Reading the Megillah Out of Order

Megillah (2:1) | Yisrael Bankier | 7 months ago

The Mishnah (2:1) teaches that if one reads the megillah out of order he has not fulfilled his obligation. The Gemara (Megillah 17a) explains that the reason is based on the pasuk "these days shall be remembered (referring to reading the megillah) and performed (referring to the other mitvot)" (Esther 9:28). Just as the asiya (performance) is ordered, so too is the zechira -- reading the megillah. The Bartenura explains the necessary ordering of the asiya to mean that those that read the megillah on the fifteenth are not able to read before those that read on the fourteenth. The Gemara continues by explaining that this same law also applies to the mitzvah of keriat shema, reciting hallel, and tefillah.

The Mishnah Berurah (690:6) explains that the issue of reading out of order applies to both the chapters and individual pesukim. In other words, if someone missed one pasuk, they would need to go back to that pasuk and continue reading from there. Interestingly with respect to keriat shema the Shulchan Aruch (64:1) rules that it is only an issue if the pesukim are read out of order, but not the parshiyot. The Mishnah Berurah (64:3) explains that the order of the parshiyot was a takanat chachamim, who prefered that one accepts the yoke of Heaven, as described in the first parasha, before accepting the yoke of mitvot, as described in the second. In the Shaar HaTzion (422:26), the Mishnah Berurah cites the Olat Tamid who explains that reading parshiyot out of order is not problem since those parshiyot are not written in the Torah near one another. With respect to hallel however, since the chapters are one after the other in Tehillim, reading them out of order would be an issue. The Mishnah Berurah however records that this is the subject of debate.

The Yerushalmi however cites a different pasuk as the source. It says that the Jewish people accepted to keep the two days of Purim "as they were written". Consequently, they must be read as they are written. Interesting, this source is first suggested by Rava in the Bavli. Yet, it is rejected since the pasuk refers to writing the megillah and not (explicitly) reading the megillah.¹

Rav Soloveitchik (Harerei Kedem 195:2) explains that the difference between the Bavli and Yerushalmi is significant. According to the Bavli, the issue with reading out of order is a deficiency in the mitzvah of reading the megillah. The recitation must be in order. According to Yerushalmi however, the issues is that it is was not read as it was written down, and it is prohibited to do so. He compares this to the law that prohibits one from reciting half a pasuk. Put simply, if one reads out of order, according to the Bavli one has not fulfilled their obligation, whereas according to the Yerushalmi there is an issur (prohibition) to read it that way.

To put it differently, we can either understand that the megillah is considered as one unit, much like one pasuk, that cannot be divided (Yerushalmi). Alternatively, the reading, the sipur hadevarim, must be in order, for the reading to be valid (Bavli).

Perhaps these two understandings might inform on the discussion regarding hallel. The Gemara brings several pesukim as the source for why the order is critical. One is "from where the sun rises, to where it sets, the name of Hashem is praised" (113:3). Rashi explains that just as the path of the sun is always ordered, so to must the praises of Hashem. Here it would appear that the focus of the Bavli is that the flow of the content, the sippur hadvarim, is critical. One might argue, that would seem then even the order of the chapters, are equally important. The Yerushalmi however continues by questioning how this pasuk is the source for the law. R' Chaim explains that while we understand that the praises must be in order, how do we know that it must be ordered as written? The Pnei Moshe however explains that the Yerushalmi is asking whether we learn that the pasukim must be in order, or also the parshiyot (chapters). R' Avun answers that they were said in order. The Korban Eidah explains that since they were said in order, reading it out of order would break that seder. According to this understanding, the Yerushalmi was searching for a reason, other than sippur devarim, why the entirety of hallel is considered one textual unit that cannot be reordered.²

¹ See the Markevet Ha'Mishnah (2:1) that discusses whether a megillah that is written out of order is invalid and the debate regarding how to understand the flow of the Gemara.

² The Pnei Moshe however understands that the Yerushalmi is teaching that there is an order to the parshiyot also in their conceptual flow. That being case, the concern could still be sipur hadevarim.

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