Laws of Purim - Rabbi Shlomo Halpern shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the “Lemaan Yishme’u” podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:10 Speaker 2 Shalom u’vracha. “When Adar begins, we increase in joy.” These classes deal with the month of Adar and its laws, and of course Purim and all its mitzvos. So let’s begin. We said that when Adar begins, we increase in joy. That isn’t just a phrase we sing, expressing an idea from Aggadah or a good practice. First of all, it has halachic significance too. Many people know the halacha: if a Jew has a court case with a non-Jew, he should try to schedule it for Adar. Why? Because his mazal is strong. In other words, the idea that the mazal of Adar is strong and that the month has a special quality is mentioned in halacha, not only in discussions of good practices and the like. So from a halachic standpoint, we increase in joy. What kind of joy? It doesn’t actually say. But the Rebbe explains that we should increase in every kind of joy. Of course, first and foremost there is the joy of “The precepts of Hashem are upright, rejoicing the heart”: learning Torah, both its revealed dimension and its inner dimension. But there can also be joy in any area, even in ordinary, permitted matters. Of course, we do those things for the sake of Heaven. But if a Jew has a new home or a new car, or anything else that can bring him joy—and certainly if he has new sefarim or other things—all of these, including ordinary matters, can be sources of joy. Why do we increase in joy during Adar? Many would say, as Rashi writes, that miracles happened for the Jewish people during this period: Purim, followed by Pesach, joining one redemption to another. So we tend to think that the joy of Purim begins already on Rosh Chodesh, in “the month that was transformed for them.” But if we

02:21 Speaker 2 look at the heart of the matter, it’s because our mazal is strong. Why is our mazal strong? Think of Haman’s decree. It says that when Haman cast lots—“the pur, that is, the lot,” from month to month—and reached Adar, he rejoiced greatly. Why? He said that this was the month in which the savior of the Jewish people died. But he didn’t know that on the seventh of Adar—or, according to another version, on Rosh Chodesh Adar; we’ll go with the seventh of Adar—Moshe Rabbeinu was also born. He didn’t just pass away; he was born then too. The merit of his birthday was enough to counteract the day of his passing. In other words, the reason Adar was transformed from something undesirable into something positive, and the reason the mazal of the Jewish people prevails in this month, is Moshe Rabbeinu. Then come all the matters of Mordechai the Jew and all the events of Purim. But first and foremost, Adar is a month of joy because the savior of the Jewish people was born in it. From this we learn and understand the special connection between the joy of Adar and the matters of Adar—as with everything in the world—and Moshe Rabbeinu, and the Moshe of our generation, the Moshe and Mordechai of the generation, as the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach explains more than once. So we know in whose merit, and for what reason, we rejoice in Adar: in the merit of Moshe Rabbeinu, in the eternal life of the nasi. His birth continues forever. By contrast, all the other matters are only what appears to our physical eyes—or not even that—and are not the true reality. His birth and his leadership continue forever, and that is the joy of Adar. So that is the character of Adar, as we said: the entire month is a month of joy, from Rosh Chodesh. “When it begins” is even before Rosh Chodesh; the Rebbe says it begins already on Shabbos Mevarchim, and even

04:19 Speaker 2 before then. In any case, now that we’re already in Adar, we are certainly joyful, with all good things. There are other special aspects of Adar as a month, even before Purim. This year, the reading of the Four Parshiyos begins on the very first day of Adar. Sometimes it begins before the month: we read Parshas Shekalim on Shabbos Mevarchim Adar. Since on the first of Adar the announcement about the shekalim is made, we read the passage from Parshas Ki Sisa on the Shabbos before it, or on that very Shabbos if the first falls then. This year we take out three Sifrei Torah. From one we read the weekly parsha; from another, the Rosh Chodesh reading; and from the third and last, the maftir for Parshas Shekalim, one of the Four Parshiyos. Then we read the haftorah for Parshas Shekalim and add the first and last verses—or the closing verses—of the Shabbos Rosh Chodesh haftorah. Since we want to end on a positive note, several verses are added, as everyone can see in a siddur or Chumash that includes the haftoros. That’s for Parshas Shekalim. We said that we take out three Sifrei Torah. What about places that don’t have three? If there is only one Sefer Torah, it is rolled twice, and the Kaddish is said only at the end, not between the readings. If there are two Sifrei Torah, they can finish reading from one, then read from the second, and then take the first again and roll it. This year that works out well, since the parshiyos are close together: rolling from Mishpatim to Ki Sisa is very easy. So they should proceed as though they had three Sifrei Torah. I’m emphasizing this because we’re also in a situation where not everyone is in large

06:29 Speaker 2 shuls. Even in a shul that has many more than two or three Sifrei Torah, people sometimes split into several minyanim. So it’s especially important to know the laws for when there are one or two Sifrei Torah rather than three. The Shabbos after Shekalim is, in this year’s calendar, the Shabbos before Purim. Sometimes there is a Shabbos in between. On that Shabbos we read Parshas Zachor, and it’s called Shabbos Zachor. On Shabbos Zachor we have a special Torah reading connected to a Torah obligation. The ordinances to read from the Torah go back to Moshe Rabbeinu. Some details of the order go back to Moshe, some to Ezra, and there are various enactments concerning Torah reading. But ordinarily, there is no Torah commandment to read a particular passage from the Torah at a particular time or for a particular occasion. What do we have a Torah obligation to read? This passage about wiping out Amalek: “You shall blot out the memory of Amalek.” Through reading Parshas Zachor, we fulfill the mitzvah to remember, along with the Torah obligation involved in this reading. That’s why this passage is so important. As we all know, we make a great effort to ensure that everyone comes to shul to fulfill this mitzvah, and we have specific intent to fulfill the mitzvah of remembering what Amalek did. That is, it isn’t enough just to hear the Torah reading; we intend to fulfill the mitzvah of remembering what Amalek did. If someone isn’t sure whether he had that specific intent, but he came knowing that he was about to hear Parshas Zachor and that it was something special, that is included. There’s no need to ask him, “Did you have these exact words in mind, or other words?” But there does need to be specific intent—not just that he happens to be in shul, and suddenly, oh, they’re reading the Torah, okay, so

08:42 Speaker 2 He heard it. Just as he hears many things read from the Torah, he heard this too. No, there has to be specific intent, both on the part of the reader and on the part of the listeners, to fulfill the obligation. So, too, if someone came in order to hear Parshas Zachor but, when it was actually read, wasn’t thinking about what he was doing, there’s no problem: that’s what he came for, and that is part of his intent. We look for the Torah scroll that is most carefully checked, that is in good condition and meets all the requirements in every detail. Whether it’s the question of how “petzua daka” is spelled, with an aleph or a hei, or other matters—sometimes there are practices specific to us, and sometimes they are universal. In short, you have to choose among the scrolls. Of course, as we said, we may be dividing into smaller groups, and then there is one Torah scroll there, and that is the one used for the reading. It is preferable for the Torah reader to be not merely just thirteen, but older, so that it is clear that by every Torah standard he is considered an adult. As for pronunciation, there’s a joke about the Briskers. Briskers are people who are very stringent about all sorts of things: perhaps they haven’t fulfilled their obligation, perhaps there is another opinion, perhaps there is something else they need to read or do. They have this with every mitzvah. So someone went to his rabbi and asked for the source of the rumor that one must read or hear Parshas Zachor thirty times. The rabbi told him, “Thirty times, I really don’t know. That sounds a bit excessive to me. Twenty-five is enough.” Why?

