Just In Time For Purim: Israel Receives One Of The World's Oldest Scrolls Of The Book Of Esther

 

"To confirm that these days of Purim should be observed
at their appointed times, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther
had commanded the Jews, they ordained for themselves
and for their descendants in the matter of their fasts
and their lamenting.  And the command of Esther
confirmed these observances of Purim,
and it was written in the book."
Esther 9:31-32

This 15th century Megillah from the Iberian Peninsula recently arrived in Israel just in time for

the holiday of Purim when the Book of Esther is read by Jews around the world.

The National Library of Israel in Jerusalem recently received one of
the world's oldest copies of the Megillah, The Book of Esther.
According to a report from CBN News, this gifted scroll dates back 
 to the Iberian Peninsula around the year 1465, before the Jews were
expelled from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century.

A scribe from that time carefully wrote the Megillah in brown ink
on the leather scroll.  During the holiday of Purim, Jews from around
the world read the young Jewess named Hadassah, who became Esther,
 the Queen of Persia, and who, through her faith in the Living God of
Israel, saved her people from the wicked plan devised by
Haman, the Agagite adviser to her husband, King Ahasuerus,
 which called for the annihilation of all the Jews 
 residing within the Persian Empire.

The scroll was donated to the library by a private family.