This week, we celebrated the holiday of Purim. As we know with most Jewish holidays, the stories go - they tried to kills us, they couldn’t, now let’s eat! However, Purim is different; it’s the only time in history that the decree had the capacity to kill all Jews around the world, and still, here we are! Purim celebrates the miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people of Persia from the threat of annihilation.
JHP interns kicked off our celebrations by baking homemade hamantaschen at the Lubavitch House. The Chabad House at Penn continued the festivities with a traditional Megillah reading Wednesday evening. On the other side of town, the Young Professionals Network of Jewish Heritage Programs engaged in a Purim Happy Hour, like no other. Surrounded by ping-pong balls, l’chaims, and live music by Rabbi Menachem Schmidt’s band, the Baal Shem Tovs, the YP Network reconnected with old friends and made plenty of new ones, with a record 132 Young Professionals in attendance!
On Thursday, the Perelman Center for Jewish Life invited Governor Tom Wolf to speak at our afternoon Purim celebration. While the Perelman Center for Jewish Life is strictly a non-partisan organization, we invited Governor Wolf, because he is an individual who demonstrates action. As the sages tell us, “one action is worth a thousand sighs; stop sighing, complaining, and do something!”
Governor Wolf is not a career politician, but a former business owner who saw his opportunity to make a difference. One student posed the question, “If you could do one thing differently in your life, what would it be?” Governor Wolf responded by telling students to just “go for it,” to stop calculating what the different outcomes could be, and instead live in the moment.
Student leaders from across Penn’s campus were in attendance, such as the Chabad Student Board, Penn Dems, College Republicans, JHP interns, Students Supporting Israel, Wharton Public Policy Initiative, the Daily Pennsylvanian, ZBT, SDT, and the Penn Political Review, to name only a few!
Find photos from our events on our Facebook pages - Chabad House at Penn & Jewish Heritage Programs.
We had such an exciting week here at the Lubavitch House and are ready to unwind and relax.
Good Shabbos!
