Megillah, Daf Yod Het, Part 4

 

Introduction

This short section deals with the next line of the mishnah.

 

והלועז ששמע אשורית יצא וכו‘, – והא לא ידע מאי קאמרי? – מידי דהוה אנשים ועמי הארץ. – מתקיף לה רבינא: אטו אנן האחשתרנים בני הרמכים, מי ידעינן? אלא מצות קריאה ופרסומי ניסא – הכא נמי מצות קריאה ופרסומי ניסא.

 

If one who does not understand Hebrew heard it read in Hebrew, he has fulfilled his obligation.

But he does not know what they are saying? He is like women and amei haaretz.

Ravina raised a difficulty: And do we know the meaning of ha-ahashteranim bene ha-ramakhim (Esther 8:10)? Rather we perform the mitzvah of reading the Megillah and proclaiming the miracle. So too they perform the mitzvah of reading the Megillah and proclaiming the miracle.

 

The mishnah says that even one who cannot understand Hebrew can fulfill one’s obligation by hearing the Megillah in Hebrew.

The Talmud raises a difficulty on this how can one fulfill one’s obligation without even understanding what he is hearing? What meaning is there to such an act?

There are two answers to this question. The first is basically that’s just the way it is. In the time of the Talmud it was expected that women would not understand Hebrew (they spoke Aramaic). Similarly, there are uneducated men (amei haaretz) who do not understand Hebrew. Nevertheless, they can fulfill their obligation by hearing the Megillah. That’s just the way it is.

Ravina was bothered by the very question, for he has a different understanding of the mitzvah altogether. There are words in the Megillah that no one understands. He cites some Persian words in the Megillah, borrowed into Hebrew. A Hebrew speaker would not understand these words (although Rashi does interpret them). From the presence of these words, Ravina concludes that in general reading the Megillah is not in order to understand it. It is ritual act that one must "perform" with or without understanding. Its purpose is to "proclaim the miracle" just like the lighting of the Hannukah candles. Therefore, there is no need to actually understand the words.