Delivering for Students in Toronto
Few Jewish resources existed to address antisemitism in Toronto public schools. PJ Library delivered for children and teachers.
By Rachel Zaimont, Managing Editor
This story appeared in the summer 2025 issue of PROOF, a PJ Library magazine.
Federation staff members created PJ Library book packages for public-school educators.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UJA FEDERATION OF GREATER TORONTO
At the public school north of Toronto where Maureen Morris teaches, Jewish resources were scarce. The school library had books about major Jewish holidays but few narratives that featured Jewish characters. “I saw a need for stories that normalized Jewish people and showcased Israel as a country of people with many different ethnic backgrounds,” Morris recalls.
When Morris received a collection of books from PJ Library and began reading them in class with her third-and fourth-grade students, “I was thrilled,” she says. “The books allowed Jewish students to see themselves reflected in the stories and allowed students of other backgrounds to be exposed to Jewish stories with which they could connect.”
The delivery was part of an extraordinary initiative last fall in which PJ Library partnered with the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto to gift over 2,500 books and dreidel kits to public-school educators. The donation infused positive Jewish narratives into classrooms throughout the region at a time when antisemitism is surging.
“After October 7, Jewish cultural education was desperately needed and requests for resources increased,” says Samantha Bacher, PJ Library manager at the Federation. Bacher and Jenna Potash — the Federation’s director of capacity building, Israel engagement — described student walkouts and miseducation in some schools about the Israel-Hamas war. “We see students scared to identify as Jewish, and many students have been bullied,” Potash says. “This made Jewish students and families feel unsafe in their schools.”
Malka Lewittes, a lay leader on the Federation’s Israel engagement committee, had been working with the Jewish Educators & Family Association of Canada to help support Jewish educators and students in public schools. “I was aware of the incredible challenges Jewish educators and students are facing,” Lewittes says. “I realized there was an opportunity to answer the need for resources to support Jewish students and confront antisemitism — and PJ Library could play a role.”
About 400 Toronto public schools received packages of PJ Library books.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UJA FEDERATION OF GREATER TORONTO
PJ Library began collecting books to send to the Federation, where Potash had already been working with public-school educators to expand access to Jewish learning. PJ Library included titles featuring themes of coexistence, such as A Sweet Meeting on Mimouna Night, Yaffa and Fatima: Shalom, Salaam, and Never Say a Mean Word Again. The shipment arrived this past October, and teams of educators and Federation staff members created and distributed packages to some 400 schools.
“We know that raising the next generation of Jews today unfortunately means having difficult conversations about antisemitism, and these conversations don’t only happen at home,” says Alex Zablotsky, PJ Library’s executive director. “I’m grateful we were in a position where we could support the work the Federation is doing in their community.”
Toronto-area teachers say the impact has been tremendous. “I have students in my classes who recently arrived from Israel, and they are thrilled to see books that positively portray their homeland,” says Tammy Zaldin, who teaches reading and writing to second graders and special education students. “I think it helps students who identify as Jewish to see themselves represented in the classroom.”
“The educators who received the books — many not Jewish! — were grateful,” Potash says. “Bringing PJ Library books into schools not only allows Jewish students to feel seen; it also introduces Jewish culture into classrooms in a lighthearted way that brings joy to everyone.”