Megillah 2a — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

The

Megilla is read

at times

on

the

eleventh

of Adar, at times

on the twelfth

of it, at times

on the thirteenth,

at times

on the fourteenth,

and at times

on the fifteenth .

But

not earlier

than the eleventh [it is never read before the eleventh],

and not later

than the fifteenth [it is never read after the fifteenth of Adar].

And now we explain how the Megilla is read on each of these days:

The inhabitants of

walled cities

that were surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua son of Nun —

read on the fifteenth

of Adar .

But the inhabitants of

villages and large towns

that are not surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua

read on the fourteenth [the Gemara will explain from where we learn that there is a distinction between those surrounded by a wall and those not surrounded by a wall] .

and the Gemara will explain from where we learn that there is a distinction between walled and unwalled cities] .

And although on these two days those dwelling in every place are included, this is according to the fundamental law.

Rather,

the Sages were lenient with the inhabitants of

the villages ,

and instituted that they should

advance to

read on

the day

of assembly ,

namely, Mondays and Thursdays, on which the villagers gather in the towns for judgment, since courts sit in the towns on Mondays and Thursdays according to Ezra’s institution [Bava Kamma 82a] ,

and since the villagers are not expert in reading the Megilla themselves and need one of the townspeople to read it for them ,

the Sages were lenient with them, so that they could read on the Mondays and Thursdays preceding the fourteenth of Adar.

And this is a leniency for them, since they already come to the city on these days for judgment [and the reason why they were lenient with them is explained in the Gemara].

And the day of assembly sometimes falls on the eleventh, sometimes on the twelfth, and sometimes on the thirteenth.

How

does the obligation to read the Megilla fall on each of these days?

If

it happens to be

the

fourteenth on

the

second day of the week,

which is the day of assembly, then

the villages and large towns read on that very day [there is no postponing the villagers from this day of assembly to the day of assembly before it ], and

[the villagers are not made to wait for an earlier day of assembly] , while

the cities surrounded by a wall

read

on the following day,

on the third day of the week.

And if

the

fourteenth

happens to be on

the

third or fourth day,

then the inhabitants of the

villages advance

to read on

the day of assembly,

namely, the thirteenth of Adar if the fourteenth falls on the third day, and the twelfth if the fourteenth falls on the fourth day,

while the large towns read on that very day

according to their law,

and the cities surrounded by a wall

read

on the following day.

If

the fourteenth of Adar

happens to be on

the

fifth day,

which is the day of assembly,

the villages and large towns read on that very day [as above, for the villagers are not postponed from the day of assembly to the day of assembly],

while

the cities surrounded by a wall

read

on the following day.

If

the fourteenth

happens to be

on

Friday, the villages advance to the day of assembly

namely, the thirteenth,

while the large towns and

also

the cities surrounded by a wall read on that very day .

And the inhabitants of the walled cities do not read on the fifteenth when it falls on Shabbat, because the Sages decreed not to read the Megilla on Shabbat, since not everyone is expert in its reading, and we are concerned lest one take the Megilla in his hand and go to an expert to learn, and violate the prohibition of carrying [as below, 4b, see there. And for Sunday after Shabbat they do not postpone the walled cities, for that is the sixteenth, and the verse says “and it shall not pass,” as below].

If

the

fourteenth happens to be on Shabbat, the villages and large towns advance and read on the day of assembly,

namely, the twelfth of Adar [the reason that the townspeople advance to the day of assembly is explained below [4b]: since they are in any event postponed from their appointed time, namely Shabbat, they are postponed already to the day of assembly on which the villagers read],

while the cities surrounded by a wall

read

on the following day .

And if

the

fourteenth

happens to be after Shabbat,

on Sunday, then

the villages advance to the day of assembly

namely, Thursday, the eleventh of Adar ,

and the large towns read on that very day, while the cities surrounded by a wall

read

on the following day.

Gemara:

We learned in our Mishna:

The Megilla is read on the eleventh

and so on.

From where do we know

that the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth are suitable for reading the Megilla, when in the verse only the fourteenth and fifteenth are written?

And he responds rhetorically:

From where do we know?!

We do not learn it from Scripture, nor is it an obligation upon them; rather, it is an institution of the Sages,

as we shall say below [in the following Mishna], that

[in the next Mishna], because

the Sages were lenient with

the inhabitants of

the villages

so that they could

advance

its reading

to the day of assembly, so that

they would be free on the day of Purim, and

provide

then

water and food for their brothers in the walled cities , and if so, what is your difficulty, “from where do we derive it from Scripture,” when it is an institution of the Sages!?

