Purim Enjoyable for Everyone at Chabad of Silver Spring

Anyone who walked into Chabad of Silver Spring on Purim felt like they had been within the large tent, in response to Co-Director Rabbi Berel Wolvovsky, wowed by circus performers, stilt walkers, jugglers and circus-themed meals resembling cotton sweet and popcorn, plus extra filling choices.

Because Purim falls after the Fast of Esther, Chabad of Silver Spring additionally served circus sizzling canines and knishes.

“Every year, the goal is to add a little extra excitement both for the kids and the adults,” he added.

The circus theme lent itself to good participation with most all age teams, the rabbi mentioned.

“It’s a full day,” Wolvovsky mentioned. “It’s 24 hours packed with activities, but with a very important focus on as many different demographics as we can.”

Students in Chabad of Silver Spring’s Gan, its early childhood academic middle, participated in an age-appropriate megillah studying and associated actions on the faculty alongside their households.

“The kids are comfortable in that environment,” Wolvovsky mentioned. “The parents bring them, and they get to meet their [kids’] teachers on the holiday and they get to do the four mitzvot of Purim, which is charity, to give gifts, to hear the megillah and to have a little festive meal.”

The day was interspersed with intergenerational studying.

“It’s an important tradition to hear the megillah be read,” Wolvovsky mentioned. “So we at Chabad read the megillah during the day [and night], every hour, on the hour, people come to hear the megillah.”

A gaggle of 5 yeshiva college students — mates of Wolvovsky’s son — visited from New York to deliver the megillah to numerous locations round Silver Spring, together with native retirement houses and the residences of the homebound aged.

The college students additionally honored a yearslong custom of visiting an area public faculty in the course of the lunch interval to learn the megillah and share a kosher lunch.

The March 2 Purim within the Circus occasion within the night featured three simultaneous megillah readings, every a distinct noise stage to accommodate the “very diverse crowd in terms of age and background.”

One is totally silent, one other, in the primary sanctuary, permits “a little bit of noise,” and eventually, one within the downstairs lounge is supposed for households with younger youngsters.

“Parents don’t have to feel like they can’t come to synagogue because their kid’s going to be crying or make a little noise,” Wolvovsky mentioned. “Downstairs, we tolerate the whole gamut of noise just to bring families to come show up for Purim.”

Why create an area specifically for the youngest attendees? “They’re our future: the young families,” Wolvovsky mentioned.

He added that older attendees are typically bothered by the noise from infants or toddlers throughout megillah readings.

“And, if we don’t create a welcoming and fun and inclusive environment for younger families, they’re just not going to come,” Wolvovsky mentioned. “And if they don’t come, they’re not going to have the same involvement in the community and in the holidays.”

Chabad of Silver Spring additionally held a younger professionals occasion that night time after the megillah studying.

Though March 2 was a whirlwind of programming, Wolvovsky enjoys the spirit of the vacation.

“I’m most looking forward to people connecting to our heritage in a joyous way,” he mentioned forward of the occasion.

The following night, March 3, marked Chabad of Silver Spring’s twenty first annual Purim Seudah, or dinner. “It’s one of the four mitzvot of Purim, so we end the holiday with a really nice, festive communal meal,” Wolvovsky mentioned. “Many people are alone, or they’re just their family, and they find that if they celebrate the holiday with others, it’s going to be more meaningful and more enjoyable.”

For this purpose, the annual dinner is very wanted. About 150 attendees come yearly for the catered meal, music and firm.

“[It] checks all the boxes without the people having to do any work,” Wolvovsky mentioned. “They come, they have a great time. And it just goes back to the importance of community. Things that you do as a community just are a richer experience. That’s why we invest a lot in the community.”

His message to fellow Jews this Purim? “Find a way to plug into community on this holiday … My goal is not that everybody comes to Chabad. My goal is that everybody plug into the holiday in a communal way.”

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