each year, we were slaves to Pharaoh: avadim hayinu. And the Holy One brought us out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.

This, in some way, is our story of stories. We tell it in the first-person plural so that we and our children learn to take it personally. At the seder, we don’t just tell the story; we eat it, quite literally internalizing it to make it our own. By the age of 3, our son had already tasted enough matzah and dipped enough parsley in saltwater tears to have metabolized the story of our people’s Exodus from Egypt not as a distant legend but as intimate family lore. Here he was, meeting our oldest living relative. Maybe she actually remembered what it was like to be a slave, to face the forbidding Reed Sea (also known as the Red Sea), and to experience freedom for the first time.

As his mother, I, too, had been hearing the story of our Exodus from Egypt for as long as I could remember. It was a story that had long since left the page and entered my life in important and sometimes unexpected ways. I remember as a teenager going to my mother, upset about a situation that felt desperate to me at the time. “Imagine,” she said, “just think how the Israelites must have felt standing at the Reed Sea with the Egyptian army closing in behind them. If they had hope, so can you!”

I don’t remember if, as a distraught teenager, I fully appreciated this perspective at the time — I doubt it! But it was a gift my mother gave me many times over — the ability to hold this and other stories close.

To know that I was not alone. The stories we tell again and again become part of us, and we, in turn, become part of them. They accompany us, anchor us, comfort, cajole, and even command us: “You shall not oppress the stranger for you were strangers in the land of 6 PJLI BRARY.O RG Egypt. You know the heart of the stranger.”

Years later, when my son was a teenager and battling a serious illness, the story of the Exodus was with me again, this time not so much as prose but as prayer. Adrift in the fear of that uncertain time, the only prayer I could muster was my older brother’s meditation on our daily liturgical recitation from the Song at the Sea: “The God of Exodus throws open the door of the Reed Sea for every human being trapped in desperate straits. The secret which we conceal from each other but which this prayer seeks to expose is that each one of us at times finds ourselves standing trapped at the sea with the pounding of horse hooves behind us …

How the opening occurs is not explained.

Sometimes it does not even look like an opening. We bring it about through our own efforts, but it comes upon us by surprise and beyond our control.”

I don’t remember how I responded when my son asked me whether his great-great-aunt had actually been in Mitzrayim. But I hope I whispered back, “Yes, she was. We were all there. And we all went forth together. We are all going forth together still.”

A COMMUNITY OF COMMUNITIES IN PJ LIBRARY BOOKS

In fact, the Jewish people contain multiple communities: Orthodox, Reform, Conservative; Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi; American, Israeli … you name it. And yet many of us, from the most engaged to the least, know the story of our Exodus from Egypt.

It is, as Rabbi Anisfeld says, our story of stories. But it is hardly the only one.

The best stories — the ones that resonate deeply with the human experience — are timeless and cross-cultural. Certain folktales pop up in various forms around the globe because they speak to truths that people know in their bones, no matter who they are or where they’re from. No one understands this better than the Jewish people. We Jews are often described as “the people of the Book"; at the heart of it all, we are a community woven together by stories.

Bagels from Benny

PJ Library is building on the foundation that already supports the Jewish people and has for millennia. Just as we are a community of communities, our titles are varied and cross-cultural, but the through line is the same. With each book we send, we open the world of Jewish stories to families and invite them to strengthen their place in the larger Jewish story.

Want examples? We’ve got hundreds of them.

Here are just a few:

Ages: 5 to 6 years

When Jessie Came Across the Sea

Written by Aubrey Davis Illustrated by Dusan Petricic Benny loves helping his grandpa bake bagels, and customers love those bagels! When Grandpa tells Benny that God is responsible for those bagels, Benny understands him literally — and tries to thank God by placing some bagels in the Torah ark in the synagogue before Shabbat each week. The bagels keep disappearing, so Benny assumes God is enjoying them.

When he finds out who has really been eating those bagels, his understanding of God broadens — and so does ours. This beautiful story, based on an old tale about the 16th-century Hasidic sage Rabbi Yitzhak Luria, is every bit as relevant today as when it was first told.

Chicken Man Written and illustrated

by Michelle Edwards

Written by Amy Hest Illustrated by P.J. Lynch Though the Exodus from Egypt is significant for all Jews, American Jews have also been shaped by an exodus of a different kind: the massive wave of immigration from Eastern Europe to North America at the turn of the 20th century. In this story, Jessie is chosen by her rabbi to make the arduous journey across the Atlantic — alone! Once on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, she learns a trade, goes to school, and even falls in love. Her bravery, resilience, and growth inspire readers no matter which country their families came from or what their immigration stories look like.

Ages: 4 to 5 years

This sweet snapshot of early kibbutz living has an important message tucked in. Rody, aka Chicken Man, loves working in the chicken coop on his kibbutz in Israel’s Jezreel Valley. In fact, he takes so much joy in his tasks that others on the kibbutz start to feel jealous and ask if they can have that job! Rody is moved from the chicken coop to the laundry room, and then to the orchard, and then to the gan (children’s house). But somehow, no matter which job he’s given, he manages to make it seem fun. Could it be that it’s less about the jobs and more about his attitude? Spoiler alert: Rody is eventually transferred back to the chicken coop, and no one is happier about that than Rody — except maybe the chickens!

Ages: 6 to 8 years

Buen Shabat, Shabbat Shalom

Ages: 6 mo. to 2 years

Written by Sarah Aroeste Illustrated by Ayesha L. Rubio In the words of the Israeli writer and thinker Ahad Ha’am, “More than the Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews.” That’s why every Friday evening around the globe, Jews everywhere gather together to sing, pray, eat, and, of course, rest. This simple story depicts a Shabbat scene in a South American setting, and each page includes a word in Ladino, the language once spoken by Sephardic Jews. While some of the words may be new to many families, the rituals will be comfortingly familiar, underscoring that no matter our various backgrounds, we Jews are members of the same tribe.

