Book of Esther returns to Turkey after rescue team took it to Israel

After being taken by an Israeli rescue team, Israel has returned a historical manuscript to Turkey following the catastrophic earthquake that hit the country on February 6. 

The Book of Esther was taken by an Israeli search and rescue team from a synagogue in Antakya, Hatay Province, which had suffered severe damage. After some negotiation with the local Jewish community, the manuscript was later sent back to Turkey, according to the Palestine Chronicle. 

The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism said that the Anti-Smuggling Department had started an investigation into the matter. The investigation will be handled in coordination with the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Later, appropriate action will be taken, WAFA News Agency reported. 

In a series of tweets posted on its official Twitter account, the Ministry of Culture emphasized how dedicated it is to protecting the historical heritage of all cultures and religions, according to the Palestine Chronicle. 

“All allegations (…) are being meticulously investigated by the Anti-Smuggling Department of our Ministry and the process is handled in coordination with our Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the ministry tweeted.

The Turkish Jewish Community said in a statement on its official Twitter account, “The relevant Esther (Book) scroll was received from Israel and is kept in our Chief Rabbinate. It will return to its home after the renovation of our Antakya synagogue,” the West Observer reported. 

The historical Esther scroll was found by the Israeli search and rescue team and then taken to Israel, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, which also shared images of a man holding the scrolls, claiming he was a member of the Israeli team.

According to Major Haim Otmazgin, a volunteer for the Israeli search and rescue group ZAKA, this antique copy of the sacred book was given to them by a local elderly Jew, who discovered it amid the rubble of the synagogue. Otmazgin explained that the man didn't want “the parchments to fall into the wrong hands and handed them over to be protected,” the West Observer reported.

The earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş, which have been called the “disaster of the century,” caused damage to the old Antakya Synagogue. The earthquake also claimed the life of Aul Cenudiolu, the president of the Antakya Jewish Community, and his wife Tuna Cenudiolu, according to the West Observer. 

It is worth noting that the historical book is named after Esther, a young Jewish lady who lived in the Persian diaspora. She won the king's favor, became a queen, and risked her life to save the Jewish people from suffering when the court official Haman had convinced the monarch to sanction a pogrom against all the Jews of the empire.

The Book of Esther is a Jewish novella that was written in the diaspora during the late Persian/early Hellenistic period (fourth century BCE). It deals with the ongoing challenges of maintaining Jewish identity and persisting to survive amid cultural stress and hostile foes in a foreign nation, according to Jewish Women’s Archive.