Purim Spring Break with Chabad

CANCUN, Mexico — Sun. Surf. Scuba. Nightlife. Ancient Mayan civilization. Ancient Persian history. Ancient Persian History? Well yes, if you are spending Purim with Chabad in Cancun.

Almost 2 million students across the country will be hitting the beaches and slopes this week. But though they will have finished their midterms and packed away their notes, Jewish students won’t be closing the books on their Jewish experiences. Wherever they are for spring break, Chabad is bringing Purim to them.

The forecast for Purim day is 86 degrees in Cancun where Rabbi Mendel Druk and his wife Rachel serve the native and tourist communities. Though he says numbers always vary, Druk expects approximately 150 students and locals to attend Tuesday’s Mexican Purim Fiesta. Indigenous Mexican chefs will prepare the kosher feast and party-goers will boo Haman with traditional graggers as well as maracas.

But why do students seek out the Jewish scene while vacationing from the rest of their lives and responsibilities?

“Spring break can be chaotic, and for students there is a lot of peer pressure,” explains Druk. His Chabad House is on the strip of glitzy hotels and Druk can see the “wild and irresponsible behavior” that characterizes the two-month stretch when different universities release their students for spring break. Vacationing students flock to his center for Shabbat meals and holiday programming, and a chance to “achieve a moment of sanity amongst all this insanity.”

The Druks welcome guests every Shabbat throughout the year. “Every week different students come to our table with regards from their campus Rabbis,” says Druk. He considers his dinners a success because students always come with the intention of making the Chabad House the first stop on a night filled with partying. “But they usually all end up staying until very late,” he proudly notes.

“You can see that they are so comfortable in the Chabad house setting because they are used to their own Chabad families on campus. I had a couple guys from Yale tell me they were coming for Friday night dinner with some friends. They showed up with 20 people.”

Rabbi Shua Rosenstein is Chabad’s representative to Yale University. Yale is one of the 90 universities celebrating spring break this week, but “don’t think we are on vacation here,” laughs Rosenstein. He is hosting a Purim party Monday night in New York City for alumnae and current students. Tuesday morning he will deliver mishloach manot packages to faculty (who don’t, it appears, get to party on the beaches) and read the megillah for them.

Article continued with more pictures at Lubavitch.com