Megillah 30a — the Talmud in English

Abaye said:

it is not proper to do so, for if so,

people will say that they did not read the portion of Shekalim at all, but

rather, they are merely establishing it there,

it is only being established there,

that is, the portion of Tetzaveh has not ended here. For the portion of Ki Tisa is a continuation of the portion of Tetzaveh, and it will not be apparent to people that it was read as the portion of Shekalim.

Rather, Abaye said,

this is what we do:

six

readers

from “And you shall command”

until the end of the portion, and they continue and read from the portion of Ki Tisa

until “And you shall make

a copper basin”

, and one repeats and

[returns]

and reads

again

from “Ki Tisa” until “And you shall make.”

He raised an objection: If

the first of Adar

occurs in the portion adjacent to it

to the portion of Shekalim,

whether

it occurs

before it,

that is, in the portion of Tetzaveh, or

whether

it occurs

after it, they read it —

the portion of Shekalim —

and repeat it.

And now,

granted according to Abaye —

it is satisfactory,

for this is the interpretation of the beraita: If the first of Adar occurs in the portion of Tetzaveh, which is adjacent to the portion of Shekalim [that is, “Ki Tisa”], they read it, the portion of “Ki Tisa,” after they have completed the portion of Tetzaveh, and they repeat it, that is, they read again from the beginning of “Ki Tisa.”

But according to Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa —

it is difficult,

for he said that they do not repeat it; rather, the seventh alone reads from the portion of Ki Tisa!?

Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa could say to you: And according to Abaye —

is it satisfactory? It is satisfactory

where the first of Adar occurs on the Shabbat that

precedes it,

for then they repeat it, as we said.

But where it occurs

after it,

that is, after the portion of Shekalim,

how do you find it

that they repeat its reading?

Rather, what do you have to say —

that this which is taught, “and they repeat it,” means that they

repeat it on the Shabbatot,

that is, they read the portion of Shekalim on two Shabbatot, one after the other. On the first Shabbat they read the portion of Ki Tisa, and on the Shabbat following it they read the portion of “Ki Tisa” again, the portion of Shekalim.

Here too, when it occurs before it,

he said

they repeat it on the Shabbatot.

It is not that they repeat its reading on that very Shabbat, but that although they already read on this Shabbat the portion of Shekalim, which is from the portion of Ki Tisa, they read the portion of Ki Tisa again on the following Shabbat.

If it occurs

that the Shabbat of Shekalim is in the portion of

Ki Tisa itself, Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa said: Six read from “And you shall make”

[that is, the end of the reading of the portion of Shekalim] —

until

the beginning of the portion of

“And he assembled,” and one reads from

the beginning of

“Ki Tisa” —

until “And you shall make.”

Abaye attacked him: Now people will say

to themselves:

it is retroactively that he

is

reading!

Rather, Abaye said,

this is what we do:

six

readers read from the beginning of “Ki Tisa” —

until “And he assembled,” and one repeats and reads

again

from “Ki Tisa” until “And you shall make

a copper basin.”

It is taught in accordance with Abaye: If it occurs in Ki Tisa itself, they read it —

and repeat it,

we see that they read the portion of Shekalim twice, and not in accordance with Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa, who said that they do not read it again.

We learned in our Mishna:

If it occurs within the week —

they advance it to the preceding Shabbat.

It was stated: If the first of Adar occurs on Friday, Rav said: They advance

to read the portion of Shekalim on the preceding Shabbat.

And Shmuel said: They postpone

reading it until the adjacent Shabbat.

What are their reasons?

Rav said: They advance it —

because

if so,

if we postpone the reading until the day after the first of the month —

the days of the tables will be diminished

[they will be reduced],

the days of the tables,

for they must read the portion of Shekalim two Shabbatot before the time when the tables sit in the provinces, that is, the fifteenth of Adar [according to the view of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel above, 29b], and if we postpone the reading, fewer than two weeks will remain until the fifteenth!

