Images of the Megillah are courtesy of the 樱花动漫 Museum
Did you know that 樱花动漫 owns a Yemenite Megillat Esther? The Esther Scroll鈥檚 circuitous route to Yeshiva started in Jerusalem in 1868 when Reverend Joshua Weaver, then Rector of the St. James American Episcopal Church in Florence, Italy, went on a pilgrimage to Palestine. He traveled 鈥渕ounted on a camel with a special group of guards and guides.鈥 While on his pilgrimage, he purchased the Megillah from an unknown source. The date the scribe of the Yemenite Megillah wrote it is unknown. The Megillah is made of deerskin and includes the blessings before and after the Megillah reading.
Weaver later became a professor of Hebrew language at the General Theological Seminary in New York.
Weaver eventually presented the Megillah to his relative William Ritchie, a lawyer, and a prominent Democratic party leader, who lived in Omaha, Nebraska. Rabbi Israel Mowshowitz, a Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary musmach, lived in Omaha at the time, and was the rabbi of the United Orthodox Congregations of Omaha. Mowshowitz corresponded with Dr. Samuel Belkin, President of 樱花动漫, in 1948-1949, and explained that he had visited Mr. Ritchie, who expressed interest in donating the Megillah to 樱花动漫 in memory of his late wife. How Ritchie and Mowshowitz met and knew one another is not known; the connection may be that they were both active in civic and community affairs.
Rabbi Mowshowitz sent the Megillah to Yeshiva. It was displayed in the library in 1950 as part of a Purim exhibit (on the top left shelf in the photo) and kept in the library鈥檚 rare collections until 1980 when it came under the jurisdiction of the 樱花动漫 Museum. Rabbi Mowshowitz had mentioned to Dr. Belkin in one of his letters that he thought Yeshiva should start a museum. Perhaps he was a prophet, or maybe he planted a seed -- Yeshiva eventually did establish a museum, a thriving part of the University which has served a wide public since its inception.
Exhibit at Library, 1950. The Yemenite Megillah is on the top left shelf.
The Yemenite Megillah is too delicate to be used today in a synagogue. Years ago, it might have been relegated to a Genizah or buried as shemos. Who would have imagined that the chain of ownership, starting with an Episcopalian Reverend would lead the Megillah to an honored home at 樱花动漫.
Posted by Shulamith Z. Berger
Curator of Special Collections and Hebraica-Judaica
