From Yom Kippur to Sukkot

A Teaching Moment From Rabbi Leslie Alexander 

People in the Jewish community often make jokes about how God could have put so many different kinds of holidays together on the Jewish calendar. Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, quickly followed by Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. I finally think I know why.

Yom Kippur, while being observed in a synagogue community, is really an individual experience. We sit among people, but really are asked to honestly delve into our own soul in order to help ourselves improve and grow. We are inside most of the day, both literally and figuratively.

Immediately after the fast ends, we begin to build our Sukkah. Sukkot, the harvest holiday, is also when we turn the personal work that we did on Yom Kippur into real behaviors in a new year of life. The palm branch, lulav, that we shake is a symbol of our backbone- our strength and values. The citron, etrog, that we hold is a symbol of our heart- reaching out to others. Where do we use these objects that teach turning outward instead of inward? We literally take them outside into our Sukkah, our beautiful temporary booth built open to the sky.

Yom Kippur and Sukkot offer us the chance to teach ourselves and our children that it is good to take personal time for considering how to do better and be better. Reflection is a really good thing, but only when combined with getting out there in the world with other people to make our good thoughts into good deeds.  

Meet the Rothsteins! A PJ Library Family

A Conversation with Stephanie Rothstein

[We met Stephanie Rothstein while delivering a Shalom Baby bag just after she had given birth to her younger daughter, Izzy. We asked her to share the family's PJL Library experiences with us.]

How old is Silver? How long has she been receiving PJL books?

Silver is 14 months and has received books since she was 6 months old. We were told about the program by Rabbi Ohriner at Congregation Beth David and signed Silver up right away.

How does Silver react when the big white envelope with her name on it arrives?

Silver loves seeing a new book. We hand her the envelope and she gets so excited that something is for her. She works hard to tear it open and we usually help her a bit, then she sees the book inside and insists on looking at each and every page. Isadora (Izzy) is 3 weeks old and we can't wait for her envelopes to arrive, too!

What do you value most about The PJ Library®?

We love that we get to share tradition with our daughter and help her to understand and enjoy our Jewish heritage. As a family, Neal and I love creating our own traditions and the PJ Library books have become a part of those. The books are really something that Silver can connect with. They help us to share culture and start conversations.

 We have a young family, For us, it is important that our home be "a Jewish home" and it is just a part of who we are. We love to participate in Pajama Shabbat at our synagogue and every Jewish Holiday is celebrated with family. We typically go to Neal's Dad's home for holidays and usually have read the PJ Library book about the holiday many times before we go. This really helps Silver and she gets so excited to sing the songs or recognize words or traditions. We did this before Passover and we also got Silver her own Cartoon Hagadah and she was able to follow along. Another tradition of the family has been the reading of "Goodnight Sh'ma," before Silver goes to bed. It is a part of her bedtime routine and we all just love it! She understands that this is the time to wind down and she sits with us in the rocking chair and starts to relax. She loves the book and insists on kissing all of the animals on each page.

What other Jewish connections are there in your life? Did your affiliation with The PJ Library® program help strengthen (or initiate) these ties?

Our Congregation is our main connection and they are wonderful. The PJ Library Books have only enhanced that connection and have allowed our children to participate more fully in the programs.