Mazal Tov! Today we completed our study of Massechet Megillah, and in the final daf (Megillah 32a) we are taught about: 1) The need to see the text of the Sefer Torah prior to reciting a bracha on the Torah; 2) That Torah must be read with a נעימה (pleasant tone) and זמרה (song), 3)…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 31b) contains a pithy teaching that conveys a lesson derived from an episode in Sefer Melachim (The Book of Kings) – a lesson that is sadly is far too often overlooked today.In terms of Sefer Melachim, when Rehavam (רחבעם) the son of Shlomo ascended to the throne, he was approached by the…
Details
We were taught in the Mishna (Megillah 3:4) that on the second of the series of the four special Shabbatot on which an extra portion of the Torah is read (ארבע פרשיות), we read Parshat Zachor.Given this, the question is asked in today’s daf (Megillah 30a) about what should be done if Purim falls on…
Details
Much of today’s daf (Megillah 29a) explores the concept that, even absent of the Temple, God’s presence (Shechina) remains with us in exile and that, as the prophet relates: ‘though I have placed them far away among the nations, and though I have scattered them over the lands, I am a minor sanctuary for them…
Details
Much of Megillah 27b-28a is filled with the responses of various elderly Talmudic masters to the question posed to them by their disciples of במה הארכת ימים – ‘On account of which [meritorious practise] have you attained longevity?’.For example, Rav Preida answered this question by stating that, ‘In all my days (מימי), no one ever…
Details
Sometimes we can learn a text and do a double-take because either we suspect that we haven’t understood the text well enough, or it would appear that the text describes an outlook that sits outside the boundaries of what we think to be moral.I mention this in reference to today’s daf (Megillah 27a) where, having…
Details
We generally assume that once an item has been sanctified for sacred purposes, it is then considered to be sacred. However, as I shall soon explain such a statement is imprecise, and beyond this, in order to show respect to the most sacred of items, our Sages – as explained in today’s daf (Megillah 26b)…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 25a-b) contains two Mishnaic teachings that – on first glance – are contradictory, while – at the same time – just one of these teachings is regularly cited as the basis for educational policies in numerous schools and communities notwithstanding the fact that this teaching is almost always misinterpreted.We begin with the…
Details
A fascinating discussion in today’s daf (Megillah 24b) relates to a verse in Devarim 28:29 which warns the Jewish people that if they ignore the laws and values of the Torah, וְהָיִיתָ מְמַשֵּׁשׁ בַּצָּהֳרַיִם כַּאֲשֶׁר יְמַשֵּׁשׁ הַעִוֵּר בָּאֲפֵלָה וְלֹא תַצְלִיחַ אֶת דְּרָכֶיךָ – ‘you will grope at noon as someone who is blind gropes in…
Details
There are times when the word ‘Torah’ is used to exclusively refer to the Pentateuch (חמישה חומשי תורה), times when it is used to refer to the Bible (תנ”ך), other times when we use the word ‘Torah’ to refer to the core teachings of the Written & Oral Law (תנ”ך משנה וגמרא), and other instances…
Details
Today is Rosh Chodesh Shvat, and today’s daf (Megillah 22b) teaches us that on Rosh Chodesh there is an extra (fourth) oleh LaTorah (individual that is called up to the Torah). But why?According to a Beraita cited in our daf, it is because Rosh Chodesh is a day when people are under less work pressure…
Details
We are taught in today’s daf (Megillah 21a) that one must stand when reading the Torah for a congregation, and according to Rabbi Abahu, this requirement is based on the words of Devarim 5:28 where God tells Moshe: ‘And you, stand here with Me (וְאַתָּה פֹּה עֲמֹד עִמָּדִי) and I will tell you all the…
Details
The Mishna (Megillah 2:4) in today’s daf (Megillah 20a) lists a variety of mitzvot that need to be performed in the daytime and which are invalid if performed before daybreak – namely: 1) The (daytime) reading of the Megillah, 2) Brit Milah (Circumcision), 3) Tevillah (Immersion in a Mikveh) for those who have been in…
Details
The Mishna (Megillah 2:3) in today’s daf (Megillah 19a) records a debate between Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosi about the quantity of the Megillah text which must be read to fulfil the religious duty of מקרא מגילה.According to Rabbi Meir, the entire text of the Megillah must be read. According to Rabbi Yehuda,…
Details
We are taught in today’s daf (Megillah 18b) that a Megillah or, in fact, even one letter of the Megillah, may not be written by heart (אסור לכתוב אות אחת שלא מן הכתב). Instead, it must be copied from a pre-existing Megillah.Nevertheless, we are then taught a Beraita telling us of a specific incident when,…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 17a) contains many fascinating and profound teachings. But since the daf opens with a teaching – echoed in the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 68:11) – whose core concept and educational implications has been something that I’ve been speaking about for many years ever since I first encountered a truly remarkable interpretation on this…
