Reaching Jewish Families in Argentina

PJ Library now delivers books for the largest Jewish community in Latin America.

 

By Ryan Torok

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This story appeared in the summer 2025 issue of PROOF, a PJ Library magazine.

 

With Jewish museums, cultural centers, sports clubs, synagogues, day schools, and even the only kosher McDonald’s outside of Israel, Argentina is home to a thriving Jewish community — the largest in Latin America with about 180,000 members.

But until last year, the community had limited access to a key resource: Jewish children’s books. PJ Library answered the need when it launched in Argentina in March 2024, bringing Spanish-language books, joy, and Jewish pride to some 1,000 children ages 3-4.

“Argentina was the largest Spanish-speaking Jewish community we hadn’t yet reached,” says Rachel Kozupsky, PJ Library’s director of international programs. “We knew there were many families that we weren’t serving. We have wanted to make PJ Library available in Argentina for years.”

It took nearly a decade of planning and preparation to bring the program to Argentina as the team navigated logistical and economic challenges. PJ Library already had a collection of titles translated into Spanish, but difficulties importing books meant PJ Library had to print the stories in Argentina.

How do the books reach children? Unlike in North America, where books arrive for families in the mail, books in Argentina are distributed at Jewish schools and incorporated into classroom activities before kids take copies home. PJ Library now reaches 1,500 students in 22 schools, half of which are located in the Buenos Aires area (nearly 95% of the Argentinian Jewish population lives in or near Buenos Aires). Outside of the capital, children receive books through schools in Córdoba — home to the country’s second-largest Jewish community — as well as Bahía Blanca, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Misiones, Devoto, Tucumán, Mendoza, and Salta.

“Argentina has a wonderful Jewish community,” says Karin Zingerevitz, regional director of PJ Library’s Spanish and Portuguese programs. She notes that the Jewish community in Argentina dates back to the 16th century, following the expulsion of Jews from Spain. “It’s a very strong, very involved community. We’re thrilled that we’re finally serving families there.”

Some of the handpicked books children have received include The Great Passover Escape, Bubbie & Rivka’s Best-Ever Challah (So Far!), and The Everywhere Chair. These stories were “big hits,” Zingerevitz says. “Families are excited about having a Jewish book for their kids sent home. It’s totally new for them.”

Educators see the impact in their classes too. “The kids enjoy the books a lot,” says Daniela Fischer, a teacher at Martin Buber School in Entre Ríos. “After reading our Purim book, the idea came up to make the best hamantaschen in the world — so we did!”

“The PJ Library books we received gave teachers the fuel they needed to reignite their excitement for teaching and to create new lesson plans,” says Veronica Berguelson, principal of J. N. Bialik School in La Plata. Adds Alejandra Mizrahi, principal of Beth School in Buenos Aires, “It’s incredibly important that teachers, dads, moms, uncles, aunts, and grandparents can read children a story that expresses the values of our people, Am Yisrael. It’s an experience that helps establish the habit of reading for life.”

A critical partner in the effort to bring PJ Library to Argentina was the Jewish Agency for Israel. “The Jewish Agency’s educational institution in Argentina, BAMA, provided us with great guidance as we got to know and navigated the community,” Kozupsky says. BAMA’s leadership has joined PJ Library’s Latin America education committee and leads professional development trainings for educators each month.

PJ Library reaches Jewish families in Argentina due in part to generous local funders including the Norma and Leo Werthein Foundation. “We like PJ Library because it combines values, learning, and Judaism, which aligns with our foundation,” says board member Cynthia Werthein. “These books are for children, but they are aimed at the home.”

The rest of the funding comes from worldwide donors to the PJ Library International Fund, which supports PJ Library in 38 countries outside the US, Canada, and Israel. “Families wherever they live can support the fund and help strengthen Jewish populations, big or small, across the globe,” Kozupsky says.

With additional donor support, PJ Library hopes to reach up to 8,000 children in Argentina over the next few years.

“PJ Library’s goal is to reach every Jewish child in Argentina,” Zingerevitz says. “We’re excited about reaching more families while growing our global PJ Library family.”

 

A Global Partnership

PJ Library offers beautiful Jewish books in seven languages. The Jewish Agency for Israel sends specially trained Israeli young adults to volunteer in Jewish communities around the world. Three years ago, the two organizations realized they could work together to bring Jewish joy, learning, and connection to families across the globe.

Thanks to an incredible partnership, PJ Library’s team in Israel has begun training the Jewish Agency’s volunteers — called ShinShinim — to use PJ Library books as teaching tools during their year of service in communities around the world. This year marked an expansion of the partnership as 177 ShinShinim forged joyful Jewish connections with communities in North America, Australia, Europe, and Latin America by bringing vibrant PJ Library books to life.

How does PJ Library’s training impact the volunteers’ work? “I love working with PJ Library because it gives me a special way to transmit the stories of our people,” says Itamar Grines, one of the Jewish Agency’s ShinShinim in Mexico. Adds fellow volunteer Ori Faiertag, “I like to see the kids’ happiness and smiles every time I read them a PJ Library book!”

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Ryan Torok is a freelance writer based in California.