10:31 Speaker 2 Because there are people who go to hear it from a Yemenite Torah scroll and a Sephardic Torah scroll, with Ashkenazic pronunciation and Yemenite pronunciation, Chassidic pronunciation and Litvish pronunciation, and who knows what else. In short, we haven’t heard of any requirement for all that. Rather, one should listen carefully and be precise in the reading. If you read in what is now called Ashkenazic pronunciation of Lashon Hakodesh, then read that way; and if you use the pronunciation customary among us, then read that way. Don’t mix them. Some people mix pronunciations, saying Hashem’s Name one way and the rest another way. Regarding davening, someone says that this is mixing pronunciations [unclear]. In other words, one way or the other: if you read this way, read this way; if you read that way, read that way. Some are indeed particular, if they hear the reading in a certain pronunciation all year, to hear it specifically in that pronunciation and no other. I’m not sure that is required by the letter of the law. At any rate, listen, have proper intent, and read accurately. Those who read with the pronunciation customary among us, and with other pronunciations that distinguish between a tzeirei and a segol, read “zeicher, zecher Amalek,” with both pronunciations. This is a directive from the Rebbe, recorded in Sefer Haminhagim—a directive the Rebbe publicized and made more widely known. Not everyone elsewhere reads it this way, and there are various objections to it, but for us, of course, it came from the Rebbe’s own mouth, so that is what we do. And as they say, whether it’s “zecher” or “zeicher”—it matters, as Sefer Haminhagim says, but the main thing is to strike Amalek well, to blot him out well. In other words, remembering Amalek and blotting out Amalek have to be part of our own avodah. It’s not just about being exacting and, as we said, hearing it in twenty-five places, but about finding the Amalek within ourselves and pushing it away as much as possible. And of course we should listen carefully to Parshas Zachor, but only as much

12:34 Speaker 2 as reasonably possible, without going to excess. What about women? Since this is a Torah obligation, the accepted practice among us is that women also come to hear it and fulfill the mitzvah. Now, what about someone who, as is the case for many people this year, cannot come to shul or be with a congregation? They may be in isolation, have tested positive, or whatever the situation is. Such situations arise in other years too, of course, when someone cannot be there and has no Torah scroll and cannot read from one. And even reading from a Torah scroll in that situation would not be with a congregation. In any case, on Shabbos Zachor, that person should read it from a Chumash, carefully observing the vowels and cantillation as in the Torah reading. That’s one thing. And on Purim, when we read “Vayavo Amalek,” they should come and have in mind to fulfill the obligation. Here in the book, I think it is presented as a matter on which different opinions are cited. In any case, the straightforward custom is to be lenient regarding a bride and groom during the seven days of celebration and not have them fast. On Taanis Esther we have another matter: the half-shekel. This is a remembrance of the half-shekel. As we mentioned, “On the first of Adar, announcements are made concerning the shekels”—the half-shekel that every Jew would give, according to the rules, when the Beis Hamikdash stood. Today we give a remembrance of the half-shekel on Taanis Esther before Minchah, and we do this in any case. This year Taanis Esther is on its usual date, and Purim and the Megillah reading fall on the same days in Jerusalem and everywhere else. In any case, even in other years, even when Taanis Esther is moved earlier to Thursday, and even when in Jerusalem

17:27 Speaker 2 there is Erev Purim—meaning that we have our Purim on the 14th and then Purim in Jerusalem on the 15th—some people give it on the 14th. But generally, its time is Taanis Esther. We then have both the matter of giving tzedakah on the fast day and this matter of the half-shekel. You may see in newspapers and elsewhere a statement that the amount for the half-shekel this year is such and such. That is for those whose custom is to give according to the weight of the original half-shekel in silver—about 9.6 grams of pure silver, as it says. That practice is more common among Sephardim. But for us, following the Rema, the custom is specifically to give half of the coin used in that country. That is why we give a half-shekel coin. Some give a half-dollar, but today the dollar is no longer such a commonly used currency in Israel. Once, you could have said otherwise: prices for many things used to be quoted in dollars. Why? Because inflation was very high and the currency was constantly being devalued. You would ask a price and be told a hundred dollars, a thousand dollars, or something like that. Today, apart from things bought from abroad or the like, even apartments—really, just about everything—is priced in shekels. So there isn’t much reason to give a half-dollar rather than a half-shekel. Those who have a silver half-dollar coin like the ones the Rebbe gives and, out of affection for this practice, want to acquire one and give it—that’s fine. There is a place for that custom as an expression of hiskashrus and so on, but it does not replace the basic custom. The basic custom is to give half of a coin used in that country, and our custom is to give, as stated

19:18 Speaker 2 In several places, the custom is to give a half three times. For us, that means a shekel and a half, and it is best to give it as a half, a half, and a half. In other words, give three coins, or use one coin three times, or something like that, so it is clear that this corresponds to the three times the idea of “raising a contribution to Hashem” appears. So give a half, and another half, and another half. If you give a single amount that technically fulfills the obligation—say, you take a shekel and a half for ten people, take fifteen shekels and give that, or take a hundred and fifty shekels for a hundred people—then, yes, the monetary value is there. But we still want to make a remembrance of the half-shekel. It is not the actual half-shekel. When people gave the actual half-shekel, what mattered was that each person gave its value, so what difference did it make how you gave it? Today, we want it to be recognizable as a remembrance of the half-shekel. That is why we give three half-coins, or a half three times. At any rate, the idea of a half should be recognizable, so that it is a remembrance of the half-shekel and not just another charitable donation. In practice, a shekel and a half, or even a dollar and a half, is not such a large amount, and we may give much more tzedakah. We also give more for a fast day, according to Igeres Hateshuvah. But the remembrance should be recognizable. So, as we said, for whom do we give? We try to give for everyone, even though the basic law speaks of those aged twenty and above, or of those aged thirteen and above. Since today it is only a remembrance, that would apply once a person reaches adulthood, but in practice we give for every member of the household. And the rule is that if a father has given for a child, he does not stop.

