Bands, Bars and Buffets Its Purim 2007!

Los Angeles, CA — If there’s one thing Chabad campus groups across the country will pull out all the stops for this year, it’s Purim. The themes and careful preparation for by far one of the most beloved of celebrations among students could be summed up in three simple words: Do something different.

At the University of Southern California, over the years students have watched their small Purim party evolve into a massive event welcoming more than a thousand people. This year, with on the hour readings of the Megillah, a giant Wild West extravaganza with hourly duels, and a pre-Purim carnival complete with rides and a “Pin the Yarmulke on the Rabbi” game, the university’s Chabad House will no doubt top all previous celebrations.

“Purim is one of the only holidays that the mitzvah itself is celebration and joy,” says Rabbi Dov Wagner, director of Chabad@USC, in the midst of preparing for the institution’s seventh bash.

Celebrating the victory of the Jews of Persia over a plot to wipe them out during the reign of King Achashverosh, as told in the Megillah of Esther, Purim this year begins Saturday night, March 3.

As told by the rabbi, the evolution of USC’s Purim festivities is truly remarkable: “Our first year here, we went to join the University of California at Los Angeles and had two students come along. The second year, we decided to throw a party and about 30 students showed up. At the time, that was considered surprisingly successful for USC.

“The next year Purim was during spring break, but we still got almost 100 participants. The year after that, the tally was 500. The next year, more than 1,000 came over the course of the night.”

Showcasing the popularity of the holiday with Jewish students, Chabad Houses across the country expect big numbers this year for their celebrations, which will include the traditional reading of the Megillah.

But make no mistake, while students are excited about the story of Esther and Mordechai and the Persians, after that, they want to party.

For Chabad at Stony Brook University, Purim happens to fall out in the middle of a road to trip to Boston University. Students from both schools will celebrate together, but the New York students will take the festivities back home with them, ending the holiday with a festive Purim meal on the bus.

At Pennsylvania State University, music will take center stage. At the Chabad House’s “Out of this World” Purim bash, a concert and an open bar for those over 21 will lead up to a wild Purim feast.

Cool tunes will likewise kick this year’s Haverford College festivities up a notch. In the suburban Philadelphia’s schools’ Lunt Basement, students will rock out to The Baal Shem Tov band, a Chassidic rock group led by Rabbi Menachem Schmidt. Schmidt, vice chairman of the Chabad on Campus Foundation, has serious roots in the City of Brotherly Love: He’s also the founder of Philly’s Lubavitch House.

“Rabbi Eli Gurevitz, in his first year serving the campuses of Haverford, Bryn Mawr College and Swarthmore College, says, perhaps a bit modestly, “I don’t know how many people I expect.”

But judging from past turnout at his events this year, plenty of students are sure to leave the Purim party a bit more merry.

At Connecticut’s Wesleyan University, Chabad of East River is planning an epic, Chinese-themed Purim party in Glastonbury, at the home of the future Chabad Jewish Center. Besides presenting a “multimedia Megillah,” the Sunday evening event will feature a game show, costume contest and dancing.