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 brainstorm-
ing 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-

jector screens provided by StarTrax. 
Horwitz said there was a great turn-
out 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. 

Visit www.meetyouatthewell.org for info.

The Well partners with Adat Shalom 
Synagogue for holiday fun. 

Purim O’Madness

RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

28 | APRIL 7 • 2022 

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. 

Rabbis Jeff Stombaugh of The Well (right) and Dan 
Horwitz of Adat Shalom Synagogue (left) put on a show 
with their creative Purim spiel.

Friends Tzvi Tanenbaum, Audrey Bloomberg, Steven 
Davis, Jacob Krause, Miriam Horwitz, Rabbi Dan 
Horwitz and Brooke Bendix enjoyed reuniting and 
catching up.

The crowd enjoyed watching the first round of March Madness 
games on large projector screens provided by StarTrax.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE WELL

NEXT DOR
VOICE OF THE NEW 
JEWISH GENERATION