If so, why are you asking where this is derived from Scripture? It is an enactment of the Sages!

And we explain:

This is what we are saying: Since,

necessarily,

all

these days on which they read,

the Men of the Great Assembly

who lived in the days of Mordecai and Esther and instituted the rejoicing of Purim and the reading of the Megilla

instituted them,

so that it would be possible to read on them,

If it should enter your mind

that

the Men of the Great Assembly instituted only the fourteenth and fifteenth

alone,

instituted,

then this cannot be said, for who

would come, the Sages

after them,

and uproot the enactment that the Men of the Great Assembly instituted,

and permit the villagers to read on other days?

But we learned: A court cannot annul the words of another court ,

unless

it is

greater than it

[than the other court]

in wisdom and in number?!

Rather, it is obvious: all,

all the days of reading,

the Men of the Great Assembly instituted.

And if so, they certainly hinted at these days in the Megilla! And this is what we ask:

Where is there a hint

in the verse that they instituted this matter?

Rav Shaman bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: The verse says, “to establish the days of Purim

these at their appointed times.”

And the expression “their appointed times” implies that

many appointed times were instituted for them.

And we ask: From where do we learn five times? Perhaps

this

“at their times”

is needed for its own matter,

for the fourteenth and fifteenth, which are explicit in the verse, so that they fulfill the mitzvot of Purim on them?

And we explain: If it comes for its own matter,

then let the

verse say: “to fulfill, etc., at

a

time,”

which implies that we need to perform the mitzvot of Purim at the time specified for them. And

what

is this that is written,

“their times”?

It implies that

many times

were established for them.

And we ask:

And it is still needed for it

that the verse uses “their times,” in the plural, to say that

the time of this one

—the walled cities—

is not like the time of this one

—the unwalled cities! For if it had been written only “at a time,” I would have said that there is one time for both of them: if they wish, let both read on the fourteenth, and if they wish, let both read on the fifteenth?

And we explain:

If so,

if this is why the verse comes,

let the verse say “their time.” What is

this that the verse writes,

“their times”? You may learn from this

for

all

these three matters: within this word are included “time” and “times”; and we know [both] its own matter and that their times are distinct; and many times were established.

And we ask: If so,

say

that there are

many times,

even before the eleventh of Adar and after the fifteenth of it, it should be possible to read the Megilla?

And we answer: The verse

“their times,”

from which it derives additional days, derives them

analogously to “their time.”

It derives

“their time,”

which is stated explicitly concerning them:

they are two days,

namely,

the fourteenth and fifteenth; so too “their times”

[means] two

days: it comes to include two days, and no more.

And we ask: If it comes to include two days,

say the twelfth and thirteenth [12 and 13], and from where do we know that they read on the eleventh?

[that is, the twelfth and thirteenth], and from where do we know that they read on the eleventh?

And we answer:

As Rav Shmuel bar Yitzhak said

below [to answer the Gemara’s question]: The day

thirteen

of Adar

is a time of assembly for everyone,

for both in Shushan and in the other places the Jews assembled on it to take revenge on their enemies,

and

since the principal miracle was performed on it,

it does not need to be included.

Here too,

there is no difficulty: perhaps the verse comes to include only the twelfth and thirteenth, for

the thirteenth is a time of assembly for everyone

and it does not need to be included,

since they read on it.

And we ask:

And say

that the verse included

the sixteenth and seventeenth [16 and 17] of Adar, and from where do we know that the verse comes to include only the days preceding the fourteenth? And we answer:

[that is, the sixteenth and seventeenth of Adar]? And from where do we know that the verse comes to include only the days preceding the fourteenth? And we answer:

“And it shall not pass” is written [this is the language of the verse: “And the Jews undertook for themselves and for their descendants, etc., and it shall not pass, etc., to observe these two days, etc.”],

which implies that it shall not pass these two days—to read after them.

And Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani said:

From here we include additional days for reading, for

the verse says: “And he sent letters to all the Jews, etc., to establish among them to observe the fourteenth day, etc.,

“And he sent letters to all the Jews, and so on, to establish for them to observe the fourteenth day, and so on,

like the days on which the Jews rested

etc.”

And seemingly the verse should have written:

“Days

on which they rested,” which would imply that they—the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar, mentioned at the beginning of the verse—are the days on which they rested. What is this that the verse writes,

“like the days”?

