English: In this A.M. 5528 [1768 CE] parchment, Jekuthiel Sofer emulated decalogue at the Esnoga. Copied from other similar versions in Amsterdam. In Schrijver's catalogueː "Thick parchment, soiled, especially along the edges. No distinction between hair and flesh sides, Black ink, 612 x 502 mm. There is a blind horizontal ruling for all texts, besides two blind vertical boundary lines for the main columns. No signs of pricking appear. Beautiful monumental Sephardic square script in two different sizes; all letters are crowned. The tetragram, which occurs once [ǃ twice], consists of two yods followed by the upward stroke of the alef lamed ligature.
Decorationː Text written in two columns, symbolizing the Tablets of the Law. All main texts areas (two for the introductory text, two for the columns and two for the colophon) are surrounded by rich multi-colored floral borders, executed in watercolors and tempera. Between the two text columns, there is a wide 'pillar' consisting of flowers and beautiful brown butterflies, topped by a golden crown, symbolizing the Keter Torah. Judging from the abbreviation at the end of the first part of the chronogram in the colophon, the decoration was applied first, as otherwise the necessity to abbreviate would be inexplicable.
TextːThe arrangement of the texts of the commandments over the two columns is of interest, as it is almost identical with that of the recently restored Ten Commandments of the Hekhal, the Aron haqodesh, in the Amsterdam Portuguese synagogue, and not very common. The more common abbreviated forms of the first five commandments are: אנכי, לא יהיה, לא תשא, זכור, כבד;here (and in the Portuguese synagogue), however, the arrangement is as followsː אנכי, לא יהיה,לא תעשה, לא תשא, זכור, כבד i.e., as if there were eleven commandments.
Stamped on the back: 'Die Hohe Schule I Aufienstelle Frankfurt a.M. I (Institut zur
Erforschung der Judenfrage) I Bildstelle.'
Evaluationː Jekutiel ben Isaac Sofer is one of the best-known Amsterdam Hebrew scribes of the eighteenth century. In the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana alone, eight manuscripts by him are preserved. Whether Jekutiel also decorated this sheet is uncertain, but it is not very probable; it seems logical that, if such were the case, he would have written the text first. Besides, many of his other manuscripts are not decorated at all. Regardless, on the basis of his calligraphy alone, Jekutiel ben Isaac's work can easily be compared to that of many of his Northern German and Bohemian and Moravian contemporaries."