Megillah 24 - January 5, 3 Shvat

Study Guide Megillah 24 Today’s daf is sponsored by Tzivia Ross Korn for the refuah shleima of Yenta Bat Zelda. Today’s daf is sponsored by Devorah Saban for the refuah shleima of Neriya Yosef Hoshea Ben Avital.  One who reads from the Torah needs to read a minimum of three verses. But one who translates does that one verse at a time. For the prophets, one can translate three verses at a time, provided they are all within one section. One can skip to a different section in the prophets but not in the Torah. Are there qualifications to these rules? What benefits are given to the person who reads the haftarah? Why does he need these incentives? What parts of the prayer/Torah reading can a minor do? And what can he not do? If one’s legs are not covered, what prayers is one allowed/not allowed to say? Can a blind person say the blessings before Shema (poress shema) and say the translation of the Torah? Why or why not? A kohen who has a blemish cannot say the blessing of the kohanim. Rabbi Yehuda adds that one whose hands are red can also not, as both of these will attract attention and one is not supposed to look at the kohanim while they are blessing the people. The Gemara lists other issues that would prevent a kohen from being able to say the blessing of the kohanim. An exception is made for people who are well known in the city as they will no longer attract attention as people know them. There are certain actions that are indicative that one may be a heretic and therefore a person who does one of those things cannot be a chazan. One should not wear round tefillin as it is dangerous.