21:00 Speaker 2 In other words, once he has given for the child, he continues until the child grows up and gives for himself. So everyone should certainly give according to the number of people in their household. Our Rebbeim gave for themselves and the Rebbetzins. Originally, this was associated with males, not with [unclear]. But the point is that, while for us it is connected with atonement for our souls, it is a remembrance of that practice. So we do many things differently from the laws of the original half-shekel, and this is one of them. Another point concerns Minchah on the Fast of Esther. Bear in mind that it is already Erev Purim. You can feel Purim in the air; you can already feel it beginning. That is really why it is called the Fast of Esther: we emphasize that it is not named for the troubles, but for Esther. Beyond the joyous atmosphere, it is Erev Purim, so we do not say Tachanun or Avinu Malkeinu at Minchah. When does the Fast of Esther end? There is a set time when the fast ends, but in practice we do not eat before the Megillah reading. So, in principle, the fast ends at the time printed in the calendars. But remember that we do not eat or drink before the Megillah reading, and in practice the fast continues until after it. What if someone is weak and needs to drink something so that he can read or hear the Megillah? It says that even someone who finds fasting difficult should not eat before—before the Megillah reading. But one may be lenient about drinking or tasting something, as the Alter Rebbe brings in the Siddur: a small amount, up to the size of an egg or so. In short, one generally would not wash for bread; it would be fruit or vegetables or something like that. Ideally, of course, we try

23:09 Speaker 2 not to eat or drink, each person according to their needs. If fasting would cause someone harm, or if they are already in a condition that exempts them from the fast, then all the more so with regard to eating before the Megillah reading. If there is a long wait—if women have to wait a long time—the custom is to be lenient and permit them to eat. Certainly children and the like; sometimes there are readings later on. So, to sum up: in practice, the fast ends after the Megillah reading, but the time printed in the calendars makes it possible for someone who needs to end the fast then to do so, whether by drinking, by having a small taste, in the case of women, and so on. Shalom uverachah. We are now discussing the laws and order of the Purim prayers. The order of the Purim prayers begins, of course, with Minchah, when Tachanun is not said. Then Tachanun is not said throughout the days of Purim—on Purim itself in unwalled cities, on Purim in walled cities, and this year [unclear], even on the Sunday afterward. At any rate, Tachanun is not said. On the other hand, since Hallel is not said, someone with an obligation to lead the prayers, an avel as it is called, may lead them. The addition to Shemoneh Esrei is Ve’al Hanissim, in the blessing after Modim. If someone forgot to say Ve’al Hanissim—“in the days of Mordechai and Esther,” which we say one day a year—then, as long as he remembers before saying Hashem’s name, he can say Ve’al Hanissim and continue. If he has already said Hashem’s name, he does not say it there, but says its text after Yihyu Leratzon. If

25:01 Speaker 2 he has already finished the prayer entirely, then there is certainly nothing for him to do about it. The same applies to Ve’al Hanissim in Birchas Hamazon at the meal, as on Chanukah: he either says it in its place, or, if he missed it, when he reaches the Harachaman passages—where the Harachaman for Shabbos, Yom Tov, and Rosh Chodesh are said—he says, “May the Merciful One perform miracles for us as He did for our ancestors in those days, at this time, in the days of Mordechai and Esther,” and so on. So that is Ve’al Hanissim. There is a value in having a large gathering for Maariv and the Megillah reading. That has not always been possible in these years and in this period, but with Hashem’s help it will be possible on the greatest and broadest scale with the true and complete Geulah, both personal and collective. In any case, if it is possible—say, if there is a large platform in the shul, even though the shul is divided into smaller minyanim for the prayers, in groups of ten, ten, ten, ten, or according to the regulations, with more or fewer people—then if there is one place where everyone can hear clearly, there is the value of a large gathering. If not, each minyan should pray and read the Megillah separately. After Shemoneh Esrei, the chazzan says Kaddish; everything follows the proper order. After the reading and the blessings, we say Ve’atah Kadosh, followed by a full Kaddish without Tiskabel. It may seem like the text of Mourner’s Kaddish, but it is not Mourner’s Kaddish; it is a full Kaddish without Tiskabel, because we have not said a new prayer. After Shemoneh Esrei we already said Kaddish, so now we do not say the usual [unclear]. Why? Because we did not say it after the prayer—but here, since we already said Tiskabel for the prayer,

26:54 Speaker 2 So now, after Uva Letziyon—which is said after Ve’atah Kadosh. No, Uva Letziyon comes after Ve’atah Kadosh. There is no reason to say Tiskabel at this point, so we say Kaddish without Tiskabel, then Aleinu and so on, following the usual order. [unclear] We daven Shacharis through Shemoneh Esrei and say Ve’al Hanissim. After the chazzan’s repetition, there is Half Kaddish. We do not say Hallel, as is well known, and there is no Musaf on Purim. Reading the Megillah is our Hallel, as it says in the halachos. Then we take out a Torah scroll and read “Vayavo Amalek,” the passage written there. It is a separate passage, so three people are called up, each reading three verses. As we mentioned, one should have in mind the mitzvah of wiping out Amalek and remembering Amalek, especially someone who did not hear Parshas Zachor. In this case, because Purim is a time of “venahafoch hu,” when things are turned around, here we say “zecher” and then “zeicher.” When do we read the Megillah? After the Torah reading. Do we read it before putting away the Torah scroll or afterward? There are differing customs about this. At the Rebbe’s, the practice was not to put the Torah scroll away first. There are reasons for leaving it out, but I do want to mention that even within Chabad there is a custom to put it away first, and the matter is discussed. Why? Because sometimes it can be very difficult to keep the Torah scroll out—to find someone to hold it or a suitable place for it—especially when the minyanim are not being held in properly arranged locations. Sometimes the Torah scroll is needed for another reading elsewhere, or something like that. In such cases, one can certainly rely on the customs of those who put the Torah scroll away first. But where people wish to follow the practice at 770 and the practice associated with hiskashrus, the point is—

28:55 Speaker 2 then they should certainly follow the other practice if possible. When we say the blessings over the Megillah, one of them is Shehecheyanu. Do we say Shehecheyanu by day or not? In the Alter Rebbe’s siddur, it seems to say—or at least the matter appears there—that we do not say Shehecheyanu by day. There are various explanations, based on the Tzemach Tzedek, for why in practice we do say it. Did the Alter Rebbe mean that it is not obligatory, or that it is not applicable to everyone? There are all sorts of explanations for why, in practice, we do say Shehecheyanu. But when we say Shehecheyanu at the morning Megillah reading, it is not only for the Megillah, since we already read it the night before. It also covers all the mitzvos of Purim. That is, one has in mind mishloach manos, the festive meal and rejoicing, and gifts to the poor. The Megillah is read while wearing tefillin, of course—certainly when the Torah scroll is still out. But even if the Torah scroll has been put away, that is not the time to remove one’s tefillin. As it says, “Vikar—this refers to tefillin,” and they are part of the occasion. Then we continue davening as usual. Minchah should be at a time that leaves enough time for the meal. This year, when Purim falls on Friday, the order may be a little different. But in general, if people want to have the meal after Minchah—those who did not manage to have it earlier—they should make sure to daven in a way that will allow them to have the meal. As for general practices on Purim: is there an obligation to rejoice on Purim night? It says that one should rejoice and increase one’s rejoicing, and that when a person comes home, there should be candles on the table, things that bring joy, a table set for a meal, and so on. But that is not a substitute for the Purim meal. In other words, one does not fulfill the obligation of the

30:49 Speaker 2 Purim meal that way, though there is certainly reason to have something more on Purim night. What about having a bite before Shacharis? At first glance, if we do not eat before the Megillah reading at night, why may we do so in the morning? The answer is that before davening in the morning, the time for the reading has not yet arrived for us. So someone who normally has a bite before davening may do so then. But after Shemoneh Esrei, when it is time for the Torah reading and the Megillah reading, one should no longer have a bite. There is also something customary to eat at the Purim meal itself. It is listed among the Purim practices, though we can discuss it when we speak about the meal: there is a custom to eat kreplach. As we mentioned, there is Ve’al Hanissim in Birchas Hamazon. We also have the mitzvah to sing and be joyful on Purim, and to have Purim in mind. This joy is much greater—it says that it is much greater than the joy of Yom Tov. That is the whole point. Now, the laws of doing work on Purim. The work prohibited on Purim is not like the work prohibited on Chol Hamoed, and certainly not like the work prohibited on Shabbos or Yom Tov. But there is a custom not to work, and someone who does work on Purim will never see a sign of blessing from it. The restriction applies mainly during the day; some are stringent at night too. The types of work include building, sowing and planting—work that requires thought and effort and takes some time. But doing something brief is fine, as long as it does not interfere with one’s Purim rejoicing. On the other hand, if you start occupying yourself with other things... Work done for a celebration—for Purim rejoicing, a wedding celebration or other celebrations—is permitted. As for a case involving

