☞   //   Public Readings, Sources, and Cantillation   //   Meḳorot (Sources)   //   Non-canonical Works   //   Exoteric   //   Megillot

☞   Megillot

מְגִלַּת פִּסְגָּה | Megillat Fustat, a Purim Sheni legend for the 28th of Adar translated and cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s): and
Shared on ט״ו באדר ה׳תש״פ (2020-03-11).
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

Behold, a full text of the Megillah of Fustat, telling a story of a great miracle that happened in 1524 CE (5284 AM). . . .

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

Contributor(s): , , , and
Shared on כ״ח בתמוז ה׳תשע״ו (2016-08-03).
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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. . . .

מגילת אנטיוכס עם טעמי מקרא | Megillat Antiokhus, with ta’amei miqra (for cantillation) by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s): , , and
Shared on ט׳ באב ה׳תשע״ח (2018-07-21).
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International free-culture license

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 . . .

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

Contributor(s): , , and
Shared on כ״ג בכסלו ה׳תש״פ (2019-12-20).
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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

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

Contributor(s): , and
Shared on ו׳ בטבת ה׳תשע״ד (2013-12-09).
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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. . . .

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

Contributor(s): , and
Shared on י״ג באדר ב׳ ה׳תשע״ו (2016-03-22).
Fair Use Right (17 U.S. Code §107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use)

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. . . .

מְגִלַּת שַׂאֲרָגוֹשָׂה | Megillat Saragossa, a Purim Sheni legend for the 17th of Shevat translated and cantillated by Isaac Gantwerk Mayer

Contributor(s): and
Shared on י״ד באדר א׳ ה׳תשע״ט (2019-02-18).
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

The Megillat Saragossa, also known as the Megillat Syracusa, in Hebrew and English, to be read on the 17th of Sh’vat. . . .

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

Contributor(s): , and
Shared on י״ז בטבת ה׳תשע״ט (2018-12-25).
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license

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


בסיעתא דארעא