Megillah, Daf Gimmel, Part 6   Introduction This section returns to discuss the law we saw in last week’s daf, that any area close to the city that reads on the fifteenth also reads on the fifteenth.   גופא, אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי: כרך וכל הסמוך לו וכל הנראה עמו נדון ככרך. תנא: סמוך – אף על פי שאינו נראה, נראה – אף על פי שאינו סמוך. בשלמא נראה אף על פי שאינו סמוך – משכחת לה כגון דיתבה בראש ההר. אלא סמוך אף על פי שאינו נראה, היכי משכחת לה? אמר רבי ירמיה: שיושבת בנחל.   The text [above states]: R. Joshua b. Levi said: A city and all that is next to it and all that is visible with i ..read more

Megillah, Daf Gimmel, Part 4   Introduction At the end of last week’s daf we learned that the words "city and city, town and town" from Esther 9:28 are used in a derashah which teaches that areas close to a walled city read the Megillah on the fifteenth, as does the city itself. The verse continues with "family and family"—our Talmud asks what added meaning can we derive from these words?   ..read more

Megillah, Daf Gimmel, Part 3   Introduction The end of yesterday’s section alluded to the prohibition of translating the Writings because there are verses in the book of Daniel that reveal the end of time. Today’s section opens with a verse from Daniel. Furthermore, today’s section contains another statement by R. Jeremiah and some say R. Hiyya b. Abba, the same amoraim whose statements were at the focus of the previous sections.   ..read more

Megillah, Daf Gimmel, Part 1   Introduction This week’s daf begins with another statement attributed to R. Jeremiah, or you may also say R. Hiyya b. Abba, the same authors of the last statement on the previous daf. Topically, this has nothing to do with the reading of the Megillah.   ואמר רבי ירמיה ואיתימא רבי חייא בר אבא: מנצפ"ך צופים אמרום. – ותסברא? והכתיב: +ויקרא כ"ז+ אלה המצות שאין נביא רשאי לחדש דבר מעתה! ועוד, האמר רב חסדא: מ"ם וסמ"ך שבלוחות בנס היו עומדין? –   And R. Jeremiah — or you may also say R. Hiyya b. Abba —said: The [alternative forms of the] letters M’N’Z’P’K ..read more

Megillah, Daf Bet, Section 6   Introduction According to the Mishnah the status of a city as "walled" or "unwalled" is based on whether it was walled when Joshua initially conquered Canaan. Our sugya notes that other tannaim hold that the status is determined according to the city’s status at the time of Ahashverosh, when the Purim events actually occurred.     ..read more

Megillah, Daf Bet, Section 5   Introduction According to the Mishnah unwalled cities celebrate Purim and read the Megillah on the fourteenth of Adar and walled cities on the fifteenth. Our sugya asks where this tradition comes from.   כרכים המוקפים חומה מימות יהושע בן נון קורין בחמשה עשר וכו’. מנהני מילי? אמר רבא: דאמר קרא +אסתר ט’+ על כן היהודים הפרזים הישבים בערי הפרזות, וגו’ מדפרזים בארבעה עשר – מוקפין בחמשה עשר. –   Cities which have been walled since the days of Joshua son of Nun read on the fifteenth. From where is this ruling derived? Rava said: Because Scripture says ..read more

Megillah, Daf Bet, Part 3   Introduction In today’s section an amora posits that the opinion in the Mishnah belongs to one sage, but that other sages disagree.   אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן: זו דברי רבי עקיבא סתימתאה דדריש זמן זמנם זמניהם, אבל חכמים אומרים: אין קורין אותה אלא בזמנה.   Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Yohanan: This [rule stated in the Mishnah] is the ruling of R. Akiva the anonymous sage who draws the distinction between "time", "their time" and "their times", but according to the Sages the Megillah is to be read only on the proper day.   Acco ..read more

Megillah, Daf Bet, Part 2   Introduction The opening sugya of Tractate Megillah is an extended midrashic discussion concerning the source for the halakhah allowing the Megillah to be read on the 11th, 12th and 13th of Adar, even though the book of Esther itself seems to say only on the 14th and 15th.   ..read more

Megillah, Daf Bet, Part 1   Introduction The first mishnah of Megillah teaches that the Megillah might be read on different days, depending on the locality. Depending on which day of the week Purim falls on, the Megillah might be read on the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth or fifteenth.  The central idea behind the mishnah is that small villages would not read alone in their own village, but rather would move up, if necessary, the day of the reading so that it would fall on the same day as “the day of gathering,” the market and court day in the larger towns. As we shall se ..read more

In this week’s Torah Sparks, you’ll find a D’var Torah on the Parashah by Ilana Kurshan called “Singing at the Sea and Beyond”, Vered Hollander-Goldfarb poses questions titled “Crisis by the Sea” and Bex Stern Rosenblatt writes about “God’s Aroma (Haftarah for Eighth Day)” in the Haftarah. Click HERE to view Parashat Seventh and Eight days of Pesach. The post Torah Sparks! Seventh and Eighth Days of Pesach 5782 first appeared on The Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center (FJC ..read more