How the Jewish holiday Purim became an American party

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Purim, which is celebrated today, is about merrymaking, dressing up and enjoying hamantaschen, the triangle-shaped pastries filled with poppy seeds and jam. This year, the pandemic might well keep most festivities within homes, or at best over Zoom – which is a far cry from its origins in the U.S.

A historian of American Judaism, Zev Eleff writes about Purim’s unique American identity, which traces back to a 19th-century lawyer who turned the occasion into a time for a fancy dress ball to generate money for orphanages and other social causes. The partying increased the visibility of Jews in the United States and, most of all, their relationship with New York’s elite class.

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Kalpana Jain

Senior Religion + Ethics Editor

The Jewish Museum’s Purim Ball at the Park Avenue Armory in 2015 in New York City. Andrew Toth/Getty Images

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How the Jewish holiday Purim became an American party

How New York’s 19th-century Jews turned Purim into an American party

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