Mishnah Megillah

1 The Megillah is read on the eleventh, the twelfth, the thirteenth, the fourteenth, and the fifteenth of Adar, never earlier and never later. Cities that have been walled since the days of Joshua son of Nun read on the fifteenth; villages and large towns read on the fourteenth, except that villages move the reading up to the day of gathering.

2 How so? If the fourteenth of Adar falls on Monday, the villages and large towns read on that day and the walled places on the next day. If it falls on Tuesday or on Wednesday, the villages move the reading up to the day of gathering, the large towns read on that day, and the walled places on the next day. If it falls on Thursday, the villages and large towns read on that day and the walled places on the next day. If it falls on Friday, the villages move the reading up to the day of gathering and the large towns and walled places read on that day. If it falls on Shabbat, the villages and large towns move the reading up to the day of gathering, and the walled places read on the next day. If it falls on Sunday, the villages move the reading up to the day of gathering, the large towns read on that day, and the walled cities on the next day.

3 What is considered a large town? One that has ten idle men in it. One that has fewer is considered a village. Regarding these they said that they should be moved up but not postponed. But the bringing of the wood for the priests, the fast of Tisha B’Av, the hagigah, and the assembling of the people are postponed until after Shabbat and not moved up. Although they said that they should be moved up but not postponed, it is permitted to mourn, to fast, and to distribute gifts to the poor on these earlier days. Rabbi Judah said: When does this apply? In a place where people gather on Mondays and Thursdays, but in places where people do not gather on Mondays and Thursdays, the Megillah is read only on its proper day.

4 If they read the Megillah during the first Adar and the year was intercalated a month was added, it is read again in the second Adar. There is no difference between the first Adar and the second Adar except the reading of the Megillah and the giving of gifts to the poor.

5 There is no difference between Shabbat and Yom Tov except the preparation of food. There is no difference between Shabbat and Yom Kippur except that the deliberate violation of the one is punished by a human court and the deliberate violation of the other by karet.

6 There is no difference between one who is prohibited by vow from benefiting from his fellow and one who is prohibited by vow from benefiting from his food, except in the matter of setting foot on his property and of vessels that are not used for preparing food. There is no difference between vowed offerings and freewill offerings except that he is responsible for vowed offerings but not for freewill offerings.

7 There is no difference between a zav who sees genital discharge twice and one who sees it three times, except the sacrifice. There is no difference between a metzora who is under observation and one declared to be a definite metzora except the disheveling of the hair and the tearing of the clothes. There is no difference between a metzora who has been declared clean after being under observation and one who has been declared clean after having been a definite metzora except shaving and sacrificing the birds.

8 There is no difference between scrolls of the Tanakh and tefillin and mezuzahs except that scrolls may be written in any language whereas tefillin and mezuzahs may be written only in Assyrian. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says that scrolls of the Tanakh were permitted by the sages to be written only in Greek.

9 There is no difference between a priest anointed with the anointing oil and one who only wears the additional garments except for the bull that is offered for the unwitting transgression of any of the commandments. There is no difference between a serving high priest and one whose time has passed except the bull of Yom HaKippurim and the tenth of the ephah.

10 There is no difference between a great altar and a small altar except for the Pesah offering. This is the general principle: any animal that can be brought as a vowed offering or a freewill offering may be brought on a small altar, and any animal that is not the object of a vow or a freewill offering may not be brought on a small altar.

11 There is no difference between Shiloh and Jerusalem except that in Shiloh sacrifices of lesser sanctity and second tithe could be eaten anywhere within sight of the town, whereas in Jerusalem they had to be eaten within the walls. In both places the most holy sacrifices were eaten within the curtains. After the sanctification of Shiloh other altars were permitted, but after the sanctification of Jerusalem they were not.

1 If one reads the Megillah out of order, he has not fulfilled his obligation. If he reads it by heart, if he reads it in translation into Aramaic, or in any other language, he has not fulfilled his obligation. But they may read it in a language other than Hebrew to those who do not understand Hebrew. One who does not understand Hebrew but heard it in Assyrian, that is, in Hebrew, has fulfilled his obligation.

2 If one reads it with breaks or dozes between readings, he has fulfilled his obligation. If he was copying it, explaining it or correcting a scroll of Esther, if he had the intention to fulfill his obligation, he has fulfilled his obligation, but if not, he has not fulfilled his obligation. If it was written with arsenic, with red chalk, with gum or with copper sulfate, or on paper or on unprocessed hide, he has not fulfilled his obligation, unless it is written in Assyrian script, on parchment, and in ink.

