Two Handwritten Hebrew Parchment Scrolls, with Congratulations to Nicholas II, Czar of Russia, on the Occasion of his Coronation – Russia, 1896

Two parchment scrolls with laudatory poems and accolades written in Hebrew, in honor of Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, on the occasion of his coronation ceremony, Moscow, May 14, 1896.
These scrolls – one created by the rabbi and author R. Nahum Weissblat, and the second by the author and Zionist activist, Eliezer Eliyahu Friedman – were the result of independent initiatives on the part of their authors. As such they are utterly unique, a sole example of personal gifts prepared for the Czar by private Jewish individuals, representing only themselves and not their community nor any particular organization.
Nicholas II (1868-1918), Czar of Russia, was the last monarch of the Russian Empire. His actual reign began in 1894 (although his formal coronation only took place two years later, in May, 1896) and ended with the February Revolution of 1917, an event which signaled the end of the five-hundred-year rule of the Russian czars, and the three-hundred-year reign of the House of Romanov. In July, 1918, less than a year after the October Revolution of 1917, the dethroned czar was executed by the Bolsheviks along with his entire family.
Like his father, Czar Alexander III, Nicholas II was notorious for his anti-Semitic inclinations; both emperors were responsible for provoking numerous violent riots, pogroms, and restrictive measures against Jews living throughout the great Russian Empire. Nevertheless, Jewish communities in all parts of the realm would customarily send the czar gifts in honor of all manner of events related to the Imperial House, and such events would be marked with special prayers and with words of praise and glory, in keeping with the Mishnaic dictum, “pray for the welfare of the government” (Ethics 3:2). Nevertheless, as stated above, gifts of this nature would typically be presented by communities, organizations, and institutions, and not by private individuals.
1. The First Scroll
" A Song of Praise to His Noble Highness, Our Master the Great and Gracious Emperor… Our King, Nicholas Aleksandrovich, and his wife, the Honorable Empress Aleksandra Feodorovna, and our entire Royal House." Parchment scroll written in Hebrew in honor of Czar Nicholas II and presented to him as a "Gift Offering" and token of respect on the occasion of his coronation, by "his loyal Hebrew servant, out of his love and awe… R. Nahum son of Jacob [Weissblat], native of Narodychi of the Volhynian Governorate, written in Malin of the Kiev Governorate, and [currently] residing in Berdychiv of the Kiev Governorate, as an author of famous Hebrew books."
The scroll is designed to look like a miniature Torah scroll with elegant silver rollers, written on parchment in square Ashkenazi script. It contains poems of praise and exaltation in honor of the czar, on the occasion of his coronation.
Text arranged in fifteen columns, some of them in double-width. The text includes various expressions of esteem for the Emperor and Empress in the form of poems, greetings, and expounding homilies revolving around particular verses. Throughout the work, the author demonstrates his own extraordinary literary talent, creativity, and linguistic virtuosity, perhaps best exemplified by an assortment of acrostics and large initial letters that artfully comprise the name of the czar and his praiseworthy virtues.
Inter alia: an introductory title column of sorts, revealing several details regarding the author; a geometric design made of text praising the emperor, with the first letters of each line, taken together, spelling out the (Hebrew) title "A Song of Praise, a Gift Offering to His Noble Highness, Our Master the Great and Gracious Emperor Nicholas Aleksandrovich"; texts containing homilies on the Biblical verse "My son, fear you the Lord and the King" (Proverbs 24:21), as well as on the first and last verses of the Five Books of Moses (Genesis 1:1 and Deuteronomy 34:12) – all similarly glorifying Czar Nicholas II (as well as his father, Czar Alexander III); a poem cleverly constructed from the first and last letters of the title "Our Master, the Czar Nicholas, " followed by an additional acrostic built around the words "and his wife, the Empress Aleksandra, may their Majesty be Exalted;" and still other texts. The last column forms a colophon of sorts, in which the author signs off with greetings that summarize his work, and with a final acrostic which gives his name, his father's name, and the name of his town.
