A megillah is excellent as a Bar Mitzvah present or as a gift for your rabbi, synagogue, or baal koreh Torah reader. HaSOFER always has Megillat Esther and megillah cases in stock and often also Shir HaShirim, Kohelet, Eicha and Ruth. Individual megillot of Nevi'im, Prophets, and Ketuvim, Writings, or a complete set, for reading the Haftorah in synagogue, is always a commission item.

What makes up the cost of a megillah?

K'tav, writing Klaf, parchment Examining the finished megillah Sewing the sections of the megillah together

The k'tav is by far the largest factor in the cost of a megillah. The exactness of the writing and its beauty determine the level of hiddur, quality of the megillah. The value of the k'tav is calculated on a standard of each column of the megillah having 42-lines of average size writing. Standard size "42-line" megillot range in price from $80 - $150 per column. Scroll down this page for more details about size standards in megillot and a chart showing the number of 42-line columns in each of the five megillot, Esther, Kohelet, Shir HaShirim, Ruth and Eicha and for each sefer of Nach.

The klaf element of the cost depends upon the quality of the parchment and the amount used in writing the megillah. Average-quality klaf costs $70 - $80 per piece of "42-line" yeriah parchment section.

Examining the megillah and sewing together the yeriot, plural of yeriah, add a small amount to the total cost, dependent to some degree on whether or not the megillah is written according to the "42-line" standard.

The 42-line column: Size standards in Megillot

The amount of parchment needed for a megillah is calculated based on the standard size yeriah that measures approximately 50 cm tall by 80 cm wide. The Shulchan Aruch, Code of Jewish Law, 272:2, specifies that a line of script of average size writing is to contain 30 letters. Average size script with 30 letters in each row produces columns having 42 lines with 3 or 4 such columns filling the standard yeriah. Thus a standard number of "42-line column" yeriot requiring a standard amount of parchment exists for each megillah: Esther, Ruth, Kohelet, Shir HaShirim and Eicha, as well as for all the Sifrei Nach, Prophets.

When the 42-line column standard is changed to produce a megillah that is shorter in height but longer in length, the amount of parchment required increases significantly. This is due to the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch in section 273:1 that every column must be completely surrounded by a proper size border of empty parchment. Thus a megillah written with only 21 lines in each column requires much more parchment than the same megillah with similar size script written with 42 lines in each column. This principle applies similarly to any change in the number of lines per column written in the standard script size. Changing the size of the script from the standard of course also affects the length of the megillah and the amount of parchment required. Such a change can also bring with it additional expense for the sofer to write a non-standard size script.

Due to the many options available in the writing of megillot and Sifrei Nach HaSOFER only carries the most popular Megillat Esther all the time. We also currently have available Shir HaShirim, Kohelet, Eicha and Ruth in the sizes and prices noted on that page. Please email us about other megillah and Sifrei Nach purchases.

Standard Amount of Parchment for Megillot and Sifrei Nach
based on the Ben Osher Tikun

Megillah/Sefer	Number of 42-line columns	Number of parchment sections required
Sefer Torah	245	65
Megillot:
Megillat Esther	10	3
Megillat Ruth	4	1
Megillat Echah	6	2
Megillat Kohelet	9	3
Megillat Shir HaShirim	4	1
Totals	33	10
Sifrei Nach:
Yehoshua	31	8
Shofetim	31	8
Shmu'el I & II	75	19
Melachim I & II	78	20
Yeshayahu	53	14
Yirmeyahu	69	18
Yehezqel	59	15
Trei Asar: Hoshea, Yo'el, Amos, Ovadya, Yona, Micha, Nachum, Habakuk, Zefanya, Haggay, Zecharya, Mal'achi	46	12
Totals	442	114
Grand Totals	720	189
Additional Megillot / Nach:
Tehillim	72	18
Mishlei	47	12
Iyov	Varies	Varies
Daniel	Varies	Varies
Ezra - Nehemiah	47	12
Divrei Hayamim	Varies	Varies

To complete your Megillah purchase don't forget to see our: