Resources for Megillah 21

Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

1. The משנה begins that a person can read the מגילה standing or sitting. רש"י comments that this means a person can do whichever they want. The פּני יהושע understood this to mean that one can even sit לכתחילה while reading the מגילה. However, many ראשונים had the גירסא that someone who stands or sits is “יצא”, which is typically a לשון בדיעבד. See the ר"ן who says that even if the גירסא is “יצא”, it’s still לאו דוקא and one can sit for מגילה even לכתחילה. However, see the רמב"ם in  מגילה, פּרק ב" הל' ז הלכות who says that לכתחילה one should not sit for מגילה leining when done in a ציבור. This רמב"ם has applications far beyond מגילה. Since the גמרא says “משא"כ בתורה”, this means according to the רמב"ם that although by מגילה one must only stand לכתחילה, by קריאת התורה it’s מעכב even בדיעבד! See theמגן אברהם סימן קמ"א ס"ק א who brings the ב"ח who also says this and understands the שולחן ערוך to be agreeing that it is מעכב as well. The מגן אברהם does not agree and paskens it is not מעכב, as does the משנה ברורה there.
   2. The גמרא says that through the times of רבן גמליאל, the Torah was always learned standing. See the  אבןטורי who asks that this would mean that until that time the מגילה could not have been read sitting since the מגילה is Torah too. One would have to say that the משנה was written after that time. See the שפת אמת who answers an incredible חידוש that the מגילה when read only to be יוצא the מגילה doesn’t have a דין of לימוד התורה at all! This of course goes well with the גמרא earlier in the מסכתא that says מבטלין תלמוד תורה מפּני מקרא מגילה.
   3. The גמרא says that two people can read the מגילה together but cannot lein for קריאת התורה together. See תוספותin ד"ה תנא who says that in former times the person who got the עליה leined himself (as is still done in many Yemeni shuls today). It was only a later institution that the ש"ץ leins in order to not embarrass the person who got the עליה if he doesn’t know how to lein himself. See the רא"ש here who brings this as well and says it is similar to the תקנה by ביכורים where they were מתקן that someone reads the פּרשת ביכורים for the person bringing the ביכורים, so that people who can’t read shouldn’t be embarrassed. However, the רא"ש disagrees and says that he can understand why by ביכורים there was a תקנה to read the פּרשת ביכורים for people, because people who couldn’t read it themselves would be embarrassed and not bring ביכורים at all and be מבטל a מצוה דאורייתא. In our case, those who don’t know should just push themselves to learn it. Consequently, he says the reason the ש"ץ leins for you is that some people can read but don’t know trup. In that case, they may want to lein and get in a fight with the גבאי since the ציבור must hear it with trup.  He adds that the person getting the עליה must say the words himself since if you are making the ברכה you have to be the one saying the words or else it will be a ברכה לבטלה. See the first ביה"ל in סימן קמ"א who brings a ירושלמי brought by many מפרשים that says you are allowed to have one person lein the מגילה and another person make the ברכות. This would seem to contradict the רא"ש. He answers by saying there is no comparison between מגילה and קריאת התורה. The reason he suggests is as follows: The רא"ש’s issue is that everyone in the shul already made ברכת התורה in the morning. The ברכה you make when you are called to an עליה was only נתקן for the one who is actually leining. After all, if you are just listening passively, so is everyone else in the shul! Therefore, only the person reading the Torah is entitled to make a ברכה. By contrast, when it comes to מקרא מגילה, everyone has a מצוה to read the מגילה and say the ברכה. Therefore, one person can say the ברכה even if he isn’t the one reading the מגילה.

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