
Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Ἰάσων ὁ Κυρηναῖος and Unknown Author(s)
Shared on כ׳ בכסלו ה׳תשפ״א (2020-12-05) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Second Temple Period, Ḥanukkah Readings
Tags: kindling, Angels, Maccabees, combating anti-Jewish oppression, 2nd century B.C.E., 37th century A.M., Classical Antiquity, the Mizbe'aḥ, dedication, Maccabean Revolt, נר תמיד ner tamid
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. . . .
A mytho-historical chronicle of the story of humanity and Israel up until the Maccabean revolt depicted as a fable through a dream vision of Ḥanokh. . . .
The book of Barukh (also, Baruch and Barouch) in its reconstructed Hebrew vorlage from verse 1:1 till 3:8. . . .
Selected verses from the book of ben Sira for a Seliḥot service . . .
We are grateful to Dr. James VanderKam for preparing this critical text of the Book of Jubilees (Sefer Yubalim) in its Ge’ez translation in Ethiopic script. The book of Jubilees is an early Jewish deutero-canonical text originally written in Hebrew and composed during the Second Temple period sometime before the Maccabean struggle (164 BCE). . . .
Continued from the book of Jubilees Chapters 1-23. The book of Jubilees is an early Jewish deuterocanonical text composed in Hebrew during the Second Temple period sometime before the Maccabean struggle (ca. 167 BCE). . . .

Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (naqdanut), Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Mordecai Kaplan and Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira
Shared on ט׳ באב ה׳תשע״ח (2018-07-21) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 International free-culture license
Categories: Second Temple Period, Rosh Ḥodesh Readings
Tags: hymns of creation, פתיחות Petiḥot, 2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, Ecclesiasticus, Jews of Alexandria
Ecclesiasticus (ben Sira) 42:21-43:31 is presented as “God the Lord of Nature” in The Sabbath Prayer Book of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (The Reconstructionist Foundation 1945), p. 376-372 in the Supplements subsection, “God in Nature.” The text of Ben Sira used here differs in places found in other manuscripts. . . .

Contributor(s): Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (translation), Isaac Gantwerk Mayer (naqdanut) and Shimon ben Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira
Shared on י״א בסיון ה׳תש״פ (2020-06-03) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Second Temple Period
Tags: acrostic, Alphabetic Acrostic, 2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., Classical Antiquity, deuterocanonical works, Ecclesiasticus, Jews of Alexandria, Cairo Geniza, reconstructed text, Dead Sea Scrolls
The end of the scroll of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) reconstructed from Cairo Geniza fragments not contained within the Septuagint. . . .
Megillat Esther in Hebrew with an English translation, including verses for public recitation highlighted to spotlight the heroic acts of Esther and Mordekhai. . . .

Contributor(s): Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Moses Gaster (translation) and Unknown Author(s)
Shared on י״ז בטבת ה׳תשע״ט (2018-12-25) — under the following terms: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license
Categories: Megillot, Shavuot
Tags: שדים sheydim, Hebrew translation, 2nd century B.C.E., 36th century A.M., tithing, apotropaic rituals of protection, Tobit, mysterious fish, Ashmodai, derivative work
The story of Toviah (Tobit) in Hebrew translation, in an abridged version arranged for public reading on the second day of Shavuot. . . .
The poem lauding the ancestors from Chapters 44 to 50 of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) is considered by many scholars to be the original influence for the Yom Kippur Avodah service, and the paean to Shimon the Righteous bears a striking similarity to the beloved piyyut “Mar’eh Khohen.” This passage from Ben Sira, the great paean on the merit of the ancestors, takes the Hebrew text of one of the Cairo Geniza manuscripts — Bodleian MS Heb e62 — and versifies it according to the standard Septuagintal text, along with vocalization and cantillation per the standard Masoretic EMe”T system for poetic books. It could be read on Yom Kippur for the avodah service, or just studied as a fascinating piece of Jewish history. . . .
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. . . .
Once upon a time, according to the Mishnah, it was the nusaḥ (liturgical tradition) of the Cohanim in the Bet Hamikdash[ref]Priests of the Temple in Jerusalem[/ref] for the Ten Commandments to be read prior to the Sh’ma. . . .
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