P RO O F

WINTER /SP RING 202 2

7

HOW A BO OK BEC OMES A BOOK

By Naomi Shulman

CONTENT AND ENGAGEMENT OFFICER, PJ LIBRARY

When those blue-and-white envelopes arrive in mailboxes around the globe, kids everywhere rejoice.

But have you ever stopped to think about the journey those books take to get there? It’s more than the mail trucks and cargo ships that transport the books.

We’re talking about the long and twisting path from manuscript to bound book!

PJ LIBRARY AUTHOR

I have been on the editorial end of this process for years, but recently I got to experience it from the author’s vantage point when my picture book Yitzi the Trusty Tractor was published by PJ Publishing. I asked Samara Klein, publisher of PJ Publishing, to help me identify the landmarks a PJ Publishing book has to hit as it wends its way to your doorstep.

The Muse Who can say how it happens? An idea strikes, and the author (or author-illustrator!) puts the proverbial pen to paper. In my case, I had read a famous old midrash about Rabbi Yochanan ben Torta and the cow and thought it would be fun to reimagine the story in a contemporary setting.

The Submission Along with hundreds of authors each year, I submitted my manuscript (anonymously) to the PJ Library Book Selection Committee — and happily, they accepted it. When the book selection committee accepts submissions directly from an author rather than an independent publisher, then PJ Publishing takes a look. And if PJ Publishing likes it …

The Contract … then the author and publisher execute an agreement, and the fun really begins!

The Plot Samara works directly with authors to edit and plot out the books. We’re not talking about a story plot; in this case, plotting refers to figuring out what words and art will appear on each page. “Picture books have to be in increments of eight,” Samara explains, which is because of how the pages of books are printed, folded, and bound. “Ours tend to be 24 or 32 pages.

We need to reserve some pages for the title page, copyright information, and perhaps some back matter, but the remaining pages are ours to play with. We want the text to be visually represented, and we want it to move very nicely from page to page, to have a nice flow to it.

It’s like a puzzle.” She’s right about that — it’s harder than I realized, and she’s a whiz at it.

The Red Pen Once the pages have been plotted out, it’s time to focus on the details and revise, revise, revise. This part can feel tedious at times, but it’s all to make the book the best it can be. We all need editors, even the most brilliant writers — and of course, PJ Library authors are among the most brilliant writers (ahem).

In all seriousness, I could not be more grateful for good editing!

8 PJLI BRARY.O RG

You’ve Got Mail … they arrive in mailboxes and on doorsteps around the world, brand-spanking-new. It’s our hope that one day your children will read PJ Library books to their children and maybe even their children’s children. What could be a greater marker of a book’s success?

Printing, Packing, and Mailing Once the proofs are approved and everything looks good, the books are printed, bound, and put into envelopes for shipping. And then …

Yitzi the Trusty Tractor

Shulman/Couvillion

HANDS ON!

Why do we rest?

A Relaxing Commandment

The Trusty Tractor

Shabbat Resting Kit

You can spend Shabbat resting in your favorite ways, just like Sarah and Yitzi. Get ready for Shabbat and put together a resting kit.

Supplies

Yitzi, the Trusty Tractor

Large basket or tote bag Favorite activities — books, toys, games, etc.

Large blanket Your family!

Before Shabbat begins, pack your basket or tote bag with items you and your family can enjoy together, like books, cards and board games, toys, yummy snacks, and so on. Spread out the blanket in your yard or other favorite spot and relax! Read, play together, lie on your backs and look at clouds, take a snooze . . . just enjoy being together in a leisurely way. Shabbat shalom!

Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, is one of the Ten Commandments: “Six days you will work . . . but on the seventh you will not work — you, your children, your workers, your animals, and the strangers staying in your community” (Exodus 20:9-11). Maybe tractors can rest on Shabbat, too! The tale of Yitzi is inspired by a midrash, a story that expands upon topics in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible).

The original midrash described a cow that rested on Shabbat along with her Jewish owner. When the farmer fell on hard times, he sold her to a non-Jewish neighbor. When Shabbat rolled around, the cow lay down in the field for her usual Shabbat rest. Her devotion to Shabbat inspired her new owner to start observing Shabbat, too! To learn more, visit pjlibrary.org/yitzithetrustytractor.

Power Down

You can’t run on an empty tank. Shabbat provides a chance to rest and refuel after a busy week of school, work, activities, and errands. When Friday night arrives, Yitzi knows it’s time to power down his headlights and settle in for a relaxing day of picnicking, napping, and reading books with Sarah.

As Sarah explains to Ruthie, downtime is replenishing: “He’ll work even better for you tomorrow. You’ll see.” With the pause and

$8.99 ISBN 978-1-7343450-5-6

50899> (continued on back of flap) PJ Library

Proofs

Design

The name of this magazine hints at this step — proofs!

While proofreaders are involved at several stages along the way, the printer proofs are the last chance to make sure every i is dotted and every t is crossed and that the art looks just like it’s supposed to.

… and then the art and text were handed off to a designer, who meshed it all together. This is the stage when branding elements are added, along with backcover and flap copy. But occasionally there are some other fun ingredients added to the mix. “Sometimes we have a book with special stuff,” Samara adds. Some books have pull tabs and lift-the-flap elements that allow readers to interact with books, so this requires a unique process. “We receive a prototype where the printer puts together by hand a blank dummy of what the book will feel like.”

www.pjlibrary.org

9 781734 345056

Written by Naomi Shulman • Illustrated by Shelley Couvillion

Coloring … and colored in her work …

The Canvas One thing I had never thought about was how the book would be shaped: Should it be tall (portrait) or wide (landscape)? Would it have large sweeping pages or be a tiny jewel box of a book? “The physicality of a book has a lot of bearing on the illustrations,” Samara explained to me. Before illustrators begin their work, they need to know what they’re working with.

