Megillat Ta'anit (“The Scroll of Fasting”) is a chronicle listing 35 days on which public fasting was prohibited in recognition of joyful events. The original Aramaic, from the 1st century CE, contains brief outlines and appears here in boldface. Hebrew explanatory comments, dated to the 7th century or later, are interspersed throughout in plain text. The work is discussed several times throughout the Talmud, which records that observance of the scroll’s holidays began to fade after the destruction of the Second Temple. Purim and Chanukah are the only two holidays recorded in the work that are still observed today.
