On March 14th, Jews celebrate the festival of Purim. They commemorate the victory over the Persian government official Haman, who sought to annihilate the Jewish people. The Scroll of Esther still holds special significance in this celebration.
By Kees de Vreugd, translated from the Dutch by Marie-Louise Weissenböck
Megillat Esther is the Hebrew name for the "Scroll of Esther." There are five books in the Old Testament traditionally referred to as "scrolls": Ruth, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. They are associated with various festivals and commemorations. However, only Esther is traditionally read from a kosher scroll, that is, a parchment scroll handwritten in ink using classical Hebrew script—just like a Torah scroll. And only Esther is invariably referred to as the Scroll of Esther. This likely stems from the popularity of the story and the associated festival.
A notable difference from the Torah scroll is that the Esther scroll is rolled on one rod, while the Torah scroll has two. This is purely for practical reasons. The Torah scroll is, of course, much larger. Furthermore, a portion of it is read each week. It is therefore easier to roll it on two rods so that it can be closed where it was left off.
The Scroll of Esther, however, is actually a letter (compare Esther 9:20 and 26) and is therefore read like a letter: all at once. This happens twice on Purim: on the eve and on the morning. The scroll is first fully unrolled and neatly folded before being placed on the lectern to be read aloud. The commandment for Purim is that the Scroll of Esther must be read aloud, preferably in the synagogue. Furthermore, the reader must be heard directly, not via telephone, live stream, or microphone. When the reading is aloud, there must be absolute silence so that not a single word is lost. Absolute silence—except when the name Haman is mentioned: then as much noise as possible is made, with rattles and foot stamping, to drown out the name.
It is customary for everyone to read along, either in their own role or simply from a printed Bible. There are four passages that are read aloud by everyone together, after which the reader repeats them so that everyone has heard them. These are the four "verses of salvation.".
This article first appeared in our newspaper "Israelaktuell," issue 140. You can order the newspaper here . We would also be happy to send you several copies for distribution.