Sketching Once that was settled, Shelley began sketching …

The Art Some PJ Publishing submissions come from author-illustrators, which means the art is already part of the deal, but my submission didn’t, which is often the case. To help us pick the perfect artist for the book, Samara began pulling illustrator samples to share with me. “Sometimes we’ll have an illustrator in mind from the get-go,” Samara says. “Other times, we’ll look through dozens and dozens of portfolios and illustrator agencies to find the right match.” It didn’t take long for both of us to agree that Shelley Couvillion’s wonderful rustic was a/SPperfect P ROstyle O F WINTER RING 202 2fit for Yitzi.

9

A Lunar Dance WITH THE PJ LIBRARY P ERP E TUAL J EWISH CAL EN DAR

By Danny Paller CONTENT AND FAMILY EXPERIENCE OFFICER, PJ LIBRARY

Even though it’s central to Jewish life, the Jewish calendar can be perplexing for grownups and kids alike. The PJ Library content team set out to demystify the yearly Jewish cycle with a brand-new tool for families.

The Jewish calendar is unique: Days begin at night. A new moon signals a new month.

An entire month is added in a leap year.

And then there are the holidays — lots and lots of them, some lasting a day, others a week. There’s even a holiday — Shabbat — that comes every single week.

PJ Library has always placed great emphasis on Jewish holidays. Each year all children receive books about Hanukkah and Passover, and many receive books about other holidays.

In-the-envelope pieces are often holiday themed, like a DIY Purim gift basket or a Tu B’Shevat microgreens growing kit. In recent years, the new PJ Library Passover Haggadah has been widely distributed, and a fall holiday guide will be released in fall 2022.

But the Jewish calendar itself remains a mystery to many.

The PJ Library content team decided to do something about that. We wanted to help families understand how the Jewish calendar works by providing a fun, clear tool for marking Jewish holidays and events. And we wanted to give children an opportunity to experience what’s unique about the Jewish calendar and give curious parents more nuanced information (for example, why do Jewish holidays come "early" or "late"? Why do some Jews observe one day of a holiday and others observe two?).

That led to the birth of the PJ Library Perpetual Jewish Calendar, which was sent in August 2021 to all PJ Library families in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The mailing included a blank calendar, reusable sticker sheets of months and holidays, and an instruction sheet.

Though this seems like a simple enough concept, representing the Jewish calendar visually is no easy task. Here are some of the challenges we faced in creating this perpetual calendar.

1 0 PJLI BRARY.O RG

Challenge #1: Sunset, Sunrise A Jewish day begins at sunset, as inspired by the creation story in Genesis: “And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day” (Genesis 1:5).

But how would the PJ Library calendar show that all days of the Jewish year — and, most significantly, all Jewish holidays and Shabbat — begin at sunset and continue until after sundown the next day?

We decided to let the shape of the stickers do the talking.

Each holiday and Shabbat sticker is shaped to begin at sunset on one day and end after sunset the next day.

What would YOU call this shape?

Each time children place a sticker on the PJ Library calendar, they’re reminded of a key secret of the Jewish calendar: Days start at night!

Challenge #2: Moon Children A powerful way to experience the Jewish calendar is to go outside and find the moon. On Rosh Hashanah, before we dip our apples in honey, the moon is new and eager to grow — just like we are as we begin a new year. On Passover, before we take our first bite of crunchy matzah, the moon is full and looks gloriously liberated — just like us on the Festival of Freedom. In fact, on any (nonovercast) night of the year, we can look up and know what part of a Jewish month — beginning, middle, or end — we’re in. We can appreciate how each Jewish month begins with a new moon and celebrates the possibility of renewal.

Challenge #3: How Long Is “Perpetual”?

Our hope is that families will use this calendar throughout their kids’ childhood years to help them look forward to and prepare for Jewish holidays and remind them that Shabbat is never too far away. It encourages families to integrate both Jewish and other special events into their day-to-day lives.

By providing families with a reusable dry-erase calendar and stickers, our goal is to make this gift as long-lasting as possible. Besides the bonus stickers we provide for birthdays, playdates, seasons, vacations, schooltime, and more, there are also blank stickers so families can create whatever will make their PJ Library calendar fun and relevant.

Most importantly, we also created a digital calendar. Just as the moon has its sun, the PJ Library perpetual calendar has pjlibrary.org/calendar. Here families can scroll through a digital version of the calendar to see where holidays fall in the coming years.

They can see when the new moon comes each month — in fact, there’s a picture of the moon for each night of the year. And there’s a listing of Jewish holidays for each year in perpetuity — now we’re talking! — and even a function to convert a Gregorian date (for example, a child’s birth date) into a Jewish one.

But how can this calendar help connect families to the lunar dance that’s so basic to Jewish life?

The webpage that features the digital calendar also offers videos and blog posts that answer commonly asked questions about the history and architecture of the Jewish calendar and what connects different Jewish holidays.

First, for holidays that are accompanied by a new moon (Rosh Hashanah and the sixth night of Hanukkah) or a full moon (Sukkot, Tu B’Shevat, Purim, and Passover), we embedded the moon in that holiday’s sticker — an invitation for kids to do some moon gazing!

Then we provided special stickers for the new moon (the monthly celebration called Rosh Chodesh) so families can mark the arrival of a new Jewish month and begin to follow the moon’s inspiring cycle.

PJ Library is about supporting families’ Jewish journeys, and we hope the PJ Library Perpetual Jewish Calendar will support families as they take their own personal journeys through Jewish time.

