TTfT 0710

Meseches Megilah begins by telling us that the reading of Megilas Esther could be observed on the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, or 15th of Adar. The Mishna explains that large cities that were walled at the time of Yehoshua (student of Moshe) read on the 15th of the month (known as Shushan Purim).

Regular cities read on the 14th of the month. This date is the date for small villages as well, but the small villages had an allowance to read the Megilah when they were in the big city on the market days of Monday and Thursday. These small villages didn’t have someone who knew how to read the Megilah locally, and so on the preceding Monday or Thursday they were accommodated, by having someone in the big city read the Megilah for them.

The largest gap between regular Purim (14th of Adar) and the date that villagers were allowed to read the Megilah was when Purim fell on a Sunday. In such a case the villagers would observe Megilah reading on the preceding Thursday which was the 11th of Adar.

The Talmud points out that this accommodation for villagers to read the Megilah early, had to have been instituted at the time of the original Purim legislation. Otherwise, a later court could not have created such a leniency.

In practical halacha, this accommodation for villagers does not apply in our time. This leniency is not employed in our time because we are in exile without a central authority, and people rely on counting from Purim to know when Pesach will be (30 days later). As such , such a leniency would cause great confusion.

Our observance of Purim involves focus on only 3 days. The 13th day of Adar (Taanis Esther) commemorates the fact that Jews fasted on the day of a battle, and presumably fasted on the day of the battle in that fateful year. It also commemorates the fact that the victory was made possible by the fast of Esther eleven months earlier when, while Haman was still alive, they fasted to have Heaven change the decree. The 14th of Adar (regular Purim) commemorates the celebration that followed the victorious battle. The 15th of Adar (Shushan Purim) is the result of the special request made of the King (Esther 9:13) that the Jews of the capital city should have an extra day to be allowed to kill out their enemies in the capital city. This was granted, and so the Jews of Shushan did not celebrate until the following day, the 15th of Adar.

Interestingly, the Jews of the time commemorated the special Purim of Shushan by legislating that all cities that were walled at the time of Yehoshua should observe the 15th as their Purim. This prompts 2 questions. 1) Why didn’t the Jews of the time simply legislate that Shushan alone should observe the 15th? 2) If they did want to include all walled cities, why did they choose the criteria of walled in the time of Yehoshua (which was hundreds of years earlier)?

It appears that the Jews of the time were hoping to be returned from the exile imminently, and felt that if they limited the celebration of the 15th (Shushan Purim) to Shushan alone, then within a short time they would not be observing that special day. And so they legislated that walled cities (which would symbolize and remind them of Shushan) should follow the Purim of the 15th. However, if they used the criteria of big walled cities and their time, the cities of Eretz Yisroel would not qualify because at that time the land of Israel was in ruins. So they chose the criteria of walled in the times of Yehoshua. Presumably they felt a great commonality with Yehoshua, as he was the one who originally brought the Jewish people to the Land, and they hoped to go back to the land shortly. It was there hope to rebuild the Land, and so the status of the Land in the time of Yehoshua was a logical criteria for them to choose to have big, walled cities, remember the special miracle of Shushan Purim.