Υγρομαντεια | The Hygromancy of Solomon (ca. 5th c. CE)
Contributed by: Emily Kesselman (art & transcription), Pablo A. Torijano (translation), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A guide to the activities one might engage upon in every hour of the week corresponding with their ruling planet, numinous and cthonic power. . . .
Reconstruction of a Greek text of the Shabbat Amidah preserved in the Constitutiones Apostolorum (circa 380 CE), by Dr. David Fiensy
Contributed by: David Fiensy, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
This is a reconstruction of a sabbath liturgy for the Tefillah of the Amidah, at least in some variant of its public recitation, in Greek and preserved in an early Christian work, the Constitutiones Apostolorum (Apostolic Constitutions), a Christian work compiled around 380 CE in Syria. Several prayers derived from Jewish sources appear in the Apostolic Constitutions and they can be found grouped together and labeled “Greek” or “Hellenistic Syanagogal Works” in collections of apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. Because explicitly Christian references appeared to be added onto a pre-existing text with familiar Jewish or “Old Testament” themes and references, scholars in the late 19th century were already suggesting that as many as 16 of the prayers in the Apostolic Constitutions books 7 and 8 were derived from Jewish prayers. A more modern appraisal was made by Dr. Fiensy and published in Prayers Alleged to Be Jewish (Scholars Press 1985). Based on a careful analysis of the prayers, he concludes that the only prayers which can be identified as Jewish with certainty are those found in sections 33-38 of book 7. . . .
The Story of Gedalyah, as told by Titus Flavius Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews
Contributed by: Ralph Marcus (translation), Titus Flavius Josephus, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The story of Gedaliah as recorded by Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities. . . .
Ὑμνεῖν με δεῖ τὸν θεόν | “I Must Praise God,” excerpted from the Discourses of Epictetus by Rabbi Morrison David Bial
Contributed by: Morrison David Bial, Epictetus the Stoic, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A short discourse on the necessity for prayer by the Stoic philosopher, Epictetus. . . .
אָבִינוּ יִתְקַדֵּשׁ | Avinu Yitqadesh, a rabbinic Hebrew translation of the Lord’s Prayer by Shem Tov ibn Shaprut (14th c.)
Contributed by: Shem Tov ibn Shaprut (translation), Mattai ben Alphaeus haLevi, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
A rabbinic Hebrew translation of the “Lord’s Prayer.” . . .
מגילת ניקנור | Megillat Niqanor (Ⅱ Maccabees, chapters 13-15), a reading for the Day of the Elephantarch
Contributed by: Unknown, Jason of Cyrene, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
It is challenging to think of how to mark Nicanor Day, as it remains at a disadvantage, not only on years when it conflicts with Ta’anit Esther but on all years since it has no mitzvot. This is probably the main reason that, unlike Chanukah and Purim, it was lost to Jewish practice for more than a thousand years. Nevertheless, we do have its megillah, which has been translated into Hebrew and English. Perhaps, if we start reading chapters 13-15 of 2 Maccabees, even just to ourselves, on the 13 of Adar, we can begin to resurrect a holiday that was celebrated and instituted by Judah Maccabee and his followers over two millennia ago, and which they envisioned would continue throughout Jewish History. With the return of Jews to Israel and Jewish sovereignty to Jerusalem, I believe it is about time. . . .
Selections from 1 & 2 Maccabees and Pesiqta Rabbati on the Desecration and Rededication of the Temple and the Rekindling of the Sacred Fire
Contributed by: Jason of Cyrene, Septuagint (translation/Greek), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
Selections from 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and Pesiqta Rabbati which inform the story of Ḥanukkah: the desecration and re-dedication of the Temple (especially as it relates to Sukkot and the Brumalia), divine intervention in the Maccabean battles, and the Rekindling of the Sacred Fire. . . .
ספר ברוך | Sefer Barukh (1:1-3:8), from the Reconstructed Hebrew Vorlage by Prof. Emmanuel Tov, vocalized and cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: Jospeh Ziegler (translation), Emmanuel Tov (Hebrew reconstruction), Septuagint (translation/Greek), Barukh ben Neriyah, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The book of Barukh (also, Baruch and Barouch) in its reconstructed Hebrew vorlage from verse 1:1 till 3:8. . . .
Βαροὺχ | Sefer Barukh (3:9-5:8), a poem of wisdom in exile and its ultimate liberation
Contributed by: Jospeh Ziegler (translation), Septuagint (translation/Greek), Barukh ben Neriyah, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)
The poetic portion of the deuterocanonical work, Barukh, in Greek with English translation. . . .
Σουσαννα | שׁוֹשַׁנָּה וְהַזְּקֵנִים | Shoshanah & the Elders, according to Theodotion translated and cantillated in Masoretic Hebrew by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: Theodotion (translation/Greek), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The story of Shoshanah & the Elders, according to the text of Theodotion translated into Biblical Hebrew. . . .
Βηλ Και Δρακων | בֵּל וְהַתַּנִּין | Bel & the Dragon, according to Theodotion translated and cantillated in Masoretic Hebrew by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer
Contributed by: Theodotion (translation/Greek), Unknown, Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)
The story of Bel and the Dragon according to the text of Theodotion, translated into biblical Hebrew. . . .