Megillah 1:1 - 1:2

מגילה נקראת באחד עשר בשנים עשר – at times on this [day] and at times on that [day] as is explained further on.

מימות יהושע בן נון קורין בט"ו – as it is written (Esther 9:19): “That is why village Jews, who live in unwalled towns observe the fourteenth day of the month of Adar…” And when those in unwalled towns [read the Megillah] on the fourteenth [of Adar], we infer from it that those are in walled cities read on the fifteenth [of Adar]. And this is from the time of Joshua [son of Nun], which we derive by analogy from [the usage of the words] פרזי פרזי . It is written here (Esther 9:19): “village Jews” and it is written there (Deuteronomy 3:5): “…apart from a great number of unwalled towns.” Just as there, [it is] from the time of Joshua, so here too, [it is] from the time of Joshua. And they established that cities surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua, even though they now lack a wall , should read [the Megillah] on the fifteenth [of Adar] like Shushan/Susa, in order to distribute honor to the Land of Israel that was destroyed during the days of Mordecai and Esther, in order that they [residents in the Land of Israel] would read [the Megillah] like those who live in Shushan and would be considered as if they are walled cities, even though right now they are destroyed. And there would be a reminder to the Land of Israel through this miracle, and since Joshua began to fight with the Amalekites first, as it is written (Exodus 17:14): “[Then the LORD said to Moses,] ‘Inscribe this in a document as a reminder to the, and read it aloud to Joshua: [I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven]!’” Therefore, they mention it [Amalek – the ancestors of Haman] from the days of Joshua.

אלא שהכפרים מקדימין – that is to say, in the aftermath that, those [who live] in walled cities read [the Megillah] on the fifteenth [of Adar] and those who are not in walled cities [read] on the fourteenth [of Adar], everyone is within this principle. So how do we find further [that one can read the Megillah] on the eleventh, the twelfth or on the thirteenth [of Adar]? Rather, those who dwell in villages were given permission to advance their reading to the gathering [i.e., market] day [prior to Purim], on the Monday of the week before the fourteenth [of the month] or the Thursday of the week [before the fourteenth] , which are the gathering day, when the villagers gather together in the villages for judgment, since the Jewish courts sit on Mondays and Thursdays according to the ordinance of Ezra [the Scribe]. Alternatively, the villagers gather together in the cities [that are unwalled] on Mondays and Thursdays to hear the reading of the Torah. But the villagers are not so expert to read [the Torah] and need that it should be read for them by one of the city-dwellers. And the Sages did not trouble them to return and come on the fourteenth [of Adar], in order that they would be free on Purim day to provide for the needs of the festive Purim meal to those who dwell in the cities. And they [the Sages] found a hint for this from the Bible, as it is written (Esther 9:31): “These days of Purim shall be observed at their proper time[s, as Mordecai the Jew – and now Queen Esther – has obligated them to do…” and if Mordecai and Esther had not established anything other than the fourteenth and fifteenth [of Adar] which is written in the Bible, let the verse say, “in their time.” What is the meaning of “at their proper time[s]?” We learn from it two other times/occasions other than those that are written in the Megillah; but it was not necessary for the Bible to include the thirteenth [of Adar] as a day appropriate for reading [the Megillah] since the essence of the miracle [of Purim] was on that day, since on it they [i.e., the Jews] gathered to be avenged of their enemies, whether in Shushan or in the rest of the [one-hundred and twenty-seven] provinces. By force, the Bible only had to include the eleventh and the twelfth [of Adar], and we don’t say that it includes the sixteenth and seventeenth [of Adar] for after the fourteen and fifteenth [of Adar] mentioned in the Megillah, as the Bible states (Esther 9:27): “[to observe these two days] in the manner prescribed/ולא יעבור [and at the proper time each year].”

חל להיות י"ד בע"ש, עיירות ומוקפין חומה קורין בו ביום – There is no Megillah reading on Shabbat, as a [rabbinic] preventive measure lest he take it [the Megillah] in his hand and he removes it four cubits into the public domain. And if one were to postpone the reading until after Shabbat, it would be the sixteenth [of Adar], and the Biblical verse (Esther 9:27), said: “ ולא יעבור /in the manner prescribed [and at the proper time each year].” But even though wall-city dwellers read the Megillah on the fourteenth [of Adar] when the fifteenth [of Adar] occurs on Shabbat, nevertheless, we don’t read [the portion] (Exodus 17:8 and following): “Amalek came [and fought with Israel at Rephidim]…” other than on Shabbat which is the fifteenth day [of Adar], and we recite the Haftarah of (I Samuel 15:2-31): “[Thus said the LORD of Hosts:] I am exacting the penalty [for what Amalek did to Israel, for the assault he made upon them on the road, on their way up from Egypt (and following)].” And [further] we discuss and expound the laws of Purim on that Sabbath. And regarding the Festive Purim meal, there are those who say that we do it on the fourteenth day [of Adar] when for on it we read the Megillah; and there are those who say that we postpone it until after Shabbat. And this is implied in the Jerusalem Talmud, that the Festival Purim meal that occurs on Shabbat is postponed but not advanced [to an earlier date], and according to everyone, we don’t do it on Shabbat.

באחד בשבת, כפרים מקדימין ליום הכניסה – that is on the eleventh [of Adar], and these words [indicating] that the Sages were lenient to those who dwell in villages to advance [their Reading of the Megillah] to the day of gathering (i.e., the previous Monday/Thursday], apply at the time when Israel lived [undisturbed] on their land and the messengers of the Jewish court go out to inform [the people] when the Jewish court sanctified the new month and when the Passover [sacrifice] would occur. But in this time, when the people become confused by their reading [of the Megillah at the wrong time] and count from it thirty days until Passover if the villagers were to advance their reading, they would observe the Passover at the end of the thirtieth day of their reading, and [ultimately] it would be found that they would e eating leaven on the last days of Passover. Therefore, we don’t read it [the Megillah] other than at its proper time.