Hanukkah is a time of joy, even amid difficult times. JBI Library, a nonprofit organization that provides free texts and resources to blind and disabled Jews, seeks to spread that joy with their accessible Hanukkah cards, made with Braille text, fabric, raised shapes and textured materials. These tactile cards are created by partner synagogues, then distributed to Jews who are blind or have low vision.
Congregation Shir Ami in the East Bay’s Castro Valley got in on the action thanks to Harriet Skelly, a synagogue board member and communications committee chair. She jumped at the opportunity, recruiting a blind congregant to present the activity to Shir Ami’s Sunday school kids.
Together, they showed the kids Braille materials in Hebrew and English, helping them find the letters in their names, then printed their names on a Braille typewriter to affix to their cards. It was a fun learning experience, Skelly said. When the children finished their cards, they shipped them to JBI Library for distribution.
Another East Bay synagogue, Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek, participated too, led by director of education Pam McGill.
“The project immediately resonated with our values of accessibility and meaningful service learning,” she said.
B’nai Shalom’s sixth- and seventh-graders also learned about Rabbi Harry Brevis, the inventor of Hebrew Braille, before creating nearly 100 tactile cards.
Both synagogues joined the program for the first time this year, giving their students the opportunity to be part of a national effort toward inclusion and accessibility.
“It is so much more meaningful to me, a blind person, to receive a card that I can truly appreciate — both for the braille inscription and the fact that the picture and design is tactile,” one card recipient said in a JBI press release. “What a lovely thing to do for us!”