Scroll of the Book of Esther

At the beginning of the month of Tammuz 5349 [began June 15, 1589], in order not to remain idle, I began to give lessons in Torah to the son of Manasseh Levi of blessed memory and to Joseph the son of…

“Blessed be He who shows loving kindness to the undeserving, for he requited me with every kindness” in the dead of night, on Monday, in the early morning of the 9th of Kislew…

I record how, in the year 1625, the Grand Duke came to Sienna, and Messer Abraham Pesaro and Messer Buonaventura Gallichi were appointed to collect the levy. From me, they demanded a pair of sheets, a…

But take heed, blind Pharisees, what you say! For though your hearts be full of malice and cunning yet, being without light, your tongues betray you. Suppose I was a Christian, what then would you say…

I was born in July, 1626, in the French city of Tartas to my father Christopher de Lis and my mother Elisabeth de Pas. She nursed me with her own milk, taught, educated, and held me on her own lap…