By ANITA HIRSCH

Special to The Press

Twenty-seven Lehigh Valley families participated in the Jewish holiday of Purim on Feb. 26.

To celebrate it this year, the prayers and festivities usually held in the synagogues or in the Jewish Community Center needed to go virtual.

Teachers and directors had been working for weeks to make the holiday fun for everyone as Purim is a fun holiday.

The PJ Library, a program for children from birth to age 8-1/2, who have Judaism as a part of their lives presented the first celebration.

PJ Library in the Lehigh Valley is part of the large PJ Library organization, the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.

For the PJ Library Purim program, parents were invited to pick up a bag at the JCC early on Feb. 16 so they could have the bag in time for the Zoom event 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. that same day.

Then at each home, at the virtual festivities, parents and children used the items in the bag for fun.

There was a crown, which could be worn by Queen Esther, and stickers to decorate the crown.

There was a stamper in the bag and some candy and a grogger or noisemaker, used to drown out the name of Haman during the Purim service in the synagogue.

There was also a card describing the holiday of Purim and how it is celebrated.

First on the agenda was a story read to the children by Abby Trachtman, project coordinator.

Then, Ally Weiner-Avraham taught a Purim song and everyone wore a crown.

Weiner-Avraham then took a noisemaker and encouraged making noise, especially when the name Haman was read or heard.

The second card featured a recipe for making the traditional Purim cookie, a hamantaschen.