Volume 47 Number 19
Produced: Wed Mar 9 22:54:28 EST 2005
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Brief recapitulation of Purim
[Sammy Finkelman]
Purim in Yerushalayim
[Yehonatan Chipman]
Purim on Friday
[Martin Stern]
Purim procedures this year in Jerusalem (2)
[Akiva Miller, Joshua Hosseinof]
Purim Seudah
[Nathan Lamm]
Purim seudah on Friday afternoon--another reason
[Baruch J. Schwartz]
Separate Seating at Megilla Reading
[Orrin Tilevitz]
Zaycher vs Zecher
[Eitan Fiorino]
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From: Sammy Finkelman <sammy.finkelman@...>
Date: Sun, 07 Mar 05 21:23:00 -0400
Subject: Brief recapitulation of Purim
Someone I know in shul asked me if he could have a small description of
Purim - bigger than the brief description on a small calendar. It cpould
print put to maybe 3 4 or 5 pages. My thought was that something like
this could be found on the Internet. Does anyone know of anythimng good?
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From: Yehonatan Chipman <yonarand@...>
Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 10:43:20 +0200
Subject: Re: Purim in Yerushalayim
J. Kaufman wrote:
<<I hope IY"H to be in Yerushalayim for Purim with a return flight to
the US on Motzaei Shabbos. The way I understand Purim Meshulash in
Yerushalayim is the following; Megillah is on Thursday night and Friday
like the rest of the Country. Meshloach Manos and Matanos Leevyonim is
either on Friday or Sunday. (Different Opinions) Seudas Purim can be
done on Shabbos if you add something special to the meal, but preferably
done on Sunday.>>
I see that Shmuel Himelstein already answered this question by citing
the information from "Luah Tuketchinsky," but let me elaborate:
The megillah is brought forward to Friday (and Thursday night), because
it cannot be carried in the street on Shabbat, and there is a verse in
the megillah that says "lo yaavor," that the dates fur Purim, at least
re the megillah, may not be postponed. This is already stated in the
first mishnah of Megillah. Since "the poor lift up their eyes to the
megillah," i.e., they anxiously anticipate the money gifts distributed
after the megillah reading, Matanot la-evyonim is also on Friday.
Shabbat is the actual date for Purim Shushan, so one says "Al hanissim"
then, and the special Torah reading, ordinarily divided into 3 aliyot on
weekday Purim, is read as Maftir from a second sefer. There is also a
special haftarah, which is simply a repetition of that for Shabbat
Zakhor (the only case when a haftarah is repeated two consecutive weeks,
although there are several others that are repeated during the course of
the year at divergent times, such as Hanukakh and Behhalatkha, or
Haazinu of some years and 7th of Pesah). One also talks about the laws
and other Purimdik matters on that Shabbat.
About the seudah: the Beit Yosef at OH 688 already quotes the Yerushalmi
to say that Purim seudah MUST be on a weekday, because the megillah
states taht "simhah umishteh" were instituted by Mordekhai and his Bet
Din, so that in order for one's rejoicing to be a result of that edict,
it may not be on Shabbat, which is a day that has already been set aside
for joy "from Heaven." Also, one doesn't perform mitzvot "in bundles",
so it's improper for Shabbat lunch to double as the Purim seudah.
Since mishlaoh manot is a kind of symbolic way for Jews to paricipate in
one another's seudah, a kind of concrete demonstration of "ahavat
Yisrael," it should be on the same day as the Seudah, although there are
opinions that it can be done on Shabbat. This might be advisable in
your case, where your neighbors in the US will already be after Purim on
that Sunday.
Why isn't the seudah advanced to Friday? Because one shouldn't make a
large meal on Erev Shabbat so as not to detract from the pleasure, or
from one's appetite, for the Shabbat evening meal, unles one has no
other alternative: that is, taht one is obligated to have a seudat
mitzvah on that specific date -- e.g., the Pureim seudah for in the rest
of the world on the 14th; when there's a brit milah on the 8th day;
Pidyon haben; etc. Since that isn't the case for Yerushalmim this yaer,
it is postponed to Sunday. The halakha is codified thus in Sh. A.,
O.H. 688.6.
There is another halakha you should know: once you have been in
Jerusalem at sunrise on the morning of the 15th of Adar, you are
obligated to perform all the laws of Purim on that basis. Hence, even
if you leave on Motza'ei Shabbat, you are obligated to have a seudah on
Sunday (daylight hours) wherever you may be in the world: even on the
plane or already back at yor home. Strange, but that's how it is.
Another halakhah you ought to know is that at that seudah, you dont say
"al hanissim" in its usual place in the second blessing of benching, but
add it in a "Harahaman" at the end, thus: "Harahaman ya'aseh lanu nissim
veniflaot kemo she'asah la'avoteinu bayamin haheim bazman hazeh.
