On the holiday of Purim, which begins this evening, communal feasts and celebrations are common—or at least were before the coronavirus. But in America 150 years ago, a different custom developed. Zev Eleff writes:
The Purim story resonates with today’s American Jews. It’s packed with contemporary themes such as charges of dual loyalty. . . . With many Jews marrying outside of their religion, Purim rings relevant on the issue of intermarriage as well.
Yet, Esther’s tale was perhaps less useful in the 19th century when America’s Jews were not so visible and they weren’t as concerned about assimilation. When a group of New York Jewish socialites invented the Purim ball in the 1860s, their intention was to downplay Purim’s Persian legend. Their goal was to be the same, not different. They wanted to be counted in Manhattan’s upper crust.
In January 1860, Myer Isaacs, a lawyer and political activist, issued a proposal in the pages of the Jewish Messenger, a weekly published in his native New York by his father, Samuel Myer Isaacs. The younger Isaacs suggested “Purim night should be selected as the occasion of a good fancy-dress ball, the proceeds to be devoted to charity.” Isaacs’s assumptions about the linkage between a classy event and fundraising was typical of the “charity market” among Victorian-era elites.
Two years later, Isaacs had better luck, and from then on the Purim Ball was a grand affair held at prestigious venues. Eleff continues:
The success of New York’s Purim Ball inspired others to organize similar events. By the 1880s, it was replicated in dozens of communities. St. Louis’s Jews were very proud of their “well-regulated” masquerade ball which, they claimed was “one of the most enjoyable affairs in the society world. In 1891, the Purim program held in Philadelphia, much influenced by a local aristocratic spirit, was fashioned more like a debutante ball, a coming-of-age event for upper-class young ladies.
Read more on The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/how-new-yorks-19th-century-jews-turned-purim-into-an-american-party-155197