Megillah 5
Summary
- Today’s learning covers *daf* 5 in Maseches Megillah, focusing on why the Megillah is not read on Shabbos and how that parallels the earlier decrees by *lulav* and *shofar*, then moving into the connected issue of *matanos la’evyonim* and the poor anticipating Purim, the rules of reading *b’zmanah* versus *shelo b’zmanah* with or without ten people, the Mishnah’s definition of an *ir gedolah* via ten *batlanim* and which sacred observances are advanced or delayed, and then a series of sugyos about delaying fasts and festival offerings, Rabbi’s conduct on Purim and fast days, and the uncertainty about whether Teverya is considered a walled city for Megillah because the sea forms one side of its boundary.
- Bava states that everyone is obligated in Megillah reading but not everyone is expert, so Chazal decree that one might take the Megillah to an expert to learn and carry it four *amos* in *reshus harabim*. Bava identifies this as the same rationale as by *shofar* and *lulav*, completing the recurring trilogy of the same decree.
- Tosafos asks why the concern is formulated as carrying four *amos* in *reshus harabim* rather than classic *hotza’ah* between private and public domains. Tosafos answers that people do not typically err about crossing a domain boundary because it is more noticeable, whereas four *amos* in *reshus harabim* is easier to overlook, and it also assumes the object is already outside rather than being taken out from a home. Tosafos further answers that liability for *hotza’ah* depends on the intent at the time of *akirah*, while *ma’avir* can render one liable regardless of the original purpose in picking up the item.
- Tosafos asks why Chazal do not similarly decree against *milah* on Shabbos due to concern of carrying a knife or the baby. Tosafos answers that *milah* is more severe and foundational, as “נכרתו עליה י"ג בריתות,” and it cannot be displaced. Tosafos also answers that *milah* is performed only by experts because there is danger involved, unlike Megillah where everyone is obligated and many are not expert.
- Meiri brings multiple approaches, including Tosafos’s point that only experts perform *milah*. Meiri adds that *shofar*, *lulav*, and Megillah depend on fixed calendar dating where “ואנן לא ידעינן בקביעא דירחא,” so they are not treated as fully certain obligations in that setting, while *milah* is counted as eight days from birth with no doubt, “אין פקפוק בזמנה שהיא בשבת.” Meiri also frames *milah* as explicitly authorized by the Torah even when it overrides a Torah prohibition, so Chazal cannot institute a new rabbinic decree to negate what the Torah states is permitted, and the *Taz* is cited with the principle that when the Torah explicitly permits something, Chazal cannot declare it forbidden in a way that uproots that explicit permission.
- The shiur states that when the Torah permits *milah* on Shabbos, it is not merely an allowance but becomes a required act because it is a *chiyuv hayom* and delay carries severe consequence, so the permission translates into obligation.
- Tosafos Yom Tov is cited to ask why Chazal did not decree against *krias haTorah* on Shabbos the way they did for Megillah, *lulav*, and *shofar*. One answer is that Torah reading is extremely common and many know how to read, reducing the concern of carrying to learn. Another approach attributed to the *Gra* is that the decree is applied to *chovas hayachid* obligations like Megillah, *lulav*, and *shofar*, but not to *chovas hatzibbur* obligations like public Torah reading, and this is tied to Bava’s language “הכל חייבין בקריאת המגילה” as the key trigger for the decree.
- Tosafos raises the question of why there is no similar decree regarding blowing *shofar* on *motzaei Yom Kippur*, addressing concerns about carrying earlier before *havdalah* and the status of any transgression as at most *bein hashmashos*, with further analysis tied to the established reasons for that shofar blowing.
- Rav Yosef gives a second reason for not reading Megillah on Shabbos: “מפני שעיניהן של עניים נשואות במקרא מגילה,” because the poor anticipate that the day of Megillah is the day of receiving *matanos la’evyonim*. The shiur explains that reading on Shabbos would create disappointment because money cannot be distributed then. Tosafos explains that Rav Yosef is adding a Megillah-specific reason rather than disputing Bava, and gives a case like the Beis HaMikdash where the carrying-based *shevus* concern might not apply while the concern for the poor still would.
- A beraisa teaches that when villages read early on the *yom haknisah*, collections and distributions for the poor are also done that same day. The Gemara corrects the phrasing from “אף על פי” to “הואיל,” establishing that the early Megillah reading generates the early *matanos la’evyonim* timing because “עיניהן של עניים נשואות במקרא מגילה.” The shiur infers that this makes the early day resemble Purim “on some level,” fitting the earlier idea that the original *takkanah* treats 11–15 as potential Purim days.
- The text states “שמחה אינה נוהגת אלא בזמנה,” and Rashi explains that this refers to the Purim meal being kept on the proper day even when Megillah and gifts shift earlier. The shiur applies this to *Purim Meshulash* when 15 Adar falls on Shabbos in Yerushalayim: Megillah and *matanos la’evyonim* are on Friday, *Al HaNissim* and *Vayavo Amalek* are on Shabbos, and the meal and *mishloach manos* are on Sunday as ruled in Shulchan Aruch (תרפ"ח סעיף ו'). The shiur notes a dispute, including the *Maharalbach*, about making the meal on Shabbos, and it presents later discussions about why *mishloach manos* is not done on Shabbos, including issues of *kinyan* on Shabbos and a concern of “שמא יעבירנו.”
- Rav rules that Megillah read *b’zmanah* may be read even *b’yechid*, while reading *shelo b’zmanah* requires ten, with Rashi explaining that *b’zmanah* already has built-in *pirsumei nisa* because the whole world reads then. Rav Asi rules that both *b’zmanah* and *shelo b’zmanah* require ten, and an incident shows Rav being stringent like Rav Asi, with Rashi viewing it as retraction and Tosafos viewing it as added stringency. The Gemara challenges Rav from a statement that when Purim falls on Shabbos, Friday is “זמנם,” and it concludes that Rav’s phrase is meant to oppose Rebbi’s view that once deferred it should be deferred to the *yom haknisah*, teaching instead that Friday is the correct replacement day.
- The *Cheshek Shlomo* is cited for practical implications of treating a shifted reading day as the real obligation day, such as a minor becoming *bar mitzvah* on Shabbos after the reading occurred Friday, and a case of *ones* where one missed Friday and questions whether one should read on Shabbos. The shiur connects this to broader questions about whether Chazal’s shifting uproots the original time entirely, and it compares potential differences between a rabbinic mitzvah like Megillah and a Torah mitzvah like *shofar*.
- The Mishnah defines a large city as one that has ten *batlanim*, and less than that is a village. The shiur explains *batlanim* as people present in shul who do not work, and it cites Shifsei Chachamim that they “בטל” Hashem’s anger described in Berachos when there are not ten in shul. Another explanation is that they are free from work pressures and can daven properly, with a related teaching attributed to the Shulchan Aruch HaRav about appointing a *shaliach tzibbur* not rushed by work.
- The Mishnah states that Megillah readings are advanced and not delayed, while *zman atzei kohanim*, Tishah B’Av, *chagigah*, and *hakhel* are delayed and not advanced. Rashi explains *hakhel* is delayed either because of carrying children or because a special platform must be built that day, while the Rambam adds that extra supplications are not appropriate on Shabbos. The shiur notes that the rule of delaying fasts applies generally, and it reiterates that *Taanis Esther* is advanced rather than delayed because it is a distinct fast tied to Purim’s *pirsumei nisa*.
- The Mishnah states that even though Megillah can be advanced, those earlier days are permitted in *hesped* and fasting, indicating they are not fully Purim in all respects. The text still requires *matanos la’evyonim* on the day the Megillah is read early. Rabbi Yehudah limits the village advancement to places that actually gather on Mondays and Thursdays, and otherwise requires reading only at the proper time.
- The Gemara explains advancing Megillah from the verse “ולא יעבור,” establishing that one cannot pass beyond the latest permissible day. In two additional statements attributed to Rabbi Abba in the name of Shmuel, the Gemara derives that one does not count days to define a year for vows, “לחדשי השנה,” and that one does not count hours to define a month, “עד חדש ימים,” treating the calendrical unit as the established date-count rather than exact astronomical remainder hours.
- The Gemara says Tishah B’Av is not advanced because “פורענות לא מקדמי,” and *chagigah* and *hakhel* are not advanced because the time of obligation has not yet arrived. The text suggests that the ability to do Megillah earlier implies that early days are treated as part of the obligation framework for Purim.
- A beraisa states that *chagigah* and “kol zman chagigah” are delayed, and the Gemara offers three readings. Rav Hoshaya interprets “zman chagigah” as the *olas re’iyah* that is deferred when Yom Tov falls on Shabbos according to Beis Shammai, tying it to the dispute in Beitzah about bringing *shlamim* and *olos* and doing *semichah*. Rava interprets “kol zman chagigah” as the entire festival period in which one can still bring the *chagigah* if missed on the first day, based on the Mishnah that one may bring it throughout the *regel* and even on the last day but not after the festival ends. Rav Ashi adds that even Shavuos, though one day, has days of *tashlumin*, supported by the Mishnah that when Atzeres falls on Shabbos the day of slaughter is after Shabbos.
- Rabbi planted a planting on Purim and bathed publicly on 17 Tammuz, and the shiur notes Tosafos and the *Taz* explain this as reflecting an earlier practice where all fast days may have included the five afflictions, with the Ramban in Toras HaAdam cited and the Mishnah Berurah’s “בעל נפש יחמיר” noted. The Gemara says Rabbi sought to “עוקר” Tishah B’Av but the sages did not agree, and Tosafos explains this as either seeking to reduce its severity to match other fasts or to shift it from the ninth to the tenth. Rabbi Abba bar Zavda reports that the case was specifically when Tishah B’Av fell on Shabbos and was deferred, and Rabbi argued “הואיל ונדחה ידחה,” but the sages still did not accept it, and the line “טובים השנים מן האחד” is applied to the corrected report.
- The Gemara challenges Rabbi’s planting from the derashah that “יום טוב” implies an *issur melachah* on Purim, and it first answers that Rabbi planted on the other day, either planting on the 15th while being a 14th reader or vice versa. The Gemara then debates whether Teverya is definitely walled and resolves that Rabbi was certain while Chizkiyah was uncertain. The Gemara further challenges that Megillas Taanis forbids fasting and eulogies on both the 14th and 15th for everyone, and it answers that the cross-day restriction applies to *hesped* and fasting but not to *melachah*, which is only one day.
- Rava bar brei d’Rava answers that the community accepted only the prohibitions of *hesped* and fasting, but did not accept an actual prohibition of *melachah*, citing the shift in the pesukim from “שמחה ומשתה ויום טוב” to “ימי משתה ושמחה” where “יום טוב” is omitted. The Gemara explains Rav’s curse on someone doing work on Purim as a case of “דברים המותרים ואחרים נהגו בהן איסור,” and it states that in Rabbi’s locale they did not have that practice. The shiur adds an explanation that Purim did not become another day off of work, but it did emphasize *matanos la’evyonim* as a defining acceptance.
- The Gemara gives another resolution that Rabbi planted a *neti’ah shel simchah*, comparing it to the Mishnah in Taanis that restricts “בנין של שמחה” and “נטיעה של שמחה” during severe drought fasts. The beraisa defines *binyan shel simchah* as building a wedding house for one’s son and defines *neti’ah shel simchah* as “נטיעה אבורנקי של מלכים,” with Rashi explaining it as planting for royal shade or planting at a prince’s birth for later use.
- The Gemara returns to Chizkiyah’s practice of reading in Teverya on both the 14th and 15th due to doubt whether it is walled from the time of Yehoshua bin Nun. The verse in Yehoshua lists fortified cities and “רקת,” and the Gemara assumes “רקת זו טבריה,” but explains the doubt because one side is the sea rather than a wall. The Gemara distinguishes the rules of *batei arei chomah*, where “סביב” excludes Teverya because the sea is its wall, from the Megillah definition, where the question is whether “פרוז” and “מוקף” depend on being exposed or being protected. The Ran is cited that one does not apply *safek derabbanan lekula* in a way that would eliminate the mitzvah entirely, paralleling his explanation in Pesachim about reclining for the four cups, and the shiur states that the *poskim* rule to make the berachah on the 14th even when reading on both days.
Previous Page
Next Page
Daf Images are property of Vagshal and may not be reproduced.
Suggestions