Woman’s Obligation to Hear Megilla

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‘And Mordechai recorded these events and sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Achashverosh, near and far…’ (Esther 9:20)

Megillat Esther, authored by Mordechai and Esther themselves is the scroll which tells of the miraculous survival of the Jewish people in Persian exile. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (141:4) outlines the halachic obligation to hear Megilla both by night and by day. Although women are ordinarily exempt from positive time-bound mitzvot, in the case of Megillat Esther, women are included in the obligation. This article will explore the nature of a woman’s obligation to hear Megilla and highlight its significance.

Firstly, we will unpack the importance of this mitzva. The Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (141:4) records that one should wear Shabbat clothes on the eve of Purim. Although it is not a Yom Tov in the sense of forbidden work, we are expected to honour the mitzvot of the day by coming to shul for Megilla reading in fitting clothing. Additionally, the Kitzur mentions that one should have a candle lit and a laid table in honour of the festival. The Kitzur also emphasizes the importance of hearing Megilla in shul, in the presence of a minyan and preferably more.

Although technically one’s obligation is fulfilled without a large crowd, the principle of ‘berov am hadrat melech’ meaning the greater the number of Jews, the more honour to G-d’s name is created, encourages us to go to shul in large groups to hear Megilla (141:9). Finally, there is a halacha particular to Megilla which obligates a person to hear the Megilla again if they miss a word (141:13). This is a unique obligation which does not apply to regular Torah reading in shul. Although we strive to always hear each word of Torah, we have not lost out on our mitzva if we miss a word of Shabbat reading. However, in the case of Megilla, we are actually not considered to have fulfilled the mitzva of Megilla unless we hear each word enunciated. This mitzva is of such great value that if one word is lost, the entire obligation is missed.

With this background in mind, we will explore the obligations of women. As mentioned above, women are ordinarily exempted from positive time-bound mitzvot. This is both because of their spiritual makeup which renders certain mitzvot unnecessary for their spiritual development (such as tefillin) as well as because of other duties they may be occupied with which override the mitzvot (such as looking after young children).

However, in the case of Megillat Esther, which is a positive time-bound mitzva, women are obligated. The Gemara (Megilla 4a) provides the reasoning behind this obligation by the statement ‘they too were involved in the miracle.’ Since the women experienced the Purim miracle, they are obligated by its mitzvot. However, this statement is still ambiguous because the Gemara has not defined exactly what qualifies as being part of the miracle. There are two different explanations offered. Tosfot states that the women were threatened by Haman’s genocidal plot, as the Megilla records ‘young and old, infants and women…’ (3:13) and because they were specifically under threat and were subsequently saved, they are obligated to hear Megilla. The Rashbam, on the other hand, says that it is because of Queen Esther who acted as a catalyst to the miraculous salvation. Since the Geula was orchestrated by a woman, the women are obligated in the Megilla.

…Women are ordinarily exempted from positive time-bound mitzvot. This is both because of their spiritual makeup which renders certain mitzvot unnecessary for their spiritual development (such as tefillin) as well as because of other duties they may be occupied with which override the mitzvot (such as looking after young children).

This reasoning of the Rashbam is not only a statement with halachic ramifications. It is a statement which is extremely praiseworthy of the role of the Jewish woman and empowers us as facilitators of the Geula. Our role in bringing about redemption is what obligates us in these mitzvot which we would otherwise be exempt from. Regarding the mitzvot of Pesach, the 4 cups of wine and maggid which women are obligated in, Rashi (Pesachim 108b) explains that we are obligated because ‘in the merit of the righteous women we were saved.’ Rashi writes that this reasoning applies equally to our obligation to hear Megilla (because of Esther) and our obligation to light Chanuka candles (because of Yehudit). It is the actions of our foremothers which unlocks these mitzvot for us. We are privileged to keep these mitzvot because we brought them about.

On a halachic level, this helps account for seeming inconsistencies in our mitzvah observance. If we take the Gemara’s principle ‘they too were part of the miracle’ literally, then we would assume we are equally obligated to sit in the Succa because we experienced the neis of the Clouds of Glory and were placed in the protective booths by Hashem together with the men. However, this is not the full meaning of the statement. The principle which compels women to keep these mitzvot is solely if they were the facilitators of the Geula¹. In Egypt, Greece and Persia, it was the acts of noble women which freed the Jewish people from their physical and spiritual shackles.

Interestingly, Maran HaRav Ovadia Yosef zt’l recorded an older Sephardi minhag² where women would hear the Megilla only by night and not by day. This minhag formed on the assumption that there is not a strong enough halachic basis for women to hear the megilla twice. The reasoning provided in the Kitzur (141:4) is that since the Jews cried out by night and day, we listen to Megilla by night and day. There were those who did not believe this formed a strong enough obligation for women, and the Jewish women with this minhag thus occupied themselves with preparations for seuda and the other mitzvot, believing this exempted them. Maran HaRav Ovadia Yosef wrote strongly against this minhag and sought to eradicate it due to its complete contradiction to Torah sources. Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef stated that any woman with yirat shamayim would find the time to hear Megilla. Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef emphasized that Megilla is the primary mitzvah of the day and no other mitzvot should not detract from Megilla. The Gemara (Megilla 3a) writes that every Priest or Levite would abandon their service to come and hear Megilla. So treasured is the mitzvah of Megilla that even the Temple duties are secondary to it.

These powerful words of Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef are timeless and teach us that even today, with the entire industry of beautiful Mishloach Manot, the sophisticated delicacies of our seudot and the widespread ‘shpieling’ which leads to incredible levels of tzedaka – the Megilla takes pride of place in our Purim preparations. Together with her physical preparations, every woman should strive to connect to the Megilla and find some time to learn about it. The hand of Hashem and His unwavering love for us is concealed within the precious words of this scroll, and it is on us to reveal the Divine Providence and eternal love hidden inside.