Megillah 19a

מגילה י״ט ע״א

Learn Megillah 19a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Megillah 19a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Writing a kosher מגילה, travelers between an עיר and a כרך on פורים, how much of the מגילה must be read, and the laws of the physical scroll

Overview

This amud first finishes the rules for writing a kosher מגילה. It defines three unfit materials (קנקנתום, דיפתרא, נייר), shows that the text must be in כתב אשורית, and learns from a גזירה שוה with ברוך's writing that it must be written with ink on parchment. Then a new משנה teaches that a traveler between an עיר (reads on the 14th) and a כרך (reads on the 15th) follows his home only if he plans to return. רבא explains that this means returning by the night of the 14th, and he proves it from the extra words 'היושבים בערי הפרזות'. רבא also rules that a בן כפר in a town always reads with the town, because the villages' early reading was only a leniency. The גמרא then defends that ruling against אביי's challenge from a ברייתא. Next comes the argument over where the required reading starts, with four opinions that רבי יוחנן and רב הונא each trace to a single פסוק. רב rules that the whole מגילה must be read, and that it must always be written in full. The amud ends with rules about sewing the scroll and about a מגילה written among the other books of כתובים, and it begins a story about לוי בר שמואל that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (34)

1. StatementDefining three unfamiliar writing materials
2. ProofSource for writing the מגילה in כתב אשורית
3. QuestionAsking for the source of parchment and ink
4. ResponseA גזירה שוה linking אסתר's writing to ברוך's
5. StatementNew משנה: a traveler between a town and a walled city
6. StatementHow much of the מגילה must one read
7. StatementReturning home means returning by the night of the fourteenth
8. Proofרבא's proof from a doubled phrase in the פסוק
9. QuestionWhat is the source for the walled-city case
10. ResponseThe walled-city case follows from logic
11. StatementA villager in a town always reads with the town
12. QuestionWhy is the villager different
13. ResponseThe villagers' early reading was only a leniency
14. ConclusionThe leniency only works at home
15. Challengeאביי brings a ברייתא against רבא
16. ChallengeThe ברייתא cannot mean a walled-city resident
17. ChallengeSo the ברייתא must mean a villager, against רבא
18. ResolutionSince you are changing the ברייתא anyway, change it to fit רבא
19. StatementNew topic: where the reading must start, and רבי שמעון בן יוחאי's view
20. Statementרבי יוחנן: all the opinions come from one פסוק
21. StatementThe whole-מגילה view: the power of אחשורוש
22. StatementThe other three opinions read 'power' as מרדכי, המן, or the miracle
23. Statementרב הונא offers a different source verse
24. StatementThe whole-מגילה opinion reads the verse as being about אחשורוש
25. StatementThe 'איש יהודי' opinion reads the verse as being about מרדכי
26. StatementThe opinion starting from 'After these things' reads the פסוק about המן
27. StatementThe opinion starting from 'On that night' reads the פסוק about the king's sleepless night
28. Conclusionרב rules that the whole מגילה must be read
29. StatementEven the opinion that starts from 'There was a certain Jew' requires the whole מגילה to be written
30. StatementThe מגילה is called both a 'book' and a 'letter', and each name teaches a sewing rule
31. Statementרב נחמן: the three stitches must be spread out
32. StatementA מגילה written among the other books of כתובים is invalid
33. Statementרבא limits the rule: a slightly different size makes it valid
34. StatementStory begins: לוי בר שמואל reads the מגילה before רב יהודה