And Shmuel,

who

said: They postpone it —

could say to you: In any event,

if the first of the month occurs on Friday, the

fifteenth

of Adar also

will occur on Friday

[on Friday eve]

and

if so,

the tables will not go out until Sunday,

for they will not sit on Friday, because of the honor of Shabbat;

therefore they postpone it

to read it on the day after the first of the month, for two Shabbatot will still remain until the tables sit.

We learned: If it occurs within the week, they advance it to the preceding one, and they interrupt for another Shabbat.

Is it not so —

even if

the first of the month

occurs on Friday,

and it teaches that they advance it to the preceding one, in accordance with Rav!?

And we reject this:

No.

If it occurs

specifically within the week —

then they advance it, for in this case, if they postpone it, the days of the tables will certainly be diminished. But if it occurs on Friday, it may be said that they postpone it.

Come and hear: Which is the first Shabbat —

any Shabbat in which the first of Adar occurs,

within that week,

even

if the first of the month occurs

on Friday.

Is it not so that this which it teaches,

“even on Friday”

“even on Friday,”

is analogous to “within it”?

It is:

just as

when the first of the month occurs

within it —

they advance

to read it on the preceding Shabbat,

so too

when it occurs on

Friday —

they advance it,

in accordance with Rav!?

Shmuel said:

This which it teaches in this beraita, “within it,” means that the first of the month occurs

on it —

on the Shabbat itself, for then they certainly read on that Shabbat. And the beraita says that Friday is analogous to “within it”: the same law applies if it occurs on Friday, that they read on the following Shabbat, as though it occurred on the Shabbat itself.

And likewise the school of Shmuel taught

in the Tosefta this beraita: “Any Shabbat in which the first of the month of Adar occurs

on it.”

And this dispute between Rav and Shmuel

is

a dispute among

Tannaim

.

For it is taught:

“They alternate for the Shabbatot,”

“They alternate” is from the language of intervals. That is, they interrupt between the Shabbatot when the first of Adar occurs on a weekday. They advance the reading of the portion of Shekalim to the preceding Shabbat, for otherwise the days of the tables would be diminished, and they interrupt on the following Shabbat from reading the portions; and on the third Shabbat, adjacent to Purim, they read the portion of Zakhor, in order to make the reading of Zakhor adjacent to Purim.

The words of Rabbi Judah the Patriarch.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: They do not alternate.

And he proceeds to explain:

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: When do I say

that

they do not alternate —

when

the first of the month

occurs on Friday,

for in such a case, even when they read the portion of Shekalim on the Shabbat after the first of the month, the days of the tables are not diminished, since they will not sit until after the Shabbat of the fifteenth of Adar, as Shmuel said above. Therefore they postpone it and do not alternate.

But when

the first of the month

occurs within the week

[in the middle of the week], necessarily

they advance it,

and read

the portion of Shekalim

from the preceding Shabbat, even though it is

still the month of

Shevat.

For if they do not advance it, the days of the tables will be diminished.

And this is the dispute between Rav and Shmuel: The first tanna of the beraita holds that even if the first of Adar occurs on Friday, they advance it, in accordance with Rav. And Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar holds that in such a case they postpone it, in accordance with Shmuel.

We learned in our Mishna:

On the second, Zakhor, etc.

It was stated: If Purim occurs on Friday. Rav said: They advance

to read

the portion of Zakhor

on the Shabbat before Purim.

And Shmuel said: They postpone it

to read it on the Shabbat after Purim.

Over what do they disagree?

Rav said: They advance it —

so that the doing does not precede the remembering.

For if you say they postpone it, they fulfill the doing of Purim first, on Friday, and on the following Shabbat they fulfill the remembering, that is, the reading of the portion of Zakhor.

And Shmuel,

who

said: They postpone it —

could say to you: Since there are walled cities that perform

Purim

on the fifteenth,

that is, on Shabbat, then for the walled cities

the doing and the remembering —

come together

[come at one time].

We learned: On the second —

Zakhor.

And it occurred to us that this refers to the beginning of the Mishna, to the first of Adar that occurs on Shabbat.

