[Avodah] Weird Exceptions

[Micha Berger]

RAM (9 Mar 2012, 20:28:46 GMT) wrote:
> Shushan Purim, is another example worth remembering. In
> my mind, the most logical rule would have been to observe Purim on the 15th
> in any city which had a wall in Esther's day....
> But that's NOT the rule Chazal chose to make. The actual rule is to observe
> Purim on the 15th in any city which had a wall in Yehoshua's day, which
> includes Yerushalayim, but *excludes* Shushan. So they made a logical
> exception to that rule, and set the 15th as Purim for Shushan as well, even
> though Shushan did not have a wall in Yehoshua's day.
...
> It seems to me that the answer is found in Gemara Megilla 3b, which brings
> a pasuk (regarding redeeming one's land, Vayikra 25:29) to show that
> certain halachos d'Oraisa apply in a walled city, but not elsewhere, and
> therefore we must carefully define exactly what counts as a "walled city".

I just had the parallel sugya in the Y-mi. Y-mi Megillah 1:1, 1b-2a,
has three shitos:

1- R' Simon besheim R' Yehoshua ben Levi: Chalqu kavod lEY, and that is why
   the mishnah says miymos Yehoshua bin Nun. Then it asks, so why not all
   cities? And then it says darash yeshivah yeshivah. R' Yudah bar Pazi
   has a different derrashah -- perazos perazi (Esther 9 to Devarim 3). This
   derashah is more directly about the question. Why wouldn't it be more
   kavod to make shushan Purim in every Israeli city, not just the ones with
   walls? And this derashah explains which cities are excluded -- those
   without walls when Yehoshua got there.

2- R' Yehoshua ben Qorcha disagrees with the mishnah, and says miymos
   Achashveirosh.

3- R' Yosi bei R' Yehudah says only cities exactly like Shushan in the
   days of Achashveirosh. Understanding this is a machloqes acharonim.
   He could mean only Shushan, only other capitals, or something else.

I think it's notable that the machloqes tanaim dates to R' Aqiva's son,
R' Yehoshua ben Qorcha. Shortly after Hadrian had R' Aqiva killed, he
plowed Y-m under and built Aelia Capitolina atop the ruins. RYBQ was thus
of the first generation one couldn't ask Y-mim what they did every year.

Either way, going back to R' Yehoshua ben Levi, note that in the Y-mi's
discussion, the emphasis is on kavod EY, not Y-m alone. It's no more
about adding Y-m than adding Yericho et al. And the pasuq is given as
the source of the derashah alongside a taam hamitzvah; so one doesn't
have to deduce taam from the other side of the gezeira shavah.

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "'When Adar enters, we increase our joy'
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