27 Feb HEARING MEGILLAH AT WAR

I. Five Days of
Megillah
Earlier this month,
I was notified that
the IDF Rabbinate
faces a shortage of
Megillah scrolls. There
are a number of ways
to handle this, including paying scribes to
quickly write more megillos. I would like
to explore here an option that should be
lower on this list. Of course, safety comes
first and, if militarily necessary, a soldier
is exempt from hearing Megillah because
lives are at stakes. However, often there is
time for soldiers to fulfill this mitzvah even
during war. It is worthwhile examining the
different options even if they will not be
used.
The first Mishnah in Megillah says that
the Megillah can be read on five days.
Normally it is read on the 14th of Adar.
In cities that were walled in ancient times,
like Jerusalem, Megillah is read on the
15th. However, the enactment of Purim
allowed for villagers to hear Megillah on
the market day before the holiday, which
could be either the 11th, 12th or 13th of
the month. Since often villagers did not
have someone local who could read the

Megillah for them, the Sages allowed them
to hear it on a day that they would already
come into the city. This applies only to
Megillah. They observed all the other
mitzvos on the Purim but heard Megillah
on an earlier day.
Rav Elazar Rokeach (Rokeach, no.
236) points out that the word Purim is
mentioned in the book of Esther five
times, serving as a hint to the five times
we read the Purim Megillah. Rav Shlomo
Ha-Cohen of Vilna (Cheishek Shlomo,
Megillah 2a) points out that of those five
mentions, twice Purim is spelled full (with
a vav) and three times missing (without a
vav). The two full times refer to the 14th
and 15th, when Megillah is read together
with the other mitzvos of the day. The
three missing times refer to the 11th, 12th
and 13th, when Megillah is read but the
day is not full because the other mitzvos
are observed on a different day.
II. End of the Five Days
The Gemara (Megillah 2a) says that this
practice was discontinued. There are two
versions of the key word explaining why
it was stopped. The standard text says that
everyone looks to Purim (ho’il u-mistakelin
bah). Rashi (11th cen., France; ad loc., s.v.
aval) explains that people look to Purim

as their marker to determine when Pesach
occurs, i.e. thirty days later. If people hear
Megillah earlier, they might get confused
about the timing of Pesach, with all its
serious implications. Rav Yitzchak Alfasi
(ad loc.) explains differently that the poor
look to Megillah reading to know when
they should go out and collect money.
Rav Yom Tov of Seville (Megillah 2a,
s.v. ika de-amri) provides more detail: the
poor need a single day to collect money
otherwise they will be unsure where to go
on which day and will lose out.
Another version of the text, quoted by Rif
and others, is that the Sages discontinued
this practice because it is dangerous for
people (ho’il u-mistakenin bah). Since
it became more dangerous to practice
Judaism publicly, we only celebrate Purim
on one or two days rather than five. Ritva
explains that if Purim lasts for five days,
it becomes a louder celebration that might
catch the attention of hostile governments
who may legislate against the celebration
of Purim altogether. Interestingly, Rav
Avraham Ha-Yarchi (Sefer Ha-Manhig,
beginning of hilchos Megillah) seems to
have had a different text of the Talmud that
said the practice was discontinued because
of lack of danger. He says that villagers
hear Megillah early because of the danger
of intercity travel — we can’t ask them
to travel to the city and undertake that
risk so many times in a week. However,
in later times when there was not as
much danger, the Sages discontinued the
practice of early Megillah readings.
III. A Remnant of the Five Days
Regardless of the explanation, the
practice of early Megillah reading was
discontinued already in the times of the
Gemara. However, we see medieval
scholars mention a remnant of this old
practice. The Tosefta (Megillah 1:2)
says that someone leaving on a caravan
or a ship must read Megillah on Purim.
Rav Mordechai Ben Hillel (Mordechai,
Megillah no. 774) quotes an opinion
that this only refers to someone who
will have access to a Megillah scroll on
Purim. If he does not, then he may read
or hear Megillah on the 11th, 12th or
13th of Adar. Hagahos Ashri (Megillah
1:1) and Hagahos Maimoniyos (Hilchos
Megillah 1:9) quote those who accept this
opinion in practice. Meaning, even today,
someone who needs to travel on Purim
should try to hear Megillah on Purim. If
that is completely impossible, he should
hear Megillah on an earlier day (without
the blessings). Significantly, this view
is accepted in Shulchan Aruch (Orach
Chaim 688:7) and Rav Moshe Isserles
(Gloss, ad loc.) adds that if necessary,

you can read Megillah all the way from
Rosh Chodesh Adar!
If someone traveling can hear Megillah a
few days early, presumably soldiers at war
can also. Even a traveler may only do this
if he has no access to a Megillah on Purim.
This is a sub-optimal option, low on the
list of possible solutions. However, if the
IDF has a severe shortage of Megillah
scrolls, it can quadruple its capacity by
sending scrolls and readers on the 11th,
12th, 13th and 14th of Adar.
One complication is the ruling of Rav
Avraham Gombiner (Magen Avraham
688:11) that the reading must be in a group
of ten people. Normally, it is best to read
Megillah with a group but it is not required.
Magen Avraham says that it is not required
on Purim itself. However, an early reading
always requires ten people. This might not
always be possible for army units in the
middle of war. I believe that this ruling is a
minority opinion. While Rav Yisrael Meir
Kagan (Mishnah Berurah 688:20) follows
Magen Avraham on this, Rav Yosef
Teomim (Peri Megadim, Eshel Avraham
688:11), Rav Ephraim Zalman Margoliyos
( Yad Ephraim on Magen Avraham, op cit.)
and Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein (Aruch
Ha-Shulchan 688:18) explicitly disagree
with Magen Avraham and do not require
ten people for this Megillah reading.
Similarly, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky
(Kovetz Halachos, Purim 7:13) says that
someone who has surgery scheduled for
Purim and will be unable to hear Megillah
should read it in the 11th, 12th or 13th
even without ten people.
Israel has plenty of rabbis who know
the situation well and the IDF has its
own rabbinate structure that is embedded
within the army. They understand the
current situation and can decide the
proper approach for reading Megillah
in this difficult time. And, of course,
preserving life takes precedence. All that
notwithstanding, perhaps if there are no
other options when Purim time arrives,
soldiers on or near the front lines can hear
Megillah a day or more earlier if they will
not otherwise have access to a Megillah on
Purim.