Translation:Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Megillah/Chapter 1/1

Introduction

Tractate Megillah begins with a discussion of when the Megillah is read for the celebration of Purim. The first mishnah discusses what days it may be read on and what towns read it on what day.

Hebrew Text

מגילה נקראת באחד עשר, בשנים עשר, בשלושה עשר, בארבעה עשר, ובחמישה עשר

לא פחות ולא יתר.

כרכים המוקפים חומה מימות יהושוע בן נון, קורין בחמישה עשר;

כפרים ועיירות גדולות, קורין בארבעה עשר,

אלא שהכפרים מקדימין ליום הכניסה.

English Translation

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The Megillah is read on the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar,

not earlier and not later.

Large cities which have had a wall since the days of Yehoshua ben Nun read on the fifteenth of Adar.

Villages and large towns read on the fourteenth of Adar.

But small villages move to the day of meeting.

Explanation

Megillah: i.e. the Book of Esther.

Yehoshua ben Nun: This is the Biblical figure Joshua, who followed Moses as the leader of Israel.

Day of meeting: People living in agricultural villages did not necessarily see each other everyday. People living on farms often don't see many of their neighbors on a day to day basis as they work in their fields and tend to their animals, whereas in cities many were merchants and there was much more meeting. Thus, it became a tradition where there would be a day of meeting where everyone would meet in the village square to converse and socialize. Since it would be impractical to expect people to meet any other day of the week, the rabbis decided that this day would be the one where people in agricultural villages would read the Megillah. This particular point is explained in more depth later in the chapter.