Siman 690, Se'if 15 · Reading the Ten Sons of Haman in One Breath

Shulchan Aruch, siman 690, se'if 15: "One must say the ten sons of Haman, together with the word 'aseres' (ten), in a single breath, to make known that they were all killed and hanged as one." (Shulchan Aruch)

Reading the Ten Sons of Haman in One Breath

The source of the halacha and its reason

• The source: The basic halacha comes from the Gemara, that one must say the ten sons of Haman in one breath. The additions that we will discuss below are later customs.
• Why it matters that they died as one: The Gemara does not explain what difference it makes that they were all killed and hanged together. The commentators explain that the point is to magnify the miracle.
• How this works: Had they been killed one after another, the decree would not have been so severe, because the king might have changed his mind partway through and regretted it once he saw that ten sons were involved. Since they were all killed in a single moment, it emerges that this was a decree from which there was no turning back.
• A parallel example: Similar to what happened with Korach, "and the earth opened its mouth," where all those who challenged Moshe Rabbeinu perished in one stroke. That is the greatness of the miracle.
• Saying the word "aseres": One finishes the single breath with the words "aseres bnei Haman," and in saying "aseres" one emphasizes that all ten of them were killed as one.

After the fact, and the law of interruption

All of this is the ideal way of doing it, but after the fact, if one paused in the middle, he has fulfilled his obligation.

"If he interrupted between them, he has fulfilled his obligation, and even if he paused long enough to finish the entire megillah." (Mishnah Berurah)

• A special rule by megillah: As we have explained, by megillah even a lengthy pause does not invalidate the reading.

From Where Does the Single Breath Begin?

• The custom: Ideally the custom is to begin the single breath already from "chameish me'os ish" (five hundred men), that is, several words before the names of Haman's sons, and not only from the names themselves as the Gemara's ruling requires.
• The structure of the verses: First the verse states that in Shushan the capital they killed five hundred men, then the names are listed, and the text concludes "the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedasa," so that the reader should know who is being spoken about, since it was not stated earlier who these men were.

"And in Shushan the capital the Jews killed and destroyed five hundred men... the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedasa." (Megillas Esther)

The Mishnah Berurah explains the reason for the custom:

"The Maharil wrote in the name of the Rokeach that this is because the ten sons of Haman were officers of fifty over the five hundred men. And one who has short breath, and estimates that if he begins from 'chameish me'os ish' he will not be able to say all ten sons of Haman in one breath, it is better that he begin from 'v'es Parshandasa,' for that is the ruling of the Gemara, while 'chameish me'os ish' is merely a custom." (Mishnah Berurah)

• The explanation: According to the Midrash, each of Haman's sons was an officer over fifty men, and ten times fifty is five hundred. It turns out that those five hundred men killed in Shushan the capital are connected to Haman's sons, and therefore the custom is to include them in the same breath.
• The practical ruling: The Gemara's ruling is the essential requirement, and the addition is only a custom. Someone whose breath is short and who cannot read it all in one stretch should begin from "v'es Parshandasa" and not lose the essential halacha.

Reading the Megillah as a Letter

"One must say it all in one breath. And throughout the megillah, between one verse and the next, he should pause only long enough to take a breath, because it must be read like a letter." (Mishnah Berurah)

• The source of the custom: This is an ancient custom already cited by the Ibn Ezra, based on the fact that the megillah is called "the letter of Purim," and therefore it is read straight through the way a person reads a letter.
• Background on writing in ancient times: In ancient inscriptions and on gravestones there is no comma and no period, just one continuous flow, and one relies on the reader to know where a subject begins and where it ends.
• The role of the trop: Even though the megillah has no punctuation marks, the trop (cantillation marks) serve that function. Similarly, the vowels are not written in the megillah, and nevertheless there is a tradition of how to read and chant it. Even so, the Ibn Ezra brings that there were ancient customs to read the megillah straight through, like reading a letter.
• What kind of pause is meant: The Mishnah Berurah does not say that one should pause at the end of a subject, but rather that he should pause only long enough to breathe, meaning that when he runs out of air he takes a breath and continues reading.
• Who instituted the trop: Some say that those who wrote the megillah, Esther the queen and the Men of the Great Assembly, are the ones who established the trop, and others say the trop is much later. This same question exists regarding the trop of the Torah, and there is no agreed upon answer.

