Resources for Megillah 23

Rabbi Yitzchok Gutterman

1. 1. The גמרא says that we daven late on יו"ט because we are busy preparing for the סעודת יו"ט.  See the פּרי חדשin סימן פּ"ט ס"ק ו (at the very end) who asks how is one allowed to prepare for a Seudah before one davened? After all, there is an איסור of being עוסק בחפציו prior to davening. The פּרי חדש says that preparing for the יו"ט meal is considered חפצי שמים and not a personal need, therefore it is allowed. He explains that this is why some have the custom to go shopping for שבת on Friday prior to davening. This is also brought by the משנה ברורה in סימן ר"ן ס"ק א  if one can’t shop later.
   2. The גמרא says that we come early to shul on שבת since all the preparations for the סעודה have already been done. As we all know, the מנהג is to start shul late on שבת as well.  See the מגן אברהםin סימן רפּ"א ס"ק ב who explains that our גמרא just meant we come to shul earlier on שבת than יו"ט since we don’t have things to cook. See the פּרישה there who says the גמרא is just saying that you come as soon as you wake up since there is no meal to prepare, but you can still sleep late since שינה בשבת תענוג. As to why the minhag is to start late, the רמ"א there brings the מרדכי who says that it says by the תמיד של שחר the words “בבקר בבקר”, but by the קרבן of שבת it says “וביום השבת” which sounds like later in the day.
   3. The גמרא says that a child and a woman can be called for an עליה, but that we don’t call women because it is a lack of כבוד הציבור. See the מאיריon דף כ"ד who asks the obvious question: since children aren’t חייב in קריאת התורה, how can they be מוציא others with their קריאה? After all, we have a principle that כל שאינו מחויב בדבר אינו מוציא את הרבים ידי חובתן!? He answers that קריאת התורה isn’t a "מצוה גמורה", and the main point is that people should hear the Torah—the source of that sound isnt that important. On דף כ"ג he brings a “יש מי שאומר” that as long as one adult got an עליה, the תקנת משה is מקויים as תקנת משה was just to read from the Torah. עזרא came later and added a specific amount of עליות which can be done by anyone, even a child. See also the מגן אברהם in סימן רפּ"ב ס"ק ו who understands that a child can only get the עליה but can’t be the בעל קריאה. See the פּמ"ג there who asks that in the times of the גמרא, the child who got the עליה leined himself, so obviously a child can lein for others as well. He explains that the reason the child can be מוציא others is that a child has a חיוב דרבנן of חינוך and his דרבנן can be מוציא the adult’s דרבנן of hearing קריאת התורה (not like the מאירי above). See the אגרות משה in או"ח חלק בּ סימן ע"ב who explains the מג"א as follows: the reason that a child can get an עליה, but can’t be the בעל קורא for someone else is because in the latter case he is acting as the שליח of the עולה and there is no שליחות for a קטן.Regarding a woman, the מגן אברהם mentioned above says that we should be able to prove from the fact that a woman is really כשר to lein, that a woman is obligated in the מצוה of קריאת התורה. He also brings a מסכת סופרים that says this explicitly. Even though women don’t have a mitzvah of תלמוד תורה, it similar to the mitzvah of הקהל. He says however that there really is no proof since תוספות in ר"ה דף ל"ג: ד"ה הא says that even a רשות can be מוציא a חיוב דרבנן. He adds that the custom where he lived was that women actually left the shul for leining.

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