ACCESSIBLE ATONEMENT
JBI offers prayer materials for visually impaired to make High Holy Days open to all
In addition to Braille, audio and large-print format offerings, the organization is also rolling out books and guides to engage people 'who might otherwise be isolated,' its executive director says

Courtesy/JBI
A young girl using braille to chant her Torah portion.
Throughout the month of Elul, leading up to Yom Kippur, which begins this Friday night, congregations recite Selichot – prayers for forgiveness. For visually impaired congregants, relying on written materials can make participation and feeling connected a challenge. But this High Holy Day season, the nonprofit JBI — founded as the Jewish Braille Institute in 1931 — has expanded a number of services to create custom accessible materials in Braille, audio and large-print formats in materials for the holidays. It is also offering several in-person and virtual programs centered around the holidays throughout the fall.
In addition to custom prayer books, new accessible versions of books offered by JBI include: Days of Awe, Mishkan HaLev: Prayers for S’lichot and the Month of Elul, the JBI Jewish Reference Calendar and the children’s book Apples Apples All Year Round. The materials are offered online, as well as in synagogues and assisted-living facilities in California, Florida, New York, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Israel and the United Kingdom.
“It’s not enough just to create accessible materials, but we also want to make sure that we are creating opportunities for people who might otherwise be isolated,” Livia Thompson, JBI executive director, told eJewishPhilanthropy, referring to its inaugural Judaism 101 series. Offerings included two events in September, “Intro to Rosh Hashanah,” led by JBI’s Rabbi Andrew Goodman and “Tastes & Sounds of Rosh Hashanah,” led by chef Lana Flame. Book Clubs, offered in both English and Russian, discussing texts related to the High Holy Days are running throughout the holiday season.
The expansion comes as JBI announced in February that it received a $200,000 two-year grant from the New York Community Trust, which has allowed it to broaden services, both related and unrelated to the High Holy Days, to create custom accessible materials for all New York City-based nonprofits — in most cases free of charge.
With a presidential election approaching later this fall, the end of High Holy Day programming will give way to another inaugural outreach effort, called “Jewish Voices on Democracy,” which provides information about accessible voting on the JBI website.
“For our patrons, it’s helpful to make sure that they have as much information as possible about how to be part of the civic society, part of that is voting and part of that is the framing of Jewish values around being civically engaged,” Thompson said, adding that the materials are all “a nonpartisan explanation of this important right and duty.”