Megillah 19a — the Talmud in English

Kankantum -

the ink of tanners,

a substance with which black shoes are dyed.

Diftara -

that which is salted and kneaded

in water,

but not treated with gallnuts,

for it is not processed with gallnuts.

Niyar -

erase-paper,

a type of grass, and made through glue.

We learned in our Mishna:

until it is written in Ashurit script.

From where do we know it?

For it is written: “according to their writing and according to their time,”

that is, it must be written as it was written in their time, when it was written in Ashurit script.

We learned in our Mishna: until it is written, etc.,

on a scroll and with ink, etc.

From where do we know it?

“Writing” is derived from -

“writing.”

Here it is written: “And Esther the queen wrote”

and there it is written: “And Baruch said to them: From his mouth he would read to me all these words, and I would write them on the scroll with ink.”

Mishna:

A townsman ,

whose time for reading the Megilla is on the fourteenth,

who went to a walled city

whose time is on the fifteenth,

and

likewise

a resident of a walled city who went to a town,

when does he read the Megilla?

If he is destined to return to his place [in the Gemara it explains when he is destined to return] -

he reads according to his place .

he reads according to the practice of his place .

But if not -

he reads with them,

with the people of the place where he is now.

From where does a person read the Megilla and fulfill his obligation through it?

Rabbi Meir says:

he must read

all of it.

Rabbi Yehuda says: From “There was a Jewish man.”

Rabbi Yosei says: From “After these things”

Haman the king Ahasuerus promoted.”

Gemara:

Rava said:

That which we said, that a resident of a walled city who went to a town and is destined to return to his place reads on the fifteenth,

was taught only

when he

is destined to return

to the walled city

on the night of the fourteenth,

so that he leaves the city before dawn. For then he does not need to read with them on the night of the fourteenth, even though he is still there, since he is not an unwalled resident even for one day, for during the day he will no longer be there.

But

if he

is not destined to return on the night of the fourteenth,

even though he is destined to return during the day, he is an unwalled resident for one day, and is considered an unwalled resident; therefore he

reads with them

on the night of the fourteenth and on the day of the fourteenth.

And the same applies conversely, to a townsman who went to a walled city. If he is destined to return on the night of the fifteenth, so that he will not be there at all during the day of the fifteenth, he is not considered a resident of a walled city even for one day; therefore he reads in the walled city according to his place, on the day of the fourteenth. But if he is not destined to return on the night of the fifteenth, he does not read on the fourteenth; rather, he waits and reads with the residents of the walled city on the fifteenth, since he is a resident of a walled city for one day.

Rava said: From where do I say this

regarding an unwalled resident or a resident of a walled city for one day—that he reads with them?

For it is written: “Therefore the unwalled Jews who dwell in unwalled cities.” Since it is already written

already:

“the unwalled Jews,” why do I need it to write

again:

“who dwell in unwalled cities”?

Rather,

this teaches us that an unwalled resident for one day -

is called an unwalled resident .

We have found [that this is so with regard to] an unwalled resident.

A resident of a walled city for one day, who is considered a resident of a walled city -

from where do we know it?

And we answer:

It is logical. Since an unwalled resident for one day -

is called an unwalled resident, a resident of a walled city for one day

also

is called a resident of a walled city.

And Rava said: A village dweller,

whose law is that he advances [the reading] to the day of gathering, and he already read at his proper time ,

who went to a town,

whose law is to read on the fourteenth, and was there on the night of the fourteenth,

in either case,

whether he is destined to return before daybreak or is not destined to return -

he reads with them

at night.

What is the reason?

Because

this village dweller, from the outset of the law,

from the basic perspective of the law,

must read like the people of the town,

for he is an unwalled resident,

and it was the Sages who were lenient with

the

villagers

so that they could read on the day of gathering,

in order that they provide water and food for their brothers in the walled cities .

If so,

these words

that they were lenient with them, so that they need not read on the fourteenth, apply

when he is in his place

on the night of the fourteenth.

But when he is in the town

on the night of the fourteenth,

like the

people of the

town he must read,

since in any event he is there, and the enactment does not apply.

Abaye challenged him: A resident of a walled city who went to a town -

in either case he reads according to his place.

And there is reason to wonder about this beraita:

A resident of a walled city—is it conceivable

that in either case he reads according to his place? But

if he is destined to return

to his place while it is still day,

the matter depends on it,

as we said above!

