Megillah 4b — the Talmud in English

And we challenge:

Does this mean that the enactment for the walled cities exists

—this enactment?

But did we not learn:

If the fourteenth of Adar happens

on

a Monday,

the villages and the large towns read on that very day. And if it is so

that it is the enactment for the walled cities,

let them advance

the villagers

to the day of assembly

before it, namely Thursday, so that they will be able to supply water and food to the walled cities?!

And we answer: It cannot be said thus, for if they advance to the preceding day of assembly,

there would be for them

the reading of the villagers—on

the tenth

of Adar,

and

the reading on

the tenth—

the Sages did not institute [reading on that day].

Ta shma

that it is not the enactment for the walled cities, from that which we learned in our Mishna:

If

the fourteenth of Adar

happens to be on

a Thursday,

the villages and the large towns read on that very day. And if it is so

that it is the enactment for the walled cities,

let

the villagers

advance to the day of assembly

before it, namely Monday,

for

this

is the eleventh,

and the Sages instituted reading on it?!

And we answer:

From one day of assembly to the day of assembly—

we do not push it off. .

Ta shma

from the following Mishna. For we learned:

Rabbi Judah said: When

do the villages advance their reading to the day of assembly?

In a place where they enter

the towns

on Monday and Thursday. But

in a

place where they do not enter on Monday and Thursday—

they read it only at its proper time,

namely on the fourteenth of Adar, like the inhabitants of the town.

And if it enters your mind

that

it is the enactment for the walled cities,

and is it

because

the villagers

do not enter on Monday and Thursday that we cause the walled cities to lose?

After all, we still require that they advance, so that they will be free on the fifteenth?!

Rather,

do not say

as it entered our mind at first, that the Sages instituted this enactment

so that they would supply water and food

to their brothers in the walled cities,

but say

that it is a reward that the Sages gave the villagers, that they may read the Megilla on the days on which they already come to the towns in any event for judgment—

because they supply water and food to their brothers in the walled cities. .

And therefore, wherever they do not enter on Monday and Thursday, since it is not an easement for them and this is not a reward for them, they read it only at its proper time.

We learned in our Mishna:

How so? If

the fourteenth of Adar

happens to be on a Monday, the villages and the large towns read on that very day, etc.

And we inquire about it:

What is different,

that in

the first part of

the Mishna

the

tanna stated the days for reading the Megilla according to

the order of the month,

according to the order of the days of the month: the Megilla is read on the eleventh, on the twelfth, on the thirteenth, etc.,

and what is different

in

the latter part,

when the tanna came to explain how the obligation of reading applies on each of these days,

that

the tanna

stated the order of the days,

namely according to the order of the days of the week: if it happens to be Friday, if it happens to be Shabbat, if it happens to be the day after Shabbat, etc., and according to this order the days of the month emerge in reverse order: the thirteenth, the twelfth, and the eleventh?!

And we explain:

Since

if the tanna had stated the latter part according to the order of the month, so that he would have stated first: “If it happens to be the day after Shabbat”—when the villagers read on the eleventh, and afterward Shabbat—when they read on the twelfth, and afterward Friday—when they read on the thirteenth, then they

would have it reversed for him,

for this is not the order of the days of the week, and as a result they would come to error.

Therefore he

stated

in the latter part

the order of the days,

and the order of the month, which is reversed, the tanna does not mention explicitly; rather, he stated that they advance to the day of assembly, and this does not lead to error.

We learned in our Mishna:

If

the fourteenth of Adar

happens to be on Friday, etc.,

and the large towns and the walled cities read on that very day.

Whose Mishna is this?

If

[or] like

Rabbi, if

like

Rabbi Yosei. .

What

are the words of

Rabbi,

of whom you said that the Mishna proceeds according to his method?

For it was taught: If

the fourteenth

happens to be on Friday, the villages and the large towns advance to the day of assembly, and the walled cities read on that very day.

And Rabbi disagrees with the first tanna:

Rabbi says: I say,

the towns should not be pushed away from their place

fixed for them,

but these and those should read on that very day.

What is the reason of the first tanna,

who says that if it falls on Friday, the large towns advance to the day of assembly?

For it is written: “To observe these two days according to their writing and according to their time

every year and year,”

which implies that all the years should be equal. And we expound:

What

in

every year and year—

the towns precede the walled cities,

for the towns are on the fourteenth and the walled cities on the fifteenth,

so too here—

we require that

the towns

precede the walled cities.

And therefore, when the fourteenth falls on Friday, when the walled cities read on that very day, the towns too are advanced to the day of assembly, so that they will precede the walled cities.

And we challenge:

But perhaps

we should expound oppositely:

“Every year and year,” just as every year and year—

the towns are not pushed away from their place, so too here,

when the fourteenth falls on Friday—

the towns should not be pushed away from their place?

And we answer:

Here it is different, for it is impossible,

for necessarily we push the towns away from their place so that they will precede the walled cities. And since the walled cities were advanced to read on Friday, we push the towns to the day of assembly.

And Rabbi, what is the reason

that he disagrees with the first tanna and holds that the towns too read on Friday?

Because he expounds that verse thus:

“Every year and year,” just as every year and year—

the towns are not pushed away from their place, so too here—

the towns should not be pushed away from their place.

