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The Saragossa Scroll
A rare 18th century-style scroll written in
the Moroccan style
Written to commemorate an event in the Spanish city of
Saragossa on 17 Shvat 5140 (2 February 1380) or 5160
(22 January 1400) during the reign of Pedro IV or Alfonso
V of Aragon. It relates that when the king, whom the scroll
calls Saragossanus, arrived in the city, its Jews went out
to greet him carrying Torah scrolls from the city’s twelve
synagogues. At some point, the community rabbis decided
that, in order to maintain the scrolls’ sanctity, they would
hold a reception with only the scrolls’ covers wrapped
in parchment. The Torah scrolls would stay in the
synagogues. A convert names Marcus heard about this
and informed the king The king was furious, but decided
not to punish the Jews until he verifying if the accusation
was true. He headed towards Saragossa, accompanied by
Marcus, and when the Jews came out to receive him, he
would unexpectedly order the scroll covers to be opened
and see whether there was truth in the matter.
The night before the king’s visit, the Prophet Eliyahu
appeared in a dream of all twelve synagogue sextons, and
ordered them to return the Torah scrolls to their covers.
The next day, when the king unexpectedly ordered the
covers to be opened, the scrolls were inside. The king
ordered Marcus to be hanged and the Jewish committee
was saved.
The scroll comprises ten pages, each beginning with
the letter “vav” and decorated with special and rare
illustrations.
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