THE FIVE M'GILLOT (I-?)
– Slim Books, Wide Scopes
Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. Placed as a unit in Writings (the third and last book of the Hebrew Bible), each of these five compelling small books stands on its own. The stories and the poetry cover several complexities of life, both in general and of Jewish living in particular. Three were written in response to historical events and challenges.
They also form a unit as each is connected with its respective Jewish holiday. They are chanted on a cyclical basis in synagogues on Passover, Shavuot, Tisha b’Av, Sukkot, and Purim. As one who loves to chant the holy books, I enjoy how different melodic sensibilities were applied to the five books.
