Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- Purim & The Month of Adar
- The Laws of Purim
- Sections
- Peninei Halakha
It is a good practice to bring younger children – from age five or six – to the synagogue to hear the Megilla. Even though they have not yet reached the age of education in the mitzva of Megilla reading, as they cannot listen to the entire Megilla meticulously, it is still good to bring them, because they understand the main gist of the story. However, one should not bring small children to the synagogue if they are liable to disrupt the reading and make it difficult for others to hear the Megilla. One must take care not to try to go beyond the letter of the law in educating his children at the expense of the other synagogue attendees, who might suffer because of his children’s disruptions. 9
In order to stimulate joy and grab the children’s attention, there is a custom for the congregation to read aloud four verses that essentially signal the beginning and end of the miracle. Afterward, the reader reads these verses again from the scroll (Rema 690:17; MB 689:16; based on Mordechai and Levush). (The verses are: "A Jewish man" [Esther 2:5]; "Mordechai left" [ibid. 8:15]; "The Jews" [ibid. 8:16]; and "For Mordechai" [ibid. 10:3].)
It seems that the purpose of the custom to "beat" Haman with noisemakers is, likewise, to excite the children during the Megilla reading. However, one must be careful not to lend undue importance to this custom and not to make noise when the reader continues to read the Megilla (SA 690:17; also see MB ad loc. 59 and BHL).
^ 9.SA 689:1 explains that children must hear the Megilla because of the laws of educating one’s children. SA 689:6 states that it is good to bring children to the synagogue. Levush and Sidur Yaavetz seem to maintain that this refers to children who understand the main gist of the Megilla, even if they are unable to fulfill the mitzva properly. For example, they cannot fill in on their own the words that they failed to hear from the reader. And even though BHL interprets SA’s statement differently, there seems to be no practical difference between SA’s ruling and what I wrote.
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed
Rosh Yeshiva of Har Bracha and rabbi of the settlement.
Peninei Halakha 18. Torah Verses in the Prayers and in the Berakha of She-asa Li Kol Tzorki
Chapter 10: The Laws of Tisha Be-Av
The Laws of Purim 4. Traveling between Walled and Unwalled Cities
Chapter 17: Walled and Unwalled Cities
The Laws of Purim 13. Taking Revenge on Haman and His Ten Sons
Chapter 15: Purim and Reading the Megilla
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
