"Ish Yehudi Haya BeShushan" – decorated, handwritten leaf for Purim. [Persian Kurdistan, late 19th century or early 20th century].
Ink and paint on paper.
Outer frame decorated with flowers, leaves and vases. A second frame is composed of the text "Ish Yehudi Haya BeShushan…". The center of the leaf is occupied by the piyyut "Tenu Shira VeZimra – Yedidim Barchu", inscribed in two columns within a decorative frame. The Jews of Kurdistan used to sing this piyyut before reading the Megillah. The Megillah blessings are written at the end of the piyyut.
A similar leaf is described by the researcher and bibliographer Dr. Manfred R. Lehmann in Sinai (Issue 98, 1986, pp. 74-75): "The piyyut Yedidim Barchu… was hitherto unknown. It was written on parchment sheets for Purim and decorated in color with passages from the Megillah. I recently purchased such a sheet from an Arab merchant in the Old City in Jerusalem". The text of the piyyut on this leaf is more accurate than the text published by Lehmann.
[1] leaf. 43 cm. Frame: 46X32 cm. Stains and traces of past dampness, tears and wear. Unexamined out of frame.
See: "Light and Shadows – The Story of Iran and the Jews", exhibition catalog (Beit HaTfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People, Tel-Aviv, 2010), pp. 48-49.