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On Purim, is it permitted to read an English translation while listening to the Megillah reading?
I know it is a mitzvah to listen to every word of the Megillah reading. However, I don't understand Hebrew, so even if I listen, I barely understand anything.
If I "listen" (I hear the words being said) but at the same time I am reading an English translation, so as to actually understand the Megillah, is this permitted?
On Purim, is it permitted to read an English translation while listening to the Megillah read in Hebrew?
Understanding המגילה is the reward, while listening to המגילה simply fulfills the obligation.
"A foreigner who heard the Megillah written in the Hebrew language and the Hebrew alphabet--even though he doesn't know what they are saying, he fulfills his obligation." ( הלועז ששמע את המגילה הכתובה בלשון הקודש, ובכתב הקודש--אף על פי שאינו יודע מה הן אומרין, יצא ידי חובתו )
This responsum from Rabbi Meir Ben Zion Hai Uziel, Sephardic Chief Rabbi when Israel was founded, concludes as follows:
A man who does not know Hebrew who hears the megillah read in Hebrew to others who speak Hebrew fulfills his obligation; but if the megillah is read just to him, we must read it to him in the vernacular and not in Hebrew.
A fortiori, this implies it's OK for him to read the English while he hears the Hebrew.