32:42 Speaker 2 a financial loss or something similar, one can certainly be more lenient. If someone needs the work for his livelihood, there is more room for leniency. Shops that sell food or things needed for Purim may certainly open. Shops that are not needed for Purim should preferably not open in the first place. Perhaps costume shops and the like may open, and nowadays perhaps photography-related businesses and so on—all the things needed on Purim itself. But if someone has a shop that he must open, he should at least shorten its hours a little. That is regarding work. Ah, is it permitted to do laundry on Purim? Almost every year we get many questions through SMS L’Rav: is it permitted to do laundry on Purim? Strictly speaking, no prohibition is stated, but some poskim do write that it is forbidden, or at least mention such a prohibition. Therefore, one should wash only what is needed for Purim itself—for example, if something gets dirty—and preferably not do other laundry. When Purim falls on Friday, we will see. Haircuts: one should not get a haircut except in a case of great need; we will see. Shalom uverachah. We will discuss the mitzvah and learn some details and laws of this important Purim mitzvah: reading Megillas Esther. Reading Megillas Esther is our Hallel and our expression of thanks for the miracles that Hakadosh Boruch Hu performed for us on Purim. All of us are obligated in the Megillah reading—men and women—and it is also desirable for children to attend. Certainly children who have reached the age of chinuch; and even those who have not, as long as they can be brought to shul in a way that they might disturb things a little, but not too much—only by answering amen and the like. How good and pleasant that is. In any event, we are all obligated in the Megillah reading, whether we are with a congregation or whether we are

34:39 Speaker 2 When you’re on your own, whether you know how or not, you have to find a way to do it. A wise person thinks ahead. Especially at times when you don’t always know in advance what will happen, try to make sure you have at least somewhere to get a Megillah besides the place where you normally daven and, with Hashem’s help, will be able to daven. But have a backup: a kosher Megillah of your own, or at least someone who can lend you one if needed. That’s always a good thing, certainly for helping others through mivtzoim and everything else. But in a year like this, at a time like this, when we see things changing from day to day, a person can suddenly be told that he needs to be in one place or another, under one set of circumstances or another. So plan ahead. A wise person thinks ahead. Make sure you have a Megillah, and make sure you can at least read the words properly from it. Even if you don’t know all the melodies and the trop, there’s time to listen and prepare. Even if you can’t read for a congregation—not everyone feels able to read the Megillah for others—it’s very, very worthwhile for everyone to be able to read it for himself, to arrange a way to do that. Because we are obligated to read the Megillah both at night and during the day. The time for reading the Megillah at night begins at nightfall. Right after the fast and after Maariv, we read the Megillah. Of course, there are places that arrange readings for women or for others afterward, throughout the night until dawn. Earlier than that, only in pressing circumstances, in an extremely pressing situation where there’s no alternative, one would read after sunset or something like that. But ideally, if you can read after nightfall, even if it means going back and reading again what was read earlier, that’s what you should do. That is the time for reading the Megillah. Before

36:26 Speaker 2 the reading begins, the baal korei says three blessings: “Al Mikra Megillah,” “She’asah Nissim,” and “Shehecheyanu.” We also mentioned in the class on the prayers that during the day we say Shehecheyanu as well—we say it both at night and during the day. Have in mind to fulfill your obligation through the blessings, and therefore don’t say “Boruch Hu uvoruch Shemo”; just answer “Amen,” so that you fulfill your obligation. Still, if someone said it by mistake, he hasn’t lost the fact that he fulfilled his obligation. As for those who have heard that the rabbi says the blessing quietly for himself—there is a source for that practice too. But there is no problem with their answering Amen. Even if they say the blessing quietly to themselves, they can answer Amen to the blessing. It isn’t an interruption or a problem; they can answer Amen. Now we begin reading the Megillah. At a public reading, the baal korei reads, and it’s preferable for anyone who has a kosher Megillah to read along with him. Someone who doesn’t have a kosher Megillah should preferably not read along while the baal korei is reading, for several reasons. One is that he may end up hearing his own reading rather than really hearing the baal korei, so he’s hearing the Megillah from a Megillah that isn’t kosher. That’s a problem, because the rule is that you must hear at least most of the Megillah from a kosher Megillah. After the fact, if you heard part of it from a Megillah that wasn’t kosher, you have fulfilled your obligation provided it wasn’t an entire section and wasn’t most of the Megillah. The same applies to the Megillah itself: if a Megillah isn’t one hundred percent complete, but most of it is intact and no entire section is missing, then it is kosher. In any case, if he reads

38:30 Speaker 2 to himself from a Chumash, what happens? He ends up reading from a Megillah that isn’t kosher instead of hearing the kosher one—and even if he can hear it, someone else might hear his reading. So those who have a kosher Megillah should read along to themselves. Those who don’t, and are looking at a book, should not read aloud, except when they’ve missed words, as follows. You have to hear every word. You can’t skip or miss words, of course. This is where people sometimes get confused. What happens if you didn’t hear a word from the baal korei? If you have a kosher Megillah and are reading quietly along, you simply read that word quietly and continue; there’s no problem, because you’re reading everything. If you don’t have a kosher Megillah, then, as we said, you should follow with your eyes, not your mouth. Here, though, you do say the word you missed—but immediately when you miss it. Don’t wait a few verses and then suddenly remember, “Oh, I didn’t hear that word,” and say just that word or verse. There is a rule that someone who reads out of order has not fulfilled his obligation. You have to read in the order of the Megillah, in the order the words appear. So if you missed a word, immediately read it quietly to yourself from the Chumash. Meanwhile, the baal korei will have moved ahead, so quickly read the next few words too, until you catch up. This way you won’t end up reading most of the Megillah from the Chumash, and you will have heard most of it. But don’t try to be clever about it. Sometimes people suddenly remember later that they didn’t hear a verse, a section, or something else, and say, “Whoa, I’ll read it now and make it up.” That doesn’t help; quite the opposite. As we said, read it as soon as you notice, and that’s it. Regarding uncertainty, we mentioned

40:13 Speaker 2 it earlier, but we’ll mention it now too: uncertainty about the Megillah reading. If you’re unsure whether you heard something, and the doubt only came up afterward—if you noticed immediately, you corrected it as we said, and that’s fine—but afterward a doubt arises for an average, ordinary person, and it’s a genuine doubt, not just a nervous “what if.” What is the ruling? At night, one can be lenient. Of course, if he can read the Megillah and be certain, then by all means. During the day, the obligation to read the Megillah is more stringent according to the basic law, so it is appropriate and necessary to be stringent even in a case of doubt. Women may be more lenient even during the day in a case of doubt. Of course, ideally, you shouldn’t get into situations of doubt. Doubt is Amalek. A person should listen properly, and if he didn’t hear, he should read it. In short, everything will be fine. In any case, if it happens, that’s a matter in its own right. So we said that we need to listen carefully to the reading. What happens if we’re somewhere without ten people, without a minyan? People gathered, but enough people didn’t arrive. Maybe the situation is that only five can be inside—I don’t know. There can be all kinds of reasons. You tried, you tried. What do we do then? Should one person read for everyone, or should each person read for himself? After all, this is now a reading without a minyan. Still, many sources say that even in this case it’s preferable for one person to read for everyone, because of the principle “In the multitude of people is the glory of the King.” A multitude doesn’t mean only a minyan; it means as many people as possible. If there’s a minyan, all the better: it’s a congregation, with everything that entails. If not, there should still be a baal korei. So if we’ve gathered for a reading, one person who has prepared to read, or knows how to read, should read, and the others should listen.