P RO O F

WINTER /SP RING 202 2

11

Jewish community. I took it one step at a time. One day, I baked challah for Shabbat just to try, and then over time it became a routine that now includes the prayers and family Shabbat dinner with our kids.

MY JEWISH JOURNEY, ONE STEP AT A TIME

By Yoko Cisinski VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR, PJ LIBRARY IN JAPAN PROUD PJ LIBRARY PARENT

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be sharing Jewish storybooks with families in Tokyo, I don’t think I would have believed you. And yet, now I run the PJ Library program in Japan, fostering community around Jewish storybooks that impact more than 40 children and their families with the hope of bringing PJ Library to even more families in the future.

I was born and raised in the countryside of northern Japan. As a child, I went to a Christian kindergarten (though my family is not Christian, it was the closest public kindergarten from our home) where I was exposed to old stories from the Bible, learning prayers and even going to Sunday school. Looking back, I think it played a role in forming my spirituality and the idea that there is something bigger than humanity. If I hadn’t had those experiences as a child, I may not have even thought about becoming Jewish.

I started learning about Judaism after I got engaged to my now husband, a French expatriate who was working in Japan, and I officially converted just before our wedding so that we could have a Jewish ceremony. Upon my conversion, I didn't have a clear view of what Jewish family life would look like. All I knew was that my Jewish journey had started and that I wanted to continue studying with our children once they were born. Raising our children Jewish was important to both of us, and I wanted to ensure I could bring Jewish life into our home in a meaningful way, especially since I was new to Judaism and we weren’t surrounded by a large 2 PJLI BRARY.ORG RG 112 PJLI BRARY.O

When our first daughter was 10 months old, we moved to Singapore and found a small-yet-thriving Jewish community. A little over a year later, our lives changed when PJ Library came to Singapore. Unlike in the US, the books didn’t arrive in our mailboxes; a wonderful mother-son duo organized the PJ Library program as part of the boy’s bar mitzvah project, and each month they would deliver the books to the local Hebrew school where we would pick them up.

Though PJ Library was always an important part of our family, it made the biggest impact in our home when my daughter started reading on her own at 5 years old. She would read to her 2-year-old sister and began asking questions about Jewish values and traditions.

The books were so helpful for starting conversations and even supported my own Jewish education; I didn’t have any Jewish childhood experiences of my own to draw from, so the books helped fill in the gaps. I was learning along with my daughters!

When we returned to Tokyo a couple of years ago, I was disappointed to find out that there wasn’t funding for a PJ Library program at the time. My daughters relied on their PJ Library books for comfort and consistency since their environment had changed so much from what they knew in Singapore, but I was thankful for the PJ Library books we already had at home. Fortunately, a few months later, the Jewish community center received funding for a PJ Library program to support families in Tokyo, thanks to the Inspiration Fund, an Ohio-based foundation.

Before books could arrive, they needed a coordinator to manage logistics and bring the community together.

I was so excited about the program that I said I would help, thinking I’d just be delivering books throughout the communities. Little did I realize that I’d actually be running it!

I’m so proud of the PJ Library program that we’ve created in Tokyo, and I’m excited to watch it grow.

My family still benefits from PJ Library, and the books have helped my daughters develop their cultural identities as they grow up. PJ Library is a great program not just for kids, but parents too since we read together.

My daughters beg their father to read Adam’s Animals to them every night, which has created a special Jewish moment for our family. I’ve learned a lot sharing Judaism and PJ Library books with my family and other families in my community, and I’m still learning.

From

o d e l o T toTokyo SUPPORTING PJ LIBRARY GLOBALLY

When traveling abroad, we always explore the Jewish community in the country we are visiting. We find it so interesting to observe Jewish traditions in different parts of the world and always feel an immediate connection with the Jewish individuals we meet.

It is merely physical distance that separates us. We want Jewish children in different parts of the world to experience the same wonderful benefits that PJ Library has provided to the children in our local community.

By the Inspiration Fund We originally became aware of PJ Library by reading about it in the Toledo Jewish News, the monthly publication from the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo, and talking to family and friends whose children and grandchildren thoroughly enjoyed it.

PJ Library has always been very successful in the Toledo, Ohio, metropolitan area. The director of programming who coordinates and executes the many events and activities in the area does an excellent job and makes every effort to grow PJ Library in the community. The original Toledo funders of PJ Library had great foresight; they jumped on the PJ Library bandwagon early and tirelessly worked to make it a phenomenal success in our area. When the opportunity presented itself, we were thrilled to get involved with the local funding of PJ Library. Because we have seen firsthand how PJ Library greatly enhances young Jewish lives, we decided to extend our reach beyond the US.

We are excited to be able to play a role in helping to provide PJ Library to Jewish children in cities around the world, such as in Tokyo, Japan.

Our goal is to give children the opportunity to participate in PJ Library, a program that will enhance their lives and instill important values they will carry with them through adulthood. It's about giving children the tools to become the best that they can be.

We are proud to be part of this worthwhile and exciting program that is dedicated to the youngest members and future of the world's Jewish community.

If you are interested in supporting global PJ Library programs and giving to the PJ Library International Fund, contact Will Schneider, director of fundraising and community advancement for PJ Library, at will@hgf.org or 413-276-0716.

P RO O F

WINTER /SP RING 202 2

13

C URAT ING PJ L I B RA RY ’ S

Digital Content

By Alli Thresher DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT, PJ LIBRARY

If you’re part of a parent group — online or in person — you’ll frequently encounter the questions, “How do I talk to my kids about … ?” or “Does anyone have a book for … ?”

