The Purim Ball

 The Purim Ball

May is Jewish-American Heritage Month. An early founder of the local Jewish community is Jacob Bodenheimer, who took advantage of opportunities in the newly-formed frontier parish of Bossier in the 1840s. Jacob had been born in Europe, likely Germany, but the location is not certain and neither is his date of birth, thought to be around 1810. His port of entrance to the United States was unspecified in his naturalization documents, though family lore says it was New Orleans.

Jacob Bodenheimer (c.1810's-1864)

 He was a traveling peddler of high-end wares and eventually opened a mercantile business in the town of Bellevue, Bossier Parish’s first parish seat. He married Eliza Weil, herself a Jewish European immigrant. The couple raised a family while also operating a hotel in Bellevue. Jacob’s hotel served the needs of attorneys who traveled to do business in the rural parish seat, and the Bodenheimers operated a livery and the stage coach depot, as well. On top of all these ventures, Jacob served briefly as Mayor of Bellevue.

Bodenheimer enthusiastically encouraged Jewish settlement in    the area, praising the region’s virtues in his correspondence with family and friends. Jacob’s niece and nephew, Fanny and Lazarus Bodenheimer, came to Bellevue in 1851. Jacob gave Lazarus his first job, probably as a clerk in the store.

 Jewish worship in private homes in nearby Shreveport began in the 1840s. Though no record shows Jacob owning property or living there, Jacob was noted as a founding member of Shreveport’s Jewish community. For a Jewish service to be held at that time, a quorum of ten men needed to gather to form a minyan, so likely he would have traveled across the river. Some congregations now allow women to make up the minyan.

Jewish residents in Shreveport maintained friendly relations with their non-Jewish neighbors during the Civil War and in the years that followed. The holiday of Purim commemorates the defeat of Haman's plot to massacre the Jews as recorded in the book of Esther. Dates of the festival vary according to Jewish calendar, but it is observed in the spring. In the upcoming year it will be celebrated Monday, March 6, 2023 through Tuesday, March 7, 2023.

Purim is sometimes called Jewish Mardi Gras, or even Halloween, although those descriptions lack the nuances of the holiday’s meaning. Purim’s traditions of drinking, costuming, and farce offer opportunities for challenging the religious system, but in a controlled structure. At the same time, consequences of losing control or behaving “outside the norms” are balanced by customs of giving charity (Tzedakah) and special gifts to friends and neighbors (Mishloach Manot).

An inter-religious Purim Ball in Shreveport was held annually from at least 1872 to 1882. However, a Purim Ball was advertised as early as March 11, 1868 in Shreveport’s South-Western newspaper. At an event hosted by the Young Men’s Hebrew Benevolent Association, the newspaper reporter stated, “The dance was kept up until the small hours of the morning, when all retired much pleased with the night’s enjoyments.” The writer said hopefully, “May the members of the Association live to give many more such entertainments to their friends.”

In 1872, the Shreveport Times reported that “our amusement loving Israelitish citizens are inaugurating a novelty in Shreveport.” In March 14 of 1872, the paper stated that this ball “will be the grandest affair ever before seen in this community. We have had plenty of balls here before, but a masked ball is something new and it takes like wildfire with our fun-loving community.” The writer also recommended

that as additional incentive to attend, potential revelers and costumers should take a look in the window of P.F.L. Frank’s Jewelry Store to see the two prizes, one for best costumed lady and one for best costume on a gentleman. Newspaper stories about the Purim balls show that to win one of the coveted prizes, a ball-attendee will likely need to be willing to act their part, and not just dress it! In 1875, “Captain Levy,” likely Simon Levy, the partner of Lazarus Bodenheimer and son-in-law of Jacob Bodenheimer, was listed as a judge of the costume contest.

As is Purim tradition, revelry was not the only object of the festivities, but also charity. The Times in March of 1873 reported of the ball, “The proceeds will be devoted to a most commendable object, and Jew and Gentile should be prompt to contribute to it.” The article doesn’t say to what object, but other Shreveport Purim balls have mentioned the money raised went to places such as orphanages, the Touro Infirmary in New Orleans, or a synagogue building project.

The event became a highlight of the Shreveport social calendar for the following decade. In its heyday, the Purim balls and feasts offered the Jewish community a chance to share their culture as well as promote fellowship between different groups. The ball of 1877 featured an opera depicting the Purim story performed by a company from Marshall, Texas, with the king and queen named Ahasuerus and Esther straight out of the story. The 1875 ball was apparently such a delight that the writer in the Shreveport Times of 28 March (with questionable appropriateness) admitted to feeling strangely grateful for the vile villain Haman, as the commemoration his defeat became the source of so much amusement.

It is uncertain why the public Purim Balls came to an end, but in ensuing years, Shreveporters tended to celebrate the holiday privately within the Jewish community and its congregations.

If you have any information, stories, or photos about the Bossier Parish Jewish community or the Bodenheimer family, we would love to add to our History Center’s research collection. Contact us at 318-746-7717 or email history-center@bossierlibrary.org

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Article by: Pam Carlisle