("Fast Scroll"). Ancient Aramaic text that with extreme brevity lists the days on which fasting is not permitted, since on these days joyful historical events took place. It follows the
Calendar, beginning with Nisan and ending with Adar. The Talmud ascribes the work to Hananiah ben Hezekiah ben Goren, who lived in the first part of the first century. Some scholars date its composition to the early stages of the war against Rome; others view it as having been composed at the time of the outbreak of the
Bar Kokhba Revolt (132 CE). In either event, its purpose seems to have been to inspire Jewish soldiers in their struggle by holding up to them the example of Jewish victories over the Seleucids in the period of the
Hasmoneans. Of the historic events recorded, 33 fall in the Maccabean period and only one in the Roman period---namely, the abrogation of the decree of Gaius Caligula ordering the Jews to worship the emperor. There is a commentary on the work written in tannaitic and amoraic times. This interprets most of the days recorded in the Scroll as marking the victories of the
Pharisees over the
Sadducees in their halakhic disputes. In the course of time, the significance of the dates recorded was no longer relevant and the days listed became indistinguishable from normal days. The Scroll is an important source for the history of the Second Temple period, since it precedes the redaction of the
Mishnah.