The custom of reading without trop

The Shaarei Teshuvah cites the words of the sefer Beis Yehudah, written by Rav Yehudah Ayash:

"There are countries where the custom is to read it without trop... but one should not do so in our countries." (Shaarei Teshuvah in the name of Beis Yehudah, siman 103)

• The root of the custom: Those places held on to the ancient custom of reading the megillah like a letter, and therefore read it straight through with no trop and no chant at all.
• The historical testimony: The Beis Yehudah lived about two hundred and fifty years ago, and from his words it emerges that even in his time this was still the practice in certain places.
• The ruling: This custom is considered a mistaken custom, and one should not follow it as a first choice, only when there is nobody who knows how to read with the trop.

(Rav Yehudah Ayash lived in Tunis and later went up to Eretz Yisrael. He has no connection to Moshav Bnei Ayish, which is named after Rav Akiva Yosef Schlesinger.)

Further Customs in the Reading of the Megillah

"When he says 'On that night the king's sleep was disturbed,' he should raise his voice." (Mishnah Berurah)

• The reason: That is where the miracle begins, and therefore one raises his voice. Most ba'alei kriah do this.
• Customs that are not written down: There are additional customs in the megillah reading that are not spelled out anywhere, and the Mishnah Berurah does not list them. They appear in later works, and each place follows its own custom.
• Verses read with the Eichah tune: Some have the custom to read certain verses with the tune of Eichah, such as "and vessels of various kinds" (which were the vessels of the Beis Hamikdash used at the feast) and also "and the city of Shushan was bewildered."
• The four verses said by the congregation: As we have explained, there are four verses that the congregation reads aloud and the reader then repeats.
• "This letter": The words "this letter" appear twice in the megillah, and the reference is to the megillah itself, the letter the reader is holding in his hand.
• The nature of these customs: These customs developed over the generations; someone began doing them and the community found them appealing. One has to know how to distinguish between a custom that is part of the basic halacha and a later custom that is lovely and adds flavor, but if it is not done, nothing has happened.

(The question of the custom of banging and making noise at the mention of Haman's name will be discussed in its place later on.)

The Congregation Saying the Ten Sons of Haman

"The Chayei Adam wrote: that which they do in some places, that the entire congregation says the ten sons of Haman, is not a proper custom. Rather the reader alone should say them, and the rest should listen just as with the entire megillah." (Mishnah Berurah in the name of the Chayei Adam)

• The reason for the widespread custom: Even though the Chayei Adam objects, the custom exists in many places. The simple reason is that the reader must say it all in one breath, so he rushes, and there is a concern that people will not hear well or that he will swallow words. Therefore the congregation says it themselves as well, for extra security.
• The halachic basis for this: As we have explained, words that the reader did not say, or that the listener did not hear, may be made up even by heart, as long as one does not miss the continuation of the reader's reading.

The Vav of Vayzasa

• The shape of the letter: The last of Haman's sons is Vayzasa, and its vav is written large and elongated. According to the accepted way of writing the megillah, the vav is stretched down along the entire list of the ten sons of Haman.
• The hint in this: The long vav is like the tree on which they were all hanged, and it is a vav of connection, joining them all together.
• According to the Midrash: The Shulchan Aruch says only that they were hanged as one, not that they were hanged on a single gallows. According to the Midrash they were hanged one beneath the other, and this is why the vav is stretched down and their names are written one under the other, the way they were hanging.
• The dispute over the details: The Gemara calls this letter "the vav of mordia," something like the name of a particular implement, and there is a dispute as to exactly how it was meant to be written. The matter is not fully clarified in halacha in all its details, and not every megillah is written the same way.
• A practical note: In a chumash this is not visible, so someone reading from a chumash is unaware of this way of writing.

The Next Se'if: Arur Haman, Baruch Mordechai

"One must say: Cursed is Haman, blessed is Mordechai; cursed is Zeresh, blessed is Esther; cursed are all the idolaters, blessed are all Israel; and also Charvonah is remembered for good." (Shulchan Aruch)

• The structure of the text: The wording is built according to the order of the alphabet: "arur" with an alef and "baruch" with a beis, and so on.
• The difficulty in understanding this halacha: There is no Mishnah Berurah here at all, and it is not explained who must say this or when. The entire siman deals with the ba'al korei, and all the laws explained in it were said about him, and the phrase "he must say" in the singular seems to indicate that here too we are speaking of the ba'al korei. It still is not clear at what point in the reading this is said, and the same applies to the closing words "and also Charvonah is remembered for good."
• The character of the text: This is a kind of very ancient piyut.