Details
In recent weeks I’ve been listening to the podcast ‘A Slight Change of Plans’, and when I studied a particular section of today’s daf (Megillah 16a) relating to Charvona, it reminded me of a fascinating episode titled ‘The Science of Quitting’ (see https://bit.ly/317iOai) where the host, Maya Shankar, interviews Annie Duke who has recently written…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 15a) includes the teaching of Rabbi Elazar in the name of Rabbi Chanina that the blessing of an ordinary person should never be treated lightly in our eyes.In terms of the meaning of this statement, Rav Dessler explains (see Strive for Truth Vol. 2 p. 158) that we learn from here how…
Details
Much of today’s daf (Megillah 14a-b) teaches us about the שבע נביאות – the seven biblical prophetesses (Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Chana, Avigail, Chuldah & Esther) whose prophecies related not only to themselves but to others and/or the Jewish people as a whole. And as Massechet Megillah’s primary focus is the Purim story, I’d like to…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 13b) provides us with a stark reminder that the Jewish people are in danger when those with influence or power use their platforms to slander Jews – no matter how illogical or irrational such slander is – for it is here that Rava teaches us: ליכא דידע לישנא בישא כהמן – ‘there…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 12b) decodes the information that we are told about Mordechai in the beginning of the Megillah (Esther 2:5) which states: ‘There was a Jewish man in Shushan the capital, and his name was Mordechai, son of Yair, son of Shimi, son of Kish, a Benjaminite’.But why, asks the Gemara, are we told…
Details
Throughout the Tanach we find people or groups of people who presume that they can know, with both precision and certainty, when certain future events which have been prophecied will occur, and just as we find with Achashverosh in today’s daf (Megillah 11b), they each make the claim: אנא חשיבנא ולא טעינא – ‘I shall…
Details
While not experienced by all those who had the displeasure of COVID, nevertheless one of the oft-discussed side effects of this virus is the loss of the sense of smell.For those who have unfortunately lost their sense of smell either for a fixed period of time or who’ve still yet to fully recover this sense,…
Details
In today’s daf (Megillah 9a-b) we are taught that beyond a Torah scroll being written in the classic כתב אשורית, Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel also permitted Torah scrolls to be written in יונית (Greek). The Gemara then relates the story of how King Ptolemy placed 72 elders in 72 different houses and then instructed each…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 8a-b) contains many of the Mishnayot in the first chapter of Massechet Megillah where each of them begins with the same phrase of אין בין – ‘there is no difference between…’, they contrast two areas of religious practice (eg. vow offerings vrs. gift offerings), or two different degrees of someone who has…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 7b) includes the oft-quoted teaching of Rava that: ‘It is the duty of a man to intoxicate (לבסומי) himself on Purim until he cannot tell the difference between ‘cursed be Haman’ and ‘blessed be Mordechai’’ which is understood as endorsing excess drinking ‘for the sake of Purim’. However, the real question is…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 6b) contains a blunt yet important teaching by Rabbi Yitzchak that I often cite:‘If someone tells you יגעתי ולא מצאתי – I endeavoured [in Torah] and did not find [success] אל תאמין – do not believe them. If they say לא יגעתי ומצאתי – I did not endeavour [in Torah] but nevertheless…
Details
In one of his stand-up performances, British comedian Ashley Blaker speaks of those Jews who go to synagogue just twice a year on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and he then says: “If you only want to go to shul twice a year, spread it out a bit! Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are eight…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 4a) records a fascinating rule taught by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi which, though codified by many of the Rishonim, is not widely practiced. Specifically, the rule states that if Purim falls on a Shabbat (which, nowadays, would only occur to Shushan Purim – the 15th of Adar – and would only apply…
Details
Today’s daf (Megillah 3a-b) records how those serving in the Beit HaMikdash must temporarily cease doing so in order to hear the Megillah, and similarly, how those studying Torah must temporarily cease doing so in order to hear the Megillah.For some, these are just technical rules which speak to the hierarchy of mitzvah obligations on…
Details
Today we begin Massechet Megillah whose opening Mishna informs us that while residents of walled cities (כרכין המוקפין) read Megillat Esther on the 15th of Adar, and while residents of villages and large towns (כפרים ועיירות) read it on the 14th of Adar, residents of villages (כפרים) – who may not have someone who knows…
Details