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PJ Library
Created by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, PJ Library is an international program that supports both Judaism and literacy by mailing high quality Jewish-content children’s books every month. In addition to books, children receive a CD featuring Jewish music once a year.
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This month’s PJ Library books celebrate community in a whole new way, looking at how we join a new community. Moving to a new place, visiting a foreign country, making a new friend. We also consider ways to help our young children to nurture their friendships. Read more
To date, more than 1,000 children in Pittsburgh have received these gifts at no charge to their families. Read more about the PJ Library in this recent Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article. (Kristen Keller, the PJ Library Pittsburgh Programming Coordinator, is here at the AJL. PJ Library in Pittsburgh is sponsored by AJL, the Jewish Federation, the JCC, and Community Day School.)
All Jewish children in Pittsburgh between the ages of 6 months and 5-1/2 years are eligible to receive PJ Library books. Families who are subscribed also receive our periodic electronic newsletter. Click to view the August 2012 edition or see a list below of previous editions.
Here at the AJL, we develop educational materials for local Jewish organizations, including synagogues, pre-schools and the JCC. Additionally, we provide support and materials to local organizations that wish to create family-oriented programs that incorporate PJ Library books.
The PJ Library in Pittsburgh is sponsored jointly by the AJL, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, and Community Day School.
To enroll in this free program, click to the secure page at the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh.
PJ Library Newsletters, “PJ Parenting”
“PJ Parenting” ... Giving you some “Positive Jewish” thoughts! Please read our PJ Parenting Newsletter, below. PJ Parenting features a note about the current month’s books, some supplemental reading ideas, and an “Ideas to Explore at Home” section… It is our way of providing adults with some new ways to relate the topics within the PJ books to their own lives and to their children’s lives.
2013 Newsletters
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This month’s PJ Library books celebrate community in a whole new way, looking at how we join a new community. Moving to a new place, visiting a foreign country, making a new friend. We also consider ways to help our young children to nurture their friendships. Read more
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How do we help our kids, especially our younger children, understand Pesach and their place in time within the continuum of Judaism, yet in an age-friendly way? Find out how PJ Library books, silly songs, puppets and legos can help. Read more
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The month of Adar is often considered to be the most joyful month on the Jewish calendar; after all we celebrate Purim during Adar! Purim is a wonderful time of year to teach your child about courage, no matter what their age. Read on for more ideas on how to celebrate.
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Celebrate Tu B’Shevat and teach your child to care for the environment at the same time. There are many fun and simple ways to celebrate Tu B’Shevat. The easiest way is to read your new PJ Library books! Read on for more ideas on how to celebrate.
2012 Newsletters
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Join your friends at PJ Library’s Storyland on December 24th! We will transform the JCC in Squirrel Hill into a fantasy land that is populated with some of your favorite PJ characters. December is also a wonderful time for music, an integral part of our lives.
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Getting ready for Hanukkah but also taking the time to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families, having an appreciation for living in a country that celebrates diversity
and protects everyone’s right to their own personal beliefs. This can be a time to celebrate our families’ unique histories and to teach our children about their own heritage.
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What makes Shabbat special? It’s not just the wine, blessings, and candlelight. This month’s PJ Library newsletter looks at how Abraham Joshua Heschel describes Shabbat as a “palace in time,” and considers what is special about how we create Shabbat with our families.
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Anticipating the holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, to the holidays of Sukkot and Simchat Torah. Teaching our children about building a sukkah and the importance of welcoming guests.
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Planning for the high holidays, books for children to read to prepare for Rosh Hashanah, teaching our children about Tikkun Olam.
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Generation to generation; focusing on grandparents, family, and community; the idea of “kehillah chesed,” a caring community; ideas for finding “grand-friends” if your children’s grandparents have passed away or live far away.
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Kids (and moms and dads, too!) counting blessings before bedtime, overnight adventures at summer camp or even at Grandma’s house, the importance of Jewish summer camps.
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Preparing for Shavuot, looking at the differences between “remembering” and “observing” a holiday or special occasion, family-friendly activities on PJ Library’s Facebook page.
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Upcoming “archaeological dig” for families, ways to explore Israel without leaving town, and thinking about different ways that communities (families, our Jewish community) thrive, and ways we are responsible to our communities.
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Helping children get ready for Passover and how reading can help them remember; thinking about why the Jews walked through the wilderness (Exodus 13:17-18) instead of going in a straight line; new books for Passover.
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Celebrating Tu B’Shevat, reading more about caring for the environment, translating the word mitzvah to mean good deeds and also remembering its translation as commandment.
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Celebrating Tu B’Shevat, reading more about caring for the environment, translating the word mitzvah to mean good deeds and also remembering its translation as commandment.
2011 Newsletters
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Dancing and PJ Library music CDs; celebrating Hanukkah, scholarship and history on candle-lighting.
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Getting ready for Hanukkah, celebrating your family’s heritage in the U.S., celebrating our families’ unique histories and teaching our children about their own heritage.
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Thoughts on Shabbat as a “palace in time” and celebrating Shabbat with our families; new release books for Shabbat; Sifriyat Pijama books in Israel.
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Planning for the new year, thoughts on Z’man Simchatenu, books to read to prepare for Sukkot.
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Planning for the new year, thoughts on making the most of every day, (Isaiah 55:6), books to read to prepare for the High Holidays.
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Summertime, planning for travel with the family, thoughts on “Kehillah Chesed,” a caring community, (Leviticus 19:34), and how your family can be part of a kehillah chesed.
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Summer camps, Jewish community, counting our blessings before bedtime.
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Shavuot, new Facebook page, Shabbat bedtime stories, Exodus 20:8, Deuteronomy 5:12.
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Being part of a community, “virtual” tours of Israel, family as community.
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Passover, sharing Seder meals, welcoming strangers, Exodus 23:9.
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Purim and courage, encouraging your children to ask “what” and “why,” and a prayer from songwriter Friedman: “May the source of strength, who blessed the ones before us, Help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing, And let us say, Amen.”
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Tu B'Shevat, ideas for books and stories about trees, discussion ideas on Deuteronomy 20:19-20
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