I am excited to share that my book, Just Say Welcome, will be released by Kar-Ben Publishing on September 9, 2025. Based on my family’s real-life experience, Just Say Welcome is a modern-day story for children in preschool through third grade illustrating the Jewish value of welcoming the stranger. Young Tilly and her Jewish-American family open up their home to an Iraqi refugee family while they get settled in the community. Both families learn and experience kindness from each other and the larger community. Synagogue members bring over clothes, neighbors share food, and the Iraqi boy, Youssef, teaches Tilly’s little brother soccer tricks. Everyone realizes they have more in common than not, and the Iraqi family starts to feel at home. Tilly learns that sometimes, just saying “welcome” is all it takes for strangers to become friends.
Emily Raij 