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tag: military Sorted Chronologically (old to new). Sort most recent first? This is a Torah reading (divided into three aliyot) and a Haftarah reading to be recited on Memorial Day or any local equivalent day to honor those who died for their nation. This letter, written in Imperial Aramaic in 419 BCE, is among the vast number of papyrus letters found in Elephantine, also known as Yeb. The Jewish (or more accurately, Judean) community of Yeb is a fascinating bit of history — a group of Judean mercenaries who settled in Egypt and built their own smaller temple! Although their origin was clearly Judean, and they referred to themselves as the ḥeila yehudaya = Judean garrison, their form of worship featured no Deuteronomic centralization, no discussion of the patriarchs, and questionable monotheism! Although the primary deity was YHW (note the difference in spelling), multiple other deities or hypostatized aspects of divinity were worshipped, and verbs for the word “God” are conjugated in the plural rather than the singular. This text is one of a series of letters written between the brothers Yedaniah and Ḥananiah. In this case, it is giving instructions for keeping the holiday of Pesaḥ. These instructions are interesting in their own right — the prohibition on beer could alternatively be read as a prohibition on any alcoholic drink, which would align with Karaite practice rather than rabbinic. But what’s even more interesting is what isn’t mentioned — the instructions given mention nothing whatsoever about the exodus from Egypt, or even God! The diktat to observe the holiday is accredited not to God or Moses, but to Darius, king of the Achaemenid Empire! This passage is a fascinating taste of a part of Judaism that we know very little about. Vocalization according to Tiberian norms and translation into English by the translator. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): 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. Categories: Tags: 2nd century B.C.E., 37th century A.M., Angels, Classical Antiquity, combating anti-Jewish oppression, dedications and consecrations, kindling, Maccabean Revolt, המקבים Maccabees, military, נר תמיד ner tamid, המזבח the Mizbe'aḥ Contributor(s): 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. 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: 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, military, Yiddish translation Contributor(s): The critical text of Megillat Antiokhus in its original Aramaic, prepared by Menaḥem Tsvi Kaddari and translated into English by John C. Reeves. Categories: 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, military Contributor(s): 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 This is a direct transcription, including cantillation and non-standard vocalizations, of the cantillated Megilat Antiokhos found in the British Library manuscript Or 5866, folios 105v-110r. Categories: 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, military Contributor(s): A retelling of the story found in Megillat Antiokhus as midrash aggadah. Categories: Tags: Contributor(s): This is a largely uncorrected transcription of Rabbi Isaac Magriso’s telling of Megillat Antiokhus in Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) from the Me’am Loez: Bamidbar Parshat BeHe’alotekha (Constantinople, 1764). The paragraph breaks are a rough estimation based on my comparison with the English translation of Dr. Tzvi Faier (1934-2009) appearing in The Torah Anthology: Me’am Loez, Book Thirteen – In the Desert (Moznaim 1982). I welcome all Ladino speakers and readers to help correct this transcription and to provide a complete English translation for non-Ladino readers. Categories: Tags: 18th century C.E., 56th century A.M., Angels, derivative work, Ladino Translation, המקבים Maccabees, Megillat Antiokhus, military, Needing Proofreading, Ottoman Jewry, Sepharadi Diaspora Contributor(s): This is a prayer for those fallen in the battle of Kápolna, a decisive battle during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, written by István Roboz (1826-1916). Translated into numerous languages, the prayer was widely misattributed to enlightened president of Hungary, Lajos Kossuth. Circulated in translation and attributed to Kossuth, the prayer helped to cement his popularity among Jews worldwide praying for liberty from despotic regimes inclined for various reasons towards Jew hatred. Categories: Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Battle of Kápolna, Emancipation, Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Kingdom of Hungary, Lajos Kossuth, Magyar vernacular prayer, military, Revolutions of 1848 Contributor(s): Gebetbuch für israelitische Soldaten im Kriege (1914) was translated and arranged by Rabbi Dr. Max Grunwald for Jewish military personnel in the Austro-Hungarian Armed Forces in service to Kaiser Franz Joseph Ⅰ (1830-1916) during what became known as World War Ⅰ. A small prayerbook for German-Jewish men serving as military personnel on behalf of the German Empire (Second Reich) during what later became known as World War Ⅰ. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., German Empire, German Jewry, German vernacular prayer, military, Second Reich, Teḥinot in German, World War Ⅰ Contributor(s): A bilingual Hebrew-English prayerbook for soldiers and sailors in the service of His Majesty’s army and navy during World War One This prayer appears to have been issued for Jewish soldiers serving in the German army at the start of World War Ⅰ and was recited in the synagogues in Fürth, Germany in 1914. The prayer was printed as a single leaflet by the printer Druck von Lehrberger & Co. in Frankfurt am Main. A leaflet ended up in the Central Chabad Lubavitch Library in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY (Card #87119), although no explanation has been offered how a Chasidic group based in Russia came to acquire this work. The original leaflet was digitized and made accessible via the Chabad library website. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., Fürth, German Empire, German Jewry, military, Second Reich, World War Ⅰ Contributor(s): “Prayer for Sailors and Soldiers on Active Service,” was likely written by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz and published at the outset of the Prayer Book for Jewish Sailors and Soldiers [of H.M. Forces] (Office of the Chief Rabbi 1914), p. 5. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., British Jewry, English vernacular prayer, German Empire, military, Second Reich, World War Ⅰ Contributor(s): “Prayer Composed by the Chief Rabbi on the Declaration of War. (August 1914.),” by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz, was published in the Prayer Book for Jewish Sailors and Soldiers [of H.M. Forces] (Office of the Chief Rabbi 1914), p. 32. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., British Jewry, German Empire, military, Second Reich, World War Ⅰ Contributor(s): La Tefila du Soldat is an abridged bilingual Hebrew-French prayerbook for French-Jewish soldiers prepared in 1939 by Rabbi Maurice Liber, the former interim Chief Rabbi of France under Rabbi Israël Lévi (from 1934-1939). In addition to abridged liturgy, the prayerbook also contains a curated selection of teḥinot in vernacular French, and psalms in French translation. Rabbi Isaie Schwartz, appointed chief rabbi in 1939, wrote the introductory letter to Jewish soldiers at the start of the French section of the siddur. In it, he notes the prayerbook is, essential, a copy of one offered to French-Jewish soldiers by the Consistoire central israelíte de France during World War Ⅰ. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., French Jewry, French vernacular prayer, military, World War Ⅰ, World War Ⅱ Contributor(s): The first bilingual and interdenominational prayerbook prepared for soldiers and sailors in the United States Army & Navy in World War I. “[Prayer] for those at home,” a variation of a prayer by Rev. Howard A. Bridgman (1860-1929), is found adapted (without Christian god-language) by Rabbi Morris S. Lazaron in his World War Ⅰ era prayerbook, Side Arms: Readings, Prayers and Meditations for Soldiers and Sailors (1918), on page 25. The original version of the prayer was first published in The Service Song Book (Young Men’s Christian Associations 1917), pp. 86 in the abridged edition. Categories: Tags: 20th century C.E., 57th century A.M., ecumenical prayers, English vernacular prayer, military, מוסר mussar, prayers of military chaplains, United States home front during World War Ⅰ, World War Ⅰ Contributor(s): | ||
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