42:14 Speaker 2 That’s fine—he should read it, and that’s what should be done. The blessings are the same as for an individual. What’s the difference between the blessings for an individual and those for a group? It’s the blessing after the Megillah. After the Megillah reading, we have the blessing of Harav es Riveinu. That blessing is recited only with a congregation, not by an individual. So if there’s no minyan, the rule is the same as for individuals. If you have no other option, then of course each person reads for himself and recites the appropriate blessings before the reading, but not the blessing afterward. What happens if you’re somewhere—or several people are somewhere—without a Megillah, and you don’t know whether one will reach you? I don’t know how they got stuck there, or something like that. This does not replace reading the Megillah, but they should read the account of the Megillah from a Chumash. They should be careful with the reading, too. Accuracy in reading. We mentioned that the reading has to be accurate, so before we talk further about reading from a Chumash, let’s look at the reader himself. Ideally, the reader must be careful with the words, the vowels, the cantillation—everything. If he doesn’t know the cantillation, as long as he reads the words correctly and doesn’t change their meaning, that’s one thing. But if he reads “Mordechai yashav” instead of “yoshev,” there’s a difference between them—and there are many other words where changing the vowels changes the meaning. In that case, one has not fulfilled the obligation of the reading. By contrast, if he reads the words correctly but just doesn’t know the cantillation—he doesn’t know the exact notes or the melody—that’s all right. Sometimes he even knows how to phrase it according to the cantillation marks, but not the melody. That’s fine. In a real case of pressing need, it says one may even mark the vowels and cantillation on the Megillah. I don’t see anyone doing that in practice today,

44:00 Speaker 2 because by the time you do that, you’ll probably have found someone who knows how to read, or someone who can read it to you beforehand so you can prepare quickly, or something like that. That’s why it’s important, as we said earlier, to prepare in advance. Even if you don’t think you’ll be reading the Megillah, prepare at least so you know the words themselves. That’s regarding the reader. And as we said, if there’s someone who knows how to read the words, he should read for everyone. When there’s no Megillah and they’re reading from a Chumash, they likewise need someone who knows how to read the words, even though it has vowels. Some people aren’t so good at reading accurately, so they should find someone to read for them. It isn’t the mitzvah performed properly, but when circumstances leave no alternative, that’s what should be done. What happens if the reader becomes hoarse in the middle, or something like that? Someone else takes over without repeating the blessings, unless he needs to recite them. All right, those are details upon details. But generally speaking, if the person taking over heard the blessings and has been reading along quietly to himself up to that point, he simply continues from there. If it means going back only a few verses, he should go back to the beginning. If it would mean a very long reading, that depends on whether the congregation can manage it. Now, with Megillas Esther, of course we’ll try not to go on too long. Second, there are the verses everyone says together, the verses connected especially with the Geulah: “There was a Jewish man,” “And Mordechai went out,” and “For Mordechai.” With these verses, note that the congregation says them, but everyone must also hear them from the reader. So when the congregation says them, the reader pauses and then reads them, so that no one misses any part of the reading from a kosher Megillah. If you read along from a kosher Megillah yourself, then even if, after the fact, you didn’t hear those words from the

45:55 Speaker 2 reader, that’s all right, as we said. But for those who didn’t, this is why the reader has to read them. The Megillah blessings—we said there are three blessings. It’s proper to stand for the blessings, but if the congregation can’t, that’s not a problem. The reader must intend to fulfill the listeners’ obligation with both the reading and the blessings. But what happens if you’ve already heard the blessing? You’ve already recited the blessings yourself and read the Megillah, and now you’re going on mivtzoim to read for other people, or you’re going to read for women, or something like that. In that case, ideally, one of the listeners should recite the blessings. But if they don’t know how, the reader can recite them for them. As for women—do women recite the blessings, and how do they recite them? You’ll see a lot about this in the materials. In practice, this is how Rabbi [unclear] ruled, and many other rabbonim from Anash said this was the practice: women, too, may recite the blessings, and they say “to hear the Megillah,” since their mitzvah is primarily to hear it, rather than to read it. What if there’s a group of women and no man to read the Megillah for them? What then? A woman can certainly read for herself and fulfill her own obligation. As for fulfilling the obligation for other women, some have written that ideally this should not be done. But when there’s no other way—as we said, a group of women are together, no one else can come in, and no one else is there—a woman can fulfill another woman’s obligation. As for a woman fulfilling men’s obligation, if there is simply no one else who knows how—that’s a very, very extreme case of pressing need, and it isn’t common, so we won’t discuss it. We said that women’s blessing is “to hear.” A person comes into shul after the reading has begun, and he didn’t hear

48:03 Speaker 2 the blessings. If he has a kosher Megillah, he should recite the blessings himself and read quickly until he catches up. If he doesn’t have one, then of course he should listen and read whatever words he can from a non-kosher Megillah. If several words have already been read, he should not recite the blessing beforehand. We don’t interrupt with speech between the blessings—from the first blessing until the final blessing. In any event, if he spoke before he began reading the Megillah, he recites the blessing of Al Mikra Megillah again. But if he spoke in the middle of the Megillah for some reason, as long as it wasn’t some very long interruption or the like, his speech does not invalidate the reading after the fact. If the reading is being done for a woman at home and she interrupts, she can still continue with the Megillah; there’s no need to recite the blessing again. We don’t interrupt during the Megillah reading even for Kedushah. There are many details, many rules, and many customs concerning the reading. We won’t cover them all right now. But there are some important points. There are the ten sons of Haman. Ideally, each person should say the names of the ten sons of Haman in one breath, as the reader does, because some say the reader’s single breath does not fulfill that requirement for the listeners. So they should say the names of the ten sons of Haman in one breath. Preferably, like the reader, they should start from the words “five hundred men,” to indicate that the ten sons were equivalent to all of them. In any event, if someone finds it hard to manage in one breath, he should start just with the ten sons of Haman. If he does take a breath in the middle, he has fulfilled his obligation; he doesn’t need to try again and again and again. Making noise at Haman’s name, making noise at Haman’s name. Our custom is to make noise specifically when Haman is mentioned with various descriptions: Haman the wicked, Haman the Agagite, Haman the son of Hammedasa, and so on—not at every mention of Haman

