PJ Library! Family Events!
PJ Library! Family Events!
This is the home for family friendly events! Updated weekly
Scroll down for events
Sign up for PJ Library
A gift of Jewish storybooks delivered each month from JCVT and generous donors in the Vermont Jewish community and beyond.
PJ Library sends curated, award-winning storybooks and activities for kids from birth through age 12.
The program sparks meaningful conversation and provides opportunities to explore and celebrate Jewish life together.
PJ Library in vermont
PJ LIBRARY CELEBRATES 50 MILLION BOOKS
PJ Library in Vermont, now in our fourteenth year, is a program of Jewish Communities of Vermont. We partner with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation to send a gift of monthly Jewish children's books to families across Vermont.
We know that something magical happens when parents sit down together to read with their children. PJ Library shares Jewish stories that can help your family talk together about values and traditions that are important to you. Your children are constantly learning about the world around them through the stories they hear. PJ Library books can bring Jewish ideas and inspiration for you and your children to share together.
We also offer ways for families to meet each other through in-person and virtual family gatherings led by PJ Parent Connectors and other leaders in the community. We offer monthly Shabbat and holiday gatherings, gardening opportunities, meet-ups in different locations throughout Vermont and more!
Families raising kids from birth through 12 years old with Judaism as part of their lives, are welcome to sign up. PJ Library welcomes all Jewish families, whatever your background, knowledge, family make-up, or observance may be.
When your child is 8 ½, they are eligible for the next chapter of PJ Library called, “PJ Our Way.” Like PJ Library of Vermont, PJ Our Way is a monthly gift from many supporters throughout Vermont and beyond. Through PJ Our Way, children 9-12 are able to choose their own books each month, write reviews, make videos and are eligible to apply to be part of the PJ Our Way design team. Since it is a separate program, parents need to enroll their children by going to www.pjourway.org.
PJ Library in Vermont is made possible by donations from people like you including parents, grandparents and community members and through partnering with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. For books alone, our cost per child is $40/year. Pay it forward to help another family become part of the Jewish story in Vermont!
For more information, contact our PJ Library of Vermont Director, Rabbi Tobie Weismann : rebtobie@jcvt.org
With the support of a generous donor, JCVT is offering 3 scholarships for families who would like to give their children a Jewish day school education, but need some financial help to do so. Click here to apply!
Click here to fill out scholarship application
Scroll down this page for information about Tamim Academy!
DO YOU HAVE A YOUNG JEWISH ATHLETE? IF SO, READ ON!!
The JCC of Greater Boston is sending a delegation of athletes to this Summer’s JCC Maccabi Games in Detroit (Bloomfield), Michigan.
The games will take place between July 28-August 2, and athletes between the ages of 12-16 years are eligible to compete in the following sports: baseball, basketball, ice hockey, girls volleyball, golf, soccer, table tennis, tennis, star reporter, swimming, dance.
This is a fabulous opportunity as 1,800 Jewish teens from all around the world converge for this year’s games. Join Jewish teens from North and South America, Israel, Europe, and beyond for a chance to make new friends, compete in exciting sports, and have the time of your life!
TU BISHVAT:" BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR THE TREES!
Celebrate the deep beauty of mid-winter with Living Tree Alliance as we gather to honor the holiday of Tu BiShvat, the birthday of the trees. With programs for all ages, we’ll plant seeds of stewardship and intergenerational community-building.
We’ll gather 11 am to 2 pm, with three program options:
Contemplative showshoe/walk for adults. Led by Kohenet Sephirah Oshkello, we’ll snowshoe or walk through the woods on a contemplative journey inspired by the teachings of Jewish mystics, while appreciating and connecting with the tree community that lives here.
Outdoor family program. Led by primitive skills mentor Elliot Cluba of Herbs and Arrows and Living Tree Education Director Melanie Grubman, we’ll connect with the holiday through storytelling, forest games and tracking.
