Megillah

Afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king.1 And when David comes, prayer2 will come, as it says. Even then will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer.3 And when prayer has come, the Temple service4 will come, as it says, Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon mine altar.5 And when the service comes, thanksgiving6 will come, as it says. Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving honoureth me.7 What was their reason for inserting the priestly benediction after thanksgiving? Because it is written, And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and he came down from offering the sin-offering and the burnt-offering and the peace-offerings.8 But cannot I say that he did this before the service? — Do not imagine such a thing. For it is written, ‘and he came down from offering’. Is it written ‘to offer’? It is written, ‘from offering’.9 Why not then say it [the priestly benediction] after the [blessing of] the Temple service? — Do not imagine such a thing, since it is written, whoso offereth the sacrifice of thankgiving.10 Why base yourself upon this verse? Why not upon the other? — It is reasonable to regard service and thanksgiving as one. What was their reason for having ‘give peace’ said after the priestly benediction? — Because it is written, So they [the priests] shall put my name upon the children of Israel, and [then] I shall bless them;11 and the blessing of the Holy One, blessed be He, is peace, as it says, The Lord shall bless his people with peace.12 Seeing now that a hundred and twenty elders, among whom were many prophets. drew up the prayers in the proper order, why did Simeon the Pakulite formulate them? — They were forgotten, and he formulated them afresh. Beyond this it is forbidden to declare the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He.13 For R. Eleazar said: What is the meaning of the verse, Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord, or make all his praise to be heard?14 For whom is it fitting to express the mighty acts of the Lord? For one who can make all his praise to be heard. Rabbah b. Bar Hanah said in the name of R. Johanan: One who descants upon the praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, to excess is uprooted from the world, as it says, Shall it be told to him that I should speak? Should a man [try to] say, surely he would be swallowed up.15 R. Judah a man of Kefar Gibboraya,16 or, as some say, of Kefar Gibbor Hayil,17 gave the following homily: What is meant by the verse, For thee silence is praise?18 The best medicine of all is silence. When R. Dimi came, he said: In the West19 they say: A word is worth a sela’, silence two sela's. IF ONE READS IT BY HEART, HE HAS NOT PERFORMED HIS OBLIGATION. Whence this rule? — Raba said: We explain the expression zekirah20 in one passage from its use in another. It is written here, And these days shall be nizkarim21 [remembered] and it is written elsewhere, Write this le-zikaron [for a memorial] in the book.22 Just as there it was to be in a book, so here it must be in a book. But how do we know that this ‘nizkarim’ implies ‘uttering’? Perhaps it means mere reading with the eyes? — Do not imagine such a thing, since it his been taught: ‘Remember’ [zakor].23 Am I to say, this means only with the mind? When the text says, thou shalt not forget, the injunction against mental forgetfulness is already given. What then am I to make of ‘remember’? This must mean, by utterance.24 IF ONE READS IT IN A TRANSLATION, HE HAS NOT PERFORMED HIS OBLIGATION. How are we to understand this? Are we to suppose that it is written in Hebrew and he reads it in a translaion? This is the same as reading by heart! — It is required for the case where it is written in a translation and he reads it in a translation. IT MAY, HOWEVER, BE READ TO THOSE WHO DO NOT SPEAK HEBREW IN A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN HEBREW. But you have just said, IF ONE READS IT IN ANY [OTHER] LANGUAGE HE HAS NOT PERFORMER HIS OBLIGATION? — Rab and Samuel both answered that what is referred to here is the Greek vernacular. How are we to understand this? Shall we say that it is written in Hebrew and he reads it in Greek? This is the same as saying by heart? — R. Aha said in the name of R. Eleazar: What is referred to is where it is written in the Greek vernacular. (R. Aha also said in the name of R. Eleazar: How do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, called Jacob El [God]25 Because it says, And the God of Israel called him [Jacob] El.26 For should you suppose that [what the text means is that] Jacob called the altar El, then it should be written, ‘And Jacob called it’. But [as it is not written so], we must translate, ‘He called Jacob El’. And who called him so? The God of Israel). An objection was brought [against the dictum of Rab and Samuel] from the following: ‘If one reads it in Coptic,27 in Hebraic,28 in Elamean, in Median, in Greek, he has not performed his obligation’! — This [statement]29 means only in the same sense as the following: ‘If one reads it in Coptic to the Copts,30 in Hebrew to the Hebrews, in Elamean to the Elameans, in Greek to the Greeks, he has performed his obligation’. If that is the case, why do Rab and Samuel explain the Mishnah to refer to the Greek vernacular? Let them make it refer to any vernacular? — The fact is that the Mishnah agrees with the Baraitha,31 and the statement of Rab and Samuel was meant to be a general one [thus]: Rab and Samuel both say that the Greek vernacular is good for all peoples. But it is stated, ‘[He may read] in Greek for the Greeks’ — for the Greeks, that is, he may, but for others not? — They [Rab and Samuel] concurred with Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel, as we have learnt: ‘Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says: Scrolls of the Scripture also were allowed to be written only in Greek’.32 Let them then say, The halachah is as stated by Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel? — Had they said, The halachah is as stated by Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel, I should have understood them to mean that this is the case with other books of the Scriptures but not with the Megillah, of which it is written, according to the writing thereof.33 Therefore we are told [that this is not so]. IF ONE WHO DOES NOT UNDERSTAND HEBREW HEARD IT READ IN HEBREW, HE HAS PERFORMED HIS OBLIGATION. But he does not know what they are saying? — he is on the same footing as women and ignorant people. Rabina strongly demurred to this saying;34 And do we know the meaning of ha-ahashteranim bene ha-ramakim?35 But all the same we perform the precept of reading the Megillah and proclaiming the miracle. So they too perform the precept of reading the Megillah and proclaiming the miracle.36 IF ONE READS IT WITH BREAKS [SERUGIN], HE HAS PERFORMED HIS OBLIGATION. The Rabbis did not know what was meant by serugin,37 until one day they heard the maidservant of Rabbi's household, on seeing the Rabbis enter at intervals, say to them, How long are you going to come in by serugin? The Rabbis did not know what was meant by haluglugoth, till one day they heard the handmaid of the household of Rabbi, on seeing a man peeling portulaks, say to him, How long will you be peeling your haluglugoth? The Rabbis did not know what was meant by, salseleah and it shall exalt thee.38 One day they heard the handmaid of the house of Rabbi say to a man who was curling his hair, How long will you be mesalsel with your hair?39 The Rabbis did not know what was meant by, Cast upon the Lord thy yehab and he shall sustain thee.40 Said Rabbah b. Bar Hanah: One day I was travelling with a certain Arab41 and was carrying a load, and he said to me, Lift up your yehab and put it on [one of] the camels. The Rabbis did not know what was meant by, we-tetethia bematate of destruction,42 till one day they heard the handmaid of the household of Rabbi say to her companion, Take the tatitha [broom] and tati [sweep] the house. Our Rabbis taught: If one reads it with breaks, he has performed his obligation; with en-Nebraten in Upper Galilee, v. Keth., Sonc. ed. p. 391,n. 11]. Euphrates.