Young Readers, Jewish Day Schools Gear Up for Kehot’s 2007 Book-A-Thon

BROOKLYN, NY — The 21 days from November 4-25 promise to be quiet ones for Jewish children around the world who have signed up for the Kehot Book-A-Thon. With TV set turned off, thousands of children enrolled from over 250 schools and library may find that reading is an experience that can rival even the excitement of the PlayStation.

Coinciding with the National Jewish Book Month, Kehot Publication Society’s Fourth Annual Book-A-Thon reading event, aims to promote Jewish literacy.

With one in four children growing up in homes with few or no Jewish books, Kehot, the publishing arm of Chabad-Lubavitch, is taking the proactive approach to promote reading.

“The Book-A-Thon is intended to help children explore the world of Jewish books and develop good reading habits while doing that,” said Kehot Director, Rabbi Yosef B. Friedman.

The Book-A-Thon crosses a vast geographical distance and age span with participants as young as 4 and as old as 84, from countries as diverse as China, Brazil, Italy, Argentina, Belgium, England, Panama, South Africa and America.

While literacy programs like Book It and Read to Feed also seek to foster good reading habits in children, Kehot adds the Judaic dimension. Modeled after the March of Dimes Walk-a-Thon, participants seek sponsors who pledge a set amount of money per book read, giving them a mental and spiritual workout. One hundred percent of the money raised is funneled back to the participants’ organization of choice in the form of Kehot book credits.

Kehot’s impetus for the Book-A-Thon comes from the idea expressed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who said, “What our youth reads profoundly affects their thoughts, speech and actions, shaping and molding their character and lives. It is thus of vital importance that we provide our youth with good, wholesome reading materials, based on goodness and holiness.”

With the American child watching an average of 28 hours of television a week, internet games, music and sports competing for time, reading is at the bottom of the list when it comes to recreational activities.

In previous years, the Kehot Book-A-Thon generated a surge of interest in recreational reading. From a Phallic, a school librarian, was delighted: “This is a wonderful project. The books we have received are circulating and I look forward to continuing to work with you in spreading Jewish literacy.”

For 9 year old Calil Goodman, living in Agora Hills, CA, the 38 books he read for the Book-A-Thon opened a new world. “I have to read every day for homework,” he said, “but this is the first time I read so many Jewish books. I like reading the Jewish books because it tells me about all the tzadikim (righteous people) that came before me.”

The children’s incentive may be the fantastic array of prizes ranging from the high tech gadgets, books and CD’s offered by Kehot, but the real rewards come as they discover the rich world of reading and enhance their Jewish knowledge.

Article continued (Lubavitch.com)