Megilla Reading קריאת מגילה

In the matter if it is permissible from the outset to divide megilla reading among a number of readers, Rav Mordechai Eliyahu told me that the matter is permissible if all of the readers heard the first berachot and all of the reading from its beginning…He does not have to go back to the beginning, but just from the place where the previous reader stopped.

(2) In this the view of Behag that women are only obligated in hearing the megilla is explained well, and this is: Since the essence of their [women’s] obligation is for publicizing the miracle, if so, it is enough for them [women] only to hear it, for this is publicizing. Which is not the case for the men, [who] aside from the mitzva of publicizing the miracle are also obligated in the mitzva of remembering [Amalek], and this is the obligation of reading…(9) Additionally, it is possible for me to say regarding the reason of Behag, that women don’t discharge the obligation of men, in accordance with the the view of Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak brought in the Talmud, that we don’t say Hallel on Purim because reading it [megilla] is Hallel. Behold that the mitzva of reading Hallel is also included in the mitzva of reading the megilla, and women are exempt from Hallel…

…For in reading megilla there are two [mitzva] fulfillments: 1) Talmud Torah of reading sacred texts: 2) Publicizing the miracle. Men are obligated in both fulfillments. Women are obligated only for the reason of fulfilling the mitzva of publicizing the miracle…

It seems to me that women recite the beracha “al mishma megilla” on hearing the megilla, and even if they read it to themselves.

For she recites the beracha li-shmo’a megilla [to hear the megilla] because she is not obligated in reading, and she is obligated in hearing; therefore, she must recite a beracha over the obligation, which is the hearing. This is also the law when another reads it before her to discharge her obligation, he also recites the beracha “lishmo’a.”

That which Rema wrote, “there are those who say [if a woman reads for herself she recites the beracha “lishmo’a megilla“] etc.” These are not essential matters to rely on them, but rather they [women] recite the beracha “al mikra megilla” like the men, and this is simple.

…The fundamental practical halacha is for him to recite the beracha “al mikra megilla” even though he reads only for women. Firstly, because according to the majority of halachic authorities women are like men and are obligated in reading…And according to their approach, when she recites a beracha on hearing, a beracha on the reading in which she is obligated is lacking. Which is not the case when they recite “al mikra megilla,” according to all opinions she discharges her obligation, for in synagogue she discharges her obligation even though she hears the beracha “al mikra megilla.” Furthermore, even if women are exempt from reading, the reason is because it is a positive time-bound mitzva, and for the reason of being included in the miracle, we obligate only hearing, but when she fulfills the mitzva through reading it is not worse than any positive time-bound mitzva from which [women] are exempt and are still also able to recite the beracha when they fulfill the mitzva. And this is also a reading, for one who hears is akin to one who recites [shomei’a ke-oneh] and is able to recite a beracha on reading, which she fulfills….And that which Rema rules, that a woman recites the beracha lishmo’a mikra megilla, does this not deal explicitly with her reading for herself? But when a man reads for her, he recites the beracha al mikra megilla and she discharges her obligation.

If they [women] did not hear [megilla] in synagogue, and a man who has already heard megilla reads for them – one of them should recite the three berachot…

…Women are obligated in megilla reading for they indeed were included in the same miracle. And it makes sense, that just as women recite zimmun [for themselves] and don’t combine [with men to make a quorum] for birkat ha-mazon, here too they don’t combine le-chatchila [from the outset].

Here, in my opinion it is simple that we can read before them [women] when they are ten, and we don’t need that there be ten men, for they [women] are also obligated in reading megilla, and therefore they are well able to combine to create ten on their own and to read before them…For the intention of Rema and also of Magen Avraham is just regarding whether they can combine to create ten together with men…or whether they do not combine similar to zimmun, but everyone agrees that they can read and combine on their own. Therefore, halachically the matter is clear and simple that women can even le-chatchila [from the outset] gather for themselves ten women in their home to hear megilla reading and recite the berachot…

All this is to combine women to create a group of ten with men. But when there are ten women, without any combining [with men], since the rationale that the final beracha requires a tzibbur is on account of publicizing the miracle…Therefore whenever there are ten women there is fine publicizing of the miracle and they recite a beracha after it…And in these days for some years I have instituted with God’s help in many neighborhoods of Jerusalem that after megilla reading in synagogue for men, about an hour later women come en masse to the synagogue and the shali’ach tzibbur reads the megilla for them precisely and with its cantillations and recites the berachot for them before the megilla and afterwards.

