Yaakov Cohen, 21, has never read the Scroll of Esther, known in Hebrew as the megillah, before, much less in Nicaragua. But this Purim he’ll be there, scroll in hand, part of a group of 10 students volunteering in a remote village as a participant in the University of Maryland Hillel’s Alternative Spring Break program.

Cohen’s group, one of six the Hillel is sending, will be in Maryland for Saturday night’s megillah reading, but hit a quandary when it came to fulfilling the traditional obligation of hearing the megillah again on Sunday since their flight leaves before dawn. So, with the help of Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Eli Backman, he took it upon himself to fit learning how to publically read the scroll in between other obligations and three midterms.

“This is an opportunity to experience Purim in a different way,” said Cohen. “Instead of having it be standard, the way we do it every year, this year we have to actually plan it out in advance, make sure that everything’s right.”

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Backman, who directs the Chabad Jewish Student Center at the University of Maryland, taught Cohen the trope, the rules and customs he’d need to know in order to read for his group.

“I’m hoping I’ll think back on this Purim as one of the greatest in my life,” said Cohen, “in that I overcame the problem of not having a megillah, not being able to have a normal celebratory meal, and I took the initiative and not only made sure there was a kosher megillah reading, but I actually did it myself.”

Amy Weiss, Repair the World Director of Alternative Breaks at Maryland Hillel, said three years in to coordinating these programs, there’s a different challenge every year. Last year it was Daylight Savings Time, and this year, Purim.

“We’re very lucky, we have a close relationship with Chabad on Campus,” she said. “Rabbi Backman and I sat down together and thought through all the elements that need to be fulfilled and how to arrange it and he and I got on the phone.”

Between various Chabad locations and other connections, they got it all sorted out, she said. “I think we have a very diverse campus and a very diverse Jewish population here, including a very large traditional population, and I think it’s wonderful that Hillel and Chabad work together to provide many different experiences to meet those diverse needs.”

All across the country, Jewish students will be finding themselves in similar circumstances as the Maryland group, and the Chabad on Campus International Foundation, in conjunction with local Chabad Houses in popular Spring Break destinations, set up a webpage at purimspringbreak.com to direct travelling students to Purim festivities and megillah readings.

In the Maryland case, all of the 80 Alternative Spring Breakers will spread out across New Orleans, Chicago, Arizona, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and Miami, and will all have access to a daytime megillah reading wherever they’re headed. Saturday night, there will be an Alternative Spring Break send-off and megillah reading on campus, and Sunday, each location will have something different going on.

In Arizona, for example, one student’s uncle is a rabbi and they will be joining his Purim celebration. In Chicago, they’ll be joining the Chabad House at the University of Chicago, despite the fact the school is on break. A student is bringing a kosher scroll to Nicaragua, which Cohen will read from. Trips to Miami and New Orleans will be leaving later Sunday and there will be a megillah reading for them before they get on the plane.

“So that’s our around the world Purim extravaganza,” said Weiss, noting that some groups have discussed wearing costumes – a traditional Purim custom – on the plane.

Purim in the Dominican

Maryland senior Ben Goldberg, 23, is co-leading the trip to the Dominican Republic. He was relieved they had found a way to hear the megillah twice.

“Because of that obligation, I needed to make sure our trip would be hearing it for the second day as well as the night before,” he explained.

Backman offered to send someone to the airport. But then another solution emerged: He called up Rabbi Shimon Pelman, whom he’d never spoken with before. Without hesitation, the rabbi welcomed the students, and now the group will be celebrating Purim at the Chabad of the Dominican Republic.

“They’re going to see the Jewish culture, Jewish life as it is lived in the Dominican Republic,” said Backman. “It’s going to open up a whole new perspective on their trip.”

Goldberg said he’s looking forward to celebration with the Caribbean community, especially since he learned that they allegedly “go all out for Purim.” He was amazed that he could go anywhere in the world, and be welcomed with such open arms.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re going,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re coming from. There are people waiting to help you with whatever you need.”