Purim begins tomorrow night… it is a festive holiday, a time of celebration, crazy costumes, and… drink.
On Purim, we read the Esther scroll, or Megillah, the Book of Esther that tells how Queen Esther saved the Jews of the ancient Persian Empire from the wicked Haman’s scheme to annihilate them: .
In past Purim posts, we focussed on celebration and took a look at the historic Jewish wine and liquor trade — also in relation to Jewish built heritage.
This year, we focus on the Esther scroll, and the beautiful way individual scrolls have been written out and decorated by hand.
Here, we feature an Esther Scroll displayed in the Museum of Jewish Padova, located in the former German Synagogue in Padova, Italy — in particular an illustrated parchment scroll dating from the beginning of the 18th century.
Its decoration features human figures, putti, animals, floral motifs, architecture, and narrative scenes from the Purim story — including the hanging of two chamberlains who plotted to assassinate the king, and a scene in a boudoir.
Have a beautiful Purim!
As the Gesher L’Europe section of the National Library of Israel put it: