Shulchan Aruch, Siman 690, se'if 3
"One must read the entire Megillah, and from a written text; if he read it by heart, he has not fulfilled his obligation."
(Shulchan Aruch)
(This se'if contains several separate halachos, and we will take them one at a time: the obligation to read all of it, the obligation to read from a written text, and the law of one who skips words.)
1. "One must read the entire Megillah"
- The background in the Gemara: The Gemara records a dispute about where the obligation of reading the Megillah begins. Some hold it is enough to begin from "Ish Yehudi," others say from "Achar hadevarim ha'eleh," and there is an even more far-reaching opinion that it is enough to start from "On that night the king's sleep was disturbed," since that is where the heart of the story begins. The halachah is that one reads the entire Megillah.
- Why this is surprising: Someone accustomed to hearing the whole Megillah read is astonished to discover that the Gemara contains other views, precisely because he is so used to the practice.
"One must read the entire Megillah, and this is me'akev (indispensable)."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 5)
"This excludes the opinion in the Gemara that the obligation begins from 'Ish Yehudi' or from 'Achar hadevarim ha'eleh.'"
(Sha'ar HaTziyun)
- Me'akev, not merely lechatchilah: One cannot say that someone who mistakenly began from "Ish Yehudi hayah b'Shushan habirah" may rely after the fact on that opinion, since the halachah was fixed as me'akev.
- Even a single word: The Mishnah Berurah adds that most poskim hold that even if he omitted only one word, he has not fulfilled his obligation.
2. "And from a written text"
"And from a written text: this is derived in the Gemara."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 6)
- The basis of the halachah: The rule is that words which were given in writing may not be recited by heart. Therefore one must see the text and read from it, just as with the reading of the Torah.
- An invalid Megillah: Even if he reads every single verse from the Megillah in front of him, if the Megillah itself is not kosher (for example, a defect in the parchment or in the way it was written), it is as though he were reading by heart, and he has not fulfilled his obligation.
Megillah versus a Sefer Torah: where they are alike and where they differ
- Points of similarity: Megillas Esther was compared to the reading of the Torah in a number of respects, among them the requirement to read from a written text.
- Holding it in the hand: With a Sefer Torah one may not touch the parchment, whereas the Megillah is held in the hand.
- Hashem's Name: A Sefer Torah contains Hashem's Name and the Megillah does not, which shows that the comparison is not complete in every respect.
3. Words omitted by the sofer and read by heart
"Lechatchilah, the entire Megillah must be written before him; but if the sofer omitted words in the middle, even up to half of it, and the reader read them by heart, he has fulfilled his obligation."
(Shulchan Aruch)
"It must be written: that is to say, what we said, that he has not fulfilled his obligation, applies only if he read all of it or most of it by heart; but if he read only part of it, it is valid. And even if the reason he read by heart was that the sofer omitted some words in the middle, up to half, and the reader was forced to read them by heart, even though lechatchilah it is not proper to read from a Megillah that is missing words, nevertheless after the fact he has fulfilled his obligation."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 7)
- How this works: The Megillah lies before him, here and there words are missing, and he fills them in by heart. Up to half the Megillah he has fulfilled his obligation, since the Sages were lenient with the Megillah.
- The distinction between lechatchilah and bedieved: If he knows in advance that the Megillah is missing words, clearly he may not read from it. The leniency applies to someone who checked but did not check thoroughly, and discovers in the middle of the reading that words are missing.
- The duty to check: The wording "lechatchilah the entire Megillah must be written before him" implies that one must examine the Megillah before the reading to be sure nothing is missing.
When no other Megillah is available
"And if he has no other Megillah, he may read from it even lechatchilah."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 8)
- Explanation: This speaks of a case where there is no other Megillah at all, and if this one is not used there will be no Megillah reading in shul. In such a situation one reads from it, for it is better that the tzibbur hear something than hear nothing at all.
- Regarding the berachah: The Mishnah Berurah wrote "he reads" and did not write that he recites a berachah; one cannot say that a berachah is made over an invalid Megillah. We must distinguish between the reading itself and the berachah over it.
- A question left open: If a kosher Megillah is found afterwards, does one read again for the tzibbur with a berachah? Logically it would seem that they should read again with a berachah, but there is no ruling on the matter.
- A comparison to the case of an individual: We already learned about someone who was on a ship or on the road without a Megillah and read it not at its proper time: if a Megillah becomes available to him afterwards, he reads again on the fourteenth with a berachah, even though he already read on the eleventh, twelfth or thirteenth. There is room to draw a comparison to the tzibbur as well, although the parallel is not exact: there the deficiency is in the time, and here the deficiency is in the Megillah.
An invalid Megillah or a Chumash
- The question: If he has before him both an invalid Megillah and a Chumash, which is preferable to read from?
- Both sides: An invalid Megillah seems somewhat preferable, but on the face of it this one is invalid and that one is invalid, no berachah can be recited over either, and there is no clear ruling in the matter.
A deficiency of exactly half
"And half of it: this requires further study as to whether it is valid after the fact."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 9)
(The Mishnah Berurah left the matter unresolved and did not rule.)
4. The words of the Rema: three limitations
"But if he omitted its beginning or its end, even a minority of it, he has not fulfilled his obligation, and the same is true even in the middle. And this leniency applies only where he did not omit an entire topic."
(Rema)
"But if he omitted: at the beginning or at the end, in which case it looks like a deficient scroll, unlike a verse omitted in the middle."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 10)
- How to read the words "even in the middle": According to the Mishnah Berurah's explanation, the words "even in the middle" refer back to the earlier clause, meaning that even with an omission in the middle he has fulfilled his obligation, and the disqualification is specifically at the beginning or the end.
