Thursday, February 28, 2008

Hearing megilah in a large gathering

Hi,

We have begun to learn about Purim.

It is best to go to a Minyan to hear Megilah read, because this glorifies the miracle and so is a greater "Thank You" to Gd.

If there is no Minyan, each person who is capable should read the Megilah himself/herself, rather than hear it from someone else. This is because the reading of the Megilah is a form of "Thank You" prayer to Gd, and so without a Minyan one shouldn't really read it on behalf of another person.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 689:5; Mishneh Berurah 689:15)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

2 comments:

  1. Is this one of the times when the language doesn't matter. Specifically, if one does not hear the Megillah read (in a minyan) and one reads the Megilah to oneself, is it acceptable to read it in English? Must it be aloud?

    Michael Felder

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  2. Hi Michael,

    Thanks for your comment. As I understand it, one would need to read it aloud, and in the original. There is discussion in general of substituting other languages, even in a public reading, but we would rule for this private reading just as we do for the public reading.

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