Music for little ones. Ms Andrea of Musical Munchkins will lead a joyful musical program for young children.
A few more details:
Be sure to dress warmly for outdoor activities.
If there's snow, you're invited to bring sleds, skiis, and snowshoes for outdoor fun on the property.
Snowshoes available for rent at Clearwater Sports
Bring food to share around the fire!
Annual PJ Library in Vermont Update
We are excited to share with you our
accomplishments this year. In 2022, Jewish Communities of Vermont, implementing partner for PJ Library in
Vermont, received a Signature Covenant Grant for a total of $150,000 for up to three years, to work on building
and expanding the Jewish community in Vermont for statewide community building programs for all ages. We just
received the grant for the second year.
Covenant Grant
Through the Covenant Grant, in 2022, JCVT awarded Mini grants to 13 synagogues and Jewish organizations to
bring the Jewish community together to celebrate Jewish cultural and communal events. We also co-sponsored
Jewish music concerts and a film festival. We know that in all the programs offered, many individuals and families
who attended were not members of synagogues or affiliated with the Jewish community.
We were very excited that so many Jewish organizations wanted to provide Jewish gatherings to the Jewish
community, especially to unaffiliated Jewish families and adults. There are so many Jews who want to be
connected to Jewish life but need a way to find their way in. We offered four regional events and many local
events as a doorway into being connected to the Jewish community.
At the largest regional gathering, Northern Nosh, we offered a Hanukkah puppet show, a children’s concert, and
an intergenerational songwriting workshop, all with well-known Jewish artists, including and Anna Sobel, Joanie
Leeds and Jon Gailmor. Popular and beloved puppeteer Anna Sobel also brought the audience into the puppet’s
world at two other regional events.
PJ Library in Vermont
PJ Library in Vermont is now a well-known and well-liked program. We send monthly books for over 600 kids in
Vermont ages 0-12. PJ Library families are encouraged to invite other families to do something Jewish together
through Get Together Grants, where they are reimbursed up to $100 for food. However, there are still many
people who don’t know about PJ Library and are very interested in enrolling once they know. We had a PJ Library
table at four regional events which was a great way to promote the program. Monthly Zoom and in-person
Shabbat and Holiday programs for families for families are very popular at Temple Sinai in Burlington. We also co-
sponsored many PJ Library programs with other synagogues throughout the state. During Hanukkah, PJ Library in
Vermont cosponsored a public Menorah lighting at the State Capital where attendees were invited inside the
Statehouse to hear the Governor read a PJ Library story to children, to sing Hanukkah songs with a local Jewish
musician and enjoy local cider, hot latkes and donuts. At the regional gatherings and Hanukkah party, PJ Library
books were given out to all.
Harold Grinspoon Grant for Family Education
Through the Parenting Education Grant, state-wide parenting classes and family programs on Zoom and in person
are currently being offered using traditional and modern sources for topics including Feeding the Family, Teaching
our Children about Tzedakah and Encouraging Gratitude. Outdoor Family programs that have been offered at the
Living Tree Alliance Jewish Moshav included Tu B’Shvat and Shugar and Shmooze. Upcoming programs will be
Mother’s Day on the Farm and Shavuot on the Mountain. A week-long Jewish children’s overnight camp will be
offered this summer at Living Tree Alliance, co-sponsored by PJ Library in Vermont. PJ Library families can apply
for a grant for this camp and any overnight Jewish summer camp.
PJ Library Collaborations with local synagogues for family programs across the state have included Temple Sinai,
Jewish Community of Greater Stowe, Beth Jacob, Shir Shalom, Chabad of Vermont and Rutland Jewish Center
Tamim academy
Tamim academy
Vermont’s first and only Jewish day school is located in the heart of Burlington. Guided by leading educators and enriched by the spirit of community, Tamim Academy prepared students for purposeful lives by empowering them with a positive self- concept, a passion for learning and eternal Jewish values.
More information is at: www.tamimvt.org