This is a postcard from the end of the nineteenth century which features an illustration by Hermann Junker of a Jewish family in Germany celebrating Purim. The postcard is titled “Purim Children’s Masquerade” and depicts a Purim party being celebrated in a family’s living room. In the centre of the illustration, a smiling man is sitting in a chair being entertained by a man in a hat and mask playing the violin and a costumed child who is dancing in front of him. Standing and observing are also a woman, perhaps his wife, and a young girl. A baby is sitting on the floor next to him, and other visitors are sitting around the dining room table. In the foreground of the picture are other people wearing masks and a cat. A maid is standing in the back of the room, smiling. The room is finely decorated, implying that this is a wealthy family. The mood in the room is very festive, and everyone seems to be having a good time.
Would You Like to Know More?
Purim - Purim is celebrated on the 14 Adar as the day the Jewish people were saved from destruction during the fourth century BCE. The heroine of the Purim story, Queen Esther, worked together with her uncle, Mordechai, to reverse the decree of genocide issued against the Jewish people by Haman, the vizier of Persia. It is the tradition on Purim to dress up in costumes, distribute small food packages known as mishloach manot, give charity, and listen to the reading of the Megilla – the Book of Esther.
Hermann Junker – Hermann Junker (1838–1899) was a German painter who followed in the footsteps of his teacher, Moritz Oppenheim. Junker strived to show German Jews as an integral part of the overall society. He was less interested in showing the reality of German Jews of the time but rather in portraying an idealized and nostalgic version of Judaism.
German Jews in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries – After many centuries of oppression, segregation from the general population, and poverty, the German Jewish community went through major changes. Germany, together with other European countries, began to adopt liberal ideas about religious equality and civil emancipation. This was also the time of Enlightenment, and many German Jews received a secular education and began to integrate into general German society. The late eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries mark the transition of the Jews to modernity and the integration of many into Germany’s cultural, scientific, and financial elite. Moses Mendelssohn is an example of an Enlightenment thinker who aspired to bringing secular culture into Jewish life. These social changes also brought about a transformation in the identity and practices of the German Jews, as exemplified in a famous saying of the time: “Be a man abroad and a Jew in your tent.” Due to these changes, this period saw both the foundation of Orthodox Judaism and the birth of the Reform Movement in Germany, a movement that aimed to adapt traditional Judaism to modern times. This period did not, however, see an end to the discrimination or riots against the Jews, as can be seen by the 1819 Hep Hep riots, tax legislation against Jews, severe limitations on marriages, dismissals from public office, anti-Semitic literature and preaching, more. This discrimination led to many Jews emigrating, in particular to the United States.
