Decorated Miniature Esther Scroll [Jerusalem: ca.1920]

Scroll (1 x 84 in.; 25 x 2140 mm). Gouache, ink and shell gold on parchment. 40 columns of 7 lines in square Hebrew script, with tagin, on 5 membranes. Text columns separated by variously colored tortile pillars, some illuminated with gold highlights and each surmounted by berries and foliage; underneath each text column are pairs of fish, alternately rendered in reds and greens and embellished with gold highlights. Housed in a silver with case decorated with rococo scrolls; raised on three legs, one detached.

In this charming miniature Esther scroll, the vibrant colors of the columnar elements and the recurring motif of paired fish along the lower border, fill the entire length of the megillah. The fish are in fact intrinsically connected to the Purim story described in the minuscule text. According to the midrash, when the wicked Haman formulated his plot against the Jews, he sought out the most auspicious time to carry out his murderous designs. The midrash explains that Haman actually consulted with the various Signs of the Zodiac. Pisces, whose symbol is the pair of fish (featured so prominently in this scroll), was the only constellation which according to Haman's interpretation, made unfavorable predictions as to the fate of the Jews, indicating that they would be swallowed like fish. Accordingly, Haman chose the month of Adar because of its astronomical correlation with Pisces, as the most appropriate time to attack them.  God, incensed at the effrontery of Haman in planning to destroy the Jews declared, "Fish are sometimes swallowed, but sometimes they swallow as well, and you Haman, shall be swallowed by the swallowers."  The well-known denouement of the Purim story reveals that the events of Adar were inverted, transforming it into a month associated with joy and celebration, as exemplified in the rabbinic axiom: mi-she-Nikhnas Adar, Marbim be-Simha,  "when Adar arrives, joy increases."