Prayers for the Purim of Buda, Scribe: Gabriel ben Isaac Hai Conian (Conegliano), Padua: 1761

9 leaves (10  1/2  x 7  3/4  in.; 267 x 197 mm). Written in brown and red ink on paper  in Italian square Hebrew script, blind ruled, vocalized. Decorated title page with architectural elements and Conegliano arms and motto; f.6 blank; f.9, an added finely drawn illustration; decorative tailpieces, initial words, and divine name rendered in red ink. Lightly stained. Blind tooled mottled calf with gilt stamped corner devices; worn.

On August 20th 1684, the Jewish ghetto of Padua, Italy was attacked by angry mobs, incited by rumors that the Jews of another city, Buda (today Budapest, capital of Hungary), had aligned themselves with the Muslim Turks against the besieging Christian armies of the Holy Roman Empire. Though the Jewish quarter of Padua was sacked, loss of life was averted through the intervention of the Doge in Venice. To commemorate the narrowly averted tragedy, the Jews of Padua established a local festival, which they called "Purim of Buda." A local rabbi, Isaac Vita Cantarini (1644-1723), composed a Hebrew poem which became the centerpiece of an annual liturgical celebration; in the present manuscript, this poem is accompanied by selihot, or penitential prayers, also incorporated into the Paduan liturgy for the annual commemoration of the city's salvation. Ironically, though the Jews of Padua were spared, the Jews of Buda, for whom this special Purim celebration was named, suffered grievous losses at the hands of the invading Austrian and Venetian troops when the city eventually fell in 1686.

The decorated red and black title page indicates that the manuscript was written by Gabriel ben Isaac Hai Conian (Conegliano). An added illustration on the final leaf is a finely-drawn depiction of an elegantly appointed sukkah; below, are botanical representations of the four species traditionally associated with the Sukkot holiday.