Siman 690, Se'if 16 · Three points in this se'if that need clarification

Shulchan Aruch, Siman 690, se'if 16

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

Three points in this se'if that need clarification

• A se'if with no Mishnah Berurah: This is almost the only se'if here on which the Mishnah Berurah says nothing at all, which is quite unusual. Precisely because of that, several questions remain open.
• Who says it, and when: The Shulchan Aruch writes "one must say" without specifying who says it or at what point in the proceedings. From the context it emerges that he is addressing the one who reads the Megillah, since most of the halachos here are stated about the reader.
• The wording "cursed are all the idolaters": The whole structure of this piyut is built on pairs of opposites (cursed is Haman against blessed is Mordechai), and this particular phrase needs explanation, as will be shown.

The text of the piyut: "cursed are all the goyim" and the changes made by the censor

• The source in the Yerushalmi: The idea of this piyut already appears in the Yerushalmi, except that there it does not read "cursed are all the idolaters."
• Where the term "idolaters" came from: The phrase entered our seforim because of the Christian censorship. When Jews lived in gentile lands and printed their seforim, the printing was done under supervision.
• Supervision over printing: Printing created wide distribution, and therefore the government and the Church imposed oversight on it. They understood that the printing press is an instrument for good and for bad, and that one can spread anything through it without limit, even material against the state.
• External censorship and internal censorship: External censorship is when the Christians themselves struck material out, for example anything touching on their founder. Internal censorship is when the Jews changed the wording themselves in advance, so as not to get into trouble.

The word "goy" and the substitutes that replaced it

• The original wording: The word "goyim" is the original language of Chazal. True, "goy" can also refer to Israel ("one nation in the land"), but in the language of Chazal the usage developed that a goy is a non-Jew, and in the Gemara the contrast is between a Yisrael and a goy (the word "Yehudi" hardly appears in the Gemara at all).
• Akum: In place of "goy" they inserted the word akum, an acronym for "worshippers of stars and constellations." At first the Christians were satisfied, since as far as they were concerned it did not refer to them, because they do not worship stars and constellations but something else, and the reference was supposedly to wicked people of ancient times.
• The end of that solution: Until one apostate came along and claimed that the Christians were being fooled, and that akum stands for "worshippers of Christ and Mary." From that moment on the wording had to be changed again.
• The substitutes that followed: In its place they put "Kuti" and "nochri," and in Russia and Eastern Europe also alef-yud, an acronym for "eino Yehudi," not a Jew. Confusing acronyms, but there was no choice.

The conclusion regarding our text

• No reason for concern in Eretz Yisrael: Today, in Eretz Yisrael, there is no need for such caution, and one should not print "idolaters" but rather return to the basic wording: "cursed are all the goyim."
• Assessing the text before us: What is printed in the se'if, "cursed are all the idolaters," is not the original text but the product of the censor's correction.

When the piyut is said and who says it

• According to the Yerushalmi: From the Yerushalmi it emerges that these words are said at the conclusion of the Megillah reading. The Shulchan Aruch did not write this, and the Mishnah Berurah is silent here as well, and it is not clear whether that silence has to do with the censorship.
• Who says it: The one who says it is the reader, after he has finished reading the Megillah.
• A proof from the placement of the se'if: The following se'if (se'if 17) deals with finishing the reading and rolling the Megillah back up, which shows that our se'if was placed here because it belongs to the end of the reading.
• The practice today: We do not say this piyut. Instead, after the reading we say the piyut "Asher Heini," and even that is barely said by the congregation; people begin singing "Shoshanas Yaakov" right away, which is the last two lines.
• The author of the piyut: Unknown. It is an early piyut, and none of the poskim here notes who composed it.

"And Charvonah too is remembered for good"

• Additions made to the piyut: There is a dispute as to how long the original piyut was. Some say it was very short, two or three lines, and that later generations added to it. According to that view, both "cursed are all the goyim, blessed are all Israel" and "and Charvonah too is remembered for good" are later additions.

