🡄 (Previous category) :: 📁 Mussar (Ethical Teachings)

📁 Modern Miscellany :: (Next Category) 🡆

Extracanonical Megillot

This is an archive of megillot that are outside the Biblical canon yet prepared for (or special to) days in the Jewish calendar, as well as in civil calendars. The collection includes works derived from works authored in Classical Antiquity (such as Megillat Antiokhus), medieval works for Purim Sheni commemorations (such as Megillat Saragossa), and modern works (such as the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel). Most of these works are explicitly referred to as megillot (lit. scrolls) but there are several maasiyot (tales) and at least one haftarah intended for reading during the Torah reading service on a special day.

Filtered by name: “Aharon N. Varady (transcription)” (clear filter)

Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first?

💬 מגילת ניקנור | Megillat Niqanor (Ⅱ Maccabees, chapters 13-15), a reading for the Day of the Elephantarch

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. . . .

Tags: 2nd century B.C.E., 37th century A.M., ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, military

Contributor(s): Unknown Author(s), Jason of Cyrene and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

💬 מְגִילַּת אַנטְיוּכַס | Megillat Antiokhus in Aramaic, critical text by Menaḥem Tsvi Kaddari with English translation by John C. Reeves

The critical text of Megillat Antiokhus in its original Aramaic, prepared by Menaḥem Tsvi Kaddari and translated into English by John C. Reeves. . . .

Categories: Extracanonical Megillot, Ḥanukkah Readings

Tags: 2nd century C.E., 40th century A.M., Aramaic, Bar Kochba Rebellion, English Translation, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, Late Antiquity, המקבים Maccabees, Megillat Antiokhus

Contributor(s): John C. Reeves (translation), Menaḥem Tsvi Kaddari, Unknown Author(s) and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

💬 מְגִילַּת אַנטְיוּכַס | Megillat Antiokhus for Ḥanukkah in Aramaic, translated in Hebrew, Yiddish, and English

The Megillat Antiochus was composed in Palestinian Aramaic sometime between the 2nd and 5th century CE, likely in the 2nd Century when the memory of the Bar Kochba revolt still simmered.. The scroll appears in a number of variations. The Aramaic text below follows the critical edition prepared by Menaḥem Tzvi Kaddari, and preserves his verse numbering. The English translation by Rabbi Joseph Adler (1936) follows the Hebrew translation in the middle column, the source of which is a medieval manuscript reprinted by Tzvi Filipowsky in 1851. Adler and Kaddari’s verse ordering loosely follows one another indicating variations in manuscripts. Where Aramaic is missing from Kaddari’s text, the Aramaic version from Adler’s work is included in parentheses. Adler also included a Yiddish translation which we hope will be fully transcribed (along with vocalized Hebrew text, a Hungarian translation, and perhaps even a Marathi translation from South India) for Ḥanukkah 5775 , G!d willing. . . .

Categories: Extracanonical Megillot, Ḥanukkah Readings

Tags: 2nd century C.E., 40th century A.M., Aramaic, Bar Kochba Rebellion, English Translation, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, Hebrew translation, Late Antiquity, המקבים Maccabees, Megillat Antiokhus, Yiddish translation

Contributor(s): Tsvi Hirsch Filipowski (translation), Unknown Author(s) and Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

💬 מגילת אנטיוכס עם טעמי מקרא | Megillat Antiokhus, with a novel cantillation by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation by Tsvi Filipowski, 1851)

Perhaps Megillat Antiokhus could be read a la Esther on Purim (the holiday with the most similarities), going to Eicha trope in the upsetting parts. A few notes: on the final mention of Bagris the Wicked I included a karnei-farah in the manner of the karnei-farah in Esther. I also included a merkha kefulah in the concluding section, which (according to David Weisberg’s “The Rare Accents of the Twenty-Eight Books”) represents aggadic midrash material. It also serves as a connection to the Chanukah haftarah, which is famously the only one that has a merkha kefulah. –Isaac Mayer . . .

Categories: Extracanonical Megillot, Ḥanukkah Readings

Tags: 2nd century C.E., 40th century A.M., Bar Kochba Rebellion, Classical Antiquity, English Translation, ארץ ישראל Erets Yisrael, Hebrew translation, Late Antiquity, Megillat Antiokhus, Seleucid Greek Occupation

Contributor(s): Tsvi Hirsch Filipowski (translation), Unknown Author(s), Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

💬 מעשה טוביה ליום שני של שבועות | The Story of Toḇiyah for the second day of Shavuot

The story of Toviah (Tobit) in Hebrew translation, in an abridged version arranged for public reading on the second day of Shavuot. . . .

