Shiur #10: Purim Seuda When Purim Falls on Shabba
Talmudic Methodology
Yeshivat Har
Etzion
Lecture #10: Purim Seuda When Purim Falls on Shabbat
By Rav Moshe
Taragin
Unique among Yamim Tovim, Purim is not fastened to one particular
date. The first mishna in Megilla lists various dates for
megilla reading, and the very basic menu of Purim mitzvot is often
sprinkled across different days. As the gemara itself notes, the
Megilla's description of Purim observance as "be-zmaneihem"
(during their times) implies multiple options for the Purim
experience.
One unique scenario concerns Purim which occurs on Shabbat, specifically
the Purim of mukafin, the walled cities (15 Adar), known as Shushan
Purim. Our current calendar does not allow the 14th of Adar to occur
on Shabbat, but the 15th regularly does. This event yields a
splintering into three, known as Purim meshulash. Megilla is read
and charity delivered on Friday, Adar 14, while prayers and keriyat
ha-Torah are adjusted for Purim on Shabbat, 15 Adar, and the seuda
(festive meal) and mishloach manot are reserved for Sunday, 16 Adar. This
lecture will inspect the motives behind the scheduling of the seuda on
the 16th - literally after Purim has
passed!
The inquiry must be conducted on two fronts. First, why isn't a
seuda conducted on Shabbat proper - the actual day of mukaf Purim?
If we argue that Shabbat is incompatible with a Purim seuda, we may
question the delay to Sunday rather than pre-scheduling on Friday, along with
megilla and matanot le-evyonim.
The primary source highlighting the inability to schedule the
seuda on Shabbat is a Yerushalmi in Megilla 1:4, which cites a
verse in the 9th chapter of Megillat Esther exhorting
the transformation of Purim into a day of joy and festivities (la-asot otam
yemei mishteh ve-simcha). The Yerushalmi comments: "we should convert Purim
into a festive experience; Shabbat is automatically festive as a Divine decree."
Presumably, the Yerushalmi views Shabbat as pre-defined as joyful and incapable
of being flavored with Purim spirit.
This is a novel and unfamiliar concept. Most
mitzvot demand "performance," and nothing about Shabbat blocks
performance of the actual seuda! The Yerushalmi discerns some larger
"purpose" to the seuda experience - converting the day into a joyful and
festive process. As the day is already thus infused, a Purim seuda on
Shabbat will not have this desired impact.
The Ritva cites the Yerushalmi but offers a different and more familiar
understanding. Precedent exists for segregating different festivities. For
example, a marriage cannot be conducted during a holiday to avoid the merging
(and obscuring) of the distinct experiences. The Ritva suggests that the
Yerushalmi actually demands the isolation of the two experiences; it is
particularly concerned that the Purim experience will become submerged within
Shabbat.
Some Rishonim were unconvinced that the Yerushalmi - understood either
way - was the ultimate basis for rescheduling the Purim seuda on a day
other than Shabbat. Since the Bavli doesn't cite this issue and in as much as
the reasoning is unusual, many asserted alternate reasoning. The Meiri
referring a well known Rambam - lists a seemingly technical reason for the
rescheduling. In Hilkhot Megilla 2:15, the Rambam classifies
mishloach manot as an element of the seuda. One element of the
mitzva of seuda is sharing it at least symbolically with
others. Based upon the Rambam's logic, the manot must be delivered on the
actual day of the seuda. Despite the various permutations and
combinations of Purim, the manot and the meal must occur on the same day.
Given this "tethering" of manot to the meal, since Shabbat
presents complications for delivering manot, the meal is rescheduled for
a day other than Shabbat. There is no "structural" incompatibility between
Shabbat and the meal itself, but the meal has to be rescheduled to facilitate
the related mitzva of manot.
In addition to the Meiri, who rejected the logic of the Yerushalmi and
offered alternative reasons to remove the meal from Shabbat, several Rishonim
flatly reject the Yerushalmi and conclude that the meal should be
scheduled on Shabbat - the actual day of Purim for mukafin. The Ritva
(Megilla 5a) cites opinions which claim disagreement between the
Yerushalmi and the Bavli in Megilla (5a); The latter asserts that
"simcha (joy) can only be conducted on the precise date of Purim"
(simcha eina noheget ela be-zemana). Though many understand this
statement to discourage pre-scheduling the element of joy of Purim, the
position which the Ritva cites infers that simcha will always
occur only on Purim proper even if it is Shabbat. The Ritva actually
concludes that the Shabbat meals may comprise a miniature seudat purim
(his language in his comments to Megilla 4a is "seuda ketzat").
Others who disagreed with the Yerushalmi and assigned the actual seuda of
Purim to Shabbat include the Ra'ah, Meiri and Ri'az.
As an interesting footnote, the Magen Avraham cites the Maharal Chaviv,
who disagreed with the ruling of the Shulchan Arukh and actually
conducted a seudat Purim on Shabbat in Yerushalayim. Having
adopted a dissenting opinion and scheduling the meal on Shabbat, the Maharal
Chaviv also delivered mishloach manot on Shabbat to maintain the linkage
between the two mitzvot. This association between meals and manot
led the Meiri to reschedule the meal to Sunday, while it encouraged manot
delivery on Shabbat proper according to some dissenting opinions.