Manischewitz, an iconic name in traditional kosher products, will be offering a do-it-yourself Chanukah House cookie decorating kit, complete with a candy menorah, through national retailers including Amazon and Walmart. The kit is at the center of a promotion by Manischewitz to drive consumer sales and raise awareness for… Read more »
PJ Library and The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre will present a special livestream showing of the play “Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins,” based on the book by PJ Library author Eric A. Kimmel, on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. The event will include a live conversation with Kimmel,… Read more »
Following on the success of its Rosh Hashanah — It’s in the Bag program, in which 100 local children participated, PJ Library of Southern Arizona will present Thanksgiving — It’s in the Bag on Sunday, Nov. 15, on Zoom at 3:30 p.m. Participants will paint a Thanksgiving turkey along… Read more »
Rabbi Nate Crane (center) says the blessing over children during Saturday morning Shabbat services at a family camp at Camp Daisy and Harry Stein in 2018.
PJ Library will partner with Camp Daisy and Harry Stein in Prescott, Arizona, for a family weekend getaway April 17-19. The first five families from Southern Arizona to register will get $100 off the event. “We are having family camp to give families the opportunity to spend the weekend… Read more »
Jenny Davenport, a PJ Library mother, reports that her daughter, Charlotte, age 9, received PJ’s “Once Upon an Apple Cake: A Rosh Hashanah Story,” and read it in one sitting. She then chose it as her book club selection for the next month. Seven girls in the book club… Read more »
Rabbi Batsheva Appel and kids enjoy Shabbat Shabang at the Ruth & Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life, Sept. 13./Ariel Miklofsky/JFSA
On Friday, Sept. 13, 12 children and their families joined Rabbi Batsheva Appel of Temple Emanu-El and PJ Library at the Ruth & Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life for the Northwest Family Shabbat Shabang. The rabbi led a service full of songs, prayers, and storytelling while teaching the… Read more »
If you’ve been meaning to get together with friends but haven’t found the time, here’s an additional incentive: PJ Library’s Get Together program offers up to $100 reimbursement for hosting two or more families to gather and have some fun. PJ Library of Southern Arizona is participating in Get… Read more »
Harold Grinspoon, the founder of PJ Library, celebrated his 90th birthday July 27. Members of Southern Arizona’s PJ Library prepared a gift for Grinspoon, thanking him for making free Jewish-themed books available every month for children across the world, ages 6 months-8 years. The colorful birthday-thank you book, created… Read more »
Parents and siblings can read to babies early in life. (Courtesy PJ Babies and reading are the focus of a lighthearted BYOB (bring your own baby) event coming up at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Early Childhood Education Center next month. “It’s an opportunity to meet other Jewish families with babies,” says Mary Ellen Loebl, coordinator for Southern Arizona’s PJ Library… Read more »
PJ Library events and activities, such as building model Seder plates with Legos, often draw large crowds. (Debe Campbell/AJP)
PJ Library is a national program that encourages local Jewish families with young children to explore Jewish values and culture through books. Coordinated by Mary Ellen Loebl at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, the free program sends an age-appropriate Jewish-content book monthly to 740 children between the ages… Read more »
Goldie Goldstein and her daughter share a loving moment while preparing a thank you letter to PJ Library founder Harold Grinspoon. (Photo: Mary Ellen Loebl/JFSA)
PJ Library hosted a “Kids Helping Kids” afternoon May 19 at Jewish Family & Children’s Services. Children and families gathered to learn about the mitzvah of helping others. Sharon Glassberg shared an educational presentation, reading from the book “Mitzvah Pizza.” Participants expressed their gratitude in drawings and letters to… Read more »
(L-R) PJ Library volunteers Jane Ash, Karen Katz, and Lee Surwit; Rosalie Eisen, PJ Library national senior program officer; Mary Ellen Loebl, Tucson PJ Library coordinator; and Deborah Oseran, incoming Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona board chair, at the Federation Feb. 19 (Debe Campbell)
In Southern Arizona, nearly 900 families with children from 6 months to 11 years old receive free books monthly from PJ Library and PJ Our Way programs. And 98 percent of those parents say PJ Library has been a valuable parenting tool. “This is the largest cohort of young… Read more »
JFNA chief updates JFSA leaders Jewish Federations of North America President and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Silverman briefed the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s national and overseas planning and allocation committee at a working lunch Wednesday, Jan. 9. Silverman highlighted JFNA’s activities as a convener and supporter of 147… Read more »
A kit from PJ Library guides the adventure as families host others in the “My Shabbat Adventure with Friends” program. (Debe Campbell/AJP)
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s PJ Library program is launching “My Shabbat Adventure with Friends,” a new program to help PJ Library families to reach out to other families in the local Jewish community. Host families will commit to holding three Shabbat dinners for two to four families,… Read more »
Rabbi Rachel Rubenstein is trying to engage young families in her role as executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County, New York. (Gail Conklin for the Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Rabbi Rachel Rubenstein knows that in the age of Kickstarter, getting young people to give to a Jewish federation can be a hard sell. “In today’s culture, we can go straight to the GoFundMe, and fund so hyper-specifically what you want to fund,” she told… Read more »
Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona volunteer Louise Good, right, is a classroom reading tutor at Homer Davis Elementary School. (Danielle Larcom)
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of four articles on how the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona allocates funds. The first, in the Oct. 12 issue, focused on youth and family education programs at synagogues. The second, in the Nov. 23 issue, focused on national and… Read more »
Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz reads “Our Eight Nights of Hanukkah.” A Hanukkah celebration, PJ Library-style Around 90 people, including children, parents, and grandparents, attended PJ Library and PJ Our Way’s “Let It Glow: A Hanukkah Celebration” at the east side Barnes & Noble on Sunday, Dec. 2. Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz read “Our Eight Nights of Hanukkah” by Michael J. Rosen,… Read more »
More than 75 people attended Splish Splash in the Sukkah, a joint event co-hosted by Tucson Hebrew Academy, PJ Library and PJ Our Way on Sunday, Sept. 30. The event included a reading of “Leo and Blossom’s Sukkah” by Jane Breskin Zalben, making rain sticks in the THA sukkah,… Read more »
PJ Library invites kids up to age 8 to join the “Dive into Reading This Summer” program, which runs through July 31. Kids need to read nine books and complete nine activities from the PJ Library calendar, such as “eat some challah” and “compliment someone.” Print a calendar at… Read more »
Billy Jonas
Renowned Jewish singer Billy Jonas will present a Sukkot concert at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, cosponsored by PJ Library, on Sunday, Oct. 8 from 4-6 p.m. in the Sculpture Garden. The event will include a story from PJ Library and a light, breakfast-themed dinner. For 25 years, Jonas… Read more »
