Megillah 20 - Shabbat January 1, 28 Tevet

Study Guide Megillah 20 Does Rabbi Yehuda think that ideally a deaf person can’t read the Megillah, but if one did not, one can still fulfill one’s obligation? Or is a deaf person able to read it ab initio? One suggestion is that he himself holds the latter and the former was said by him but in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria. The other option is that he holds the former and the sources that indicate one does not need to hear at all what one is saying, is the opinion of Rabbi Meir as appears in a braita regarding Shema. Rabbi Yehuda holds that a minor can read the Megillah and brings a proof that he read when he was young. However, since testimony cannot be accepted from minors, the rabbis refuse to accept his testimony regarding when he was young. Another attempt to prove Rabbi Yehuda from a story is brought but it too is rejected. The Mishna lists mitzvot that need to be done during the day and their obligation begins at sunrise. However, if one did it from the time the sun began to rise, amud hashachar, one fulfilled one’s obligation. The Gemara finds a source for each item on the list and how one knows that the obligation is during the day. Why does the Mishna list both those who go to the mikveh and a zava ketana who also needs to go to the mikveh? The next Mishna lists mitzvot that one is obligated to do during the day and one can do it all day long. Likewise, mitzvot that are done at night can be performed all night long. The Gemara goes through the list proving how one knows one needs to perform each of these mitzvot during the day.