Megillah v'Chanukah - Chapter One

Introduction to Hilchos Megillah vChanukah

They include two positive commandments that were ordained by the Rabbis which are not included [among the 613 mitzvot of the Torah]. The explanation of these mitzvot is contained in the following chapters.

It is a positive mitzvah ordained by the Rabbis to read the Megillah at the appointed time. It is well-known that this was ordained by the Prophets.

Everyone is obligated in this reading: men, women, converts, and freed slaves. Children should also be trained to read it. Even the priests should neglect their service in the Temple and come to hear the reading of the Megillah.

Similarly, Torah study should be neglected to hear the reading of the Megillah. Surely, this applies to the other mitzvot of the Torah: the observance of all of them is superseded by the reading of the Megillah. There is nothing that takes priority over the reading of the Megillah except the burial of a meit mitzvah - a corpse that has no one to take care of it. A person who encounters such a corpse should bury it and then read the Megillah.

One can fulfill one's obligation by reading or by listening to another person's reading, provided one listens to a person who is obligated to hear the reading. For this reason, if the reader was a minor or mentally incompetent, one who hears his reading does not fulfill his obligation.

It is a mitzvah to read the entire Megillah and to read it both at night and during the day. The entire night is an appropriate time for the night reading, and the entire day is appropriate for the day reading.

Before the reading at night, one should recite three blessings. They are:

Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to read the Megillah.

Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our ancestors in previous days at this season.

Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

During the day, one should not recite the final blessing.

In places where it is customary to recite a blessing after the reading, the following blessing should be recited:

Blessed are You, God, our Lord, King of the universe, who wages our battles and executes judgment on our behalf, who avenges the vengeance wrought against us, who exacts retribution from our enemies on our behalf, and who acquits justly all our mortal enemies. Blessed are You, God, the Almighty, who exacts payment on behalf of His nation Israel from all their oppressors, the God of salvation.

What is the appropriate time for the Megillah to be read? The Sages ordained many different times for its reading, as implied by Esther 9:31: "To confirm these days of Purim in their appointed times." The following are the days on which the Megillah is read:

Every city, whether in Eretz Yisrael or in the diaspora, that was surrounded by a wall at the time of Joshua bin Nun should read the Megillah on the fifteenth of Adar. This applies even when a wall does not surround the city at present. Such a city is called a כרך.

Every city that was not surrounded by a wall at the time of Joshua bin Nun should read the Megillah on the fourteenth of Adar. This applies even when there is a wall surrounding the city at present. Such a city is called an עיר.

In the capital of Shushan, the Megillah is read on the fifteenth of Adar although it was not surrounded by a wall at the time of Joshua bin Nun, because the miracle occurred within it and at that time, the Jews celebrated on that day, as Esther 9:18 states, "And they rested on the fifteenth."

Why was the matter made dependent on the time of Joshua bin Nun? To give honor to the cities of Eretz Yisrael that were in ruin at the time of the Purim miracle. Although they are in ruin at present, this would allow them to read the Megillah on the fifteenth as do the inhabitants of Shushan, since they were surrounded by a wall at the time of Joshua. Thus the commemoration of the miracle would include a remembrance of Eretz Yisrael.

The Sages ordained that the inhabitants of the villages who gather in the synagogues only on Mondays and Thursdays could read the Megillah earlier, on the day when they gather in the synagogues.

What is implied? If the fourteenth of Adar falls on either Monday or Thursday, the Megillah is read on that day. If it falls on a day other than Monday or Thursday, we read on an earlier date, on the Monday or Thursday that is closest to the fourteenth of Adar.

What is implied? If the fourteenth of Adar falls on Sunday, the Megillah is read on the previous Thursday, the eleventh of Adar. If the fourteenth falls on Tuesday, the Megillah is read earlier, on Monday, the thirteenth. If the fourteenth falls on Wednesday, the Megillah is read earlier, on Monday, the twelfth.

Whenever license is granted to read the Megillah before the fourteenth, it should not be read unless ten are present.

In a village where the Jews do not gather together to read the Torah on Mondays and Thursdays, the Megillah should be read only on the fourteenth of Adar. When a city does not have ten people who have no other occupation but to attend the synagogue for communal purposes, it is considered to be a village, and the Megillah is read earlier, on the day when people gather in the synagogue.

If a city lacks ten adult men, the very difficulty leads to its solution, and they are considered to be like the inhabitants of a large city and read the Megillah only on the fourteenth.

When does the above leniency - that it is possible to read the Megillah earlier, on the day people gather in the synagogue - apply? When Israel rules itself. In the present era, however, the Megillah is read only at its appropriate times, the fourteenth of Adar and the fifteenth. The inhabitants of villages and cities read on the fourteenth, and the inhabitants of walled cities read on the fifteenth.

The following rules apply when an inhabitant of an unwalled city travels to a walled city, or an inhabitant of a walled city travels to an unwalled city:

If his intent was to return home for the day of the Megillah reading, but he was prevented from returning, he should read the Megillah on the day when it is read in his home. If his intent was not to return home until after the day of the Megillah reading, he should read the Megillah together with the people in the place where he is visiting.

The following rule applies to all those homes adjacent to a walled city which are seen together with it: If there are not more than two thousand cubits between them, they are considered to be part of the walled city, and their inhabitants should read the Megillah on the fifteenth.

When a doubt exists and it is unknown whether a city had been surrounded by a wall at the time of Joshua bin Nun or whether it was surrounded afterwards, its inhabitants should read the Megillah on the day and the night of both the fourteenth and the fifteenth of Adar. They should recite the blessing only when reading on the fourteenth, since this is the time when the Megillah is read in most places in the world.

When the Megillah was read in the first month of Adar and, afterwards, the court proclaimed a leap year, the Megillah should be read again in the second month of Adar at its appropriate time.

The Megillah should not be read on the Sabbath. This is a decree, enacted so that one should not take it in one's hands and bring it to a person who knows how to read it, thus carrying it four cubits in the public domain. Everyone is obligated to read the Megillah, but everyone is not capable of reading it. Thus, there is the possibility for such an error to occur.

For this reason, if the appropriate time for the Megillah to be read falls on the Sabbath, we read it earlier, on the day prior to the Sabbath. We discuss the laws of Purim on that Sabbath to commemorate the fact that it is Purim.

What is implied? When the fourteenth of Adar falls on the Sabbath, the inhabitants of the unwalled cities should read the Megillah earlier, on Friday. The inhabitants of the walled cities should read it at their appropriate time, on Sunday.

When the fifteenth falls on the Sabbath, the inhabitants of the walled cities read the Megillah earlier, on Friday the fourteenth. The inhabitants of the unwalled cities also read on that day, for this is the appropriate time for them to read. Thus in such an instance, everyone reads on the fourteenth.