"Moreover, the gallows that Haman made for Mordechai is standing in Haman's house, fifty amos high. And the king said: Hang him on it."
(Megillas Esther)

• What Charvonah did: Charvonah is the one who, at exactly the right moment, brought up the fact that Haman had already prepared a gallows on which to hang Mordechai, and on the strength of his words the king ordered that Haman be hanged on it.
• Why he is singled out: Throughout the piyut we say "cursed" about the gentiles, and Charvonah is included among them, so we have to state explicitly that he is the exception and that he is remembered for good.

The Charvonah at the end of the Megillah: who was he?

• Two appearances in the Megillah: Charvonah is mentioned twice in the Megillah. The first time he is listed among the seven chamberlains of the king, and there his name is spelled ending with an alef. The second time, "And Charvonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king," his name is spelled ending with a hei.
• What the Midrash says: The Midrash says that Charvonah was not there at all, and the difference between the alef and the hei helps us understand this: this is a different person, and therefore one letter of the name was changed.
• Who it was: Eliyahu HaNavi came in the guise of Charvonah. The expression "remembered for good" is normally used of Eliyahu HaNavi, and by using it we are hinting that this is not the real Charvonah (there are a few other places in the Bavli where "remembered for good" is said of someone else).
• A source for dressing up: This is one of the proofs brought for the custom of wearing costumes on Purim, since there are several disguised figures in the Megillah, and this is one of them.

Se'if 17: spreading it out like a letter to display the miracle

"It is the custom of all Israel that the reader reads and spreads out the Megillah like a letter, in order to display the miracle, and when he finishes he rolls it all up again and recites the berachah."
(Shulchan Aruch)

• How it is spread out: Unlike a sefer Torah, which is only opened about three columns, the Megillah is opened entirely, and the excess is folded underneath, in two or three folds, depending on its length.
• The first reason, like a letter: The Megillah is called in the text itself an "iggeres," a letter ("iggeres haPurim"), and therefore we treat it like a letter, which one spreads out and opens completely.

Who is obligated to spread it out like a letter (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 55)

"But individuals who are listening while following in their own Megillos need not spread theirs out."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 55)

• Reading for a single person: One who reads for an individual need not spread the Megillah out like a letter; this obligation was stated regarding one who reads before a congregation.
• Reading before women: The poskim disagree as to whether reading before twenty or thirty women counts as a congregation for this purpose, and according to most poskim there is no need to spread it out, and one reads as usual.

The details of spreading it out (Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 56)

"That is, he spreads it out entirely and does not leave it rolled up on one side, but rather folds it page over page. And he should be careful that it not drag on the ground. From the Pri Megadim it is implied that it is not enough that it not drag on the ground, but that it should not even hang down from the table, since that is a disgrace to sacred writings. He further writes that the spreading out should be done before he begins to recite the berachos."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 56)

• Why we spread it out before the berachah: So that there will be no interruption between the berachah and the reading.
• The rule of a berachah on a mitzvah: One who recites "al mikra Megillah" must begin reading immediately. The two additional berachos are not considered an interruption, since they are part of the standard formula, but after them one may not interrupt, neither by speaking nor even by pausing. If he delays excessively and does not perform the mitzvah, the berachah is left hanging in the air, and there is room to say that he would have to recite it again.

What is the miracle displayed by spreading out the Megillah?

• The question: The Shulchan Aruch writes "he spreads it out like a letter in order to display the miracle," without explaining how spreading it out displays the miracle, and the Mishnah Berurah does not explain it either.
• The letters in the Megillah: The miracle itself came about through letters. The first letter was to destroy, kill and annihilate, and the second letter gave the Jews permission to assemble and defend their lives.
• Why a second letter was needed: The king could not annul the decree, so the solution was found of writing an additional letter. The date of the battle remained in force, but now the Jews were granted permission to defend themselves, which they had not had before.
• The conclusion: Holding the Megillah like a letter itself alludes to the miracle, since the letter was part of it. Just as the obligation to drink wine on Purim ("a person is obligated to become mellow") comes to recall that the miracle came about through a wine feast, so too spreading the Megillah out like a letter recalls the letters.

