Megillah, Daf Kaf, Part 6
Introduction
Today’s section provides prooftexts for why the mitzvoth we learned in yesterday’s section must be performed during the day.
גמרא. מנלן – דאמר קרא והימים האלה נזכרים ונעשים.
לקריאת ההלל – דכתיב +תהלים קי"ג+ ממזרח שמש עד מבואו, (רבי יוסי) +מסורת הש"ס: [רב יוסף]+ אומר: +תהלים קי"ח+ זה היום עשה ה’, ולנטילת לולב – דכתיב +ויקרא כ"ג+ ולקחתם לכם ביום הראשון.
ולתקיעת שופר – דכתיב +במדבר כ"ט+ יום תרועה יהיה לכם.
ולמוספין – דכתיב +ויקרא כ"ג+ דבר יום ביומו.
ולתפלת המוספין – כמוספין שויוה רבנן,
Gemara. From where do we know this?
Because the verse says, "And these days shall be mentioned and kept" (Esther 9:28).
For reading the Hallel: As it is written, "From the rising of the sun to its going down" (Psalms 113:3).
R. Joseph says: Because it is written, "This is the day which the Lord has made" (Psalms 118:24).
For the taking of the lulav: As it is written, "And you shall take for yourself on the first day" (Leviticus 23:40).
For the blowing of the shofar, as it is written, "It is a day of blasting for you" (Numbers 29:1).
For the additional sacrifices, as it is written, "Each on its own day" (Leviticus 23:37).
And for the musaf prayer: Because the rabbis made them like the additional sacrifices.
I think that most of these are pretty self-explanatory. As long as the Torah/Psalms uses the word "day" the mitzvah must be performed during the day. The musaf prayer is obviously not mentioned in the Tanakh no fixed prayers are mentioned in the Tanakh. But it must be performed during the day because it is like the musaf, additional sacrifices.
ולוידוי פרים – דיליף כפרה כפרה מיום הכפורים, דתניא גבי יום הכפורים: +ויקרא ט"ז+ וכפר בעדו ובעד ביתו: בכפרת דברים הכתוב מדבר, וכפרה ביממא הוא, דכתיב +ויקרא ט"ז+ ביום הזה יכפר עליכם,
And for the confession made over the oxen. For the "atonement" mentioned here is derived from the "atonement" mentioned in the context of Yom Kippur, as it has been taught in reference to Yom Kippur: "And he shall make atonement for himself and for his house" (Leviticus 16:6) the text speaks of atonement made by words.
And atonement is by day, as it is written, "For on this day shall atonement be made for you" (Leviticus 16:30).
The confession that the High Priest makes over the oxen on Yom Kippur must be during the day because it is analogized to the other confession he makes on Yom Kippur, which is just words. There it explicitly mentions "day" so all of the confessions must be by day.
ולוידוי מעשר וכו’ – דכתיב +דברים כ"ו+ ואמרת לפני ה’ אלהיך בערתי הקדש מן הבית, וסמיך ליה היום הזה ה’ אלהיך מצוך,
לסמיכה ולשחיטה – דכתיב +ויקרא ג’+ וסמך ושחט, וכתיב בה בשחיטה +ויקרא ט"ו+ ביום זבחכם,
ולתנופה – דכתיב +ויקרא כ"ג+ ביום הניפכם את העמר.
ולהגשה – דאיתקש לתנופה, דכתיב +במדבר ה’+ ולקח הכהן מיד האשה את מנחת הקנאת והניף… והקריב.
And for the confession made over the tithe: As it is written, "And you shall say before the Lord your God, I have removed the sacred things from my house" (Deuteronomy 26:13), and in an adjacent context it says, "This day the Lord your God commands you" (26:16).
For laying on of hands and for slaughtering: as it is written, "And he shall lay his hand . . . And he shall slaughter" (Leviticus 3:8), and it is written in connection with slaughtering, "On the same day that you sacrifice (slaughter)" (Leviticus 19:6).
And for waving: as it is written, "And on the day when you wave the sheaf" (Leviticus 23:12).
And for bringing near, for it is compared to waving, as it is written, "And the priest shall take the minhah offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal-offering . . . And bring it near [to the altar]" (Numbers 5:25).
All of these should be pretty clear as well. Yesterday’s section explained what all of these actions were. Today the Talmud explains how we know that they have to be performed during the day.
ולמליקה ולקמיצה ולהקטרה ולהזיה – דכתיב +ויקרא ז’+ ביום צותו את בני ישראל,
And for pinching and for taking a handful and for burning and for sprinkling, as it is written, "On the day that He commanded the children of Israel [to present their offerings]" (Leviticus 7:35).
This is sort of a catch all verse used to prove that the rest of the actions performed in the sacrificial service must be performed during the day.
ולהשקית סוטה – אתיא תורה תורה; כתיב הכא +במדבר ה’+ ועשה לה הכהן את כל התורה הזאת, וכתיב התם +דברים י"ז+ על פי התורה אשר יורוך ועל המשפט, מה משפט ביום – אף כאן ביום.
And for making the sotah drink: This is derived from the word "Torah" "Torah". It is written here, "And the priest shall do to her all this Torah" (Numbers 5:30), and it is written elsewhere, "According to the Torah which they teach you and according to the judgment" (Deuteronomy 17:11): just as judgment is by day, so here it must be by day.
The rule that the sotah (suspected adulteress) ritual must be performed during the day is derived from the use of the word Torah in that context and in the context of judgment. Since we know that court cases can be tried only during the day, we can conclude that the sotah ritual must also be carried out during the day.
ולעריפת העגלה, אמרי דבי רבי ינאי: כפרה כתיב בה כקדשים.
ולטהרת מצורע, דכתיב – +ויקרא י"ד+ זאת תהיה תורת המצרע ביום טהרתו.
And for breaking the neck of the heifer. In the school of R. Yannai they said: [The word] "atonement" is applied to it as to holy things.
And for the purification of the metzora: as it is written, "This shall be the law of the metzora on the day of his cleansing" (Leviticus 14:2).
The breaking of the neck of the heifer is an act of atonement for murder. Since we learned above that acts of atonement must be performed during the day, so too must this ritual.
כל הלילה כשר לקצירת העומר וכו’, דאמר מר: קצירה וספירה בלילה, והבאה ביום. ולהקטר חלבים ואברים – דכתיב +ויקרא ו’+ כל הלילה עד הבקר.
The whole night is a proper time for harvesting the omer. As a master has said that harvesting and counting are at night and bringing is during the day.
And for burning fat and limbs: As it is written, "All the night till the morning" (Deuteronomy 6:20).
The mishnah listed two mitzvoth that are performed at night: the harvesting of the omer and the burning of the fat and limbs of the sacrifices on the altar.