Megillah 4a (ד.) — the Talmud in English

Furthermore,

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:

the cities

Lod, Ono, and the Valley of Craftsmen—

were surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua, son of Nun.

Rabbi Yehoshua learned this tradition from his teacher: They were surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua. And he needed to testify concerning them because their walls appeared to be newly built, as will be explained below.]

And we raise a difficulty:

And

when

these

cities—

did Joshua build them

[build them]?

But Elpaal built them! As it is written: “And the sons of Elpaal were Eber, and Misham, and Shemer; he

[Shemer]

built Ono and Lod and their villages”?!

And we challenge this:

But according to your reasoning,

there is also a difficulty, for it is written elsewhere that

Asa built them! As it is written: “And he built fortified cities in Judah”?!

Rabbi Elazar said: These

cities—

were surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua, son of Nun.

And

they were destroyed in the days of the Concubine at Gibeah,

when Israel destroyed the cities of Benjamin,

and Elpaal came

and

built them again.

[Again]

they fell

[were destroyed],

and Asa came

and refurbished them

[repaired their breaches].

The language is also precise:

Asa did not build them originally,

as it is written: “And Asa said

[Asa]

to Judah: Let us build these cities.” By inference, the cities already existed

before

originally,

but they had been destroyed. And we conclude:

Conclude from this! And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Women are obligated in the reading of the Megilla,

as they too were part of that miracle,

for Haman decreed to destroy everyone, from young to old, infants and women [and Tosafot cite this, for the Rashbam explained that the principal miracle was performed through them, namely, through Esther; see there ].

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: When Purim falls on Shabbat,

although the Megilla is not read on Shabbat, but its reading is advanced to the day of assembly,

one asks and expounds concerning the matters of the day .

A translator is appointed before the sage to expound before the public on matters relating to the Megillat Esther .

And we raise a difficulty:

Why specifically Purim

when you say that one expounds concerning the matters of the day?

Even

on

a Festival as well,

although they had already expounded concerning the matters of the day thirty days before the Festival, they expound on the Festival itself. All the more so on Purim, concerning which they do not expound before its time; certainly they expound on Purim itself. What, then, does this statement teach us [ Tosafot explained the question in this manner ]?! And where do we find that one expounds on a Festival concerning the matters of that day?

For it was taught in a baraita: Moses instituted for Israel that they should ask and expound concerning the matters of the day. The laws of Passover—

on Passover; the laws of Shavuot—

on Shavuot; and the laws of Sukkot

—

on Sukkot

?!

And we answer:

Purim was necessary

to teach us this.

Lest you say that we should issue a decree because of

that

which

said

Rava

below, that the Megilla is not read on Shabbat, lest one go to an expert to learn how to read it—and here too we should decree that one may not expound concerning the matters of Purim, lest people err and come to read the Megilla

—it teaches us

that we do not issue such a decree.

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: A person is obligated to read

the Megilla at night

and to repeat it during the day .

As a remembrance of the miracle, for they cried out day and night over their distress.

As it is stated

[in the psalm “For the Conductor, upon the hind of the dawn,” which was said concerning Esther , as we say in tractate Yoma 29a]:

“My God, I call by day

but You do not answer; and at night

there is no silence for me.” .

They understood from this

the members of the academy, that this is what he meant:

to read it

the Megilla

at night, and

the statement “to repeat it during the day” is from the language of Mishna, meaning:

to recite its Mishna

[to study the mishnayot of tractate Megilla]

during the day .

Rabbi Yirmeya said to them: For me, it was explained to me by Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba:

the phrase “to repeat it during the day” means this:

as people say: “I will go over this section”—

“and repeat it,”

I will study it again. Here too, one should read it at night and then read it a second time during the day .

It was also stated

in accordance with what Rabbi Yirmeya said:

Rabbi Helbo said that Ulla of Beira said: A person is obligated to read the Megilla at night and to repeat it during the day. As it is stated

[in the psalm “I will exalt You, Lord, for You have drawn me up,” which refers to Mordekhai, Esther, Haman, and Ahasuerus, as we say in the Pesikta]:

“So that my glory may sing praise to You

and not be silent; Lord my God, I will thank You forever.”

And we expound: “So that my glory may sing praise to You”—during the day; “and not be silent”—at night .

We learned in our Mishna:

Except that the villagers advance the reading to the day of assembly.

Rabbi Hanina said: The Sages facilitated matters for the villagers, allowing them to advance the reading

to read it

to the day of assembly, so that

they would be free on the fifteenth of Adar, and

provide

then

water and food for their brethren in the walled cities .