Last year, while juggling virtual school, working from home, and the myriad responsibilities of a working parent, I fielded an interesting request from my son’s school: “Hi, Alli, we’re learning about winter holidays and I think the Hanukkah books I have might be outdated. Do you have any good ideas for books we can read together as a class?”

I immediately forwarded a booklist we had curated for the PJ Library blog as well as a read-aloud video featuring Alan Silberberg and one of our family’s favorite stories, Meet the Latkes.

When it comes to curating and creating digital content for PJ Library — blog posts, videos, social media posts, virtual field trips, webinars, author interviews, parent chats, “ask me anything” sessions, and so much more — we lean into those oft-repeated questions. And we crunch a lot of numbers using a variety of social media analytics, insights, and listening tools.

PJ Library is, for many families, more than books; it’s connection, representation, and community. The goal of PJ Library’s digital presence is twofold: to bring Jewish stories to families all over the world in an easy, accessible manner and to support them wherever they are in their family’s Jewish journey.

So how do we do this?

1 4 PJLI BRARY.O RG

The digital team operates from a philosophy of curate or create. When we can, we share resources from trusted and vetted sources that we use ourselves as educators and parents through posts such as the “How to Talk to Kids About … ” pieces on the PJ Library blog and weekly Sunday resource roundups on Facebook.

PJ Library is a trusted voice for children’s books that also have strong ties to Jewish values. When grownups ask us for booklists featuring different family configurations or to help kids cope with loss, we’re ready to share lists that are also easy to connect to Jewish values, holidays, and themes.

Just as PJ Library selects books with a careful eye, so, too, does our team curate videos, articles, and resources to share with PJ Library subscriber families, partners, and educators.

When it comes to creating original content, there are a lot of factors to consider. First, we look for gaps in the market: What’s missing in the parenting and/or Jewish space, and how can PJ Library fill these holes by drawing on our network of educators, writers, lay leaders, and other professionals? What questions are coming up over and over in our own parenting networks and/or are trending online?

Every week our team tracks social sentiment: How are people feeling or talking about PJ Library overall? How well do our individual posts and content pieces do in terms of reach (users on a social platform who see the content) and engagement (people interacting with the content)? What are the trends and real-time conversations happening on social media in the parenting and, more specifically, Jewish parenting spaces?

In addition, our digital team draws on our own experiences; we're raising kids too. As we comb through the mountains of data that social media provides, we focus on what we'd need for our families and what our friends and peers are asking for (or the gaps in the conversations — what do people need but don’t know they need?).

Some occasions call for us to change course from what we planned, like a pandemic that suddenly forces kids to learn virtually from home while grownups work tirelessly to keep their kids engaged.

Our tiny-but-mighty cross-departmental digital team maintains a vast, detailed digital calendar that's constantly changing to meet the needs of families, especially in times of crisis and constantly shifting current events. The beauty of digital content and media is the ability for us to be agile.

Maybe most importantly, we use all of these metrics to give PJ Library subscriber families and communities more of what they enjoy. For example, we know that podcasts and audiobooks are a fabulous way to foster literacy skills and enjoyment of stories for all kids, but especially those struggling with reading. There are tons of amazing kids’ storytelling podcasts (Circle Round, Story Pirates, and Wow in the World are some of our staff’s favorites), and there are great Jewish podcasts (Unorthodox), but we couldn’t find a storytelling podcast for kids that specifically features Jewish content — so we made one! Our first podcast, Have I Got a Story for You!, was a great success with families, so in October 2021, we were thrilled to launch two more shows: Beyond the Bookcase, a Jewish story adventure for ages 5 and up, and Afternoons with Mimi, a relaxing, snuggly listen for grandparents and preschoolers alike.

There’s a lot to consider when putting together new resources or curating not-so-new ones, so we work hard to make sure that families have what they need to navigate through the good and the difficult times. Whether it’s putting together a list of sources for talking to kids about scary situations or creating a new podcast with silly stories to keep kids laughing and learning, we’re always prepared to provide responsive digital content when families need it most.

PJ Library now offers three podcasts for families to enjoy: Have I Got a Story for You!, Beyond the Bookcase, and Afternoons with Mimi. You can find all of these podcasts on the new PJ Library podcast channel PJ Library Presents by scanning this QR code.

P RO O F

WINTER /SP RING 202 2

15

SAME PROGRAMS, DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

The Heart of PJ Library in Israel

As PJ Library expanded into new regions around the world, it made perfect sense that the Jewish children’s book program would spearhead similar initiatives in the heart of the Jewish world — Israel.

The Harold Grinspoon Foundation took its first step in Israel by launching Sifriyat Pijama, which is Hebrew for “Pajama Library.” After growing in the Hebrew-speaking community for several years, the Foundation expanded into the Arab community by launching Maktabat al-Fanoos, or “Lantern Library” in English. Implemented by Keren Grinspoon Israel, these two sister programs of PJ Library offer equal opportunities for growth and development for all children in the State of Israel.

We spoke to Inbal Tofach, director of Sifriyat Pijama, and Asma Zahalka, director of Maktabat al-Fanoos, to get a sense of how the Israel-based programs differ from the original PJ Library in Western Massachusetts and how they are still, at the core, the same.

Home vs. School The first and most obvious difference between PJ Library and both Sifriyat Pijama and Maktabat al-Fanoos? The books don't arrive in home mailboxes. In both Israeli programs, books are given to students at school, and children get to enjoy them in class before taking them home. “In contrast to PJ Library, our first natural connection is with teachers and not parents, which is a big difference,” says Tofach. This model benefits from educators first bringing the books to life in the classroom and undertaking activities to enhance the book experience. Then children take the books home for continued engagement and to add them to their personal libraries. Tofach points out that “in addition to the suggested activities and conversation starters that appear in all of the books, we reach out to parents through an array of digital outlets, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Pinterest.” The vast majority of Jewish families in the US and Canada already have some picture books in their homes. In Israel? “For about 40% of Jewish children, the only picture books at home are Sifriyat Pijama books,” explains Tofach.