Rolling the Megillah up before the berachah that follows

"That is to say, he rolls it up completely and places it before him on the bimah, and only then recites the berachah. The reason is that it is a disgrace to the Megillah to be left lying like that. And even if he has already begun the berachah and said 'Baruch Attah,' since he has not yet said Hashem's Name, he stops, rolls it up, and only then recites the berachah."
(Mishnah Berurah, s.k. 57)

• The order of operations: After finishing the reading, the reader rolls up the entire Megillah, places it before him on the bimah (the "migdal," which in earlier times was tall), and only then recites the berachah.
• The reason: It is a disgrace to the Megillah to remain spread open when it is not being read from, especially since the berachah itself is not read out of it.
• How strict this is: Even if he mistakenly began and said "Baruch Attah," as long as he has not yet said Hashem's Name he stops, rolls up the Megillah, and only then recites the berachah.
• A common mistake in shul: The congregation assumes that everything is over once the reading is finished, and they stand up and start talking. But as long as the berachah has not been said, nothing should be said, and one must wait until the reader finishes rolling and recites the berachah.

A general halachah: we do not leave a sefer open

• A sefer Torah: When the reading is over and the gabbai says the "Mi Shebeirach," one should not leave the sefer open; it is closed, and some even cover it. We do not leave a sefer Torah open when it is not being read from, because that is a disgrace to the sefer.
• A sefer one is learning from: The same rule applies. One should not leave a sefer open when one is not looking into it.
• A dispute among the poskim: If he leaves the sefer for a moment for the sake of the learning itself, such as to fetch another sefer from the bookcase, the poskim disagree. But if he turns to something else, such as to eat, the sefer should be closed.

The Yemenite practice in rolling the Megillah

• The common practice: When the reader reaches the last pasuk, "Ki Mordechai HaYehudi," he stops, the congregation says the pasuk, the reader repeats it, and only then does he begin rolling up the Megillah, while the congregation waits.
• The Yemenite practice: The reader first reads the last pasuk himself, and while the congregation says it after him he rolls up the Megillah, thereby saving the time.

In passing · How seforim were distributed before printing

• The problem: In the era of manuscripts there was no possibility of commercial distribution. A person writes a manuscript and hands it to his friend, and that is not distribution. Even the Rambam's work, written before printing, existed at first as a single copy.
• The method of copying by dictation: One who received permission would gather thirty men and read the sefer out loud to them, and they would all copy it together. In this way, within a week or two, thirty copies came into being instead of one.
• The price of the method: This is the source of many of the errors in manuscripts. The listener does not catch things precisely, and there is no proofreading, so the gain comes at a cost. But there was no alternative.
• An accurate copy: Someone who wanted a properly corrected copy hired a special scribe to copy it for him from the original, and that was only within the reach of the wealthy.
• The printing revolution: With printing there is a set plate, and one can produce hundreds of pages a day and hundreds of seforim a week. That is already serious distribution, and that is why the supervision was imposed.

In passing · The blunders of the apostate proofreaders

• Who the proofreaders were: Apostates served as censors, and they were not great talmidei chachamim, and because of this many corruptions crept in.
• An example: The word "min" (heretic) was banned, because someone expounded it as an acronym for "from the disciples of Yeshu the Nazarene." A proofreader who came across "the seven minim" and did not understand what was being discussed printed: "we recite a berachah on the seven akum."

In passing · Why the authors of the early piyutim are unknown

• A general phenomenon in ancient art: The ancient statues found in Eretz Yisrael are unsigned, and we do not know who sculpted them. In early times it was not important to the artist to sign his work; the work speaks for itself, and the enjoyment of the viewer is the purpose, not the name of the creator.
• The same with seforim: The books themselves contain no indication of who wrote them. Were it not for our tradition, we would not know who wrote Sefer Shmuel, which the tradition attributes to Shmuel, since the book itself contains no hint of it.
• The same with piyutim: We do not know who composed "Adon Olam," and we do not know who composed the piyut "Arur Haman Baruch Mordechai," for the same reason.
• The development of the acrostic: Around the fifth and sixth centuries the practice developed of weaving the author's name into the opening letters of the verses. One explanation offered is that piyutim were being stolen and used for things that were not good, as the Sefer Chassidim brings that the wicked would lean on the fact that the gadol hador had composed them, and therefore the authors signed their names, so that people would know who composed them and would not use the piyutim for ill.