Beyemei Mordekhai ve-Esther....."
There is one other possible option: namely, despite the above to hold
the seudah (add something to your Shabbat seudah?) on Shabbat in
Jerusalem, relying upon the opinion of R. Levi b. Habib, one of he great
rabbis of Yershalaim in the 16th century, whne all these halakhot were
crystallized. But this is a minority opinion, which was rejected by the
maisstream of halakhic pinion, but perhaps it may be relied upon besh'at
had'hak.
Purim sameah,
Rabbi Yehonatan Chipman, Jerusalem
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 09:11:46 +0000
Subject: RE: Purim on Friday
This has been a topic of much discussion over the last few weeks so
members may be interested in the instructions issued by the Manchester
Beth Din as to how to conduct oneself:
"Preferably the seudah should be commenced before mid-dy (12.15 pm).
"In the event of difficulty, one can commence the seudah later. Either
way, it should be concluded no later than approximately two hours before
shabbat. This is in order to leave ample time for shabbat preparations
and thus avoid any possible chillul shabbat chas veshalom."
In the UK, Purim falls on a public holiday which makes the seudah less
of a problem. I am posting this for information only, others should
consult their LOR as to how to conduct themselves in practice.
Martin Stern
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From: Akiva Miller <kennethgmiller@...>
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 03:30:16 GMT
Subject: Re: Purim procedures this year in Jerusalem
Shmuel Himelstein wrote <<< This year is one of those odd ones, where
Jerusalem Purim comes out on Shabbat. According to the Tukechinsky
(Jerusalem) Lu'ach, the procedures are as follows for Jerusalemites:
... Shabbat - Special Purim Maftir and Haftarah ... >>>
Another interesting bit of information: The "Special Purim Maftir" is
really not so unusual -- It is the same as what is read on a regular
Purim, except that it is read as a single aliyah for Maftir, instead of
three separate weekday aliyos.
The really bizarre part is: What is read as the Haftara? Answer: The one
about Amalek, "Pokadti", which is the Haftara for Parshas Zachor. The
result is that the exact same haftara will be read two weeks in a row,
on both Adar 8 and Adar 15 !!!
Akiva Miller
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From: Joshua Hosseinof <JHosseinof@...>
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 11:46:48 -0500
Subject: re: Purim procedures this year in Jerusalem
Rav Ovadia Yosef adds (Sefer Chazon Ovadia - Purim) that on the Shabbat
of Purim in Yerushalayim, people should say a full Hallel without a
beracha. I am curious to know if this minhag is widely followed in
Yerushalayim.
The logic behind saying Hallel on the Shabbat of Purim meshulash, is as
we know that we don't say Hallel normally on Purim, because the reading
of the Megillah is considered the equivalent of Hallel for the purposes
of "pirsumei nisa" (publicising the miracle). Therefore on Shabbat of
Shushan Purim where Jerusalemites do not read the megillah because of a
concern that people might carry the megillah in a public street it would
be appropriate to read Hallel instead so that we would still fulfill
"pirsumei nisa" on the exact day of Shushan Purim, even though it is
shabbat. (On the other hand, this might be a case of "Hem Amru, v'hem
amru" - Since the Rabbis enacted Purim in the first place, and the
Rabbis made the gezerah of not reading the megillah on Shabbat,
therefore Jerusalemites should not say Hallel on Shushan Purim that
falls on Shabbat, since the Rabbis never explicitly stated that we
should read Hallel on this Shabbat.)
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From: Nathan Lamm <nelamm18@...>
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2005 14:40:02 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Purim Seudah
In response to J. Kaufman: According to an article by R. Daniel Feldman
in the latest "Chavrusa" (the magazine of the YU Rabbinic Alumni), there
is a machlokes whethere the seudah should be on Shabbos or
Sunday. Apparently, some actually have two, but you might be on safe
ground doing so on Shabbos. Shalach Manos may be an issue on Shabbos,
though, and you may be able to do it Friday.
Nachum Lamm
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From: Baruch J. Schwartz <schwrtz@...>
Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 11:48:50 +0200
Subject: Purim seudah on Friday afternoon--another reason
The basic "common-sense" reasons for making the Purim seudah in the
afternoon even when Purim occurs on Friday have been alluded to already.
For many people, rushing around in the morning to deliver charity and
mishloah manot while also rushing to prepare and consume a large feast
(for which one has little appetite by the time it is served, after
spending the same hours sampling mishloah manot!), and then rushing
about in the afternoon to prepare for Shabbat and also to prepare
another large feast (for which one is unlikely to have any appetite at
all by the time it is served) are likely to detract from both Purim and
Shabbat. On the other hand, spending Friday delivering mishloah manot
and charity, preparing for Shabbat more-or-less as usual, and then
sitting down to a single feast at approximately the regular hour, by
which time one has fulfilled all the other Purim and Shabbat obligations
and presumably has an appetite, might make it possible to accomplish
everything with less pressure and to show more respect both to Purim and
to Shabbat--as well as preventing achilah gasah.