“This is another indicator of our books' importance.”

1 6 PJLI BRARY.O RG

Similar Yet Different Goals The goal of the books is different too. PJ Library is specifically a Jewish literacy program; the books impart Jewish values, life events, and narratives.

While Sifriyat Pijama also features books and support materials about Jewish and Israeli identity and culture, because the program is school-based, it has also developed into a literacy program.

Another interesting difference between PJ Library and Sifriyat Pijama is the nuance of the books. Many PJ Library books would be considered culturally inappropriate for the Israeli market; some might even be considered too religiously oriented. Because Sifriyat Pijama books are distributed to children across the entire spectrum of Israeli society, the goal is to find books that can act as a common denominator for more and less religious families. This is especially important because most families do not sign up to receive the books.

Because the Arab community in Israel is home to different religions, Maktabat al-Fanoos does not touch upon religious values or traditions. Instead it aims to encourage discussions about Arab culture, humanistic values, children's experiences, and social-emotional learning while also fostering a younger generation with an enhanced appreciation for the Arabic language.

A Huge Contribution For the past 8 years, Maktabat al-Fanoos has been providing books to every child in 3,600 schools and preschools annually. “For a significant majority of the Arab population, the only picture books they have in their homes are Fanoos books,” explains Zahalka. “When these children finish second grade, they have received 32 Fanoos books — a huge contribution.” Fanoos has become a critical resource for advancing full command of the Arabic language and the joy of reading. Like Sifriyat Pijama, Fanoos provides an educational continuum from the classroom to the home, providing young children the opportunity to read the books multiple times and do several activities.

Zahalka points out that Maktabat al-Fanoos books have another goal. “Our quality books help children understand themselves and their emotions. They're about self-esteem, being connected to feelings, and educating toward social and universal values.”

Annually, Keren Grinspoon Israel provides around 570,000 children with quality books in more than 14,000 institutions.

Since Keren Grinspoon Israel's inception, it has distributed a whopping 30 million books to Israel's children!

Both Tofach and Zahalka understand the importance of children's books: They are mothers themselves, and their children receive Keren Grinspoon Israel books.

While Sifriyat Pijama and Maktabat al-Fanoos are fundamentally literacy programs, both point to an underlying shared goal with PJ Library. “We try to create intimacy between parent and child,” Tofach says. “We are giving them an opportunity for dialogue. Parents can share memories of holidays, family, and values.”

Zahalka heartily agrees. “I want everyone to know that a book can be a treasure. It’s a huge opportunity for parents to learn more about their children, to learn about what they are feeling and experiencing,” she says. “This is the gift that we give: to discover your children and to let your children discover you.”

P RO O F

WINTER /SP RING 202 2

17

TH E POWE R OF

PREDICTION How the PJ Our Way team cracked the code to find out what tweens really want

By Pnina Salomon PJ OUR WAY BOOK SELECTION COMMITTEE MEMBER

Middle school is that magical time when kids begin to make their own independent decisions about what to read. As the mom of five kids, I know they can be tough customers; if they don’t like the look of a book (or what’s for dinner), they simply won’t try it. That’s why kid appeal is so important to me.

PJ Our Way subscribers are a diverse bunch in terms of gender, age, affiliation, background, interests, and reading ability. To fit their audience, characters in popular PJ Our Way titles are diverse as well. For example, in the Hereville graphic novel series by Barry Deutsch, Mirka is a feisty troll-fighting girl from a shtetl who hates to knit. Award-winning authors James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein bring us 12-year-old Max, who celebrates the world of science in Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment.

In ... too far from home by recognized Israeli writer Naomi Shmuel, Meskerem is challenged by prejudice, and Sylvia Rouss’ adorable Mitzvah the Mutt features a Jewish puppy with a quirky personality who easily captures PJ Our Way kids’ imaginations and hearts. (Don’t worry, not all PJ Our Way book characters have names that begin with the letter M.) 1 8 PJLI BRARY.O RG

I’ve been involved in curating the monthly PJ Our Way lineup with the PJ Our Way Book Selection Committee since the program began in 2014. We offer subscribers a choice of four books every month through the PJ Our Way website (pjourway.org), taking great care to offer a wide selection of titles that cater to kids’ interests across the spectrum. Naturally, I’m drawn to book selection data, mostly to find out the answer to the ever-elusive, burning question: What do kids want to read?

With a lot of help from Nichole Warren on our operations team, we spliced data gathered from the past few years of book selection and analyzed trends.

We asked all kinds of questions: Which books were most popular by age, gender, or genre? Did proximity to holidays or summer vacation affect selection? How about famous authors, series, or awards? Do kids love action-adventure (yes!) and graphic novels (yes!) more than they enjoy historical fiction (yes!)? How many kids really judge books by their cover (so many!)?

With four titles each month, our program enjoys the luxury of not only offering books we expect will have universal appeal but also slating the occasional niche title for advanced readers. It’s a wonderful system for the kids, but it’s really hard to predict with any kind of accuracy which titles they’ll select. Purchasing too many books can be costly and lead to piles of books in a warehouse waiting several years for another opportunity to be in the lineup. Purchase too few, and you’ve got disappointed kids waiting for a title that’s out of stock.

With new selection trend data in hand, I turned to my wonderful team, the PJ Our Way Book Selection Committee. I now knew the right questions to ask, and, more often than not, started getting the right answers. Our inventory began to drop, and in a thrilling moment in December 2020, Nichole notified the committee that we predicted selection with nearly 99% accuracy! My husband, a bond trader, was disappointed that my new powers of prediction weren’t transferable to the stock market, but we raised a toast to celebrate anyhow.

