14

Beno's great-grandfather was the first owner of the Megillat Esther scroll. The way the scroll was written is actually quite unique and rare, giving it the designation of a "HaMelech Scroll." The script was carefully planned and executed so that the first word of every page of text begins with the Hebrew word "HaMelech," meaning "the king." While nothing is known about the circumstances under which Beno's great-grandfather acquired the scroll, we do know that he lived in Įorlu, where generations of Eskenazis had lived before him. The scroll itself also originates in Įorlu.

15

In 1891, Beno's father Albert was the last of the Eskenazis to be born in Įorlu. When Albert was a young boy, only a handful of Jewish families resided in Įorlu and anti-Semitism was rampant. The family was a part of the congregation of the Įorlu Synagogue. In 1940, Albert's father moved the family to Istanbul, taking the scroll with him. The original owner of the scroll had passed away in 1905. The other Jews of Įorlu also disappeared over time.

16

The Įorlu Synagogue
1990
Įorlu, Turkey

17

Today, the synagogue has been converted into a mosque and is used as a place of worship by local Muslims.

18

The Eskenazi Family
1921
Istanbul, Turkey

19

Beno Eskenazi: "This picture shows my father, his parents, grandmother, his brother and sister and young brother and it is taken about 1921."

Albert left Turkey as a young man and went to Argentina. He subsequently relocated to Cuba, where his other brothers had already settled. Around 1921, after about seven successful years in Cuba, he returned to Turkey in order to retrieve his parents and bring them back to his new home. Yet his parents had different ideas about Albert's life plans and they prevented him from leaving again. They gave him a share of their business and they found him a wife.

20

Prayer Books
1923
Printed in Vienna for distribution in Istanbul

21

Albert and Rachel were married in 1923. On the occasion of their marriage, Albert gave Rachel a set of three beautiful prayer books. Recently, in March of 2005, the Eskenazis donated these prayers books to the Aron Museum. The inscriptions that mark the inside cover of each book and the wear of each page reveals that Rachel used the books consistently for all of her prayers.

The prayers are written in both Hebrew and Ladino, also known as Judeo-Spanish. Beno Eskenazi explains that the sound of Ladino is similar to Spanish: "We speak Judeo-Spanish. Other Jews call it Ladino to distinguish between Jewish and our language - that is, between Yiddish and our language. We call it Jewish too, but our Jewish is, we'll call it Ladino for now, but it's Judeo-Spanish. It came with the expulsion from Spain in 1492 and they were welcomed into Turkey, along with Holland and other countries. And the Judeo-Spanish has lasted so well in the five centuries or more because Jews that moved into Turkey never wanted to assimilate with the Turks, neither culturally nor otherwise. So the only part of the world where Judeo-Spanish is still spoken is among ten to fifteen thousand Jews in Turkey, and maybe 100, 000 in Israel. The American Sephardis which amount to at least 100, 000 have stopped using the language, but they are teaching it in higher education schools in Israel so that the language will not die." (Translated from Ladino)

22

Despite the anti-Semitism that pervaded Turkey, the Eskenazis persisted in practicing their religion and safeguarding the Megillat Esther scroll. Beno Eskenazi had his Bar Mitzvah, the ceremony that marks a young person's entry into adulthood, in Istanbul in 1939. Years later, his sons celebrated their B'nai Mitvah in Montreal. More recently, one of Beno and Goldie's grandchildren had his Bar Mitzvah at the Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom.

23

Goldie and Beno Eskenazi with Beno's sister Nina Modiano
2005
Montreal, Quebec

24

Throughout these celebrations, the Megillat Esther scroll remained in the family's possession. In Turkey, it had been kept in a special wooden cabinet. That cabinet was transported to Montreal, where it continued to display the family heirloom.

25

In 2003, when the Aron Museum was undergoing renovations, the Eskenazis decided to remove the scroll from their cabinet and donate it to the Temple, where it is now on display for the entire Montreal community to appreciate.