In the course of today’s daf TB Megillah 14, the Gemara provides three different reasons why hallel isn’t recited on Purim.
“The Sages taught in a baraita: Forty-eight
prophets and seven prophetesses prophesied on behalf of the Jewish people, and they
neither subtracted from nor added onto what is written in the Torah,
introducing no changes or additions to the mitzvot except for the reading of
the Megilla, which they added as an obligation for all future generations.
“The Gemara asks: What exposition
led them to determine that this was a proper mode of action? On what basis did
they add this mitzva? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin said that Rabbi Yehoshua
ben Korḥa said that they reasoned as follows: If, when recalling the
exodus from Egypt, in which the Jews were delivered from slavery to freedom,
we recite songs of praise, the Song of the Sea and the hymns of hallel,
then, in order to properly recall the miracle of Purim and commemorate God’s
delivering us from death to life, is it not all the more so the
case that we must sing God’s praise by reading the story in the Megilla?
“The Gemara asks: If so, our
obligation should be at least as great as when we recall the exodus from Egypt,
and let us also recite hallel on Purim. The Gemara answers: Hallel
is not said on Purim, because hallel is not recited on a miracle
that occurred outside Eretz Yisrael. The Gemara asks: If so, with regard
to the exodus from Egypt as well, which was a miracle that
occurred outside Eretz Yisrael, how are we able to recite songs
of praise?
“The Gemara answers: As it is taught
in a baraita: Prior to the time when the Jewish people entered
Eretz Yisrael, all lands were deemed fit for songs of
praise to be recited for miracles performed within their borders, as all
lands were treated equally. But after the Jewish people entered Eretz
Yisrael, that land became endowed with greater sanctity, and all the
other lands were no longer deemed fit for songs of praise to
be recited for miracles performed within them.
“Rav Naḥman said an alternative answer as to why hallel
is not recited on Purim: The reading of the Megilla itself is an
act of reciting hallel. Rava said a third reason why hallel
is not recited on Purim: Granted that hallel is said there,
when recalling the exodus from Egypt, as after the salvation there, they could
recite the phrase in hallel: “Give praise, O servants of the Lord”
(Psalms 113:1); after their servitude to Pharaoh ended with their salvation,
they were truly servants of the Lord and not servants of Pharaoh. But can
it be said here, after the limited salvation commemorated on Purim: “Give
praise, O servants of the Lord,” which would indicate that after the
salvation the Jewish people were only servants of the Lord and not servants
of Ahasuerus? No, even after the miracle of Purim, we were still the
servants of Ahasuerus, as the Jews remained in exile under Persian rule,
and consequently the salvation, which was incomplete, did not merit an
obligation to say hallel.
“Gemara asks: Both according to
the opinion of Rava and according to the opinion of Rav Naḥman,
this is difficult. Isn’t it taught in the baraita cited earlier: After
the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisrael, that land became endowed with
greater sanctity, and all the other lands were no longer deemed fit
for songs of praise to be recited for miracles performed within them.
Therefore, there should be no hallel obligation on Purim for the miracle
performed outside of the land of Israel, and Rav Naḥman’s and Rava’s
alternative explanations are incorrect. The Gemara answers: They understood
differently, as it can be argued that when the people were exiled
from Eretz Yisrael, the other lands returned to their initial suitability,
and were once again deemed fit for reciting hallel on miracles performed
within them.”
(Sefaria.org translation)
To summarize the three positions: 1,
we only recite hallel over miracles
that happen in the land of Israel; 2, the Megillah is an act of praise
comparable to reciting hallel; 3, the
redemption in Shushan was incomplete since the Jewish people remained in exile
under the complete control of King Ahasuerus.
The Meiri draws the conclusion from Rav Naḥman’s position,
the Megillah is an act of praise comparable to reciting the hallel, that in a place where a person
does not have a Megillah he can fulfill his obligation by reciting hallel.
I like to add a fourth reason. Purim
Morning services are long enough with the reading of the Megillah’s 10 chapters.
We need time to fulfill the other three Purim mitzvot, giving tzedakkah to the
poor (matanot l-evyonim), portions
one to another (mishloakh manot), and
the Purim feast.
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