NEXT DOR
VOICE OF THE NEW JEWISH GENERATION
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WELL
Erica Meyers, Hannah Berger and Jenna Lopatin showed off their festive Purim and St. Patrick’s Day spirit.
Participants Nikki Baron and David Sable put together Mishloach Manot for fellow guests.
Purim O’Madness The Well partners with Adat Shalom Synagogue for holiday fun.
Rabbis Jeff Stombaugh of The Well (right) and Dan Horwitz of Adat Shalom Synagogue (left) put on a show with their creative Purim spiel.
RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR
W
ith multiple celebrations all happening at the same time — Purim, St. Patrick’s Day and the first round of March Madness — Rabbi Dan Horwitz of Adat Shalom Synagogue had an idea. “Dan came to us with the idea of fusing together these three holidays,” said Rabbi Jeff Stombaugh, executive director of The Well. Planning meetings and brainstorming ensued, and on March 17, The Well and Adat Shalom Synagogue presented this new Purim experience for young adults in the community at the Whiskey Factory in Detroit. “It was quite special having the chance to collaborate for the first time since returning to Metro Detroit with Rabbi Jeff and The Well team,” Horwitz said. Attendees enjoyed Irish whiskey and watched the games on large pro-
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jector screens provided by StarTrax. Horwitz said there was a great turnout and people were happy to be out and about socializing with COVID cases on the decline. “Since Purim is a holiday where mask-wearing isn’t uncommon as part of costumes, the ‘mask-optional’ approach was well received,” he said. “It was a nice showcase of what it can be like for The Well to partner with with the synagogue,” Stombaugh said. “I loved having the chance to flex our creative muscles together to create a celebration that simply felt great, had robust Jewish content, embraced celebrating life, and that was likely the only Purim experience most of the attendees had this year,” added Rabbi Dan.
Friends Tzvi Tanenbaum, Audrey Bloomberg, Steven Davis, Jacob Krause, Miriam Horwitz, Rabbi Dan Horwitz and Brooke Bendix enjoyed reuniting and catching up.
Visit www.meetyouatthewell.org for info. The crowd enjoyed watching the first round of March Madness games on large projector screens provided by StarTrax.
