For over fourteen hundred
years, since post-Talmudic times, a list of fast days has been in circulation;
it mandates at least one, but occasionally two, three, and even four fasts per
month. These fasts commemorate disasters that occurred during biblical and
Second Temple times; events connected with the Temple’s destruction; and the
deaths of well-known individuals. The list penetrated into central halachic
works; in some circles these events are commemorated to this day, albeit not by
fasting. This list is known as Megillat Taʿanit Batra, “the later scroll
of fasts,” to distinguish it from Megillat Taʿanit, which originated in
the Second Temple period.
This book traces the historical development of the list. The author has culled previously unknown versions of this list from manuscripts, early piyyutim, and other surprising sources. All these versions of the list are discussed in detail; a synoptic analysis of each fast, as presented in the various sources, attempts to solve some of the riddles presented by the texts. Towards the end of the book, a detailed chapter deals with the complex occurrences of the list in halachic literature. The final chapter sets out the internal structure of the list; attempts to arrive at its original form; and maps its metamorphoses through time.