Israeli artist sets Guinness World Record for longest megillah scroll

Gabe Friedman

Avner Moriah said it took him 15 years to complete the “Ganze Megillah.” (Rahn Sas)

(JTA) — It’s the whole megillah, and more.

This month an Israeli artist broke the Guinness World Record for longest megillah, the scroll that tells the story behind the Purim holiday.

Avner Moriah’s creation is 28.03 meters long, just about the exact length of a basketball court. He laid it out on a court for press photos earlier this month.

Moriah said in a statement that it took him “15 years, tens of thousands of hours of work, and more than one million brushstrokes” to complete it.

He calls it the “Ganze Megillah,” “ganze” a Yiddish idiom for “the whole story.”

A view of Moriah’s megillah spanning an entire basketball court. (Rahn Sas)