…They [women] are obligated in reading megilla to hear it from the mouth of the reader.

Truly we maintain as halacha that even for reading the megilla women discharge men’s obligation, in accordance with the Rambam and Rashi in Arachin…and so ruled our master Shulchan Aruch without qualification, though he ended afterwards: And there are those who say that women don’t discharge men’s obligation. And the rule is known that an unqualified statement followed by “and there are those who say,” the halacha is in accordance with the unqualified statement.

…There is a difference regarding this between the obligation of the day and the obligation of the night, for in the day its mitzva is also because of remembering the obliteration of Amalek, but at night the mitzva of reading it is only because of publicizing the miracle…therefore at night the obligation of men’s and women’s reading is equivalent, for with both of them the mitzva is only to publicize the miracle, Thus at night also according to Behag, women discharge men, for in this their obligation is equal.

A woman is obligated in megilla reading but should not discharge the obligation of the rabbim [public].

…In any case it is correct to be concerned for the view of those who are stringent, that a woman should not discharge a man’s obligation le-chatchila [from the outset] unless it is a pressing situation…

…It is undignified for men that women discharge their obligation…

That which Tosafot wrote in Sukka 38a, that a woman should not discharge the obligation of the rabbim [public] in megilla reading…this is to discharge men’s obligations, but it is fine for a woman to discharge other women’s obligations…

Be-rov am hadrat Melech. Megilla reading should be heard in the synagogue. One should not separate from the community only in order for women to read the megilla. Only in a second minyan of women caring for children can a woman also read.

…There are a number of possible reasons why women should attend the regular megillah readings by men in the synagogue, all things being equal. These include: the preference (hidur) of having as many participants as possible in one large public reading rather than fragmented into smaller ones; the initial obligation to read the megillah in the presence of ten men or ten women, which is often possible only at the synagogue reading; questions as to the proper blessing to be recited; and the general desirability of performing a mitzvah sooner rather than later. All things are often not equal, however: 1) It is often impossible to hear properly from the ezrat nashim. The inaudibility of even one word from the megillah reading means that the listener has not fulfilled her obligation. 2) Women, and particularly mothers, are often unable to come to the synagogue at the specified times. For these and other reasons there has emerged a widespread practice to have a second megillah reading for women, and in such circumstances it is entirely proper for a woman or women to read the megillah.

If a women’s megillah laining is done under the auspices of the shul, it forms part of the communal unity, along the lines of orchestral harmony which is achieved by different instruments contributing to an overall harmony rather than having a single instrument create a mono-vocal harmony. Thus, if we view it as part of a communal framework, all that is left is indeed be-rov am, and I don’t think that it should necessarily be the overriding factor in this case…. Allowing the group to express itself lifnei Ha-Shem [before God] in a manner that is halakhically appropriate is the right thing to do for their avodat Ha-Shem [service of God]. These women sincerely desire to be ovedot HaShem and they should be allowed the channels to do so. “Ken benot Tzlofchad doverot,” [“The daughters of Tzelofchad speak right,” (Be-midbar 27:7)] There are so many avenues of worship that are cordoned off to sincere halakhic women – it is therefore crucial to allow those that can be allowed. I assume that circumstances such as these surely qualify for what Chazal had in mind when they spoke about la’asot nachat ruach le-nashim [women’s gratification] as a halachic factor.

When my children were young, I used to go to a secondary Megillah reading (after the main one my husband attended), where a man read the Megillah for a large group of women while their husbands watched the kids. But then a woman in our neighborhood volunteered to read for women, and we formed a small group that enjoyed her reading for a few years. That woman moved away and we decided that we preferred hearing the Megillah from a woman (it is, after all, a woman’s story), so we split up the chapters and found women who had experience reading or wanted to learn….The feeling of empowerment from reading for other women and helping them fulfill a mitzvah is unparalleled. Participating in a women’s reading allows me to fully celebrate Purim as a holiday dedicated to the power of women to effect change, even under difficult circumstances….Our Megillah reading is very friendly and inviting. If we know a woman is on her way but running a little late, we wait a few minutes. If a reader makes a mistake, we correct her politely, and we compliment each other when the reading is done.

The story of Esther is not merely of historical significance. This story serves as a model of a process that every person must undergo in the course of maturation. Through the character of Esther, the megilla gives us a real-life lesson in developing inner strength, and in forming a mature personality out of the raw material of childishness.