Megillah, Daf 17
12/29/21 • 8 min
Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Carl Perkins looks at Masechet Megillah Daf 17.
With this page, we begin chapter 2 of Megillah, which focuses on how the megillah is supposed to be read. The very first rule is that the megillah is to be read in order. The text goes on to tell us that other liturgical texts, such as the Hallel (which had been discussed a few pages earlier), the Shema, and the Amidah (the “standing” prayer, consisting originally of eighteen blessings) are also to be recited in the proper order. Why is this? My sense is that this reflects a very important perspective of rabbinic Judaism, namely, that the world follows its natural order. Miracles may happen, but time does not ever flow backwards. Elsewhere (in the ninth chapter of tractate Berachot), we learn that a prayer that asks that time be reversed is considered a vain or ineffectual prayer. Similarly, one can only appreciate the Megillah’s story of the deliverance of the Jewish people if one reads it in the proper order, first hearing about the threatened extermination, then about the miraculous deliverance.
The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.
This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Carl Perkins looks at Masechet Megillah Daf 17.
With this page, we begin chapter 2 of Megillah, which focuses on how the megillah is supposed to be read. The very first rule is that the megillah is to be read in order. The text goes on to tell us that other liturgical texts, such as the Hallel (which had been discussed a few pages earlier), the Shema, and the Amidah (the “standing” prayer, consisting originally of eighteen blessings) are also to be recited in the proper order. Why is this? My sense is that this reflects a very important perspective of rabbinic Judaism, namely, that the world follows its natural order. Miracles may happen, but time does not ever flow backwards. Elsewhere (in the ninth chapter of tractate Berachot), we learn that a prayer that asks that time be reversed is considered a vain or ineffectual prayer. Similarly, one can only appreciate the Megillah’s story of the deliverance of the Jewish people if one reads it in the proper order, first hearing about the threatened extermination, then about the miraculous deliverance.
The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.
This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Previous Episode
Megillah, Daf 16
Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Carl Perkins looks at Masechet Megillah Daf 16.
This page is filled with interesting midrashic explanations of curiosities in the text of the Book of Esther (the “megillah” that is read on the holiday of Purim). In this Daily Daf Differently presentation, I focus on two examples of such midrashim, and show (a) how they address a literary problem in the Biblical text; and (b) how they tell us something about how the rabbis themselves and the societies in which they lived.
The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.
This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Next Episode
Megillah, Daf 18
Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Carl Perkins looks at Masechet Megillah Daf 18.
There are two related issues raised on this page: language and memory. The Hebrew language (the language in which Jewish sacred texts such as the Megillah and the Torah are preserved) is clearly important, but how important? The Megillah should be read in Hebrew, but it should also be understood by its listeners when it is read. Which value is more important? Why were the rabbis so intent on preserving Hebrew? What role does language have in remembering where we came from, i.e., in preserving and maintaining our culture?
The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.
This podcast is a collaboration with The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
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