The wording "cursed are all the idolaters" and the censorship

• The problem with the wording: The expression "ovdei kochavim" (idolaters) is not the original wording. In the original Gemara this word does not appear at all.
• When it entered: The expression came into use mainly with the beginning of printing, around the year 1500, and a little before that.
• The reason: Books were not printed in Eretz Yisrael but in Italy and other Christian countries, and printing a book required the approval of the Church. The censor erased anything touching on Christianity, as well as expressions that sounded offensive to gentiles. Jewish apostates would point out such phrases to the authorities.
• The fear from within: It was not only the censorship at work; the Jews themselves were also afraid to print expressions that took a harsh view of gentiles, and therefore they changed the wording.

In passing · Expansions on reading and writing the megillah

1. Hebrew writing without punctuation marks

• The background: In ancient inscriptions, on gravestones and in ordinary writing, there was no comma, no period and no division into paragraphs, only one continuous flow, and it was the reader who knew where a subject began and where it ended.
• A modern demonstration: Professor Aharon Mirsky wrote a booklet of about fifty pages called "Style in the Hebrew Language," and he wrote the whole thing with no comma, no period and no division into paragraphs, just continuous lines. His intent was to show that when one writes Hebrew properly, the reader does not need punctuation marks in order to understand.

2. Illustrated megillos and pictures in the shul

• The reality: Illustrated megillos exist from various periods, including megillos that are some four hundred years old.
• The leniency according to the poskim: Generally the poskim say that there are those who permit illustrations in the margins, and the illustration does not invalidate the megillah.
• The basis of the objection: The main concern is that a person will look at the pictures during the reading. By the megillah reading this is especially serious, since one may not miss even a single word.
• A parallel question in the Baalei HaTosafos: This question was already raised regarding machzorim that contain illustrations, such as pictures of the order of the korbanos, and likewise regarding pictures in the shul. One of the central problems is that the picture distracts the one who is davening.
• The Haggadah shel Pesach: With the Haggadah it is less of a problem, since this is not tefillah but the telling of the Exodus from Egypt, and the pictures are meant to draw the children's interest and help them hold out.
• Regarding Jewish art: The claim that Jews have no art is not correct. Already in the parshiyos of the Mishkan we see the craft of the goldsmith and silversmith, and there are Chanukah menorahs, havdalah sets and holy vessels, what is called Judaica. The Germans even filled warehouses with objects of Jewish art. It is true that after the churban and in exile the involvement in this declined, because a person wanders from place to place and has other troubles. In painting and sculpture the involvement was minimal because of the halachic prohibition, and therefore they used the Haggadah, Megillas Esther and sometimes the siddur as places to put illustrations.

3. Repeating words in the megillah reading

• The well known case: Some have the custom to read twice, "ish lo amad lifneihem" and "ish lo amad bifneihem," because there is a doubt as to which version is the primary one, and also because megillos have been found written both ways, and people want to fulfill their obligation according to both versions.
• Another example: Some read both "sorer b'veiso" and "shorer b'veiso," from the root of "ashurenu," because they do not know which version is correct.
• How to view these customs: These customs arose at a late period and have no clearly established basis. Like other customs, one person began doing it and it caught on.
• The view of the precise scholars: Rav Mazuz, and likewise Rav David Yitzchaki of Bnei Brak, a great expert in the mesorah, hold that the version "bifneihem" is a mistake, even though Ashkenazi megillos are written that way, and likewise the version "lehashmid laharog" without the connecting vav is a mistake, and one must say "ish lo amad lifneihem" and "lehashmid v'laharog ul'abed."
• In practice: Some have the custom to repeat and some do not, and each person should follow the custom of his fathers.
• Distinguishing between ideal and after the fact: In the previous se'if it was explained that we are not exacting about mistakes in the reading, but that applies only after the fact, when a person has already read and we do not make him go back. Ideally there is an obligation to read properly, and one may not say that it is permitted to read "yashav" instead of "yoshev" on the grounds that we are not exacting.