At the beginning of our journey, for each month, we ordered the same supply of each title, assuming book selection would work out evenly. It didn’t take long for us to notice the increase in inventory generated from that misguided assumption. Then we brought in a statistician and a machine learning specialist to develop an algorithm that would help predict selection rates for books by factoring data like target population, repeat offerings, awards, sequels, and genres. After using it for about a year, we realized the algorithm didn’t work either, and our inventory kept growing; it seems AI works as well at predicting what middle graders want to read as it does predicting what they want to eat.

It’s been two years, and our book selection analysis has only gotten more fascinating. This year we analyzed whether our lineup is balanced: Over the course of a year, are we offering equally popular books across gender and age (yes!)? Are kids curious about the Holocaust (yes!)? Do they love books about sports (not really)? We were curious about offering new book formats and began a three-month audiobook pilot in April 2021. Our main question was whether kids would actually download and listen to audiobooks (yes!). And yet, even with answers to all of these pressing questions and dreams of how we can make the program even more engaging, my most fulfilling moment was hearing another frustrated comment at a recent book selection committee meeting: “All the choices are so appealing this month, I don’t know how kids will manage to choose just one!”

Then, while discussing a particular title languishing in inventory, a frustrated member of the book selection committee groused, “Why did we even order so many?

I could have told you that it had limited appeal.” That was when I realized that we already had the perfect team on board to solve this conundrum! The PJ Our Way Book Selection Committee has been grappling with the nuances of kid appeal for years, testing the results in real time each month. Reviews on the PJ Our Way website and from the Kid Advisory Committee also provide valuable, frank (and occasionally surprising) feedback. Why not use this expertise for prediction?

PJ Our Way is not only about kids choosing books — they can also write reviews, take polls, play trivia, earn badges, and more!

If your soon-to-be tween is turning 9, sign them up for the next chapter of PJ Library at pjourway.org.

P RO O F

WINTER /SP RING 202 2

19

LIGHTING THE WAY: A GIFT FOR GENERATIONS

By Rachel Berezin PJ LIBRARY ENDOWMENT LEAD AND REGIONAL ADVANCEMENT OFFICER

20 PJLI BRARY.O RG

Just as a person lights one candle from another and the original flame is not diminished, so too, we are never lessened when we pass on our eternal "flame" to another person. (Bamidbar Rabbah 13:20) When my mother stood up in front of our friends and family on the afternoon of my bat mitzvah, she proudly gave me one of the most special, meaningful gifts I have ever received: my greatgrandmother’s necklace.

My great-grandmother survived the Khmelnytsky pogroms (which occurred from 1917-1921 in modern-day Ukraine and represented the largest and most violent antisemitic massacres prior to the Holocaust) and immigrated to the United States in 1921. When she arrived in this country, her father gave her a necklace to celebrate her bravery. This necklace is now a family heirloom that has been handed down to the oldest daughter in every generation. It signifies the importance of carrying on the beautiful traditions and values of the Jewish people and reminds me that each generation plays a key role in passing down our stories and sharing our values with those who come after us.

In 2005, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation launched a children’s book program called PJ Library to bring Jewish stories and traditions into the homes of families raising Jewish children.

In the ensuing 16 years, tens of thousands of people have joined with Harold Grinspoon to support PJ Library, and together we have gifted more than 49 million PJ Library books to families around the world. With each book read to a child, we keep alive our unique Jewish experience. The stories of the Jewish community are a precious gift to be preserved and passed on, like a cherished family heirloom.

Today, PJ Library reaches the homes of more than 670,000 Jewish children around the globe.

It is an exciting milestone, but it highlights that there are still many Jewish children yet to serve.

To ensure that PJ Library continues to stand as a pillar of Jewish family engagement for more families, we will need to increase our investment today and into the future.

If you have ever met Harold Grinspoon, you’ve heard him express his love of the Jewish people and his commitment to ensuring that our stories and traditions are shared with future generations.

He continues to invest in PJ Library to advance its important mission. Now Harold Grinspoon is making another groundbreaking investment in PJ Library to help secure its future.

I am excited to share news of a new initiative to help PJ Library community partners build endowments to ensure the future of PJ Library for the families they serve. This two-year pilot initiative offers matching funds to inspire current and after-lifetime gifts of any size for building a PJ Library endowment fund in participating communities. Our hope is that Harold’s lead gift and continued generosity will inspire communities to secure endowment funds for PJ Library so that families continue to receive books and resources for generations to come. We have launched the new initiative in nine communities and will expand to other regions starting in spring 2022.

This year, as I reflect on the celebration of Hanukkah, the tradition of lighting the menorah hits me in a different way. The miracle of Hanukkah was not just that the oil lasted for eight days; the true miracle was that the Maccabees chose to light the menorah. Their act was a testament to the Jewish future. When I think about Harold Grinspoon and the many generous PJ Library endowment donors, I am touched by the number of children and families who will continue sharing our Jewish stories for many years and generations to come. I hope you will be inspired to help pass on our stories.

PJ Library is a precious gift to Jewish families around the world, and you, too, can help pass on the Jewish story by endowing PJ Library. By including PJ Library in your will or estate plan, your generosity will help keep PJ Library free and accessible to families raising Jewish children so that they can continue to share Jewish stories and traditions with future generations.

Bequests, retirement plan assets, life insurance gifts, donor advised funds, and cash gifts are some of the ways you can make a lasting gift to the next generation. To learn more about PJ Library endowment giving, please P RO O F WINTER /SP RING 202 2 21 contact Rachel Berezin at rberezin@hgf.org.

PARTNER

Spotlight

From a very young age, I was intrigued by letters. When I was very young — about 4 — I used to stop people on the street to ask them what sounds the letters made. Before long, I found myself curious about words and then developed a love for stories and books.

