A Magnificent Esther Scroll Written and illustrated Aryeh Leib ben Daniel of Goray, Schwelm, 1737

The Scribe:
Aryeh Leib ben Daniel, is one of the very few scribes whose evolving artistic career may be traced through the inscriptions found on his extant megillot. Originally from the town of Goray, about 60 kilometers south of Lublin, his first known scrolls were produced in Poland in the early 1730s.  In 1737, he was working in the town of Schwelm, (Germany), as attested to in the colophon of the present scroll. Sometime before 1744, Aryeh Leib immigrated to Italy and settled in the town of Brescello, and beteween 1746-1748, he is known to have produced several scrolls in Venice. 

In all, there are a total of nine known original illustrated scrolls signed by Aryeh Leib and another sixteen, unsigned but attributed to him. In addition to the various scrolls for which he was both the illustrator and the scribe, Aryeh Leib was also known to have, on at least four occasions, acted only as a scribe, copying the text of the Book of Esther onto parchment sheets that had been embellished with the engraved border designs by the renowned artist Griselini. Four of these scrolls, upon which Aryeh Leib signed his name, remain extant. 

The Program of Decoration:
In three of his earliest megillot, Aryeh Leib adorned his scrolls with painted imagery. Scenes from the Purim tale are imaginatively drawn between each column of text.  They appear as follows:

1. King Ahasuerus on his throne

2. The Feast of Ahasuerus

3. The execution of Vashti 

4. Mordecai sitting at the city gates as a courtier bows down the Haman

5. Haman parading Mordecai through the streets of Shushan on horseback. At right, drawing on a narrative element found only in the midrash, Aryeh Leib depicts Haman’s daughter pouring slop on her father from an open window

6. The Hanging of Haman

7. Mordecai and Esther writing letters to be sent to all the provinces

8. In the midst of the fifth text panel – the hanging of Haman’s ten sons

Each of the text panels is bordered by foliage, rampant lions and caryatids (female figures). An unusual scribal practice to embellish the text is also featured in this megillah – in four verses, Aryeh Leib has enlarged specific letters in successive words that spell out God’s name. This custom was initiated to express the idea that God’s hand in history can be seen even when His name does not appear in the text.

A colophon inscribed along the bottom of the sixth text panel provides the following information: Created in Schwelm by Aryeh Leib son of our teacher and Rabbi, Daniel, may he be remembered for eternal life, Thursday, the 28th of Adar Rishon (=March 1, 1737). The colophon concludes with the text “I will adorn Him in [the fulfillment of] commandments (according to the minor reckoning).” The latter phrase forms a chronogram for the year [5]497 = 1737, based on text from the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Sabbath, 133b).

This beautifully illustrated work by Aryeh Leib ben Daniel of Goray, demonstrates the early artistic style of one of the premier scribe/artists of megillot in the eighteenth century. With its expressive artistry and distinctive design, it is one of the most extraordinary scrolls to emerge before the public in recent memory.