PJ Library Gives Books to Israeli Arab Children
Image by getty images
A foundation that distributes free Jewish books to Jewish children in North America and Israel is launching an initiative to deliver Arabic books to Israeli-Arab preschoolers.
The Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s PJ Library and Sifriyat Pajama, PJ’s sister program in Israel, have collectively given away more than 10 million books in nine years.
The new initiative for Israeli Arabs is called Maktabat al-Fanoos, Arabic for “Lantern Library,” and will distribute Arabic children’s books to 45,000 preschoolers living in Israeli-Arab communities. Some 215,000 Jewish preschoolers in Israel receive Sifriyat Pajama books.
“We hope The Lantern Library will be a long-term partnership that will eventually serve Arab preschoolers in all state preschools throughout the country,” said Galina Vromen, who directs Grinspoon Foundation operations in Israel. “We are delighted that the Ministry of Education recognizes the importance of providing good books to young children in Israel. Studies show that reading books to children from an early age is vital to emotional and intellectual development.”
A recent Grinspoon Foundation-commissioned survey of more than 20,000 American Jewish parents participating in the PJ Library program found that 58 percent said the program has moderately to greatly influenced their decisions “to build upon or add a Jewish tradition to their home life” and that 62 percent said it “increased their families’ positive feelings about being Jewish.”
“PJ Library meets families where they are – in the comfort of their own homes,” said Marcie Greenfield Simons, PJ Library director. “People are turning to ‘do-it-yourself’ everything, including religion, and Judaism is no different.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
