By ANITA HIRSCH

Special to The Press

In the Jewish community, a religious service known as the Havdalah celebrates the ending of the Sabbath and the beginning of the new week.

The PJ Library Program and the Jewish Community Center marked the end of the Sabbath on Jan. 9 at sundown with a Havdalah service via Zoom.

The event began with a distribution of grab-and-go bags from the Jewish Community Center, Allentown, on the previous Thursday afternoon.

Between 3:30-5 p.m. that day, families could stop by the front of the JCC and pick up a grab-and-go bag.

A committee chose what to include in the bag: a laminated sheet of Havdalah prayers, a small bottle of grape juice, some paper cups, three colorful wax sheets and wicks to make a Havdalah candle, and a foam ball and clove spices in a net bag.

More than 30 families registered for the program and picked up the bags.

On Saturday evening at sundown, Rabbi Seth Philips from Congregation Keneseth Israel led the traditional Havdalah service via Zoom and went over the prayers that were on the printed card.

Grape juice was consumed after the prayers.

Then, JCC Jewish Education and Early Childhood Education Coordinator Ally Wiener-Avraham showed how to wrap the wax sheets around the wicks and twist them together to form the Havdalah candle, which is traditionally lighted after the Shabbat.

She read a story to the children from the PJ Library.

Stars were counted, songs were sung, the candle was lighted and the spice aroma was enjoyed.

The PJ Library, which began about 15 years ago, is a free monthly program for children up to age 8-and-a-half that delivers books to the home of those who have Judaism as part of their lives.

The library is part of a national organization, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, founded by American real estate developer and philanthropist Harold Grinspoon.

Locally the PJ Library is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, the Jewish Community Center of the Lehigh Valley and the Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley.

In addition to gifts of books, the library sponsors several events during the year.