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January 2, 2025

Using the Book of Esther to Write a “Scroll” for Hanukkah

The almost-biblical Megillah of Antiochus.

Since ancient rabbis decided against including the books of Maccabees in the Hebrew Bible, there is, for post-talmudic Jews, no standard text telling the Hanukkah story. Thus, while Purim—the other major holiday of the Second Temple era—focuses on the public reading of Megillat Esther (the book, or literally, scroll, of Esther), there is no parallel on Hanukkah. A.J. Berkovitz investigates an attempt to create a text for this purpose, and its peculiar idiom:

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January 2, 2025

  1. In New Orleans, the FBI’s Jihadism Blind Spot Was Once again on Display

    There should be no problem stating that one is investigating what is manifestly a terrorist attack as a terrorist attack.

  2. The 1929 Hebron Massacre and Its Eerie Familiarity

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  3. Why the Expulsion of Israelis from Lawn Bowling Matters

    How the anti-Semites get their way.

  4. Using the Book of Esther to Write a “Scroll” for Hanukkah

    The almost-biblical Megillah of Antiochus.

  5. A Trove of Hasmonean Coins Discovered in the Jordan Valley

    An “archaeological Hanukkah miracle.”