One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
מְגִלָּה וַחֲנֻכָּה
Scroll of Esther and Hanukkah 2
Sefer Zemanim · What makes a reading of the Megillah count, what makes the scroll itself fit, and the four obligations of the day, ending with the one book that is never nullified
2
Portions of food sent to one friend, the measure of mishloach manot
2
Gifts to two poor people, the minimum for matanot la'evyonim
3
Stitches at each end and the middle, enough to bind a Megillah
10
Sons of Haman, read with the word after them in a single breath
Part 1Order, memory, and the language of the scroll
- One verse out of place voids the whole reading. A man who forgot a verse, read the following one, went back for the verse he missed and then continued to the third has not fulfilled his obligation, since one verse was read out of sequence; the remedy is to begin again from the verse he forgot and read forward in order. (2:1)
- Coverage is not the measure, sequence is. One who finds a congregation halfway through may not read the second half with them and return for the first half afterward, since that is reading out of order; yet a man who read a portion, paused and later resumed where he stopped has fulfilled his obligation even where the pause was long enough to read the entire Megillah. (2:2)
- Reading from memory fulfills nothing. One who recites the Megillah by heart has not discharged his obligation, however complete his recitation, and this is the rule that governs every case of language that follows. (2:3)
- Understanding is not required and cannot substitute. A man who speaks no Hebrew and hears the Megillah read from a scroll in Hebrew and holy script has fulfilled his obligation though he understood nothing, and the same holds for a Hebrew speaker hearing a scroll written in Greek. Where the scroll is in Aramaic or another gentile tongue, the listener is discharged only if he understands that language and only if the scroll is written in it. (2:3, 2:4)
- A translation read off a Hebrew scroll discharges nobody. Reading in Aramaic to an Aramaic speaker from a scroll written in Hebrew is reading by heart, so the reader does not fulfill his obligation, and since the reader is not discharged neither is the one listening to him. (2:4)
RememberThe listener who understood every word gained nothing, because his reader had nothing to give him.
Part 2Intent, the unfinished scroll, and how a Megillah is made
- Intent is a decision, not concentration. A man reading without intent to be discharged has not fulfilled his obligation, and the cases are a man writing the scroll, expounding it or proofreading it, each of whom is discharged if he meant to be and not if he did not; one who reads while dozing has fulfilled his obligation, since he is not soundly asleep. (2:5)
- The scroll must be finished before the reading. A scribe is discharged only when he intends to fulfill the mitzvah through the reading of the scroll he is copying from; if he intends to be discharged by the scroll he is at that moment writing, he has fulfilled nothing, since a man is discharged only by reading from a scroll completely written at the time of the reading. (2:6)
- Precision in the reading is not demanded. One who errs and reads inexactly has fulfilled his obligation, since the Megillah is not read with precision; standing or sitting is valid even for a congregation, though at the outset one should not read to a congregation seated, out of respect. Two or even ten reading in unison discharge themselves and their listeners, and an adult may read together with a child even for the community. (2:7)
- A scroll bound among the Writings. The Megillah is not read to a congregation from a scroll containing the rest of the Sacred Writings, and if it was, nobody is discharged unless its sheets are larger or smaller than the others so that it is distinct; an individual reading for himself may use such a scroll and is discharged even where its sheets match the rest. (2:8)
- Ink, ruling, sinew, and the trace of a letter. A Megillah is written in ink on gvil or klaf with ruled lines like a Torah scroll, though the hide need not be processed for the mitzvah, and paper, unprocessed hide or the hand of a gentile or nonbeliever disqualifies it. It must be sewn into one scroll with sinew, three stitches at each end and in the middle sufficing because it is called an epistle. Rubbed or torn letters are fit while a trace remains, and otherwise only if the majority survive. (2:9, 2:10, 2:11)
RememberThe dozing reader is discharged and the wide awake scribe is not. The difference is which scroll was already finished.
Part 3The days themselves, and what is never nullified
- Two days closed to eulogy and fasting. The fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar are forbidden for eulogy and fasting to everyone everywhere, walled cities and unwalled alike, and in a leap year in the first Adar as well as the second. Villagers who read early on the Monday or Thursday before Purim may eulogize and fast on their reading day and may not on the two dates, though they do not read on them. (2:13)
- The gifts move with the reading and the feast does not. The fourteenth for villages and unwalled cities and the fifteenth for walled cities are days of joy and feasting, with portions sent to friends and presents to the poor; work is permitted but improper. Villagers who read early and distributed money to the poor that day have fulfilled that obligation, while the rejoicing and the feast belong only to the fourteenth, and held early they do not count, as a feast conducted at night does not count. (2:14)
- The feast and the portions. The obligation is meat and as fine a meal as a man's means allow, with wine until he is intoxicated and falls asleep. He must send two portions of meat, cooked dishes or other foods to one friend, and one who sends to many friends is praiseworthy; a man without means exchanges his meal with his neighbor, each sending the other what he prepared. (2:15)
- Whoever stretches out a hand is given. Charity must be distributed to the poor on the day itself, at minimum one present each to two poor people, whether money, cooked dishes or other foods. The recipients are not examined and whoever puts out a hand receives, and money designated for Purim may not be redirected to any other charity. (2:16)
- The gifts outrank the table, and the book outlasts the trouble. It is better to be liberal with gifts to the poor than lavish with one's own feast or with portions to friends, since there is no greater joy than gladdening the poor, the orphan, the widow and the convert, and one who does so resembles the Divine Presence. All the Prophets and Writings will be nullified in the Messianic era except the scroll of Esther, which endures like the five books and the halachot of the Oral Law, and the days of Purim will not pass. (2:17, 2:18)
RememberThe scroll is measured to the letter and the recipient is not measured at all.