Here’s the Story – The PJ Library in Greater Washington Blog
PJ Library Blog
Clearing Out the Personal Chametz Before Passover
For millennia, during Passover (the Festival of Freedom), Jewish people have been commanded to clean any traces of chametz (leavened products such as bread) from our houses to remember the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. Today, many of us take this time as an opportunity to clear out the pantry for the holiday, do […]
Increasing Purim Joy Through Giving
Last month, I shared about the joy that comes with the Hebrew month (or in this leap year, months) of Adar. This month, we have multiple opportunities to increase in joy even more by celebrating Purim and in other ways. We have a great list of family-friendly events leading up to and on Purim (which […]
Summer Family Fun Checklist
Judaism values many things, but one of the highest is valuing time as sacred. While this can mean marking the holidays yearly and Shabbat weekly, it can also mean carving out time as a family that is sacred — without the interruptions of work, school, electronics and other distractions. Summer can be a great time […]
Sharing Love and Kindness
You probably know (or will when it’s February 29 th!) that this year is a leap year, when the Gregorian calendar adds an extra day in February. Did you know it’s also a leap year on the Hebrew calendar? This means there’s a whole extra month added in the early spring to keep the lunar […]
Helping and Hoping for a New Year of Peace and Growth
Turning the page on the calendar to a new year is a natural time to mark the growth and changes in your family and to connect with the cycles of nature! Tu B’Shevat (“the birthday of the trees”) is an annual holiday connected to agriculture in Israel and around the world. This holiday is celebrated […]
Adding Light in Dark Times
“A candle is a small thing. But one candle can light another. And see how its own light increases, as a candle gives its flame to the other. You are such a light.” –Moshe Davis As you read this, Chanukah has begun, and Jews everywhere are adding light into the world. It may seem like […]
Gratitude for Our Community
Each November for the past ten years, I’ve written about gratitude in the November e-news message. It makes sense given the season but now, in light of the unfolding crisis in Israel and rising antisemitism, I feel especially grateful for our vibrant, generous, and resilient Jewish community and all the ways in which we are […]
Feeling Joy This Season
There are many times throughout the Jewish calendar when we are meant to be joyful and celebratory. This week is one of those times. Not only are we celebrating Sukkot (festival of booths), the harvest festival that is nicknamed “the time of our joy” (Z’man Simchateinu), but this weekend, we can look forward to Simchat […]
Start Here for a Sweet New Year
Fall is hands-down my favorite season. Perhaps it’s because autumn weather is so different from Miami (where I was born and raised). The crispness in the air, the changing leaves, getting apples and pumpkins from a field and not a Publix…these were all exotic and exciting to me as a kid, and they continue to […]
Books That Inspire Lifelong Environmental Habits
Some books are forgotten within days of reading them. Others stay with me for years, sometimes decades. One book I read as a kid that changed my life was 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth. It inspired me to start a campaign to get my family to use less water, turn […]