3 A resident of a town who has gone to a walled city or a resident of a walled city who has gone to a town, if he is to return to his own place he reads according to the rule of his own place, and if not, he reads with them. From what point must one read the Megillah to fulfill his obligation? Rabbi Meir says: all of it. Rabbi Judah says: from “There was a Jew.”Esther 2:5 Rabbi Yose says: from “After these things.”Esther 3:1

4 All are qualified to read the Megillah except a deaf-mute, a mentally incompetent person, and a minor. Rabbi Judah qualifies a minor. They do not read the Megillah, circumcise, immerse in a mikveh, or sprinkle purificatory waters, and likewise a woman keeping day for day does not immerse, until the sun has risen. But if any of these things is done after dawn, it is valid.

5 The whole day is a valid time for reading the Megillah, for reciting Hallel, for the blowing of the shofar, for taking up the lulav, for the Musaf prayer, for Musaf sacrifices, for confession over the bulls, for the confession over the tithe, for the confession of sins on Yom Kippur, for laying on of hands, for slaughtering the sacrifices, for waving them, for bringing near the vessel with the minhah offering to the altar, for taking a handful, for placing it on the fire, for pinching off the head of a bird offering, for receiving the blood in a vessel, for sprinkling the blood on the altar, for making the sotah drink the bitter waters, for breaking the neck of the heifer, and for purifying the metzora.

6 The whole night is valid for reaping the Omer and for burning fat and limbs on the altar. This is the general principle: anything commanded to be done by day is valid all day, and anything commanded to be done at night is valid all night.

1 If townspeople sold the town square, they may buy a synagogue with the proceeds. If they sold a synagogue, they may buy an ark with the proceeds. If they sold an ark, they may buy covers for scrolls. If they sold covers, they may buy scrolls of the Tanakh. If they sold scrolls, they may buy a Torah. But if they sold a Torah they may not buy scrolls of the Tanakh with the proceeds. If they sold scrolls, they may not buy covers. If they sold covers, they may not buy an ark. If they sold an ark, they may not buy a synagogue. If they sold a synagogue, they may not buy a town square. The same applies to any money left over. They may not sell something belonging to a community to an individual because this lowers its sanctity, the words of Rabbi Judah. They said to him: if so, it should not be allowed to sell from a larger town to a smaller one.

2 They may not sell a synagogue except with the stipulation that it may be bought back whenever they want, the words of Rabbi Meir. But the sages say: they may sell it in perpetuity, except for four purposes: a bathhouse, a tannery, a ritual bath, or a urinal. Rabbi Judah says: they may sell it to be a courtyard, and the purchaser may do what he likes with it.

3 Rabbi Judah said further: in a synagogue that has fallen into ruins they may not deliver eulogies, twist ropes, spread nets to trap animals, lay out produce on its roof to dry, or take a shortcut through it, as it says, “And I will make your holy places desolate”Leviticus 26:31: their holiness remains even when they are desolate. If grass comes up in it, it should not be plucked, so as to arouse grief.

4 If Rosh Hodesh Adar falls on Shabbat, the portion of Shekalim is read on that day. If it falls in the middle of the week, it is read on the Shabbat before, and on the next Shabbat there is a break. On the second of the special Shabbatot they read “Zakhor,” on the third the portion of the red heifer, on the fourth “This month shall be for you,” and on the fifth the regular order is resumed. They interrupt the regular order for all of these: for Rosh Hodesh, for Hanukkah, for Purim, for fasts, for Maʿamadot, and for Yom Kippur.

5 On Pesah they read from the portion of the festivals in LeviticusLeviticus 23:4. On Shavuot, “Seven weeks.”Deuteronomy 16:9 On Rosh Hashanah, “In the seventh month, on the first of the month.”Leviticus 23:24 On Yom Kippur, “After the death.”Leviticus 16:1 On the first day of the Festival of Sukkot they read from the portion of the festivals in Leviticus, and on the other days of the Festival of Sukkot the sections on the offerings of the Festival.

