This year, Judaism Unbound — in partnership with The Torah Studio — is trying out something new for this de*light*ful winter holiday. We’re taking Hanukkah as a chance to explore a bunch of books from a genre called “Apocrypha.” These are books that were not included in the official Biblical canon, but which nonetheless were important to different groups of Jews in a wide variety of historical eras. **Scroll down this page for our 5-part mini-series of podcasts, where we dive into a variety of apocryphal books — and into questions of canon more broadly (episodes will arrive on this page one by one, over the course of Hanukkah)!** And if you’d like to receive all sorts of fascinating apocrypha content direct to your inbox, you can sign up for our Apocry-Fest email list here.
Episode 1: Apocry-Fest - Lex Rofeberg, Liana Wertman, and Dan Libenson introduce why Hanukkah is a perfect time to engage with books of the Apocrypha (a category of ancient works of literature that were never officially canonized as part of the Bible)!
Episode 2: The Scroll of Antiochus - Lex, Liana, and Dan dive into a little-known book called Megillat Antiochus -- the scroll of Antiochus. They compare and contrast its Hanukkah narrative with some better-known versions, and ask what it would look like if we incorporated this book into our experiences of Hanukkah today.
EPISODE 2 COMING DECEMBER 19TH!
Episode 3: Jubilees - Lex, Liana, and Dan explore an apocryphal book called Jubilees. While not traditionally tied to the festival of Hanukkah, the three hosts argue that it could be part of a broader effort to consciously integrate, into our contemporary Jewish practice, books that never made it into the bible -- but which have been held as sacred by groups of Jews in a variety of historical contexts.
EPISODE 3 COMING DECEMBER 21ST!
Episode 4: Judith - Lex, Liana, and Dan celebrate the book of Judith. One of the better-known books of the apocrypha, there’s actually a great deal of historical precedent for tying the story of Judith to the celebration of Hanukkah. The three co-hosts ask why that is, along with talking through some of the nuts and bolts of what this fascinating story (with a fascinating heroine) is all about.
EPISODE 4 COMING DECEMBER 23RD!
Episode 5: Unbound and Un-Canonized
EPISODE 5 COMING DECEMBER 25TH!