{"id":8521,"date":"2016-02-23T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T06:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=8521"},"modified":"2018-05-27T09:12:23","modified_gmt":"2018-05-27T06:12:23","slug":"03-23-08","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-23-08\/","title":{"rendered":"08. Women and Megilla Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Rashi and Rambam, women and men are equally obligated in the mitzva to read the megilla<\/em>, and a woman may read the megilla<\/em> for her husband. In contrast, Behag<\/em> and Rabbeinu \u0124ananel maintain that women\u2019s obligation differs from that of men: men must read the megilla<\/em>, whereas women must hear it. Therefore, a man who reads the megilla<\/em> recites the berakha<\/em> \u201cal mikra megilla<\/em>\u201d (\u201cconcerning the reading of the megilla<\/em>\u201d) and a woman who reads for herself recites \u201clishmo\u2019a megilla<\/em>\u201d (\u201cto hear the megilla\u201d). According to this opinion, a man does not fulfill his obligation with his wife\u2019s reading. Responsa Avnei Nezer<\/em> (O\u0124 511) explains that this difference stems from the fact that women must hear the megilla<\/em> only in order to publicize the miracle, and therefore their obligation is only in hearing the megilla<\/em> and not reading it. In contrast, men are commanded to publicize the miracle and also to remember Amalek to wipe him out ultimately. Therefore, men are commanded to read the megilla<\/em>. 1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Since the Rishonim are evenly split on this issue, most A\u0125aronim rule that a woman may not read the megilla <\/em>on a man\u2019s behalf except in extenuating circumstances, when it is not possible for the man to read for himself or hear it from another man. In that case, at least he will fulfill the mitzva according to the opinion that a woman may read on a man\u2019s behalf. 2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

According to the vast majority of poskim<\/em>, a woman may read on behalf of other women. Some say that a woman cannot fulfill the obligation on behalf of many women, since megilla<\/em> reading has a status similar to Torah reading, and just as a woman does not read from the Torah, so too she does not read the megilla<\/em> for many women. Some poskim<\/em> say that when the megilla<\/em> is read for women no berakha<\/em> is recited (Ben Ish \u0124ai<\/em>, year 1, Teztaveh<\/em> 1; Kaf Ha-\u0125ayim<\/em> 689:19). However, halakhic practice follows the overwhelming majority of poskim<\/em> who maintain that a woman may read on behalf of other women and that if the group is comprised of ten women, the reader recites the berakha <\/em>of \u201cHa-rav et riveinu<\/em>\u201d (\u201cWho fights our battles\u201d) after the megilla<\/em>. However, le-khat\u0125ila<\/em>, it is preferable that women hear the Megilla <\/em>read by a man,\u00a0 to satisfy all opinions. Ideally, women would hear the megilla <\/em>in the synagogue with men, since \u201cIn a multitude of people is a King\u2019s glory.\u201d 3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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  1. Turei Even on Megilla 4a states that the mitzva of reading the megilla is derived, first and foremost, from the text of the megilla itself, which was composed with Divine inspiration. This is a time-bound positive mitzva and thus applies only to men. The obligation of women is derived from the rationale that \u201cthey too participated in that miracle,\u201d a rationale that is solely rabbinic. Therefore, according to Behag and Rabbeinu \u0124ananel, a woman cannot read on a man\u2019s behalf.. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0 There are A\u0125aronim who interpret SA 689:1-2 to mean that a woman can read on a man\u2019s behalf, and that this is indeed the halakha (Birkei Yosef 271:1; Ma\u2019amar Mordechai 689:2). The view of most A\u0125aronim is that a woman should not read on a man\u2019s behalf. So state Levush, Eliya Rabba 689:2, Pri \u0124adash 1, Erekh Ha-shul\u0125an 3, \u0124ikrei Lev, and Derekh Ha-\u0125ayim. Some interpret SA as taking a stringent approach (Pri Megadim Eshel Avraham 4; and see Kaf Ha-\u0125ayim 689:14). See Peninei Halakha: Zemanim 15:7 nn. 6 and 7. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Korban Netanel (on Rosh, Megilla 1:4:m) innovatively suggests that a woman may not read on behalf of many women. This is cited in SHT 689:15. However, it seems that the intent is to be stringent le-khat\u0125ila, because SHT 16 states that the dominant opinion is that women and men have an equal obligation. Halikhot Beitah (Peta\u0125 Ha-bayit 25; also cited in Halikhot Shlomo 19 n. 4) states that R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach questions Korban Netanel\u2019s explanation and concludes that halakhic practice follows R. Tikochinsky, who rules in Lu\u2019a\u0125 Eretz Yisrael that a woman may read on behalf of many women. The reason for the opinion that no berakha is recited on a reading for women is concern for the position that no berakha is recited when reading for an individual, and women collectively are considered to be like an individual (Kaf Ha-\u0125ayim 689:19). The opinion of most poskim is that there is no need to be concerned for this at all. See Peninei Halakha: Zemanim 15:7 and n. 8. ↩<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    According to Rashi and Rambam, women and men are equally obligated in the mitzva to read the megilla, and a woman may read the megilla for her husband. In contrast, Behag and Rabbeinu \u0124ananel maintain that women\u2019s obligation differs from that of men: men must read the megilla, whereas women must hear it. Therefore, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-23"],"yoast_head":"\n08. Women and Megilla Reading - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-23-08\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"08. Women and Megilla Reading - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to Rashi and Rambam, women and men are equally obligated in the mitzva to read the megilla, and a woman may read the megilla for her husband. In contrast, Behag and Rabbeinu \u0124ananel maintain that women\u2019s obligation differs from that of men: men must read the megilla, whereas women must hear it. 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