Siman 685, Se'if 7 · Background: the four parshiyos

Shulchan Aruch, Siman 685, se'if 7

"There are those who say that Parshas Zachor and Parshas Parah Adumah are obligatory to read from the Torah itself. Therefore, residents of outlying settlements who do not have a minyan must come to a place where there is a minyan on these Shabbosos, in order to hear these portions, which are a Torah obligation."
(Shulchan Aruch)

Background: the four parshiyos

• When they are read: The four special portions are read on four designated Shabbosos, and they need not be four consecutive weeks. The starting point is Rosh Chodesh Adar that falls close to Nissan. In a leap year, therefore, they are not read at the beginning of Adar Rishon, but toward the end of the winter, adjacent to Nissan.
• Where this appears: After laying out the general laws of these Shabbosos, the Shulchan Aruch turns here to Parshas Zachor, whose reading carries a greater stringency than the others.

The Torah obligation to read Parshas Zachor

"Remember what Amalek did to you... do not forget."
(Torah, Parshas Ki Seitzei)

• A Torah obligation according to all opinions: Although the Shulchan Aruch uses the phrase "there are those who say," the Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 14 and 15) explains that when it comes to Parshas Zachor, everyone agrees the basic obligation is from the Torah.
• The extra word "Zachor": Since the verse already says "do not forget," which covers remembering in the heart and mind, the word "remember" cannot be teaching us mental recall. It comes to teach that there is an obligation to say the portion out loud. That the obligation is once a year is derived from the Gemara.
• What the root z-ch-r means in the Torah: In many places it does not mean remembering in the heart alone, but saying something out loud:
  • "Remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it": From here Chazal derived the obligation of Kiddush, which is a verbal declaration.
  • "We mention the Exodus from Egypt at night" (Mishnah, Berachos): This is why we say the portion of tzitzis in the evening Shema as well. Even though the mitzvah of tzitzis and seeing them applies by day ("and you shall see it"), since the verse says "and you shall remember," and remembering means saying, we recite the portion at night too.

The obligation to hear it with a minyan (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 16)

"This applies even if he has a Sefer Torah in his home, and only lacks a minyan."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 16)

• A Sefer Torah at home does not suffice: Even someone who has a Sefer Torah in his house and is able to read from it has not fulfilled the obligation. Parshas Zachor must be heard with a minyan, so he must travel to a place where there is a minyan reading from a Sefer Torah.

"And even if we were to say that the requirement of a minyan for Parshas Zachor is only Rabbinic, the essential reading of Zachor is a Torah obligation."
(Mishnah Berurah)

• Ruling because of the doubt: The Mishnah Berurah himself is uncertain whether the requirement of ten men for Parshas Zachor is from the Torah. Nevertheless, since the reading itself is a Torah obligation, one should not enter into a doubt regarding a Torah law, and therefore he must go where there is a minyan.

The Sha'ar HaTziyun's reservation, and the source for requiring ten

"The Magen Avraham cites the Terumas HaDeshen and the Rosh that there is a positive Torah commandment to read Parshas Zachor with ten men, and I do not know of any source for this."
(Sha'ar HaTziyun, os 5)

1. The incident with Rabbi Eliezer: Rabbi Eliezer came to shul and found that there were not ten men for a minyan, so he freed his Canaanite slave, who upon being freed becomes a Jew, and thereby completed the minyan.
2. The difficulty: There is a positive Torah commandment, "you shall have them serve you forever," from which Chazal derived that it is forbidden to free a Canaanite slave. Davening with a minyan is only Rabbinic, so how could he set aside a Torah obligation for a Rabbinic one? The Gemara answers, "a mitzvah is different," and we still need to clarify which mitzvah was involved.
3. The Rosh's answer: It must have been Shabbos Parshas Zachor. From here we see that reading Parshas Zachor with ten men is a Torah obligation, and that is why he was permitted to free the slave in order to complete the minyan.

