Talmud - Megillah 4b מגילה ד׳ ב׳

The Gemara asks: Is that to say that this ordinance is for the benefit of the cities? Didn’t we learn in the mishna that if the fourteenth occurred on a Monday, the residents of villages and large towns read it on that very day? If it is so, that the ordinance allowing the villagers to sometimes advance their reading of the Megilla is for the benefit of the cities, let the villagers advance their reading to the previous day of assembly even when the fourteenth occurs on a Monday. The Gemara responds: That would mean that Megilla reading for them would take place on the tenth of Adar, and the Sages did not establish the tenth of Adar as a day that is fit to read the Megilla.

The Gemara continues: Come and hear a proof from a different statement of the mishna: If the fourteenth occurs on a Thursday, the villages and large towns read it on that day, the fourteenth, and the walled cities read it on the next day, the fifteenth. If it is so, that the ordinance is for the benefit of the cities, let the villagers advance their reading of the Megilla to the previous day of assembly, i.e., the previous Monday, as it is the eleventh of Adar. The Gemara responds: We do not defer the reading of the Megilla from one day of assembly to another day of assembly.

The Gemara continues: Come and hear that which was taught in the following mishna (5a): Rabbi Yehuda said: When is the Megilla read from the eleventh of Adar and onward? In a place where the villagers generally enter town on Monday and Thursday. However, in a place where they do not generally enter town on Monday and Thursday, one may read the Megilla only in its designated time, the fourteenth of Adar. The Gemara infers: If it enters your mind to say that the ordinance is for the benefit of the cities, would it be reasonable to suggest that because the villagers do not enter town on Monday and Thursday the residents of the cities should lose out and not be provided with food and water?

The Gemara accepts this argument: Do not say that the Sages allowed the villages to advance their reading of the Megilla to the day of assembly so that they can be free to provide water and food to their brethren in the cities on the day of Purim. Rather, say that the Sages were lenient with them because the villages supply water and food to their brethren in the cities. This ordinance was established for the benefit of the villagers so that they should not have to make an extra trip to the cities to hear the reading of the Megilla. However, in a place where the villages do not go to the cities, advancing their reading of the Megilla to the day of assembly will not benefit them, and therefore they must read on the fourteenth.

§ We learned in the mishna: How so? If the fourteenth of Adar occurs on Monday, the villages and large towns read it on that day. The mishna continues to explain the days on which the Megilla is read. The Gemara asks: What is different about the first clause of the mishna, which employs the order of the dates of the month, i.e., the eleventh of Adar, and the latter clause, which employs the order of the days of the week, i.e., Monday?

The Gemara answers: Since the days of the week would be reversed if the latter clause was organized according to the dates of the month, as the mishna would first have to mention a case where the fourteenth occurs on a Sunday, then a case where it occurs on a Wednesday or Shabbat, and then a case where it occurs on a Friday or Tuesday, the mishna employed the order of the days of the week in order to avoid confusion.

§ We learned in the mishna: If the fourteenth occurs on Shabbat eve, Friday, the villages advance their reading to the day of assembly, i.e., Thursday, and the large towns and walled cities read it on Friday, the fourteenth of Adar. The Gemara asks: Whose opinion is expressed in the mishna? It can be either Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi or Rabbi Yosei.

The Gemara explains: What is the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi? As it is taught in a baraita: If the fourteenth occurs on Shabbat eve, villages and large towns advance their reading to the day of assembly, i.e., Thursday, and walled cities read it on the day of Purim, Friday. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi disagrees and says: I say that the readings in the large towns should not be deferred from their usual date, i.e., the fourteenth of Adar. Rather, both these, the large towns and those, the walled cities, read the Megilla on the day of Purim.

The Gemara asks: What is the reason of the first tanna? The Gemara explains that it is as it is written: “To keep these two days, according to their writing and according to their time, in every year” (Esther 9:27), which indicates that Purim must be celebrated every year in similar fashion. Just as in every other year the large towns precede the walled cities by one day, so too here the large towns precede the walled cities by one day. Consequently, since the walled cities cannot read the Megilla on Shabbat and they are required to advance the reading to Friday, the large towns must also advance their reading a day to Thursday.

The Gemara raises an objection: Say that the words “in every year” indicate that just as in every other year the Megilla readings in the large towns are not deferred from their usual date and they read the Megilla on the fourteenth, so too here the Megilla readings in the large towns should not be deferred from their usual date and they too should read on the fourteenth. The Gemara answers: Here it is different, as it is not possible for the large towns to fulfill all of the conditions at the same time, i.e., to read on the fourteenth and to read a day before the walled cities.

The Gemara asks: And Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, what is his reason? The Gemara explains that it is also based upon the words “in every year”; just as in every other year the readings in the large towns are not deferred from their usual date and they read on the fourteenth, so too here, the readings in the large towns are not deferred from their usual date, but rather they read on the fourteenth.

The Gemara raises an objection: Say that the words “in every year” indicate that just as every year the large towns precede the walled cities by one day, and read on the fourteenth, so too here the large towns precede the walled cities by one day, and read on the thirteenth. The Gemara answers: Here it is different, as it is not possible to fulfill all of the conditions at the same time, i.e., to read on the fourteenth and to read a day before the walled cities.

The Gemara asks: What is the opinion of Rabbi Yosei? As it is taught in a baraita: If the fourteenth occurs on Shabbat eve, the walled cities and villages advance their reading of the Megilla to the day of assembly, and the large towns read it on the day of Purim itself. Rabbi Yosei says: The walled cities never precede the large towns; rather, both these, the large towns, and those, the walled cities, read on that day, i.e., Friday, the fourteenth of Adar.