The author of the scroll, Rabbi Nahum (Menahem Nahum) Weissblat (1865-1925), native of Narodychi of the Volhynian Governorate, Ukraine, was affiliated with the Hasidic sect of Chernobyl, and was the grandson of the kabbalist, Rabbi Jacob Kopel Lipschutz and great-grandson of Rabbi Jacob Kahana. While still in his twenties, Rabbi Nahum published his first halakhic works, "Pardes HaRimonim" (regarding the 613 mitzvot [precepts] of the Torah), and "Mahatzit HaShekel, " a commentary on the "Yoreh De'ah" section of the "Shulhan Arukh." These writings earned him rabbinic approbations from leading Torah scholars of the generation, including Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Spektor of Kovno. He was also famous for a number of other books, including a Hebrew calendar that extended as far as the end of the sixth millennium since the Creation (published in 1890), and was generally renowned for his extraordinary memory and his commanding mathematical skills. In 1902, he was appointed Rabbi of Kiev, and remained deeply involved in public affairs until his death.
Parchment: Approx. 9.5X130 cm. Rollers: 19 cm.
2. The Second Scroll
" Praise and blessings, a song for the day [when] the Crown of Kingship was placed on the head of Our Master the Great Emperor Nicholas Aleksandrovich, and his wife, the Honorable Empress Aleksandra Feodorovna, may their Majesty be Exalted, May 14, 1896, by Leiser Eliah son of Benjamin Friedman, Resident of Kiev."
This scroll is wrapped around a roller with a silver handle and housed in an ornate (marked) silver case, and is thus reminiscent of Esther scrolls. Engraved on the case is an image of the Two Tablets of the Law (with letters representing the Ten Commandments), alongside the Biblical verses "O Lord, in Your strength shall the king rejoice, and in Your salvation how greatly does he exult!" and "For You meet him with choicest blessings; You set a crown of fine gold on his head" (Psalms 21:2,4; the cantor of the Grand Choral Synagogue of St. Petersburg also chanted this particular chapter of Psalms at the special prayer service held to celebrate the coronation of Czar Nicholas II).
Text arranged in sixteen columns, two of them in double-width. It includes a poem of praise, with 28 verses in rhyme, written on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II. The scroll is written in the type of script traditionally used by Jewish ritual scribes, complete with the special crownlets decorating the Hebrew letters "shin/sin, " "ayin, " "tet, " "nun, " "zayin, " "gimel, " and "tsade." The said poem describes the coronation ceremony, in honor of which great crowds thronged to Moscow, including Jewish individuals who "stood… in the corner, in harmonious commotion, his [i.e., their] spirit[s] celebrating and his [i.e., their] heart[s] filled with gladness." Further on in the poem, the writer expresses a desire to see all the czar's subjects, of all nationalities, together with the "Sons of Jacob, " living in peace under his rule. He even wishes that "in peace shall he [the czar] broaden his borders." And then he once again blesses him and his wife, concluding with a "Hallelujah" dedicated to Russia and the Russian Imperial Court.
The author who composed and created the scroll, Rabbi Eliezer (Leiser) Eliyahu Friedman (1858-1937), native of Kelmė, Lithuania, was the scion of a family of great rabbis. He took up residence in Kiev in 1893, and was actively involved in Jewish community affairs there, and in the spiritual leadership of Kiev's Great Choral Synagogue. He later became one of the leaders of the "Hibat Zion" ("Lovers of Zion") movement in the city of Vilna (Vilnius), and founding editor of the daily newspaper "HaTzofeh, " published in the years 1903-1905. Following the Russian revolutions of 1917, he immigrated to Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv. Authored the book "Beit Arazim" (Berdychiv, 1896-97) on the subject of legends of the ancient Rabbinic Sages, as well as other works, including his own book of memoirs. His writings are regarded as important sources on Jewish history in the Russian Empire in general and in the city of Kiev in particular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Parchment: Approx. 11.5X101.5 cm. Case: 17.5 cm.
For more information regarding the scrolls and the circumstances of their composition, please refer to enclosed material.