• The Mishnah Berurah's conclusion: The core reading of Zachor is a positive Torah commandment, and the Sages instituted that it be read with a congregation. Still, he concludes that the proof is not compelling, and he leaves the matter as tzarich iyun.

The Acharonim's discussion of the incident with Rabbi Eliezer

• It need not have been Parshas Zachor: The Acharonim discuss the possibility that Rabbi Eliezer freed his slave for some other mitzvah, and not for the reading of Parshas Zachor.
• The difficulty that remains: Whoever rejects the Rosh's proof must identify some other mitzvah whose requirement of ten men is from the Torah, and that is not easy to find. The matter therefore remains tzarich iyun.

Zachor with a congregation versus reading the Megillah with a congregation

"The Terumas HaDeshen writes that hearing the reading of Parshas Zachor with a congregation takes precedence over reading the Megillah with a congregation, since according to most poskim it is sufficient to read the Megillah individually at its proper time."
(Mishnah Berurah, citing the Terumas HaDeshen)

• The Terumas HaDeshen is consistent with his own view: He holds that the minyan for Parshas Zachor is a Torah requirement, whereas the Megillah, according to most poskim, may be read individually at its proper time. Hence hearing Zachor with a congregation takes priority.
• When one cannot manage both: For example, someone called up for reserve duty who cannot be in both places.

"Therefore, if it is impossible to fulfill both, he should see to fulfilling the reading of Parshas Zachor with a congregation."
(Mishnah Berurah, citing the Terumas HaDeshen)

The view of the Magen Avraham

"The Magen Avraham leans toward saying that it is better for him to come to the place where the Megillah is read with a congregation, and as for Parshas Zachor, under pressing circumstances he fulfills it through hearing the Purim Torah reading of 'Vayavo Amalek,' by which he becomes one who remembers the deed of Amalek and fulfills his obligation. He means that he fulfills it on a Torah level."
(Mishnah Berurah, citing the Magen Avraham)

• Two gains in coming to shul on Purim: He hears the Megillah with a congregation, and he also hears the Purim Torah reading, the portion of "Vayavo Amalek," through which he calls to mind what Amalek did.
• The underlying logic: There is no insistence on one specific portion. The obligation of "remember what Amalek did to you" is to verbally recall the deed of Amalek, so if that deed is recorded elsewhere in the Torah, he can read it there.
• A proof from Kiddush: Regarding "remember the Shabbos day to sanctify it" as well, the Torah gives no fixed text. The Torah obligated us to say something about the sanctity of Shabbos, and it was the Sages who formulated the wording.

A distinction: the enactment of Krias HaTorah versus the enactment of the Megillah

• The weekly Torah reading: It was instituted only as a communal reading. Someone who is unwell and lacks the strength to go to shul, even if he has a Sefer Torah at home, is not obligated to read the weekly portion from it. He may do so, and it is even proper, but it is not an obligation.
• Reading the Megillah: This is a different sort of enactment. Although ideally it should be read with a minyan and with a large crowd, because of "in a multitude of people is the glory of the King," someone who has no minyan but has a kosher Megillah is obligated to read it for himself at home.

The Chasam Sofer's novel ruling: fulfilling the obligation with the reading of Parshas Ki Seitzei

The question

• One who heard nothing at all: If a person did not hear Parshas Zachor on Shabbos Zachor and also did not hear the Purim reading, does he fulfill his obligation with the reading of Parshas Ki Seitzei, which contains "remember what Amalek did to you"?
• The order is only an asmachta: The practice of reading Zachor before Purim is derived from the verse in the Megillah, "these days are remembered and observed," indicating that remembering Amalek should precede the reading of the Megillah. That is an asmachta, a supporting allusion, so one who failed to read it first has not lost the essential obligation, only the preferred practice the Sages set out.
• Fulfilling the obligation through that reading: If both the listener and the reader have this in mind, it is clear that he fulfills his obligation with the reading of Parshas Ki Seitzei.

