Quien lee la Meguilá puede [ya sea] pararse [o] sentarse. Si uno lo leyó o dos lo leyeron [juntos], han cumplido su obligación [y no decimos que dos voces juntas no se escuchen como una sola. Ya que (la Meguilá) es amada por ellos, se concentran (en escucharla).] En un lugar donde es costumbre recitar la bendición [final], lo hace; (donde es costumbre) no recitarlo, él no lo hace. [Pero en todos los lugares, debe recitar tres bendiciones introductorias: "al mikra megillah", "she'asah nissim" y "shehecheyanu", tanto de noche como de día, siendo la lectura del día la esencial, a saber . (Ester 9:28): "Y estos días se conmemoran y celebran". Algunos sostienen que como él recita "shehecheyanu" por la noche, no necesita hacerlo durante el día. Y esto sería lógico.] El lunes, jueves y minjá en Shabat tres hombres leyeron, ni menos ni más, [y no hay lectura de la Haftarah en los Profetas, para que la congregación no se imponga, estos (lunes y Jueves) siendo días laborables. Y con minchah en Shabat también (hay una imposición), está cerca de la oscuridad y es su costumbre aprender todo el día. Y por esta razón, también, no hay lectura de haftarah)]. El abridor y el concluyente en la Torá (lectura) recitan la apertura y la bendición final, respectivamente. [El primero en leer en la Torá recita la bendición inicial, y el último, la bendición final. Y todos los demás que leen la Torá (entre ellos) no recitan ni una bendición inicial ni una bendición final. Pero hoy en día, la costumbre es que todos bendigan antes y después—un decreto, en razón de aquellos que ingresan (en medio de la lectura), quienes, al no haber escuchado la bendición del primer lector, podrían llegar a decir que no hay bendición inicial para la Torá; y en razón de aquellos que se van (en el medio), quienes, al no haber escuchado la bendición final, los primeros lectores que no la han recitado, podrían llegar a decir que no hay bendición final para la Torá.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
הקורא את המגילה עומד ויושב – if he wants, he stands; if he wants, he sits.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
Introduction
Most of the last chapter of Megillah is about the public reading of the Torah. The one main difference between how we read today and how they read in their time is that today the person who receives the aliyah and recites the blessing is usually not the same person who actually reads the Torah. This allows people who don’t know how to read from the Torah to receive aliyot. In mishnaic and talmudic times, the person who read the Torah was the same person who received the aliyah. There are other differences which we will discuss throughout the chapter.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
קראוה שנים – together
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
He who reads the Megillah may either stand or sit. One may read the Megillah while either standing or sitting. Today the custom is to stand but this is not mandatory. In contrast, when reading the Torah one has to stand.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
יצאו – and we don’t that two voices are not heard as one, for since it (i.e., the Megillah reading) is beloved to them, they pay attention.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
Whether one read it or two read it [together] they [those listening] have fulfilled their obligation. Two people may read the Megillah together when reading in front of the community. However, when it comes to reading Torah only one person at a time can read. The idea behind this is that it is harder for people to hear two people chanting together than one chanting alone. Since hearing the Megillah is halakhically less significant than hearing the Torah, they allow to people to read simultaneously.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
מקום שנהגו לברך אחריה יברך – but before [the Reading of the Megillah] it is required to recite in every place three blessings: “on the reading of the Megillah,” “who has performed miracles,” and “who has kept us alive,” whether at night or during the day, for the reading of the day is the essence, as it is written (Esther 9:28): “Consequently, these days are recalled and observed…” There is, according to the one who says that since he recited the blessing ”who has kept us alive” at night, he should not recite “who has kept us alive” in the daytime, and this makes sense.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
In places where it is the custom to say a blessing, they say the blessing, and where it is not the custom they do not say the blessing. According to the simple reading of the Mishnah, there were various customs with regard to reciting a blessing over reading the Megillah. Some did and some did not. The Talmud however explains that this only refers to the blessing after the Megillah. In all places they would recite the blessing before reading. Today our custom is to recite a blessing before and after.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
ואין מוסיפין עליהן – that they would not make it difficult for the congregation because they are working days and on Shabbat at Minhah is also close to darkness, since the entire day [of Shabbat] they were accustomed to preach/expound [on the Torah], and for that reason also, we don’t recite a Haftarah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
On Mondays and Thursdays and on Shabbat at minhah, three read from the torah, they do not add [to this number] nor decrease [from it], nor do they conclude with [a haftarah] from the Prophets. The mishnah now begins to discuss regular Torah reading. On Mondays, Thursdays and on Shabbat at minhah only three people receive aliyot (go up to the Torah). This number may not be increased nor may it be decreased. There is no haftarah (portion from the Prophets section of the Bible) on these occasions.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Megillah
The one who begins the Torah reading and the one who concludes the Torah reading blesses before it and after it. In the time of the Mishnah the first person to read would recite the first blessing and the last person to read would recite the concluding blessing. Those reading in between would not recite any blessing at all. Today, each person receiving an aliyah recites a blessing before and after.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Megillah
הפותח והחותם בתורה מברך לפניה ולאחריה – The person who begins to read in the Torah first recites the blessing before [the reading] and the last person who closes the blessing through which he completes [the reading] recites the blessing after it, and all the others who read the Torah do not recite a blessing either before or after. But nowadays, the entire [Jewish] world practiced that everyone recites a blessing before it (i.e., the reading of the Torah) and after it, as a decree lest those who enter [the synagogue late] and did not hear the first person who recited the blessing before it and would say that there is no blessing of the Torah before [the reading], and because of those who leave [the synagogue early] and who did not hear [the last person] who closes the blessing who recites a blessing after it, and the first ones [that he heard] did not say a blessing and they would say that there is not blessing of the Torah after [the reading].
