[Avodah] from a parsha sheet

[saul mashbaum]

RZN
a. When can women or children be included in a minyan?
> b. When must a minyan include two rabbis?
> c. when must a minyan consist of ten Torah scholars?

>RZS: I think A may be megilah, according to at least some opinions
Normally, kriat ham'gilla does not require a minyan, so this answer as it stands does not seem accurate. The g'mara does say, however, that when the megilla is read shelo b'zmano (m'gilla nihkreit b-yud aleph, yud beit...) it is read only publicly, not privately. Since, however, we have abandoned the practice of reading the megilla other than b'zmano, it would seem that this halacha is no longer operational. This, however, is not the case.
In Yerushalayim, the m'gilla is read on Tet-vav. This year, Tet-vav is Shabbat, there is a gzeira against  reading the megilla on Shabbat, and it is read onYud-dalet. For Yerushalayim, this is lo b'zmano! Thus, the megilla should be read only publicly, not privately. However, the accepted practice is to include women in the "public" required for megilla reading insuch a year. I don't know of psakim about children, but presumably a child a year or two away from bar/bat mitzva would also be a valid part of the megilla-hearing "public"

Saul Mashbaum
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