16
votes
Can a woman write a megillah?
There is a long list of decisors who permit a woman to write a Megillah
R Eliezer Melamed, author of Peninei Halakha, (here, note 10) writes
The Aĥaronim debate whether a woman may write a Megilla.
...
- 44.7k
15
votes
Did Haman kill Daniel?
The Talmud (Megillah 15a) states that Daniel was Hatach who appears in Megillat Esther:
ותקרא אסתר להתך אמר רב התך זה דניאל ולמה נקרא שמו התך שחתכוהו מגדולתו ושמואל אמר שכל דברי מלכות נחתכין על פיו ...
- 48.7k
11
votes
Did both King Ahasuerus and Haman practise Zoroastrianism?
Short answer:
"Jewish sources" do not come right out and specifically state which exact religion Ahasuerus and Haman followed. However, we can read the Jewish sources, and secular historical ...
- 10.6k
11
votes
Accepted
Haman going to the second feast dirty
The Talmud (Megillah 16a) states:
וסריסי המלך הגיעו ויבהילו מלמד שהביאוהו בבהלה.
"The king’s chamberlains came, and they hastened" - This teaches that they brought him in disarray.
On ...
- 5,568
10
votes
Microphone for Meggilah
R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach1 discusses the entire issue of recreated sounds in Shu"t Minchas Shlomo siman 9. His basic synopsis is that since the sound is being converted from sound waves to electrical ...
- 57.9k
10
votes
Accepted
Online Megilla Reading and the name of Haman
The requirement of the megillah reading is to hear every word (Shulchan Aruch O"C 690:3), including Haman's name.
There is a minhag to make noise "as if" you're drowning out Haman's name (Ram"a O"C ...
- 9,037
9
votes
Accepted
When is the "main" mitzvah of hearing the Megillah?
Tosefos on Megillah 4a (s.v. "חייב אדם") writes that the primary pirsumei nisa is in the daytime reading.
דעיקר פרסומי ניסא הוי בקריאה דיממא וקרא נמי משמע כן
The Turei Even to Megillah 7b, s.v. ...
- 57.9k
9
votes
is there some significance in their relationship between Haman and Daniel?
They have the same numerical value.
ה = 5
מ = 40
ן = 50
5 + 40 + 50 = 95
ד = 4
נ = 50
י = 10
א = 1
ל = 30
4 + 50 + 10 + 1 + 30 = 95
This equivalency is noted by R. Solomon Alkabetz in ...
- 48.7k
9
votes
Accepted
Why do we read the Megillah by night and by day?
The Talmud in Megillah 4a lays out the requirement for reading the Megillah both at night and during the day:
ואריב"ל חייב אדם לקרות את המגילה בלילה ולשנותה ביום שנאמר אלהי אקרא יומם ולא תענה ...
- 48.7k
8
votes
Accepted
Purim and Pesach in the same month
In 1999, the day of Purim fell out on the 2nd of March. This means that first few hours of pesach fell out on the 31st of March. Same happened in 1980, 1961....
The last time that Purim fell out on ...
- 3,839
8
votes
Accepted
Why mention possessions in Al Hanisim
Well, it's quoting the verse (Esther 3:13), so it makes sense to quote the whole thing, which ends with וּשְׁלָלָם לָבוז.
- 488
8
votes
Accepted
Talents during the time of Achasverous
Jewish Encyclopedia writes a heavy talent was 60 kilograms, a light talent 30 kilograms, and there's an opinion (very bottom) it is 20 kilograms. 10,000 talents would then be between 200-600 tons of ...
- 44.7k
8
votes
Mishloach Manot - why the word Mishloach is used specifically
There is a teshuva of the Binyan Tzion which is often quoted about this issue, in Siman #44.
He explains that the language of שליחות is to indicate that the sending itself is enough, even if the ...
- 57.9k
8
votes
Are there any specific minhagim to celebrate Purim as a family?
Nit'ei Gavri'el does indeed record the attestation of feasting together with one's family in a number of sources (in Purim 71:4). They are not necessarily attesting the purpose of perpetuation Rashi ...
