WRJ Projects

Jewish Braille Institute of America, Inc. (JBI)

The WRJ Service to the Visually Impaired Committee was established by the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods early in its history as a pioneer and leader in the field of voluntary service to the visually impaired. The program was started in 1927 at the NFTS 7th Biennial Assembly as a special committee to fill a need for "literature for the Jewish sightless." In 1929 this vigorous special committee was transformed into an NFTS Standing Committee which since has achieved and maintained the highest honors in its field.

Thousands of books of Jewish interest or authorship, both fiction and nonfiction, including text books used in religious schools, secondary schools and colleges, are brailled and bound, recorded on disc and tape, and large-typed by Sisterhood volunteers for the JBI Library. Its very special publication, the Jewish Braille Review, is published monthly and read by virtually every blind college graduate, Jewish and non-Jewish, in 36 countries throughout the world, including Israel.