Chabad's Athens headquarters are tucked slightly in the alley at 33 N. Court St., a location that was quite the party scene Tuesday night. Costume-clad attendees danced to music as crumbs from tasty cookies politely littered the floor of the room dressed in an elaborate Hollywood theme. The reason for the vibrant occasion? Purim.
According to Chabad's website, Purim is a celebrative holiday recognizing the book of Esther. This year, Purim began Monday, March 6, at sundown and continued through Tuesday, March 7. On Purim, the entire Megillah, the book of Esther, is read twice, which was done in Hebrew by Rabbi Levi Raichik at Chabad, once Monday night and once Tuesday during the day. The Megillah tells the story of King Ahasuerus from the Persian Empire and his wife, Esther, who was Jewish and saved the Jewish people.
Ahasuerus held a beauty pageant to find his queen and selected Esther, who did not disclose her Jewish identity to him. Esther's cousin, Mordechai, was the leader of the Jewish people in the nation and was targeted by Haman, Ahasuerus' prime minister or advisor.
"(Haman) did not like Jews and especially more high because he wouldn't bow down to him," said Molly Cohen, a sophomore studying communications and co-president of Chabad. "Haman wants Mordecai and all the Jews to suffer, so he wants to kill them."
Haman convinced Ahasuerus to order the mass murder of all Jews on the 13th of Adar, the official month of joy in the Jewish calendar. With convincing from Mordechai, Esther bravely revealed her Jewish identity to the king, causing Haman to be hanged instead of the Jews.
"The main kind of idea is 'hidden' because G-d's name isn't ever mentioned in the story," Cohen said. "So it's kind of like saying you might not always see Him, but you know, He's there."
Cohen said Purim is a huge celebration, and Chabad lives up to the occasion. Chabad holds a huge party each year on the second night of Purim. Lexi Simmerson, a junior studying special education, serves as the social chair for Chabad and said Tuesday's event has been in the works for nearly two months.
"Something I'm really looking forward to is kind of everything coming together because we've been working on this for like two months now, putting in a lot of hard work and time," Simmerson said. "So I think seeing all the decorations and food and all the people filling the room will really be super special."
Simmerson said this year's theme is Hollywood, and Chabad executive board members have been helping set up, decorate and cook for the past two weeks. Cohen said that last week, Chabad held an event where they made hamantaschen cookies, a Purim tradition, in preparation.
"Hamantaschen cookies are triangles and they have filling in the middle," she said. "They're so good. It's also tradition to gift friends food, so we had a sisterhood event last week where we made hamantaschen and we made little gift bags to give to our friends."
There is a lot of sharing with others at Purim, including non-Jewish friends. Simmerson said each Chabad member could bring two or three guests, which she loves as it allows non-Jewish loved ones to share the celebration.
"Something that I love about Purim is that we get to share our traditions and this part of our lives with all of our friends who are not Jewish," she said. "I really love that because I know that my friends who aren't Jewish love coming and seeing my Jewish values and traditions and we get to share that. I think that's super special."
Last year, Simmerson fondly remembered bringing her parents to the Purim party. She said she loved how they could witness her life at Ohio University and in Chabad.
Cohen also attended last year's event and said it was a great experience.
"It was just a lot of fun," Cohen said. "We had a DJ, a photo booth and you dress up in costumes. Last year, I was a cow and my friends were cowboys or cowgirls."
According to Chabad's website, people dress in costumes in an allusion to the theme within the Megillah of hidden miracles. Cohen said she went in a dual costume with a friend this year. Cohen was Fiona and her friend was Shrek. The pair painted their faces green in complete commitment to the look.
Simmerson said she revised a Purim costume from her youth, explaining she used to dress up for Jennifer Lopez every year when she was young because of her love for the actress. With the Hollywood theme this year, the opportunity to nod to her former self was too good to pass up.
"I'm dressing as Jennifer Lopez because she's my favorite," she said. "I'm reenacting my same costume. I'll do a little before and after picture."
While Simmerson and Cohen both have family traditions from home, they are excited to celebrate on campus.
"I think that my Jewish community here values all of our traditions," she said. "Whether it's coming in costume or having certain food and drinks or having certain games we make sure to incorporate that into our party so that everybody's traditions are validated."
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