Anyone who walked into Chabad of Silver Spring on Purim felt like they were in the big tent, according to Co-Director Rabbi Berel Wolvovsky, wowed by circus performers, stilt walkers, jugglers and circus-themed food such as cotton candy and popcorn, plus more filling options.
Because Purim falls after the Fast of Esther, Chabad of Silver Spring also served circus hot dogs 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 groups, the rabbi said.
“It’s a full day,” Wolvovsky said. “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 educational center, participated in an age-appropriate megillah reading and related activities at the school alongside their families.
“The kids are comfortable in that environment,” Wolvovsky said. “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 reading.
“It’s an important tradition to hear the megillah be read,” Wolvovsky said. “So we at Chabad read the megillah during the day [and night], every hour, on the hour, people come to hear the megillah.”
A group of five yeshiva students — friends of Wolvovsky’s son — visited from New York to bring the megillah to various places around Silver Spring, including local retirement homes and the residences of the homebound elderly.
The students also honored a yearslong tradition of visiting a local public school during the lunch period to read the megillah and share a kosher lunch.
The March 2 Purim in the Circus event in the evening featured three simultaneous megillah readings, each a different noise level to accommodate the “very diverse crowd in terms of age and background.”
One is completely silent, another, in the main sanctuary, allows “a little bit of noise,” and finally, one in the downstairs lounge is meant for families with young children.
“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 said. “Downstairs, we tolerate the whole gamut of noise just to bring families to come show up for Purim.”
Why create a space specially for the youngest attendees? “They’re our future: the young families,” Wolvovsky said.
He added that older attendees are sometimes bothered by the noise from babies or toddlers during 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 said. “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 also held a young professionals event that night after the megillah reading.
Though March 2 was a whirlwind of programming, Wolvovsky enjoys the spirit of the holiday.
“I’m most looking forward to people connecting to our heritage in a joyous way,” he said ahead of the event.
The following evening, March 3, marked Chabad of Silver Spring’s 21st 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 said. “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 reason, the annual dinner is highly sought after. About 150 attendees come every year for the catered meal, music and company.
“[It] checks all the boxes without the people having to do any work,” Wolvovsky said. “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.”