6 On Hanukkah they read the section of the princesNumbers 7:1. On Purim, “And Amalek came.”Exodus 17:8 On Rosh Hodesh, “And on the first of your months.”Numbers 28:11 On Maʿamadot, the account of the creationGenesis 1:1-2:3. On fast days, the blessings and cursesLeviticus 26:3; Deuteronomy 28:1. They do not interrupt while reading the curses, but one person reads them all. On Mondays and Thursdays and at minhah on Shabbat they read according to the regular order and this does not count as part of the reading for the following Shabbat. As it says, “And Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed seasons of the Lord.”Leviticus 23:44 It is their mitzvah that each be read at its appropriate time.

1 One who reads the Megillah may stand or sit. Whether one reads it or two read it together, the listeners have fulfilled their obligation. In places where it is the custom to say a blessing, they say the blessing, and where it is not the custom they do not say the blessing. On Mondays and Thursdays and on Shabbat at minhah, three read from the Torah, they do not add to this number or decrease from it, and they do not conclude with a haftarah from the Prophets. The one who begins the Torah reading and the one who concludes it bless before it and after it.

2 On Rosh Hodesh and on the intermediate days of festivals four read. They do not add to this number or decrease from it, and they do not conclude with a haftarah from the Prophets. The one who begins the Torah reading and the one who concludes it bless before it and after it. This is the general rule: on any day that has a Musaf and is not a festival four read. On a festival, five. On Yom Kippur, six. On Shabbat, seven. They may not decrease from this number but they may add to it, and they conclude with a haftarah from the Prophets. The one who begins the Torah reading and the one who concludes it bless before it and after it.

3 They do not recite the Shema responsively, and they do not pass before the ark, and the priests do not lift up their hands, and they do not read the Torah publicly, and they do not conclude with a haftarah from the prophets, and they do not make stops in funeral processions, and they do not say the blessing for mourners, or the comfort of mourners, or the blessing of bridegrooms, and they do not mention God’s name in the invitation to say Birkat Hamazon, except in the presence of ten. For redeeming sanctified land, nine and a priest are sufficient, and likewise for human beings.

4 One who reads the Torah in public may not read less than three verses. He should not read to the translator more than one verse at a time, but if reading from the book of a prophet he may read to him three at a time. If the three verses constitute three separate paragraphs, he must read them to the translator one by one. They may skip from place to place in a prophet but not in the Torah. How far may he skip in the prophet? Only so far that the translator does not stop before he finds his place.

5 The one who concludes with the haftarah also leads the responsive reading of the Shema, passes before the ark, and lifts up his hands. If he is a child, his father or his teacher passes before the ark in his place.

6 A child may read in the Torah and translate, but he may not pass before the ark or lift up his hands. A person in rags may lead the responsive reading of the Shema and translate, but he may not read in the Torah, pass before the ark, or lift up his hands. A blind man may lead the responsive reading of the Shema and translate. Rabbi Judah says: one who has never seen the light since birth may not lead the responsive reading of the Shema.

7 A priest whose hands are deformed should not lift up his hands to say the priestly blessing. Rabbi Judah says: also one whose hands are colored with woad or madder should not lift up his hands, because this makes the congregation look at him.

8 If one says, “I will not pass before the ark in colored clothes,” even in white clothes he may not pass before it. If one says, “I will not pass before it in shoes,” even barefoot he may not pass before it. If one makes his tefillin for the head round, it is dangerous and has no religious value. If he put them on his forehead or on the palm of his hand, this is the way of heresy. If he overlaid them with gold or put the one for the hand on his sleeve, this is the way of outsiders.

9 If one says, “May the good bless you,” this is the way of heresy. If one says, “May Your mercy reach the nest of a bird,” “May Your name be mentioned for the good,” “We give thanks, we give thanks,” they silence him. If one uses euphemisms in the portion dealing with forbidden marriages, he is silenced. If he says, instead of “And you shall not give any of your seed to be passed to Moloch,”Leviticus 18:21 “You shall not give your seed to pass to a Gentile woman,” he is silenced with a rebuke.

10 The incident of Reuben is read but not translated. The story of Tamar is read and translated. The first part of the incident of the golden calf is both read and translated, but the second is read but not translated. The blessing of the priests and the story of David and Amnon are neither read nor translated. They do not conclude with the portion of the chariot as a haftarah. But Rabbi Judah permits this. Rabbi Eliezer says: they do not conclude with “Proclaim Jerusalem’s abominations”Ezekiel 16:2 as a haftarah.