49:49 Speaker 2 Just like that. We saw that the Rebbe did do something like that with his foot, but less noticeably; when Haman is mentioned with his titles, it was a little more noticeable. In any case, if someone is reading the Megillah on mivtzoim and people want to make noise at every mention of Haman, that’s fine. It’s the mitzvah of blotting out his name, and it gives people a feel for the reading. Just be sure, of course, to wait until the noise stops before continuing to read. As we said, after the reading, the blessing of Harav Es Riveinu is said only when there’s a minyan. What if the minyan includes women—do they count toward it or not? In practice, many would say that even if there are, say, five men and five women in the women’s section, if there are ten people altogether, the blessing is said. In practice, that’s what I’ll say: there are rabbis who rule that way. What I’ve heard is that if it’s in a shul, and that’s how the group came together, and the intention from the outset was to have a minyan, then certainly yes. If it wasn’t a place where people had gathered from the outset for a reading with a minyan, then even if it turns out that there are ten people only when the women are counted, they would not say the blessing. The blessing afterward... When do you roll up the Megillah? There are opinions on this in halachah and in the Luach Kollel Chabad. The Luach even says to roll it up before the final blessing. But in practice, the Rebbe explains in his sichos the reason, according to the inner dimension of things, that there is a special point in doing just the opposite: leaving the Megillah open until after the blessing, so that the lights, and all the other matters, and the holiness of the Megillah extend into the blessing as well. Those are the laws in brief. A few more details for someone going out to read on mivtzoim. On mivtzoim, it’s common that not everyone will hear the Megillah from beginning to end. We said earlier that if there’s no one who knows how to say the blessings, the reader says them. But if you know that they won’t hear the reading from beginning to

51:55 Speaker 2 end, there is certainly no place for you to say the blessings. Nor should you tell them to say the blessings. So if a Jew says, “I will listen to the whole thing,” let him say the blessings. If he leaves in the middle after all, that’s his responsibility. But the reader certainly should not say the blessings in such cases of a reading on mivtzoim. Of course, it has the status of a reading for an individual, unless a minyan has gathered there. That’s still mivtzoim, but it’s already like a public reading and doesn’t have the special rules of an individual reading. That concludes the matters of reading the Megillah. “Give to the wise, and he will become wiser.” Of course, we can’t cover everything. If you look in our book from Machon Halacha Chabad, there are 106 sections discussing this, with all the details and finer points. So it’s worthwhile—especially if you know you’ll be reading somewhere—to study and prepare ahead of time, not just from memory or by listening to classes, but by reading the material itself. Other mitzvos we have on Purim are mishloach manos, matanos la’evyonim, and feasting and rejoicing. So let’s begin with mishloach manos ish l’re’eihu—sending portions to one’s fellow. What is the mitzvah? “Sending portions to one’s fellow.” “Portions” is plural—two—and “one’s fellow” is singular. So from this we learn that, according to the basic law, one person needs to send two portions to one other person. What are these portions? There’s a bit of confusion. Some people think they have to be foods with different blessings. The answer is no. As long as they’re different foods, or different drinks, or a food and a drink. You have meat and you have fish: two very respectable portions. One is meat and one is fish. Nothing is wrong if the blessing on both is Shehakol. Cakes—if they really are very similar cakes, they may all be considered one kind. But if, again, it’s a filled pastry and another kind of pastry, or something like that, there need to be two different portions. That’s what it says here. “To one’s fellow”—one person is enough. As a matter of practice, we know that the Rebbe is particular to send to a Kohen, a Levi, and a Yisroel. So there is a hiddur to send to three people. Does sending to a Kohen, a Levi, and a Yisroel apply to everyone, or is it connected to a general soul, or something like that? Clearly, with a general soul, there’s a connection to the entire Jewish people through a Kohen, a Levi, and a Yisroel. Does it apply to every individual? It’s easy enough to do. Many people find a Kohen, a Levi, and a Yisroel, and in this way fulfill the practice. But of course, it isn’t indispensable or anything of the sort.

53:50 Speaker 2 “A man to his fellow,” and a woman to her fellow woman. That is, a man should not send to a woman, nor a woman to a man. It isn’t modest, and it isn’t... There’s also the point that this increases joy and friendship, and so on. So each should send to someone of their own gender. If there’s a situation where, I don’t know, a woman works somewhere, or a man works somewhere, and they need to send something to their female boss or male boss, then they should send it to the whole family. But generally, as we said, a man sends to a man and a woman to a woman. A husband can also send on behalf of his wife. That is, he can give a portion on her behalf too. But preferably she should know about it and be the one sending it, even if he hands it over. It shouldn’t just be something he does for her; she should have her own part in it. The same applies to children who are supported by their father. Their father can give on their behalf, but it’s very preferable that they participate—that they themselves take part in doing it, rather than you simply doing it for them and telling them, “I’ve fulfilled your obligation for you.” Children, of course, should give

55:29 Speaker 2 to one another. When do you send mishloach manos? During the day, not at night—from sunrise until sunset. You need to make sure to give it then. There are several—after all, one purpose is to increase friendship on Purim, and another is for people to eat from one another’s Purim meals. In short, you need to send it at a time and in a way that lets the recipient eat it on Purim: both receive it on Purim and be able to eat it on Purim. So if you leave mishloach manos by someone’s door, you don’t know whether they’ll come home or not. Besides, you haven’t actually given it to them. But suppose you say that you’re not transferring ownership to them yet, or that it does transfer ownership, something along those lines. In terms of giving, you’ve done something. Then, if they receive it on Purim, you gave it on Purim, and they can use it on Purim—and this is important—if you give them some portion that needs... I don’t know, for various reasons they won’t be able to open it and eat it on Purim, then that won’t do. It has to be ready to eat, so the person can open it and eat it. At most, they might heat it up if they like it hot, but it should be something they can eat cold. If you bring them something they now have to work on and prepare, that isn’t the point of mishloach manos. So, as we said, it needs to be given on Purim, with the possibility of eating it on Purim. And at the very least, even if you send mishloach manos a week earlier to all your, uh, donors, all your acquaintances, all your neighbors, and whoever else—first of all, if they’re neighbors who don’t know the rules, it’s better not to send it early so they won’t get the wrong idea. But at least one mishloach manos that meets the basic requirement, with two portions, has to be given on Purim itself. Uh, there’s—we know that many people send it through a messenger, handing it to someone else and so on. According to the basic

57:09 Speaker 2 law, that may not be an obligation, but it does appear in the halachic works. So give it to someone to give to someone else, and that way you’ll fulfill mishloach manos. But you can also send it with a child, even though a child doesn’t have the halachic standing of an agent, because this isn’t a law about agency. The child isn’t fulfilling the mitzvah for you; you’re simply passing it along through someone else. But then it changes—we don’t customarily give him mishloach manos, and if we do, not things associated with rejoicing. If someone gave it to him, he may accept it; otherwise, send it to the whole family. He himself can—needs to send the minimum, but not send a lot or do things associated with rejoicing. How much should you send? How much should you give? Preferably, it should be something of value in the eyes of both the giver and the recipient. Of course, the mishloach manos industry has made a lot of business out of this whole idea of making it look important to you. All right, you don’t need all the cellophane and ceramic dishes and who knows what else people have started adding in various places. But it should be something you could call a worthwhile portion—something that makes a person say, “Oh, I received something I can use.” Of course, if necessary, a kezayis for each portion is possible, or something like that. That also applies on mivtzoim or in other places where it isn’t always possible to send standard portions. So what do you do in such a case? It says that the Sages would exchange meals. Say you enter a military base and there are soldiers in the dining hall, but they won’t let you bring in any food from outside. Or not on a base—in a hospital, back when there was that rule against bringing in food from outside, for kashrus reasons or any other reason; it doesn’t matter. You’re somewhere where you don’t have anything, or you’ve simply arrived somewhere and run out of all your mishloach…