And we challenge Rabbi’s reason:

But perhaps

we should expound oppositely, like the first tanna:

“Every year and year,” just as every year and year—

the towns precede the walled cities, so too here—

the towns should precede the walled cities?

And we answer:

Here it is different, for it is impossible

to advance the towns, for in every year they are not pushed away from their place.

And if so, the Mishna, which teaches that the inhabitants of the towns read on that very day and are not pushed to the day of assembly, is according to Rabbi.

And now we explain

what

is the statement of

Rabbi Yosei,

of whom you said that the Mishna also proceeds according to his method:

For it was taught: If

the fourteenth of Adar

happens to be on Friday, the walled cities and the villages advance to the day of assembly, and the large towns read on that very day.

And Rabbi Yosei disagrees with the first tanna:

Rabbi Yosei says: The walled cities do not precede the towns, but these and those,

towns and walled cities,

read on that very day.

What is the reason of the first tanna,

that the walled cities advance to the day of assembly and do not read on the fourteenth like the towns?

For it is written: “Every year and year.”

And we expound:

Just as every year and year—

the towns are on the fourteenth, and the time of this one—

the towns—

is not the time of this one—

the walled cities—

so too here,

when the fourteenth falls on Friday, we require that

the towns

read

on the fourteenth,

and we require advancing the walled cities, because we require that

the time of this one—

not

be

the time of this one.

And therefore the inhabitants of the towns read on that very day, and the walled cities advance to the day of assembly, so that their time will not be like the time of the inhabitants of the towns.

And we challenge:

But perhaps

we should expound oppositely:

“Every year and year,” just as every year and year—

the walled cities do not precede the towns, so too here, the walled cities should not precede the towns,

and both of them should read on Friday? And we answer:

Here it is different, for it is impossible

to act thus, for we require that the time of this one not be like the time of this one.

And

what is the reason of Rabbi Yosei,

who says that the walled cities should not precede, but should read with the towns on Friday?

For he expounds the verse of

“every year and year”

thus:

Just as every year and year—

the walled cities do not precede the towns, so too here—

the walled cities should not precede the towns.

And we challenge Rabbi Yosei:

But perhaps

we should expound thus:

“Every year and year,” just as every year and year—

the time of this one is not the time of this one, so too here the time of this one is not the time of this one,

and we should advance the walled cities to the day of assembly, so that their times will not be equal?

And we answer:

Here it is different, for it is impossible,

for we require that the walled cities not precede the towns.

If so, our Mishna proceeds according to Rabbi Yosei.

And we are astonished:

And

does

Rabbi hold

that the

towns are not pushed to the day of assembly?!

But it was taught: If

the

fourteenth

of Adar

happens to be on Shabbat, the villages advance to the day of assembly, and the large towns read on Friday, and the walled cities—

on the following day,

on the fifteenth of Adar.

But

Rabbi says: I say: Since the towns have been pushed away

from their place—

they should be pushed to the day of assembly.

We see that the towns are pushed to the day of assembly?!

And we reject this:

How can you now say so!

Are they comparable?

There,

in that beraita,

their

time

is

Shabbat! And since they have been pushed away,

they should be

already pushed to the day of assembly, for one does not read the Megilla on Shabbat.

In contrast,

here,

in the Mishna that we brought above,

their

time

is

Friday, and therefore we do not push them away, and the walled cities read with them.

According to whom does this statement of Rabbi Helbo in the name of Rav Huna proceed: If Purim happens to be on Shabbat—

everyone is pushed to the day of assembly?

And we do not conclude the matter, and we are astonished:

“Everyone is pushed”

can this enter your mind? But there are the walled cities, which

certainly

perform it on the following day,

on the fifteenth, for that is their time?!

Rather,

this is what Rav Huna said:

Everyone who is pushed

from his place—

is pushed to the day of assembly.

According to whom

does that statement of Rav Huna proceed?

According to Rabbi.

For he said this in the beraita above.

In any event, everyone

holds that

we do not read the Megilla on Shabbat.

What is the reason?

Rabba said: Everyone is obligated

in reading the Megilla, but not everyone is expert in reading the Megilla.

Therefore we institute a

decree

that one should not read it on Shabbat,

lest

because he is frantic to read it, for everyone is obligated in it, he

take it in his hand and go to an expert

in order

to learn

its reading,

and carry it

four cubits in the public domain. .

And this is also

the

reason for

not blowing the

shofar

on Shabbat,

and this is also

the

reason for

not taking the

lulav

on Shabbat: all of them are a decree lest one go to an expert in order to learn.

Rav Yosef said

an additional reason why we do not read on Shabbat:

because the eyes of the poor are lifted toward the reading of the Megilla

in order to receive gifts to the poor, and it is impossible to give them on Shabbat; therefore we do not read.

It was taught likewise,

that gifts are given to the poor on the day of reading the Megilla:

even though they said that villages advance to the day of assembly, they collect

gifts to the poor

on that day

on which they read,

and distribute

them to the poor

on that day.

And we question: What is the meaning of this wording,

“even though they said”?!

But

on the contrary! Because they said

that they advance—

it is

that we say that they collect on that day, on that early day?!

Rather,

say this:

since they said that villages advance to the day of assembly—

they collect on that day and distribute on that day, because the eyes of the poor are directed toward the reading of the Megilla,

and in accordance with Rav Yosef.