Rather, is it not

that the

village dweller

is the subject of the beraita, and we see that a village dweller always reads according to his place!?

And we answer:

And

when

you have corrected

the wording of the beraita and said that it does not speak of a resident of a walled city but of a village dweller, if so, change it as well and

teach

in the beraita

“he reads with them,”

and not “he reads according to his place.”

We learned in our Mishna:

From where does a person read the Megilla, etc.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: From “On that night”

the king’s sleep was disturbed.”

Rabbi Yohanan said: And all of them,

all these tannaim who dispute from where one reads the Megilla,

expounded one verse.

For it is written:

“And Esther the queen and Mordecai the Jew wrote all the power,”

we see that Scripture was particular to mention all the power.

And they disputed in this:

The one who says

that one must read

all of it,

holds that “all the power” means

the power of Ahasuerus,

and indeed his power is mentioned from the beginning of the Megilla to its end.

And the one who says, “From ‘There was a Jewish man’” -

the power of Mordecai.

And the one who says, “From ‘After these things’” -

the power of Haman.

And the one who says, “From ‘On that night’” -

the power of the miracle .

Rav Huna said: From here,

they disputed regarding this verse. For it is written:

“And what did they see in this, and what came upon them.”

And the meaning of this verse is that the Megilla is written and read to inform the generations “what they saw” at that time to do what they did; and it explains “in this,” and it explains “what came upon them,” upon those who did [what they did], in the end.

And they disputed in this:

The one who says the entire Megilla -

expounds the verse in this manner:

What

did Ahasuerus see, that he used the vessels of the Temple? In this -

because he calculated seventy years and Israel had not been redeemed

from its exile [as above, 11b].

And what came upon them -

that

he became drunk and

killed

Vashti .

And the one who says, “From ‘There was a Jewish man’”

expounds it as follows:

What did Mordecai see, that he was angry with Haman? In this -

because he made

Haman

his very self an object of idolatry .

And what came upon them -

that a miracle occurred.

And the one who says, “From ‘After these things’”

expounds it as follows:

What did Haman see, that he became jealous of all the Jews? In this -

because Mordecai would not kneel and would not prostrate himself. And what came upon them -

they hanged him and his sons on the tree.

And the one who says, “From ‘On that night’”

expounds it as follows:

What did Ahasuerus see, that he brought the book of records? In this -

because he thought: What is this,

that

Esther invited Haman together with him

to the feast [as above, 15b]?

And what came upon them -

that a miracle occurred.

Rabbi Helbo said that Rav Hama bar Gurya said that Rav said: The halakha is according to the words of the one who says

that one must read

all of it.

And even according to the one who says

that it suffices to read

from “There was a Jewish man,”

in any event

it must be entirely written

before him.

And Rabbi Helbo said that Rav Hama bar Gurya said that Rav said: The Megilla is called a “scroll,”

as it is written: “And it was written in a scroll.”

And it is called

also

a “letter” ,

as it is written: “the letter of Purim.”

From the fact that it is

called a scroll,

we derive

that if he sewed it with linen threads -

it is invalid.

Rather, he must sew it specifically with sinews, as is the law of a Torah scroll [for there is one who says this in tractate Makkot 11a].

And

from the fact that it is

called a letter,

which implies that it is not as stringent as a Torah scroll , we derive

that if he inserted three sinew threads into it,

even though the rest of the Megilla is sewn with linen threads -

it is valid .

Rav Nahman said: Provided that they are

the sinew threads

triangularly arranged,

that is, from the beginning of the scroll until the sewing of the first sinew, there is the same distance as from the first sinew to the second sinew.

And likewise from the second sinew to the third, and likewise from the third sinew -

until the end of the scroll .

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: One who reads a Megilla written among other scrolls,

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: One who reads a Megilla written among the other writings,

which was attached to other books in the same roll—

has not fulfilled [his obligation],

because we require that it be a letter by itself, for in this way the miracle is publicized more, since if it is among the other writings, it appears as though he is reading Scripture.

Rava said: We said this

that he has not fulfilled [his obligation],

only when it is not shorter [

shorter]

and longer [or longer]

the Megilla than the other sheets attached to it—

by a little; but

if

it is shorter and longer

by a little—

has not fulfilled his obligation,

we have no concern,

for it has a distinguishing sign of its own.