58:52 Speaker 2 Packages for mivtzoim. You walk into a place and see people sitting and eating. We once did this in cafés. Even in places like that, I can’t carry mishloach manos packages for every café and everything. So we said: Please, anyone who can should give the person next to him his own portion, even if they exchange them back afterward. The main thing is that it shouldn’t be a joke where he isn’t really giving it to him; he has to genuinely give him something. It says that this works too. Ideally, of course, as we said, you should give something that matters to the person. Here you’re giving him something from a portion he already has, but according to halachah, it definitely fulfills the obligation, and you can enable yourself and others to fulfill it this way. Hello and welcome. Let’s begin talking about gifts to the poor. Gifts to the poor are one of the important mitzvos of Purim. It says that it is better to give generously to the poor than to increase the number of mishloach manos packages. Some people have a good practice: if they give lots of mishloach manos and spend money and effort to bring joy to themselves and others, they calculate how much they spent so that their gifts to the poor will exceed that. Because what is the main thing, really? The main thing is to bring joy. Give gifts to the children of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—to the poor. We said earlier that mishloach manos is one person to another. Gifts to the poor, by contrast, require two recipients. So you need two gifts for two poor people, one gift for each. I’m sure you know the jokes and have seen the messages about finding a “particularly worthy” poor person, or “particularly worthy” poor people, to receive your gifts. But according to halachah, we give to anyone who holds out a hand. We don’t scrutinize requests for Purim money. Of course, if there is someone poor—if we know people who struggle to make it through the month, sometimes even through the day, who lack basic groceries and basic means of support—it is preferable to give to them. Everyone should give. Men and women are obligated, but even minors, and even a poor person

1:00:39 Speaker 2 who lives on charity, should give gifts to the poor. Gifts to the poor should not come from maaser. We get a lot of questions: Can gifts to the poor be given from maaser? No, because they are obligatory. This isn’t something optional; it is a mitzvah you are obligated to fulfill. So when should you give gifts to the poor? First of all, give as much as you can, as many times as you can. It’s true that there is a connection between the Shehecheyanu blessing we recite at the morning Megillah reading and gifts to the poor, so perhaps it is better to give afterward if there is no problem doing so. But if a poor person comes and asks right now, don’t tell him, “Come back after davening, so I can say the blessing first.” The Tzemach Tzedek also mentions this in explaining why we don’t recite a blessing before giving tzedakah: If we did, a poor person would come asking for tzedakah, and you would first go to the mikveh, then put on a gartel, then do this and then that. Meanwhile, G-d forbid, I could die! It’s the same here. If a poor person comes in the morning, don’t tell him you haven’t said Shehecheyanu yet. No, give to him. You can still give more after saying Shehecheyanu. Now, the gift should be given on Purim itself. You’ve surely seen people say, “We’ll transfer it to the poor on Purim itself.” If you give it beforehand, they will take it from you only on that day, because ideally you should give it on Purim itself, and the poor person should receive it that day. There are situations where, thank G-d, there are no poor people around, or you have no way to reach them. So if, on Purim, you set aside the money in a way that puts it into a tzedakah fund, a charity box, a tzedakah pocket, or something like that, you can then pass it on when you find a poor person. Nowadays people can transfer money

1:02:03 Speaker 2 by credit card and all sorts of other means, so you can also arrange it ahead of time. And today, even if you give beforehand, they make sure the money is transferred on your behalf on Purim. So there are all sorts of ways to ensure that no one has an excuse that he couldn’t find a poor person, couldn’t find a particularly worthy poor person, or couldn’t find a way to give. On the contrary, you need to make sure the gift is given. How much must you give as gifts to the poor? Is the value of a perutah enough? For mivtzoim and the like, yes. Generally speaking, if someone is truly hard-pressed and cannot give more than the value of a perutah—okay, we aren’t talking about him. But in general, it should be a meaningful amount. What does it mean that “the eyes of the poor are raised to the Megillah reading”? The poor are waiting for people to read the Megillah and give them something. So give a person something he can actually use, something with which he can buy a meal or the like—not just some token gift. Otherwise, it doesn’t count for you or help him. As mentioned, that is the ideal, but if you can only give less, then give what you can. With gifts to the poor, a man does not have to give specifically to a man, or a woman to a woman. Sometimes it is the men who go from door to door. It says that women are less accustomed to going from door to door. So, for example, even if it is a couple, G-d forbid, or other people, sometimes the man will be the one knocking on doors, and a woman can give to him too. There is no problem with that. Hello and welcome. We’ll talk a little about feasting and rejoicing, and the Purim meal in general. The Purim meal is generally held on Purim during the late afternoon, but there needs to be enough time to eat before sunset, so that it is at least clear that this is a Purim meal. Of course, if someone is busy with mivtzoim or something like that, he should at least wash his hands for bread before sunset, or wash

1:03:44 Speaker 2 earlier, so that he eats during the day. Ideally, perhaps you wouldn’t hold the Purim meal in the morning or at other times, but if that is what you can manage and it will enable you to help other Jews fulfill the mitzvos, a wise person plans ahead, and it is better to do that. In general, though, you begin the meal before sunset. There is a custom to eat bread—an egg’s volume, or, if not, an olive’s volume—and to do as much as you can. As we said, if you are starting very close to sunset, then certainly, to make it clear that you ate something during the day, eat a certain amount before sunset and then continue the meal. We mentioned the custom of eating kreplach on Purim, because they are dough filled with meat. It is worth mentioning that if you didn’t prepare any and have nowhere to get them, take a piece of meat and some bread and fold the bread around it. They say the Rebbe once did that and said, “We have kreplach.” So a piece of meat, a piece of sausage, a piece of whatever—put it inside the bread, and you have kreplach. It’s all fine. That is the Purim meal. This year Purim falls on Friday. What do we do about the Purim meal and Shabbos? Ideally, the meal should be held early enough to finish before Shabbos. If you can hold it before the tenth halachic hour, or before midday, you can. In practice, by the time people finish fulfilling the mitzvos and everything else, it can also be held later. Ideally, you should stop before sunset. There are laws about covering the table and reciting Kiddush if you want to continue the meal afterward. But in one year, as far as I remember, the Rebbe stopped following that practice. Even before then, most Jewish homes generally did not do it. In any case, the halachah exists. It addresses the situation where you began eating on Friday and now Shabbos has arrived. What do you do? You