Rather, this verse comes

to include

two more days like them, namely,

the eleventh and twelfth,

on which they read the Megilla.

And we ask:

And say

that

the twelfth and thirteenth

are included by the verse?

Rav Shmuel bar Yitzhak said: The thirteenth is a time of assembly for everyone, and it does not need

the verse

to include it.

And we ask:

And say the sixteenth and seventeenth

are included by the verse?

And we answer:

“And it shall not pass” is written.

And we consider it:

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani,

who derives it from “like the days,”

why did he not say [that it is derived] from “their times”?

And we explain: Because he does not find it implied to expound the word “at their times” for three matters:

“time,” “their time,” “their times”

is not implied to him

to expound it in this way.

And

on the other hand,

Rav Shaman bar Abba

who derives it from “their times,”

why did he not say [that it is derived] from “like the days”?

He could say to you: That

“like the days”

is written for [all] generations,

and not to include other days from it. For this is the meaning of the verse: He sent letters to the Jews, to establish for [all] generations the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar—as those days on which the Jews rested at the time of the miracle.

Rabba bar bar Hanna said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: This

—the matter of our Mishna, that the villagers advance [the reading] to the day of assembly—

is the statement of Rabbi Akiva the anonymous [meaning that Rabbi Akiva said it, like many Mishnayot that Rabbi redacted anonymously and did not specify who said them, and they are the words of Rabbi Akiva] ,

who expounds

to include all these days, from

“time,”

“time”—

“their time”—

“their times.”

But the Sages

disagree with him, and do not expound this exposition, and

say: They read it only at its time

specified in the verse, namely, the fourteenth and fifteenth.

It is objected: Rabbi Yehuda said: When

did the Sages permit the villagers to advance [the reading] to the day of assembly?

When the years are in their proper order,

when they intercalate them by the authority of the court, sanctify the new moons by their authority, send messengers to all Israel to inform them when the month of Nisan was sanctified, and all Israel make the festivals according to their word,

and Israel dwells on its land,

and the messengers reach the Passover even to the furthest edge of the Land of Israel, to inform them that the month had been sanctified.

But in the present time,

when Israel does not dwell on its land and the messengers will not reach all Israel by Passover,

since

Israel

looks to it

—to the reading of the Megilla—and says: On the fourteenth of Adar we read the Megilla; therefore fifteen days of the month of Adar remain, and they count another fifteen days in the month of Nisan and observe Passover.

And if we advance the reading of the Megilla, perhaps they will err and calculate from the day of the reading of the Megilla and advance the observance of Passover before its time, with the result that they will eat leaven on the final days of Passover! Therefore

they read it only at its time,

namely, the fourteenth and fifteenth.

And now,

Rabbi Yehuda,

who distinguishes between the time when the years are in their proper order and the present time,

according to whose view

did he state his matter?

If you say according to the view of Rabbi Akiva,

then

even in the present time

he holds that

this enactment exists,

that the villagers advance [the reading]. For Rabbi Akiva lived in the present time and taught this law in the Mishna . Whereas Rabbi Yehuda says that in the present time they read it only at its time!?

Rather, is it not so:

Rabbi Yehuda stated it

according to the view of the Sages.

who stated it?

And

even so, he says that

when

the

years were in their proper order, and Israel

was

at least dwelling on its land—

it was the case that

we read

also on the other days! We see that the Sages also expound “time—their time—their times”?

And we conclude:

A refutation of Rabbi Yohanan,

who said that according to the Sages they never read it except at its time—

a refutation.

There are those who say:

Thus

Rabba bar bar Hanna said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: This is the statement of Rabbi Akiva

the anonymous,

who also in the present time advance [the reading] to the day of assembly.

But the Sages said: In the present time,

when Israel does not dwell on its land,

since they look to it, they read it only at its time.

For although they too expound “time, their time, their times,” after the destruction they were stringent, lest they err in the calculation.

It was also taught likewise: Rabbi Yehuda said: When

do we say that the villagers advance [the reading] to the day of assembly?

When the years are in their proper order and Israel dwells on its land. But in the present time, since they look to it,

they read it only at its time.

Rav Ashi found difficult

the beraita

of Rabbi Yehuda

above, which says that in the present time they read it only at its time,

against Rabbi Yehuda

of the Mishna below,

and he establishes the beraita

in accordance with Rabbi Yosei bar Yehuda.