- The Rema's three limitations: Nothing may be missing at the beginning of the Megillah, nothing may be missing at its end, and no complete topic may be omitted.
- The reason: When the beginning, the end, or a whole topic is missing, the Megillah looks like a deficient scroll.
- The difference between the two rulings: According to the Shulchan Aruch, as long as the omission amounts to less than half the Megillah it makes no difference where it is, at the beginning, at the end or in the middle. The Rema is stringent with these three limitations.
What counts as "its beginning"
- The question: How much of an omission counts as "its beginning" or "its end": a verse, two verses, or even half a verse?
- The Mishnah Berurah's wording: In s.k. 11 he writes "and it is possible" that this applies even if only the first and last verse are missing, which implies that the matter itself remains in doubt.
- An unresolved ruling: It appears to mean one verse or more, but this is not clear, and there is a lengthy Biur Halachah on the subject.
Smudged letters
"But with more than half, even if the letters are written but are smudged and their impression is not recognizable, it is invalid."
(Shulchan Aruch)
- Explanation: If only traces of letters remain and they cannot be read clearly, it is as if they were never written.
5. The tzibbur's role: one holding a Megillah that is not kosher
"One who holds in his hand a Megillah that is not kosher should not read along with the shaliach tzibbur, but should listen and remain silent. Likewise, no one should assist the chazan by heart. Therefore, those verses that the congregation reads aloud must be repeated by the chazan from a kosher Megillah."
(Shulchan Aruch)
- The background: Many people come to shul with a Chumash, which has the status of a Megillah that is not kosher, so that they can fill in for themselves words they did not hear.
- Seemingly there is no problem: After all, shomea k'oneh (one who hears is as one who recites), and there is no difference between the one standing up front and the one standing in back. And just as the reader may fill in by heart, so too the listener may fill in by heart.
The reason for the prohibition and its parameters
"Because the listener may perhaps direct his attention to this reader and not to the shaliach tzibbur. Based on this reason, if he is reading where there is only one other person present, he is permitted to read along with the reader from an invalid Megillah or from a Chumash. But there are those who are stringent in all cases, because he is absorbed in his own reading and does not pay attention to what the shaliach tzibbur is saying, since he is occupied with reading it."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 13)
- Who is the reader and who is the listener: The reader is the one holding the Megillah that is not kosher and reading aloud; the listener is the man sitting next to him, who finds it easier to hear his neighbor than to strain to hear the distant ba'al korei, and who does not realize that his neighbor is reading from an invalid Megillah.
- The core concern: It is not merely that he hears him, but that he intends to fulfill his obligation by hearing him, and so he ends up misled.
- When no one is beside him: According to this reason, when there is nobody who might hear from him, he may read along with the shaliach tzibbur even from an invalid Megillah or from a Chumash.
- The reason of those who are stringent: Some are stringent in any case, since the reader himself concentrates on his own reading and does not attend to the shaliach tzibbur. This is not like the ordinary case of two voices, where two people read and the listener can pick out one of them, for a person is close to himself and will pay attention only to his own reading.
Assisting the chazan by heart
- The prohibition to assist: For the reason mentioned above, one should not assist the chazan by heart, lest his friend hear from him and think that he is reading from a kosher Megillah.
- An additional concern: The one assisting concentrates on what he himself is reading by heart, and as a result may miss words that the shaliach tzibbur read, for instance if he ran ahead in his own reading.
"Therefore those verses: that is to say, just as we are stringent that one should not assist by heart, because several people will thereby direct their attention to hear from this assistant who is reading by heart, whereas in truth lechatchilah the whole Megillah must be read from the written text, so too here the chazan must go back and read them from a kosher Megillah, and they can fulfill their obligation through his reading, so that everything will be from the written text."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 15)
- In practice: The verses that the congregation customarily reads aloud (such as "Ish Yehudi hayah b'Shushan habirah") are then repeated by the chazan from a kosher Megillah, and the congregation fulfills its obligation through his reading. Even though after the fact one can fulfill the obligation with a reading done by heart, since there is someone here reading it properly, why not hear it from him?
The intent of the listener and of the reader
- The halachah: To fulfill the obligation, both the listener and the one reciting must have intent.
- The chazan: The chazan intends to be motzi all the listeners, even someone who is not in front of him, such as one standing at the back of the shul, just as with the blowing of the shofar.
- The neighbor reading for himself: Someone reading for himself, even from a kosher Megillah, does not intend to be motzi his friend, and so there is an additional deficiency for the one who hears from him.
- The berachos: With the berachos this concern does not arise, since everyone hears the chazan's berachos.
- Two voices in Megillah: Regarding the Megillah, two voices can both be heard and absorbed, and that is the ruling.
In passing · The congregation's practices in reality
1. Bringing a kosher Megillah to shul
- A hiddur: Those who make a point of bringing their own kosher Megillah are doing so as a hiddur, an enhancement of the mitzvah.
- A practical benefit: If the ba'al korei's Megillah turns out to be invalid, it will be possible to read from his.
2. Filling in from a Chumash
- One whose hearing was disturbed: If there was noise or children shouting and he missed a few words, he may fill them in by heart or from a Chumash; he is not required specifically to use a kosher Megillah.
- Lechatchilah and bedieved: Although it is obviously preferable to fill in from a kosher Megillah, one should not disqualify those who hold a Chumash, and whoever filled in from it has fulfilled his obligation. This is a bedieved that is close to lechatchilah, since his intention is not to read the whole Megillah from the Chumash but only to fill in words he missed.
3. Reading from Chumashim when there is no Sefer Torah
- The comparison: Some say the same regarding the Torah reading: when a tzibbur has no Sefer Torah, they read from Chumashim, even though this is not a reading as instituted, so that the congregation should hear.