1:05:22 Speaker 2 You can’t continue eating, but you don’t want to end the meal. So you cover the bread, say Kiddush, and then go back to eating bread. But you need to know the details of how to do this. So ideally, it’s best not to do it; and if you do, do it only where there’s a rabbi or someone who can check the halachos. Otherwise, end the meal, daven Maariv, and then have the Shabbos meal. The Rebbe’s farbrengen began at nine-thirty on the night after Purim, and it was full of joy and ad d’lo yada and everything else. So this time too, if you specifically want to, you can turn your Shabbos meal into a Purim meal, with all its details and fine points, in addition to the meal you ate earlier. You don’t have to extend that same meal. It’s the same in places where Friday is sometimes a short day and you need to fit everything in. You can certainly sit, tell stories, farbreng, sing, and do all of that at the Shabbos meal. “A person is obligated to become merry on Purim.” Becoming merry isn’t only during the meal; it’s throughout the day. True, the story of Rabbah getting up and slaughtering Rabbi Zeira happened at a meal—that’s what it says. But in any case, what does it mean to become merry on Purim? There’s a particular significance to wine. In other words, mashke is less suitable for this. Perhaps ad d’lo yada is separate from becoming merry, but there is a particular significance to drinking wine. Does the Rebbe’s restriction on mashke apply here or not? Some say that the Rebbe sometimes said it does not, but generally it applies here too. So younger people will have to fulfill ad d’lo yada by increasing their Torah study and their joyful activities until they reach, through that, the desired state: a level where, to them, there is no difference between “cursed be

1:07:05 Speaker 2 Haman” and “blessed be Mordechai.” It’s a level where everything is equal, everything is a revelation of the essence. So someone who cannot drink a lot of wine—whether because of the restriction, their health, the time, or whatever it may be—has an even greater need to reach this point inwardly. Of course, for someone who is weak and so on, there is still the matter of becoming merry with wine. That is what the Purim meal is about. Pay attention when finishing: the Rebbe reminds us about everything, “Remember it and keep it in mind afterward.” At a Purim meal, all the more so, people sometimes reach a state where they don’t remember. There’s no shame in reminding them, no shame in prompting them. On the contrary, it’s important to remind people to daven Maariv at the end of the meal. Or, if you see people reaching that state, stop and daven Maariv. Then, as we said, you can have the Shabbos meal as in this case; or, on a different Purim, you can bentch, daven Maariv, and start another meal on Sunday—which we’ll get to in a moment. That too will still be filled with Purim joy. Shalom u’vrachah. We’ll now begin by mentioning the halachos particular to this year, when Purim falls on Friday. As is known, the Gemara says that “the Jews who live in unwalled cities observe Purim on the fourteenth, while the Jews in Shushan observe it on the fifteenth.” What does “in Shushan” mean? We know that the designation was applied not only to Shushan itself, but to cities that were walled in the days of Yehoshua bin Nun. The prominent place—and really the only one we know for certain observes Purim on the fifteenth—is Jerusalem. There are many halachos about what happens if someone was in one place on the fourteenth and another on the fifteenth, but this year that isn’t relevant. Why? Because this year Purim in Jerusalem falls on the fifteenth, on the fif—

1:09:12 Speaker 2 But that is Shabbos. We don’t read the Megillah on Shabbos: everyone is obligated, but not everyone knows how to read it, so ultimately we don’t read it on Shabbos. When do we read it, then? On the fourteenth, like everyone else. So everyone reads the Megillah at the same time, and there’s no issue. It doesn’t matter where you planned to be, where you were, or what you did: everyone reads the Megillah on the fourteenth. But for the people of Jerusalem, there is what’s called Purim Meshulash—a three-day Purim. Why? The Megillah reading is moved earlier, because it says, “The days of Purim, at their appointed times,” and “it shall not pass.” In other words, we don’t postpone the Megillah reading; we move it earlier, to the day when it’s read throughout the world: Friday, the fourteenth. And what about gifts to the poor? As we mentioned, it says that the poor look forward to the Megillah reading. A poor person hears the Megillah being read and says, “Now they’ll give me money.” What are you going to tell him? “No, we’re Jerusalemites. We’re reading the Megillah now, but you’ll get your gifts to the poor in two days”? Certainly not. So the Megillah reading and gifts to the poor are done on Friday, the fourteenth, together with the rest of the world. There are things we can do on Shabbos too. Such as what? The Torah reading, for example, is no problem. We have a Shabbos reading. We’ve already read Parshas Zachor. So on this Shabbos, the fifteenth of Adar, we have the Torah reading and Al Hanissim as well. We want to mention the miracle that happened in Shushan on the fifteenth. So Al Hanissim and the Torah reading are on Shabbos. Some also add something extra to the meal. Why not? “A cheerful heart has a continual feast,” so they add to the meal as well. Why? Because nothing prevents us from having a meal on that day. We don’t make a separate meal, since we already have

1:11:23 Speaker 2 the Shabbos meals, and we want a meal that is specifically for Purim, when we can also give mishloach manos and do all those things. That will be on Sunday. On Sunday we have the Purim meal and give mishloach manos, because, as we said, the point of mishloach manos is to give portions of food that the recipient can eat at the meal as soon as they receive them. So we do that on Sunday, together with the meal. That gives us the Megillah reading and gifts to the poor on Friday. On Shabbos we have the Torah reading and say Al Hanissim, and we can increase the food and joy of the meal—indeed, there is reason to do so. And on Sunday we have mishloach manos and the Megillah reading. The halachic authorities also wrote that it is proper to give gifts to the poor again. Although we don’t read the Megillah, when you eat, you still shouldn’t eat alone; you should give to the poor too. Perhaps the poor are looking forward to the Purim meal, not only to the Megillah reading. So there is reason to give on Sunday as well, but strictly speaking, the obligation is on Friday. In Eretz Yisroel, there are cities called “cities of uncertain status.” These are cities where the Megillah is read on both the fourteenth and the fifteenth, because it is uncertain whether they were walled in Yehoshua’s time. Generally, these are the older cities in Eretz Yisroel. The Rebbe mentions some of them, such as Tzfas, Tiberias, and Jaffa. Lod is debated, as is Beit She’an. The Rebbe also mentions Haifa, meaning that Chabad is among the few who follow this practice there. In any case, in an ordinary year, of course, we read the Megillah twice, on the fourteenth and the fifteenth. This year, there’s no need to read it on the fifteenth, because everyone reads it on the fourteenth. But as for the other mitzvos, on Shabbos they won’t have the special Torah reading in cities of uncertain status, since we don’t do that there even in an ordinary year; we read it on the fourteenth. So

1:13:16 Speaker 2 it will be read on the fourteenth, and once it has been read then, it won’t be read on Shabbos. The same applies to Al Hanissim. There are those who say that, according to the custom of the Arizal, it should be said, but generally we don’t say Al Hanissim on the fifteenth in such places. On the sixteenth, though, there is reason to give mishloach manos and have some kind of meal. The Rebbe says that even those who aren’t in Jerusalem or in places where this is required by the letter of the law should participate. So there is reason to have a meal on the sixteenth of Adar too. We have Purim Meshulash this year. With Hashem’s help, may we have Purim Meshulash in Jerusalem, in the Beis Hamikdash. The determination of the month won’t change now, since Rosh Chodesh has already passed, but we’ll have Purim Meshulash and all its mitzvos. There are many discussions in the laws concerning Moshiach about what to do then on Shabbos and what else to do, but in any case, we’ll have all these days. So those are the halachos particular to our Purim, Purim Meshulash. And as we said, may we merit to celebrate it with the true and complete Geulah, with everything, immediately, right now.