Chapter 1 · Reading dates and city boundaries

The Megillah is read on the 11th - opening the tractate

Lesson 1 of 30 18 min

The first Mishnah lists five days on which the Megillah is read. We take it apart and see why.

Lesson goals

01Read the opening Mishnah
02Understand walled vs unwalled cities
03Spot the first question of the Gemara

The source

Megillah 2a

מגילה נקראת באחד עשר, בשנים עשר, בשלשה עשר, בארבעה עשר, בחמשה עשר. לא פחות, ולא יותר.

The Megillah is read on the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th or 15th - no earlier and no later.

Cities walled since the days of Yehoshua read on the 15th, open towns on the 14th, and villages could read early on the market day when they came to town.

1Count the five dates
2Separate walled cities, towns and villages
3Read the additional times in bizmaneihem

The Gemara asks

Kushya

The Gemara asks: where do all these days come from? The Megillah names only the 14th and 15th.

Terutz

The answer is built from the word “bizmaneihem” - several times, as the Sages set them.

Practice

Make a table: who reads on the 14th, who on the 15th, and who reads early on the market day.

Lesson wrap-up

One Mishnah - a full map of Purim.

Check your understanding

Test yourself before marking the lesson complete.

Question 1 of 2

When does a city walled since Yehoshua read the Megillah?

Next lessonCities, translation and human dignity