- 23.5k
7
votes
Microphone for Meggilah
Rav Moshe in IG"M O.C.(2) siman 108 and O.C.(4) siman 126 notes that "some experts" say that the sound produced by a microphone is not the actual person's voice magnified, rather it's a new sound. ...
- 410
7
votes
Accepted
Is Hanukkah a holiday or a festival? Is there a difference?
I don't think there's a formal English terminology what people would call "festival" vs. "holiday", but there certainly are distinctions.
The Jewish holidays such as Passover, Sukkot [booths], Rosh ...
- 129k
7
votes
Can we offer Mishloah manot the night of Purim
The Rema quotes the Rosh as saying to do it during the day. The Mishnah Berurah also says this, as does Rav Ovadia.
- 6,908
7
votes
What does Mishneh Torah mean when it says all books of Prophets and Writings will be anuled in the times of the Messiah?
The source for this is Resh Lakish, quoted in yerushalmi megilah 1:5.
R. Qafih explains that Rambam understands that passage to mean that the suffering and troubles recounted in the prophets will ...
- 35.2k
7
votes
How did Haman know Moshe Rabeinu's Yahrzeit but not his Birthday?
The מהרש"א on that Gemara explains that Moshe having died on the 7th of Adar is something which could be worked out from Scriptures, as the Gemara works it out on Kiddushin 38a (it says they wept for ...
- 57.9k
6
votes
Can we offer Mishloah manot the night of Purim
The time for the mitzvah is tied to the se'udah which is held during the day.
The Ran (Megilla 3b in the pages of the Rif) addresses the issue. Despite the fact that megilla reading varies, the se’...
- 37.4k
6
votes
Accepted
Purim as the time of "receiving the Torah" according to the Gaonim?
It seems that everybody above is right - HaRav Schachter is working off of the Gemara in Shabbat, Gemara in Pesachim, and the She'eltot - as he cites them all in Be'Ikvei HaTzon page 114 (right column)...
- 2,053
6
votes
Capital punishment in Persia
According to Tosafos in Eiruvin 48, Haman and his sons were hung without their heads:
והא דכתיב בתרגום מגילת אסתר פרשנדתא איצטליב על תלת אמין וכן כולם
Implied question: It says in the Targum of ...
- 33k
6
votes
Why do we read the Megillah by night and by day?
The Sefas Emes (in explaining the somewhat unusual language of the Gemara M'gila 4a, which says "לשנותו", to repeat it, in the day) explains that the nighttime reading is actually a preparatory ...
- 57.9k
6
votes
Where is G-d's name in Megillat Esther?
Let's do one better: where is G-d's name concealed in all of Tanach? I'm looking for שם הוי"ה backwards and forwards, equally spaced from the beginning and end of four consecutive words (first letter,...
- 9,037
6
votes
Accepted
May Megillat Esther be read from a seated position?
From the Mishna in Megilla 21a it seems that one can lechatchila read in any position he likes (standing or sitting). However, see the Tur who brings those who say it is not lechatchila to sit. The ...
- 40.3k
6
votes
Accepted
How Many Angels involved in the Purim Story?
It is hard to give a definitive answer as there are instances like by the tree that you mentioned where it notes that there were angels present there without quantifying the number. However, needless ...
- 25.4k
5
votes
What's a Grammen?
From Yiddish Dictionary Online:
גראַם - m. gram - rhyme.
Thus, גראַמען would mean to rhyme.
This is, of course, just a partial answer.
[To the tune of "Yankee Doodle":]
Nasty Haman in Shushan, ...
- 18k
5
votes
Accepted
Do Karaites Celebrate Purim?
They do. You can see in the Karaite Jews of America website that they celebrate Purim on a similar date (though in Adar I in leap years).
- 4,556
5
votes
Who composed THIS melody for Shoshanat Ya'akov?
The following is lightly adapted from an email I received from Cantor Sherwood Goffin:
In 1950, Mr. Harry Coopersmith published his “Magnum Opus” – Songs We Sing – I believe in collaboration with the ...
- 47.4k
5
votes
Why were Haman's sons killed?
Seder Olam, 29 seems to present a reason when states that they were the ones who had written accusations against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem in Ezra 4:6.
- 6,825
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