Among the millions of items in the National Library’s collections are also hundreds of Esther scrolls – the largest in the world. Some of which are particularly ancient and rare, that tell the story of Jewish communities throughout Europe and Eastern Jewry. As the nation marks Purim, the National Library provides a rare glimpse into part of the collection.
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The Azores Megillah (Image Source: NLI)
The Azores Megillah at the National Library of Israel provides beautiful and early textual evidence of Jewish life in the Azores.
Measuring just 12.7 cm (5 in) in height, this exquisite scroll was written in the 19th century and dedicated to David Sabach [i.e. Sabath], a well-known member of the Azorean Jewish community and a man eulogized as having great Torah knowledge. He was born prior to 1847, probably in Sao Miguel, Azores and died in 1915 in Portugal.
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The Azores Megillah came to the National Library of Israel as part of the famed Valmadonna Trust Library, the finest private collection of Hebrew books and manuscripts in the world, which was purchased jointly by the National Library of Israel and archaeology, book and Judaica collectors Dr. David and Jemima Jeselsohn through a private sale arranged by Sotheby’s.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
