We caught up with PJ Library partner, Mitzvah Day, as they get ready to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Mitzvah Day this year. They are celebrating 20 years of bringing people together through kindness, service and community. Mitzvah Day is the perfect time to get involved as a family and show your little ones how small acts can make a big difference.
Laurie Shone, projects and partnerships manager at Mitzvah Day shared “One of our favourite PJ Library books, very well connected to this year’s Mitzvah Day flagship project, is Bone Button Borscht. The main character in the story, a hungry beggar enters a village and offers to make soup from just bone buttons. As the curious villagers contribute small, basic ingredients, they unknowingly create a rich borscht and learn the value of sharing, kindness and community…”
Laurie went on to say “It is a beautiful reminder of how, when we all contribute, we create something nourishing, joyful and meaningful. That is exactly what Mitzvah Day 2025 is about: building bridges between people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds by working together on shared acts of kindness. To find out more about our theme, click here.”
This year, the flagship Mitzvah Day project is called The Mitzvah Day Big Soup Serve, a simple, delicious way to connect and care for others. Soup is the perfect symbol of community; it is warm, comforting and easy to share. Whether you are cooking at home, packing soup kits, or serving meals in your community, you and your children can help nourish people who need it most while also building friendships and understanding.
Here is how families can join in:
You might choose to make soup at home together and donate it to a local charity, just like the villagers in Bone Button Borscht shared their ingredients to create a communal feast. Or you can help put together dry soup kits (little packages with soup ingredients and a recipe card) to give to food banks and shelters. If you want to get even more involved, you can help serve soup at a community event where people come together to eat, talk and connect.
By joining the Mitzvah Day Big Soup Serve, you will be part of something much bigger than just making soup. You will be helping families who need a warm meal, creating friendships between people of different faiths and backgrounds and teaching your children the values of kindness, justice, and repairing the world-values that are at the heart of Jewish tradition, like tikkun olam, chesed and tzedek.
Across the UK and around the world, communities, schools, faith leaders and public figures will be coming together for the Big Soup Serve. It is a beautiful way to show how when we join hands and hearts, we can build stronger, more caring communities for today and for the future.
A big mitzvah for little hands
Why not start by reading a mitzvah-themed PJ Library book? There are so many wonderful stories that bring to life the spirit of sharing and cooperation that Mitzvah Day celebrates. Roll up your sleeves, get cooking and be part of something meaningful this year because kindness, like soup, is best when shared.
To take part in Mitzvah Day 2025 and register your family, please click here. If you would like to register your community to receive a mitzvah-themed book for storytelling at a community event, please contact the PJ Library team today!
October 20, 2025