The Chasam Sofer's principle: memory lasts a year

• Two obligations: "Zachor" is the verbal reading, while "do not forget" is an obligation of the heart, never to forget what Amalek did.
• Why once a year suffices: When a person reads Parshas Zachor, the memory stays with him until the following year's reading, and thereby he fulfills both "remember" through the reading and "do not forget."

"And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, and he refused to be comforted."
(Torah)

• The proof that memory lasts a year: Chazal asked why Yaakov refused to be comforted, since the Holy One implanted in human nature that a deceased person is forgotten from the heart after a year. They answered that Yosef was not dead, and that is why no amount of consolation helped. From here we see that natural memory lasts a year.

The problem in a leap year

• Thirteen months: From last year's Parshas Zachor until Parshas Zachor of a leap year, thirteen months pass. During that extra month the original memory no longer holds, and it turns out he has forgotten.
• The Chasam Sofer's conclusion: In the year preceding a leap year, when Parshas Ki Seitzei is read, one should have in mind to fulfill the mitzvah of Zachor with it, and from that point the memory will carry for another year.
• The practice of some ba'alei kriah: There are ba'alei kriah who announce before the reading of Parshas Ki Seitzei that the congregation should intend to fulfill the obligation of Parshas Zachor. Whoever wishes to rely on this must make sure that the women also hear that reading, and there is still the question of reading "zecher" and "zeicher," which will be discussed in its place.

The poskim's rejection of the Chasam Sofer

• The ruling of the Yerushalmi regarding virginity: From the age of three and up, if relations took place, the signs of virginity do not return. Below the age of three, they do return.
• The Yerushalmi's novel ruling in a leap year: A girl born in Adar becomes three years old, in a leap year, in Adar Sheni. Until then the signs of virginity return, even though more than twelve months have passed.
• The principle behind it: The Yerushalmi cites a verse to teach that halachah is what determines the matter, and halachah overrides nature. As the Midrash says, the Holy One looked into the Torah and created the world, meaning the world is subject to the laws of the Torah. Even though this is hard to grasp and we do not perceive it, that is how the Yerushalmi rules as a matter of law.
• The conclusion for our topic: The measure of memory too was stated in terms of "a year," not in terms of twelve months. In a leap year the year is thirteen months, and memory functions for thirteen months. Accordingly, there is no need to announce at Parshas Ki Seitzei that one intends to fulfill the obligation of Parshas Zachor with it.

In passing · Freeing a slave on Shabbos and his immersion

• The question: How could Rabbi Eliezer free his slave on Shabbos? Freeing a slave is an act of acquisition, and one does not transfer ownership on Shabbos.
• The root of the prohibition: Transferring ownership on Shabbos is not one of the thirty-nine melachos. All matters of buying, selling and transferring ownership on Shabbos are only Rabbinically forbidden, out of concern that one might come to write. For this reason it is customary, when giving a gift to a bar mitzvah boy whose celebration falls on Shabbos, to transfer ownership of the gift before Shabbos.
• Why it was permitted: In freeing the slave there is no Torah violation. He is transferring the slave to himself, and the prohibition of transferring ownership is Rabbinic. Since Rabbi Eliezer did this for the sake of a Torah mitzvah, the mitzvah overrides the Rabbinic prohibition.
• Freeing him conditionally: That is not possible. Once the slave is freed he becomes a Jew, and there is no way to free him for the sake of the minyan and then return him to servitude afterward.
• The matter of immersion: A Canaanite slave was already circumcised and immersed when he became a slave, but that immersion was for the sake of servitude. Upon being freed he requires a further immersion for the sake of becoming a Jew, and this immersion is not indispensable.
• Care when immersing a slave: When immersing a slave for the sake of servitude one must be careful that no language of conversion is used, because if the immersion is done for the sake of Jewishness he becomes a Jew immediately, and that is no small matter.

(During the shiur a question was raised whether those fighting in Gaza today are exempt from the reading. The comment on this: whoever determines that they are the descendants of Amalek is making a very large claim.)