But when the beginning of the month occurs on Shabbat —

Purim occurs on Friday, and it teaches

that we read

on the second

the portion of

Zakhor,

in accordance with Rav, who says that they advance it!?

Rav Pappa said: It does not refer to the beginning, but to the end. For it teaches that if the first of the month occurs within the week, they advance the reading of Shekalim to the preceding Shabbat, and they interrupt on the following Shabbat. And

what does

“

on the second”

that it says mean?

The second after the interruption,

that is, on the Shabbat after the interruption they read Zakhor.

Come and hear: Which

is the

Shabbat

of the

second

portion, that is, the portion of Zakhor?

Any Shabbat in which Purim occurs

[after it],

even if

Purim occurs

on Friday.

Is it not so that Friday —

is analogous to “within it”? Just as

if Purim occurs

within it —

it is certainly that

they advance it, so too

when Purim occurs on

Friday —

they advance it,

in accordance with Rav!?

Shmuel said: This which it teaches, “that Purim occurs within it,” means

The phrase “in which Purim falls” means

on it,

that Purim occurs on the Shabbat itself, for then they read the portion of Zakhor on that very day. And the beraita says that even if Purim occurs on Friday, it is as though it occurred tomorrow, on Shabbat, and they read the portion tomorrow, and this is in accordance with Shmuel.

And likewise the school of Shmuel taught

in this beraita: “Any Shabbat in which Purim occurs

on it.”

If

Purim

occurs on Shabbat itself ,

Rav Huna said: According to everyone, they do not advance it,

but they read the portion of Zakhor on the Shabbat of Purim. For the doing did not precede the remembering; rather, they come together, and with regard to the walled cities, the remembering preceded the doing.

And Rav Naḥman said: It is still a dispute,

for even in this case Rav says that they advance it, so that the doing precedes the remembering of the inhabitants of the unwalled towns.

It was also stated

that Rav disputes even in this matter:

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Abba, who said in the name of Rav: If Purim occurs on Shabbat —

they advance it and read on the preceding Shabbat

the portion of

Zakhor.

We learned in our Mishna:

On the third, the red heifer, etc.

The Sages taught: Which is the third Shabbat —

any Shabbat that is adjacent to Purim after it,

that is, the Shabbat after Purim.

It was stated: Rabbi Ḥama bar Rabbi Ḥanina said: The Shabbat adjacent to the first of Nisan

is the third Shabbat, on which they read the portion of the red heifer.

And they do not disagree. This

which we said, that we read on the Shabbat adjacent to the first of Nisan, is where

the first of Nisan occurs on Shabbat,

for we did not need to advance the reading of the portion of the month to the preceding Shabbat, but read it on the first of the month itself. And in such a case this is preferable: to read the portion of the red heifer adjacent to Nisan, in order to place the warning to the impure adjacent to Passover.

But

this

which we said, that we read on the Shabbat after Purim, is where

the first of Nisan occurs

in the middle of the week,

in the middle of the week,

for then they advance the reading of the portion of the month to the Shabbat before the first of Nisan, and the portion of the red heifer they read on the Shabbat before that, which is adjacent to Purim after it.

We learned in our Mishna:

On the fourth —

“This month shall be for you.”

The Sages taught: If the first of Adar occurs on Shabbat —

they read

the portion of

Ki Tisa, and they read as the haftara from Jehoiada

the priest [this beraita was explained above intermittently, according to Rav as he holds, and according to Shmuel as he holds].

And which is the first Shabbat —

any Shabbat in which the first of Adar occurs,

that is, after it,

even if

the first of the month occurs

on Friday.

On

Shabbat

the second

they read

Zakhor, and they read as the haftara: “I have reckoned.”

And which is the second Shabbat —

any Shabbat in which Purim occurs, even on Friday.

On

Shabbat

the third —

they read the portion of

the red heifer, and they read as the haftara: “And I shall sprinkle upon you.”

And which is the third Shabbat —

any Shabbat adjacent to Purim after it.

On the fourth —

they read

“This month shall be for you,” and they read as the haftara: “So said the Lord God: In the first month, on the first of the month.”