Create Own Books to Nurture Baby's Jewish Identity

When Judaism began to reemerge in the FSU, Tanya became very active in organized Jewish life. As a girl she enjoyed Israeli dancing and even attended a Jewish summer camp. As Tanya grew up and eventually got married, she became consumed with her work and stopped devoting time to Jewish activities. Even though she participated in Jewish activities as a young girl, she was still unfamiliar with Jewish tradition and believed that she did not have too much of a Jewish identity. However, when Tanya became pregnant she decided along with her husband that they wanted to raise their child with a strong Jewish identity. This task was not so easy and the young couple was soon faced with the challenges of teaching Jewish traditions, explaining Jewish history and other important experiences they did know much about. "I wanted to explain to my son what makes him Jewish and I did not have an answer. I so wanted him to have a positive Jewish identity, unlike mine, but I didn’t know how to go about it," says Tanya.

After some reading, Tanya came up with an idea to publish a Jewish book for children in Russian and Hebrew, with colorful pictures and interesting stories. She came to JDC with her proposal. The first book, dedicated to Pesach and even included a CD of Pesach songs, was published. Tanya says that, "her child is still too small to read it, but he loved the Jewish music and danced when he heard the CD."

Now that Tanya and her husband started the Jewish children book project, their knowledge of Jewish tradition and holidays has greatly increased. Tanya is now working on a new book: "alef -bet" for children in Russian and Hebrew. Furthermore, she is planning to open a Jewish Sunday kindergarten for her son and other children who are raised in assimilated families with parents who want to increase their children’s Jewish identity, but simply don’t have the knowledge to do so at home. Tanya concludes by saying, "I want to give to all the children, not just my son, an opportunity to learn about their Jewishness from an early childhood with joy and pride"