Speaking About Persia With a Heavy Accent

S. Diego, CA — Sporting a bright red top hat, a gold chain and a star painted on his face, Rabbi Chalom Boudjnah certainly did not look like your typical rabbi last Saturday night.

Maybe the flowing beard, but that’s about it.

But Boudjnah, director of the Jewish Student Life center at S. Diego State University, had to dress up if he wanted others to follow suit at the annual Purim party. With refreshments, dancing, a talent show and an ultra-fast reading of the Megillah, the party attracted a medium-sized crowd. Certainly not the packed house of the recent West Coast Shabbaton, but a decent turnout nonetheless.

“We had competition tonight,” said Boudjnah. “We had three guys having birthday parties, but we still had people come. It’s nice — you always see new people here at Chabad, no matter the event. They come back, and they bring friends. Some kids came to Shabbat dinner last night, and tonight they’re back with friends.”

All told, more than 25,000 students turned out for Chabad on Campus Purim parties nationwide; 2,500 showed up in the greater Los Angeles area alone.

For many at SDSU, the highlight was the talent show, which featured freestyle rapping and dancing. For others, though, it was Boudjnah’s reading of the Megillah. In his thick French accent, the rabbi zipped through the passage like a bullet train, concluding the reading in 20 minutes to the obvious delight of the students, many of whom had cancelled previous plans to attend the party.

“I was supposed to go downtown, but I decided because Purim’s just once a year, I’d come here,” said S. Diego State junior Allie Novak. “I figure that I need to sometimes go back to my heritage.”

That return to roots is the primary reason that the Chabad House holds the Purim party, according to Boudjnah.

“The importance of Purim is mostly to remember what happened, to remember the fact we’re alive today, and that we continue to be alive today, even through our history of persecution,” he explained. “Somehow everything turned around. For young Jewish students, it’s about finding out about your roots, finding out you’re a survivor.”

Novak said that with the advanced Judaism classes offered by Boudjnah and the Chabad House’s increased student voice on campus, the center won’t have trouble promoting the Purim party next year.

“Every event just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” she said. “The smallest Shabbat dinners really aren’t even small any more. There used to be 10 people; now there’s 50 at the smallest ones.”

That’s certainly not how things used to be when Boudjnah started at SDSU in 1999. Back then, the outpost was focused more on the community, rather than students. That all changed with the new rabbi. He recalls setting up a table on campus as people strolled by, almost afraid to speak to him.

“I remember sitting on campus at a table, and nobody would show, seeing the guy with the big beard,” recalled Boudjnah. “Who’s going to stop by? It really shows with something like that. If you try hard, you can accomplish something. Nowadays, there are people from all different backgrounds — and most of the people aren’t religious — coming to Chabad and doing Jewish things.”

Pausing amidst the Purim festivities, the rabbi saw a lesson in the Chabad House’s eclectic feel. He predicted that more and more Jewish students everywhere will stand up for their identities.

Said Boudjnah: “If a French guy with a really weird accent was able to make it in S. Diego and bring in these crazy, surfer dudes to come to Chabad, definitely everybody has a chance.”