The Seforim blog is proud to announce
the publication of our contributor Mitchell First’s newest book, Esther Unmasked: Solving Eleven Mysteries
of the Jewish Holidays and Liturgy (Kodesh Press, 2015), available here
(http://www.amazon.com/Esther-Unmasked-Solving-Mysteries-Holidays/dp/0692375422).

Table
of Contents

Introduction
by Rabbi Hayyim Angel   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   9

Preface   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   13

1.
עולם לתכן:
Establishing the Correct Text in Aleinu   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   17

2.
What is the Origin of the Word הליחמ?   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .  
.   30

3.
והו ינא:
What is the Meaning of this Cryptic Mishnaic Statement?  .  
42

4.
What is the Meaning of “Maccabee”?  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   60

5.
What is the Meaning of Ḥashmonai?   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
76

6.
What Motivated Antiochus to Issue

His Decrees Against the
Jews   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   94

7.
The Origin of Taanit Esther   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   118

8.
Achashverosh and Esther in Secular Sources  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   129

9.
Mah Nishtannah: The Three Questions  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
168

10.
Arami Oved Avi: Uncovering the
Interpretation

Hidden in the Mishnah  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   189

11.
The Pe/Ayin Order in Ancient Israel
and its

Implications for the
Book of Tehillim   .  
.   .   .  
.   .   .   .   207

Abbreviations   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   231

Index   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   .   .  
.   .   .   232

Preface

This book consists of
eleven articles that address interesting questions that arise in connection
with the liturgy and origin of the Jewish holidays. Too often, Orthodox Jews
take the liturgy and the origin of the holidays for granted, without adequate
investigation.

For example, regarding
the liturgy:

●      
The
Jewish obligation of תקון עולם, “improving the
world,” is widely referred to and it is traditionally assumed that the Aleinu prayer is one of the texts upon
which this obligation is based.  The
first article shows that a very strong case can be made that the original
version of Aleinu read לתכן עולם, “to establish the world under God’s
sovereignty,” and not לתקן עולם, “to perfect/improve
the world under God’s sovereignty.” If so, the concept of תקון עולם has no
connection to the Aleinu prayer.

●      
A
phrase that is part of the traditional Sukkot hoshanot liturgy is אני והו הושיעה נא, based on the text of a Mishnah at Sukkah 4:5. The meaning of the phrase אני והו has
been a puzzle throughout the centuries. The third article shows that almost
certainly the original text of the Mishnah read  אני והוא.  With this
reading,  the statement can be
explained.

●      
It
is usually assumed that the Passover recital of “Four Questions” is one of the
fundamental rituals of rabbinic Judaism. The ninth article explains that the
original mah nishtannah only included
three questions. The variation in the number of questions in the mah nishtannah over the centuries is
then described, and the evolution of the number of questions into the present
four is then explained.

Regarding the origin of
the Jewish holidays:

●      
The
sixth article discusses what motivated Antiochus to undertake his persecution
of the Jews. The three main theories will be discussed and evaluated.

●      
In
the seventh article, the origin of the fast of the 13th of Adar (Taanit Esther) will be addressed.  No fast in Adar is mentioned in the book of
Esther or the Talmud, and the origin of this fast has always been difficult to
understand. The 13th of Adar was even a holiday (Yom Nikanor) in the late Second Temple
period, a day on which fasting was prohibited. Based on a careful examination
of Geonic sources, the seventh article will explain how this fast first came
into existence in Geonic Babylonia.

●       The identification of
Achashverosh in secular sources had always been a puzzle. The eighth article
will explain how, in the middle of the nineteenth century, Achashverosh was
finally able to be identified. He is the king that the Greek historians
referred to as “Xerxes.” The article will detail the basis for this
identification, and will show that Esther can be identified in secular sources
as well.

Regarding the balance of
the articles:

●      
The
second article suggests explanations for the origin of the mysterious Tannaitic
root מחל,
a root not found in the Bible. The article further attempts to distinguish this
root from its synonym סלח.

●      
The
fourth article explains the correct spelling of the term Maccabee (מקבי) and
points to its likely original meaning.

●      
The
fifth article discusses the identity and meaning of חשמונאי.

●      
The
tenth article conducts an analysis of Mishnah Pesaḥim 10:4. It shows that it is likely that this Tannaitic
source understood arami oved avi to
mean “my father was a homeless/wandering/lost Aramean.” Typically, it is
assumed that this interpretation of arami
oved avi did not arise until the time of the Rishonim.

●      
The
final article explains the reason why the pe
verses preceded the ayin verses in
the acrostics in chapters 2-4 of the book of Eikhah (and in the acrostic in chapter 1 in the Dead Sea text of Eikhah).  It turns out that pe
preceded ayin in the order of the
alphabet in ancient Israel! The implications of this explanation for dating the
book of Tehillim (interspersed with
many acrostics) are then addressed.

• • •

Many of the articles
included in this book have been published in earlier forms in Ḥakirah, Biblical Archaeology Review, AJS
Review, Journal for the Study of the
Old Testament and seforimblog.com. 
(For the references to the earlier articles, see the first footnote in
each article.)  

Several
of the articles: the first (establishing the reading לתכן
עולם), seventh (origin of Taanit Esther), eighth (the
identification of Esther in secular sources), and eleventh (the implications of
the ancient pe/ayin order) have been
viewed by many as groundbreaking.