If I wanted to read, I had to figure out how to get myself to the library. By the time I was 6, I was walking a kilometer by myself to get to the library, one of the most treasured spaces for me growing up. There I could learn more about any topic that interested me or get lost in a good story.

My neighbors receive PJ Library, and each month I see the joy it brings them when the books arrive at their doorstep. You can’t imagine what it would have meant to me to receive the gift of books at my home every month as a child.

When I learned there were matching funds available for PJ Library endowment gifts in Montreal, I could only think about how much I love children and books. I’m thrilled to be able to support PJ Library so that children continue to receive books right in their own homes each month. I feel good knowing families in Montreal will benefit from my gift for generations to come.

Sharon Steinberg Montreal, Quebec

PJ Library is a wonderful program that gives parents tools to easily teach their children about Jewish values. As parents to young children, we love observing the joy and excitement that comes with receiving books from PJ Library in the mail.

Often, our 3-year-old daughter’s nightly book selection includes at least one PJ Library book. In addition to enjoying the stories, we appreciate that the books typically include suggested activities, and we have really enjoyed teaching our children about Jewish holidays through them.

We decided to support the program financially because we wanted to ensure that Jewish families continue to benefit in the way we have and instill in their kids the values and knowledge contained within the PJ Library book collection.

By delivering these books to families throughout the whole Jewish community, PJ Library gives parents a template they can use to educate their children. PJ Library books create an easy and regular touch point to teach children about their Judaism and help to pass our stories to the next generation.

Catherine and Daniel Singer Overland Park, Kansas

22 PJLI BRARY.O RG

THE HOPE UF ISRAEL

By Winnie Sandler Grinspoon PRESIDENT, HAROLD GRINSPOON FOUNDATION

May 2021 was a terrible time in Israel.

But on May 24, days after a tentative ceasefire took hold, a group of Jewish and Arab Israelis gathered at Beit Ha'Gefen, the Arab-Jewish Culture Center in Haifa, Israel. They were there to celebrate the dedication of the Galina Vromen Reading Corner.

The space is a fitting tribute to our dear friend and colleague Galina Vromen and her work to advance Israeli society through children’s books.

Galina joined the Harold Grinspoon Foundation back in 2002 on a lark.

She was a journalist with a love of travel and an interest in languages and cultures, but after meeting with my father-in-law, Galina Vromen with current and former colleagues at the dedication she decided to give philanthropy a try. ceremony of the Galina Vromen Reading Corner at Beit Ha'Gefen Harold had formed the Foundation with a mission to support the Jewish community organization is to recognize and honor the different and the State of Israel. Galina was the cultural, ethnic, and religious identities within Israel perfect person to develop the Israel grants strategy; and create space for dealing with their complexity. not only did she speak Hebrew, but she also had the It is a mission that resonates deeply within us. This smarts and the tenacity to drive projects forward. multicultural center was the perfect place to honor As PJ Library was gaining popularity here in the Galina, with a brightly lit space designed for kids and United States and Canada, we began to ask ourselves children’s books in both Hebrew and Arabic. whether a similar program would be a good fit in Israel.

At a beautiful ceremony before Jewish, Muslim, Galina was challenged with the task of figuring out and Christian friends and colleagues, Galina shared how to create such a program, and shortly thereafter, remarks that acknowledged the complex and very real Sifriyat Pijama, the PJ Library book program in Hebrew, and painful divisions among Israelis but also the many launched. Not long after the institution of Sifriyat shared values that filled the room. She expressed Pijama, its sister program for Arab-speaking Israeli kids, her thanks to the many people who make these Maktabat al-Fanoos, followed. Both programs are made book programs possible and shared a moving story possible thanks to the close partnership Galina created attributed to Yoel Peretz, a storyteller from Haifa, that with the Israeli Ministry of Education and with other inspired thoughts of a better future. As she concluded generous funders who, like us, want to support Israel’s her speech, Galina expressed her own abiding wish: work to advance literacy and culture. As of today, these “I hope the Galina Vromen Reading Corner will further award-winning programs have delivered over 30 million the vision of the Foundation and of Beit Ha'Gefen, free books to children across Israel. that it will become a space for children and parents to When Galina announced her plans for retirement after enjoy, to grow, and just to be. In peace.” It is a hope 18 years with the Foundation, we wanted to honor her we share for the kids of Haifa and for all of Israel. outsized contributions in an enduring way. We were fortunate to find Beit Ha'Gefen. The mission of the P RO O F

WINTER /SP RING 202 2

23

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD, MA PERMIT NO. 71

67 Hunt Street, Suite 100 Agawam, MA 01001 USA 413-276-0800 pjlibrary.org Have an address update?

Want to sign up to receive PROOF? Contact us: proof@hgf.org

PJ LIBRARY PRESENTS Podcasts for kids … with a Jewish twist On the go or at home, now you can bring Jewish stories everywhere.

New from the storytellers at PJ Library: Two captivating family podcasts that bring to life Jewish traditions, culture, holidays, and values for kids of all ages!

PJ L I B R A R Y P R E S E N T S

Sundays in the synagogue library with Auntie PJ are anything but quiet!

Join Miri, Micah, and their friends as they adventure beyond the bookcase to the wonderful land of Mashal, where familiar fairy tales magically come to life.

Surprises, thrills, and Jewish connections weave through every journey.

Settle in for a snack and a story with everyone’s favorite grandmother: Mimi!

Listen together as Mimi reads favorite PJ Library books, Jewish folktales, and original stories that will capture the imaginations of young and old alike.

Listen, Subscribe, and Follow: 24 PJLI BRARY.O RG

Available on Podbean, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Stitcher