SCROLL OF ESTHER IN SILVER CASE Bezalel School, Jerusalem, ca. 1925

Case: Central section embossed with scenes from Story of Esther in two registers at either end, tapered section decorated with filigree bands and Stars of David. Ball finial; short stem with ball terminal. 7 5/8” Scroll pull marked. See Israel Museum catalogue, “Bezalel”, no. 21, p. 266 Scroll: Hamelech type, Ashkenazi script. Dedication on first panel (in black ink with red and blue highlights): “To Pierre van Paassen. Indomitable fighter for justice and freedom...Committee for a Jewish Army, Midwestern Division, Chicago, Illinois, June 2, 1942.”

Perre van Paassen (1895-1968), a Dutch-born Calvinist writer and journalist, formed a strong “attachment to the Jewish people and the Land of Israel after his first visit to Palestine in 1925.” (EJ, Vol XVI, col. 68). He wrote at length in his support of Zionism and headed the US Committee for a Jewish Army. (See aslo Lot 191)