The term “historical writings” is used as a general term for the works in Ketuvim that don’t fit into the categories of the Sifrei Emet (Psalms, Proverbs, and Job) or the Five Megillot (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther). This leaves Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Daniel. These books are fascinating, strange, and deeply under-studied, and I’ve wanted to increase our reading and analysis of these books for a long time, at least since I designed a cantillation system for them back in 2018.
This is a cycle of readings from the historical writings assigned to holidays in the Jewish calendar. They could be read according to the system I designed or any personal preference — in Syrian practice, for instance, readings from these books are read with the same cantillation system as used for Ruth.
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Festival/Commemorative Day | Historical Writings |
---|---|
Pesaḥ First Days | II Chronicles 35:1-18 |
Pesaḥ Last Days | Ezra 6:19-7:10 |
Shavuot | Nehemiah 10:1-11:2 |
9 Av, Tsom Gedalyah, 10 Tevet, and 17 Tammuz | II Chronicles 35:25-36:21 |
1 Elul | Daniel 4:26-34 |
Rosh haShanah | Nehemiah 8:2-12 |
Yom Kippur | Daniel 9:1-20 |
Sukkot Festival Day | Nehemiah 8:13-18 |
Shemini Atseret | II Chronicles 7:1-18 |
Sigd | Nehemiah 9:1-37 |
Ḥanukkah (Day 1) | Ezra 6:1-18 |
Zōt Ḥanukkah (Day 8) | Daniel 11:21-45 |
Tu biShvat | Daniel 3:31-4:25 |
Taanit Esther and Purim | Ezra 4:1-6, 5:1-2 |
This is the schedule for the reading of the historical writings in the TaNaKh corresponding to Festivals and Commemorative Days, according to the practice of Isaac Gantwerk Mayer.
“Schedule for the Reading of Historical Writings corresponding to Festivals and Commemorative Days, according to Isaac Gantwerk Mayer” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.
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