Maren Faiella is really looking forward to celebrating Purim this year. Faiella, who lives in New York City’s West Village, plans to join neighbors and friends for an evening of festivities hosted by Rabbi Berel and Chana Gurevitch, who just last year launched a new Chabad House in the storied Manhattan neighborhood.
As at Chabad centers in large cities, small towns, remote locations and on college campuses around the world, they will gather on Wednesday evening to mark the holiday, which is celebrated annually on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar—this year starting the night of Wednesday, March 20 and continuing through Thursday, March 21. The holiday recalls the Jewish people’s salvation in ancient Persia from an evil official, Haman, and his plot to destroy them.
Faiella, who works in residential real estate, says she’s had some great discussions with the rabbi and his wife in the past months after meeting them through a friend. Their presence, she says, enhances not only holidays, but brings people together, even in a city replete with Jewish residents. “It’s a wonderful addition for those of us who are here, who have some Jewish affiliation or who want to learn more about the culture and the traditions and lessons, and discuss them with other people,” she says. “Any opportunities to grow our community and also our spirituality while doing so, it’s just an excellent opportunity for everyone who might have the chance to get involved.”
This week, Faiella, who hasn’t celebrated Purim since she was a child, says she’s also curious about what the couple has to share about the holiday. “I’m looking forward to seeing how they partake in this holiday themselves and learning more about what messages come from their heart as it relates to the holiday, and I think it’ll just be a good time, too.” The party will have a “Roaring Twenties” theme and include a Megillah reading, live jazz music and hors d’oeuvres.
“I think that it is through these kinds of events that people come together. They meet, mingle and socialize over a meaningful and fun event, and that’s what we intend to do,” says Rabbi Gurevitch, who is this year hosting his first Purim party for the community. “That’s our goal with this evening.”
He adds that he hopes guests walk away feeling a part of their community and connected to Jewish tradition, especially in a time when anxieties about being Jewish are running high. “I want them to be partners in what we’re building here, and feel connected to Judaism which is as relevant as we allow it to be. They’re celebrating Judaism and Judaism is vibrant, it’s alive, and indeed something to celebrate,” he says. “It’s nothing to hide or be ashamed of.”
New Arrivals Bring Purim Joy to Flathead Valley, St. Lucia
Rabbi Shneur Wolf, co-director of the Chabad Lubavitch of Flathead Valley in Kalispell, Mont., will welcome the community to a nearby hotel space for a Megillah reading and party. This will be the second holiday they’re hosting since he and his wife, Chana, and their baby son Leib moved to the area five months ago. They meet one-on-one with community members and also run a weekly parshah class, but this will be a bigger group, he says. They’re expecting around 30 people.
“Though it is important to focus on one-on-one, it’s always nice when there’s a crowd that gets together,” he explains. “And many of these people aren’t necessarily affiliated with any synagogue, so when they see that there are more people around interested, it shows them they’re not alone, they’re not the only ones connecting. It makes for a good atmosphere, and it makes them want to come back and learn more.”
Rabbi Avromy Super, co-director of Chabad of St. Lucia with his wife, Sternie, will be hosting the only Purim party he knows of for 100 miles. Several dozen residents and visitors will gather for an intergenerational celebration, which for many will be their first, he says. “Most of the Jews here have never celebrated Purim,” he says. “For a lot of people, this is the first time they’ll actually be able to participate in the mitzvot; it was never available to them.”
The couple, who recently moved to the island, will be bringing people together to connect and to fulfill the four mitzvahs associated with the holiday: hearing the Megillah, giving to the poor, sending gifts of foods to friends and neighbors, and participating in a seudah, a festive meal. “A lot of the Jews that live here have never met the other Jews. Though they live on the same few square miles, the only time they get to meet is at our events,” says the rabbi. Holidays throughout the year will keep those opportunities multiplying, he adds.
Meanwhile, visitors are often more open to exploring their Judaism while away from home, says Super. This year, that includes a traveler who will cross the whole island, making an hour-and-a-half trek, to celebrate Purim. “You have a lot of visitors coming on vacation, and they have that vacation mindset—they’re more excited and more appreciative of the fact that they can celebrate Purim here.”
Bar Mitzvah Boy to Read Megillah
Rabbi Pesach Burston, co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Orange County in Chester, N.Y., will have an extra-special Purim this year, as the second of their five children was born on Purim in 2006 and will celebrate his bar mitzvah this year as part of Purim services. Yosef Mordechai, named such because he was born on Purim, will be leading services, and reading Torah and Megillah on Thursday morning, Burston says, followed by a festive brunch. The Chabad House will also host a community party themed around “Purim in Paris.”
“I think it’s a beautiful blend,” he says of combining his family life and work as a Chabad emissary. “To be able to celebrate a bar mitzvah on Purim is a perfect blend of our two passions: family and community.”
Burston, who has been in the area for a decade-and-a-half, says he hopes people come away having not only been able to fulfill the mitzvahs of Purim, but that they take an all-encompassing message with them as well. “I hope they come away knowing that Judaism is not about ‘oy,’ but about ‘joy.’ ”
Ira Kanis, who lives in Monroe, N.Y., with his wife, Karen, and attends Chabad of Orange County, says he is readying himself for the sense of spiritual reawakening, and for the “Paris” celebration and related festivities associated with the holiday.
“It’s just a wonderful experience; it’s lively, and then there’s always the food,” he says.
This will be his fourth year attending the events, which are part of the bigger picture of services that Chabad provides for the community, he notes. “It’s an experience of continual spiritual growth.”
For information and insights about the holiday, visit Chabad.org/Purim.
.For events at Chabad centers around the world, visit the Purim event directory.
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