Categories: Extracanonical Megillot, Shavuot Readings

Tags: 2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., apotropaic rituals of protection, Ashmodai, derivative work, entering magical territory, Hebrew translation, mysterious fish, שדים sheydim, tithing, Tobit

Contributor(s): Moses Gaster, Unknown Author(s), Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

💬 מְגִילַּת יְהוּדִית לְאָמְרָהּ בַּחֲנֻכָּה | Megillat Yehudit, the Medieval Scroll of Judith to be said on Ḥanukkah

This is a faithful transcription of the text of the medieval Megillat Yehudith (the Scroll of Judith), not to be confused with the deutero-canonical Book of Judith, authored in Antiquity. We have further set this text side-by-side with the English translation made by Susan Weingarten, and vocalized and cantillated the Hebrew so that it may be chanted. . . .

Categories: Extracanonical Megillot, Ḥanukkah Readings, Ḥag haBanot (Eid el Benat) Readings

Tags: 14th century C.E., 52nd century A.M., anti-predatory, dairy foods, derivative work, חג הבנות Ḥag HaBanot, heroic women, High Middle Ages, Judith, Megillat Yehudit, resistance, soporifics, women

Contributor(s): Susan Weingarten (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (transcription & naqdanut), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Moshe Shmi'el Dascola and Unknown Author(s)

💬 מגילת הנצחון של װאודראו װילסאן | Megillat Wilson — a Purim Sheni scroll for Armistice Day [after World War Ⅰ] by Rabbi Jacob Gerstein (1919)

This is a letter written by Rev. Jacob Gerstein in the form of a megillah to honor President Woodrow Wilson for his military support of France, thereby defeating Kaiser Wilhelm, Emperor of Germany, and ending World War Ⅰ. Rev. Gerstein notes the Hebrew/Jewish calendar date for the end of hostilities as 7 Kislev 5679 (11 November 1918). The letter was sent some time while Wilson was engaged in peace talks in France after the war, between 14 December 1918 and 28 June 1919. The English translation presented here is the one offered by the author of the megillah. The transcription here was made from a copy of the letter published for Armistice Day (11 November) 1921, לזכרון עולם (L’zikaron Olam ≈ “Everlasting Memorial”), מגילת נצחון (megilat nitsaḥon ≈ “Victory Scroll”). . . .

Categories: Extracanonical Megillot, Modern Miscellany, 🌐 Armistice Day Readings, Purim Sheni Readings

Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., American Jewry of the United States, Needing Vocalization, Versailles Peace Treaty, Woodrow Wilson, World War Ⅰ

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Jacob Gerstein

💬 The Rainbow Haftarah by Rabbi Arthur Waskow, translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1993)

A declaration in 1993 by Rabbi Arthur Waskow in response to the impending danger of global warming and other ecotastrophes brought about by the callous harm of human industry and land use decisions. Translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. . . .

Categories: Parashat Noaḥ, Extracanonical Megillot, Yom haḲeshet (27 Iyyar) Readings, Modern Miscellany

Tags: 20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., eco-conscious, Hebrew translation, prophetic revelation, Rainbow Day, Renewal, שבת נחמו Shabbat Naḥamu, פרשת נח Parashat Noaḥ

Contributor(s): Jack Kessler (trōpification), Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (translation), Arthur Waskow, Elat Chayyim Center for Jewish Spirituality, the Shalom Center, Aharon N. Varady (transcription) and Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation)

Stable Link: https://opensiddur.org/index.php?cat=3398

Associated Image:

🧿

(This image is set to automatically show as the "featured image" in shared links on social media.)

Terms of Use: Be a mentsch (a conscientious, considerate person) and adhere to the following guidelines:

Properly attribute any information in the description of this archive page to the Open Siddur Project (<https://opensiddur.org>).
Clearly indicate the date you accessed this page and in what ways, if any, you modified it. (If you have adapted the work, let us know so that the contributor might consider endorsing your revision.)
Provide the stable link to this archive: <https://opensiddur.org/index.php?cat=3398>.
Indicate that the original page was shared under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license. (To redistribute or remix this page in any format, modified or unmodified, you must refer to the terms of the CC BY-SA license.)

Additional Notes:

The views expressed on this page and in these shared works represents the views of their creator(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Open Siddur Project's developers, its diverse community of volunteer contributors, or its institutional partners.
We strongly advise against printing sacred texts and art containing divine names as these copies must be regarded with reverence, complicating their casual treatment and disposal.
If you must dispose of a printed sacred text (one containing Divine Names), please locate the closest genizah (often established by a synagogue) and contact its custodians for further instructions. We also recommend using Morah Yehudis Fishman's Prayer for Adding a Work to the Genizah.

Support this work: The Open Siddur Project is a volunteer-driven, non-profit, non-commercial, non-denominational, non-prescriptive, gratis & libre Open Access archive of contemplative praxes, liturgical readings, and Jewish prayer literature (historic and contemporary, familiar and obscure) composed in every era, region, and language Jews have ever prayed. Our goal is to provide a platform for sharing open-source resources, tools, and content for individuals and communities crafting their own prayerbook (siddur). Through this we hope to empower personal autonomy, preserve customs, and foster creativity in religious culture.

ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17

Pocket Reddit Facebook Bluesky Telegram WhatsApp SMS Email