The Gemara asks: What is the reason of the first tanna? As it is written: “In every year”; just as in every other year the large towns read the Megilla on the fourteenth, and the time for this type of settlement to read the Megilla is not the time for that type of settlement to read the Megilla, as the large towns and walled cities never read the Megilla on the same day, so too here, the large towns read the Megilla on the fourteenth, and the time for this type of settlement to read the Megilla is not the time for that type of settlement to read the Megilla. Therefore, the walled cities must advance their reading of the Megilla by two days to the day of assembly, Thursday.

The Gemara raises an objection: Say that the words “in every year” indicate that just as in every other year the walled cities do not precede the large towns, so too here, the walled cities do not precede the large towns. The Gemara answers: Here it is different, as it is not possible to fulfill all of the conditions at the same time, i.e., that the large towns should read on the fourteenth, the large towns and the walled cities should read on different days, and the walled cities should not precede the large towns.

What is the reason of Rabbi Yosei? It is based upon the words “in every year”; just as in every other year the walled cities do not precede the large towns, so too here, the walled cities do not precede the large towns.

The Gemara raises a difficulty: Say that the words “in every year” indicate that just as in every other year, the time for this type of settlement to read the Megilla is not the time for that type of settlement to read the Megilla, so too here, the time for this type of settlement to read the Megilla is not the time for that type of settlement to read the Megilla. Therefore, since the large towns read on the fourteenth, the walled cities read on the thirteenth. The Gemara answers: Here it is different, as it is not possible to fulfill all the conditions. It is clear from these baraitot that the tanna of the mishna can either be Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi or Rabbi Yosei, but not either of two anonymous tanna’im.

The Gemara asks: Does Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi really hold that one does not defer the reading of the Megilla in large towns to the day of assembly? Isn’t it taught in a baraita: If the fourteenth occurs on Shabbat, the villages advance their reading of the Megilla to the day of assembly, the large towns read it on Shabbat eve, and the walled cities read it the next day, i.e., on Sunday. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: I say that since the readings in the large towns were already deferred from their usual date, i.e., the fourteenth, they are deferred to the day of assembly, i.e., to Thursday. Consequently, even Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi agrees that the reading in the large towns can be shifted to the day of assembly. Why doesn’t he also hold that large towns read the Megilla on the day of assembly when the fourteenth occurs on a Friday?

The Gemara responds: How can these cases be compared? There, in the second baraita, the designated time for them to read the Megilla is Shabbat, but the Megilla is not read on Shabbat, and therefore they must read it on a different day. Therefore, since the readings in the large towns have been deferred, they are deferred an additional day, and take place on Thursday, the day of assembly, at the same time as the readings in the villages. Here, their designated time is Shabbat eve, and there is no reason to move the reading from that day.

The Gemara asks: In accordance with whose opinion is that which Rabbi Ḥelbo said that Rav Huna said: When Purim occurs on Shabbat, the reading of the Megilla in all places is deferred to the day of assembly? The Gemara corrects the wording of Rav Huna’s statement: Can it enter your mind to say that the reading of the Megilla in all places is deferred to the day of assembly? Aren’t there walled cities that perform this ceremony the next day, i.e., on Sunday? Rather, Rav Huna’s statement should say as follows: All readings that are deferred are deferred to the day of assembly. In accordance with whose opinion was this stated? It is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi.

In any case, it is apparent from the mishna and the baraitot that everyone agrees that one does not read the Megilla on Shabbat. What is the reason for this? Rabba said: Everyone is obligated to participate in reading the Megilla on Purim and blowing the shofar on Rosh HaShana, and not everyone is proficient in reading the Megilla. Therefore, the Sages issued a rabbinic decree that the Megilla is not read on Shabbat, lest one take the Megilla in his hand and go to an expert to learn how to read it or to hear the expert read it, and, due to his preoccupation, he will carry it four cubits in the public domain, and thereby desecrate Shabbat.

The Gemara comments: And this same concern for the sanctity of Shabbat is the reason that the Sages decreed that the shofar is not blown when Rosh HaShana occurs on Shabbat. And this same concern is the reason that the Sages decreed that one may not take the lulav on Shabbat.

Rav Yosef said that there is another reason the Megilla is not read on Shabbat: Because the eyes of the poor are raised to the reading of the Megilla. The poor await the day on which the Megilla is read, because on that day gifts are distributed to the poor. If the Megilla is read on Shabbat, it will not be possible to distribute gifts to the poor, who will be deeply disappointed. The Gemara notes that this is also taught in a baraita: Even though the Sages said that the villages advance their reading of the Megilla to the day of assembly, they also collect the gifts for the poor on that day, and they distribute them to the poor on that day.

The Gemara is troubled by the wording of this baraita. Does the baraita read: Even though the Sages said? On the contrary, it is because they said that the villages advance their reading to the day of assembly that the gifts must be collected and distributed to the poor on that very day. Rather, the baraita should read as follows: Since the Sages said that the villages advance their reading of the Megilla to the day of assembly, they collect the gifts for the poor on that day and they distribute them on that day, because the eyes of the poor are raised to the reading of the Megilla, and they should not be disappointed. However,

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Megilla 4b explores whether the rule advancing village Megilla readings serves urban needs, debating market days and the earliest permissible date in Adar.