Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim · Siman 688

Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim 688 — English translation

Translation: Sefaria Community Translation. Section numbers match the Hebrew text above.

1. 1The law for cities which were surrounded by a wall in the days of Yehoshua Bin Nun, 8 Seifim: Cities that had a wall surrounding it at the time of Yehoshua Bin Nun, even if they currently do not have a wall surrounding them, read the Megillah on the 15th of Adar, even if they are outside the Land of Israel, and even if they do not have ten Batlanim (explanation: people who are unemployed and who busy themselves with the needs of the congregation). The above refers to [cities that are] surrounded, and afterwards were settled, or were settled at first with the plan to build a wall surrounding them afterwards - this comes to exclude [a city in which] it becomes known that it was settled with the original intent not to surround it [with a wall] [but a plain case scenario can be assumed to [involve a city] surrounded and then settled] [the R"an].
2. 2And likewise the villages which are visible with them [the "walled" cities], even though they are not [directly] adjacent to them, such as when they are [together] on a mountain. Or they are adjacent to them even though they are not visible to them, such as when they are in a valley, provided they are not farther than a mil. And in Shushan, even though it was not surrounded by a wall from the days of Joshua, they read on the 15th [of Adar] because this is where the miracle occurred.
3. 3Villages, large towns and cities that did not have a wall at the time of Joshua the son of Nun read on the 14th.
4. 4A city regarding which there is a doubt whether it was surrounded by a wall during the time of Joshua or not, they read on the 14th and the 15th as well as on their evenings. One makes a blessing only on the 14th, which is the time of reading for the majority of the world.
5. 5A resident of a town that went to a city or a resident of a city that went to a town - if it was his intention to return to his place at the time of the reading and he was delayed and did not return [to his usual place], reads according to his [usual] location; and if it was his intention to return only after the time of the reading, he reads with the people of the place where he is currently. Rema: And if one is in the desert or on a boat, one reads on the 14th like the majority of the world. [Kol Bo]
6. 6If the 15th falls on Shabbat, we do not read the Megillah on Shabbat. Rather, they advance the reading to Friday and collect money for gifts to the poor and distribute them on that day [Friday]. And on Shabbat, they take out two Torah scrolls, and in the second they read "And Amalek came" and say Al HaNisim, and do not make a Purim feast until Sunday.
7. 7If one will be sailing at sea or going out in a caravan and does not find a Megillah to take with him, he is to read on the 13th or the 12th or the 11th without a blessing. And if he cannot wait until those days [before travelling], there are those who say that he is to read even starting from the beginning of the month [of Adar]. Rema: And this is our custom. However, if by chance he comes upon a Megillah afterwards, he goes back and reads it on the 14th, even if he read it initially on the 13th, [since] in any event he had read it not in its appointed time. [Kol Bo; Beis Yosef]
8. 8A resident of a town that was on a ship or on the road and did not have a Megillah with him, and then afterwards came upon one on the 15th, should read it on the 15th.

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