MEGILLAT B'NEY CHASHMONAY - THE SCROLL OF THE HASMONEAN SONS

There isn’t a scroll read on Chanukah but perhaps there should be? Sofer STa"M Marc Michaels has gathered over twenty handwritten and printed manuscripts from the 13th Century onwards for this traditional text for Chanukah . also known as Megillat Antiochus. that used to be read in Italian, Yemenite and other synagogues.

Examining the variant Hebrew and Aramaic texts, he has created a new fully pointed with vowels and trope and a new with visual to add extra depth to the text. A new translation into English with explanatory notes is accompanied by a new commentary Or- LiM'norah on the text - in the style of the biblical commentators. Includes two ‘missing’ verses found in the oldest Aramaic manuscripts but expunged from later Hebrew ones.

ISBN: 978-0-9880539-0-8 Marc Michaels © 2013

SEFER BINSOA

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE INVERTED NUNS

Bamidbar  l0:35-36 is encased  between two critical marks, each  taking the form of an inverted nun, as if  they are in  parenthesis. Rabbi Y’hudah Hanasi said this is because it is an important book standing by itself.

Sofer Sta”M Marc Michaels examines this unique visual midrash providing a 

commentary to explain why Sefer Binsoa should be  considered  important and what lessons it might hold for  us today.

ISBN: 978-0-9810947-7-9 Marc Michaels © 2010

RESTORING THE TYBURN MEGILLAH

Jewish scribes don’t often encounter Roman Catholic nuns.

In a truly interfaith endeavour Mordechai Pinchas (Marc Michaels) chronicles the restoration of a manuscript of megillat Esther from the late 1700s that belongs to the nuns of the Tyburn Convent near Hyde Park.

In the book he covers the parallels between the Tyburn story and the events of the Purim story.

ISBN 978-0-9810947-7-9 Marc Michaels © 2013

THE EMPTY TORAH

The leaders of the Jewish community of Syracuse have a cunning plan. But when it backfires, it could spell doom and disaster for all the Jews in the kingdom. Will the evil Marcos get his way or will Ephraim the shamash save the day? And who is the mysterious glowing stranger standing at the foot of Ephraim’s bed?

Find out in The Empty Torah.

A modern re-telling of Megillat Saragosanus/Siracusa, commemorating the Purim of Syracuse with illustrations done in the style of medieval manuscripts and woodcuts.

ISBN 978-1-988947-04-4

Words and pictures Marc Michaels © 2018

THE TORAH IN THE WARDROBE

The History and Restoration of the Alexander Torah 

Written in 1790, the Alexander Torah has been passed down from generation to generation. Escaping the flames of Kristalnacht,  this special Torah, full of rare scribal practices, has been rescued once more by Sofer STa”M (scribe) Marc Michaels (Mordechai Pinchas).He chronicles both its travels from Thälmassingto Belsize Square and its careful restoration.

ISBN 978-1-988947-00-6 Marc Michaels © 2017

MEGILLAT HA-YESHUAH - THE SALVATION SCROLL OF THE YEMENITE JEWS

1936 - SALVATION IN YEMEN

At the bidding of the Nazis, the Mufti of Jerusalem arrives in Yemen to convince the king to destroy all of the Jews there. Rabbi Shalom sits at the side of the king and awaits a miracle. A translation  and commentary of the scroll.

ISBN: 978-0-9810947-9-3 Marc Michaels © 2008.

CARE OF YOUR TORAH

A short 19 page guide written by a Sofer STa”M (scribe) to help Synagogues care for their Torah scrolls.
With lots of useful tips and photographs showing many examples of what can make a Torah pasul (not kosher).

ISBN: 978-0-9810947-2-4 Marc Michaels © 2008