Discussing this recently with friends, we thought of another reason:
charity. After all, preparing one seudah, even if one makes it as
festive and as elaborate as one can afford, is still likely to be much
less of a financial expense than making two. This should enable every
household that adopts this practice to increase its matanot la-evyonim
considerably--in some cases perhaps even to double the amount.
Baruch Schwartz
Efrat
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From: Orrin Tilevitz <tilevitzo@...>
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 07:05:48 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Separate Seating at Megilla Reading
What,if any, separate seating requirements are there for a megilla
reading outside a synagogue and with no davening involved (other than
the berachot before and after)? Consider two possibilities:
1. In one's home; or
2. In a public building (in, say, a library), where the reading is open
to the public.
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From: Eitan Fiorino <Fiorino@...>
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2005 09:39:09 -0500
Subject: Zaycher vs Zecher
> From: Ben Z. Katz <bkatz@...>
> 2. The zeycher and zecher business gets me riled every year.
> There is no serious basis for reading the verse twice, once
> with each pronounciation. There is an unreferenced statement
> to this effect in the Mishnah Berurah, but I believe it is
> based on an erroneous understanding of what the GRA did,
> according to an article by Rabbi Breur.
I happened to have just listened to Rabbi Shnayer Leiman's tape in which
he discusses this very issue a week ago. Although there is evidence that
some manuscripts have "zecher" and there is some evidence that some
Ashkenazim (though probably not the Gra) may have read "zecher," but the
Mishna Brura is apparantly the first evidence of anyone actually reading
the pasuk twice. Rabbi Leiman also points out that all of the baalei
hamesora have zaycher, the Aleppo Codex has zaycher, and that since in
these matters the halacha follows the baalei hamesora, the correct and
only reading for Ashkenazim zaycher. I also remembered this was
previously discussed on MJ, though I did not remember that Rabbi Leiman
himself had addressed the topic, which I have copied below. There's
also a 1998 article by Yosef Peretz from Bar Ilan that discusses the
issue: http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/eng/tetzaveh/peres.html.
-Eitan
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From: S.Z. Leiman <szlyu@...>
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 1997 01:28:19 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Parshas Zachor
A brief response, due to constraints of time, to Mechy Frankel's query
about zaykher/zekher.
At least three separate issues need to be addressed:
1. Is there any Masoretic evidence for zekher (with segol under the
zayin) at Deut. 25:19 (or, for that matter, at Ex. 17:14)?
2. How did the Gaon of Vilna read Dt. 25:19?
3. Who instituted the practice to read verses twice when in doubt? When
was the practice introduced? And for which verses?
Regarding issue 1, there is solid evidence for a minority reading of
zekher at Deut. 25:19 (and at Ex. 17:14, though less so). The evidence
appears in medieval biblical manuscripts, printed Tanakhs, and in other
writings (e.g., Redak, Sefer ha-Shoroshim; and R. Uri Shraga Faivush,
Minhat Kalil -- who rules le-halakhah that one reads zekher at Deut.
25:19 -- and whose sefer has an enthusiastic haskamah from R. Hayyim of
Volozhin).
Regarding issue 2, there is solid evidence that the Gaon of Vilna read
zekher (not: zaykher) at Deut. 25:19. This, despite the testimony of R.
Hayyim of Volozhin that he heard the Gra read zaykher. (This latter
testimony is what led R. Moshe Sternbuch to label as "doubtful" the
tradition about the Gra having read zekher.)
Regarding issue 3, to the best of my knowledge the earliest authority to
whom the practice of reading a verse twice is ascribed was, in fact, the
Gaon of Vilna. The ascription appears in an essay written in 1832, but
not published until long after its author's death, in 1913. See
R. Zekhariah Yeshayahu Jolles, ha-Torah veha-Hokhma (Vilna, 1913),
p. 220. The verse, however, was not Deut. 25:19 (which all witnesses
agree he read only once); it was Esther 8:11. Later authorities who
instituted "double readings" of verses include R. Moses Sofer, R. Hayyim
of Volozhin, and the Hafetz Hayyim.
For fuller discussion, and more references than anyone will ever need,
see M. Breuer, Miqra'ot Sheyesh Lahem Hekhra (Jerusalem, 1990), and Y.
Penkower, "Minhag u-Mesorah: Zekher Amalek be-Hamesh 'o be-Shesh
Nequdut," in R. Kasher et al, eds., 'Iyyunei Miqra u-Parshanut (Ramat
Gan, 1997), pp. 71-128.
Shnayer Leiman
Brooklyn College
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End of Volume 47 Issue 19
