Megillah in Spanish

Around the year 1372 (5132), Rav Yitzchak Ben Sheshes Perfet (Rivash) was appointed as the rabbi of Saragossa, Spain. He quickly became frustrated with the halachic standards of Saragossa. In a letter to his mentor, Rav Nissim of Gerona (Ran), Rivash says that most of the community’s practices are lenient, some that can be justified halachically and some that cannot (Responsa Rivash 388). Rivash identified three issues that he felt needed immediate attention and asked for Ran’s opinion on the matter.

1. Foreign Language Megillah

The first issue was the Megillah reading for women. In Saragossa, it was common for a man to read Megillah for women in Spanish (or Ladino, that is not entirely clear) from a scroll written in that language. The Mishnah (Megillah 17a) says that we read Megillah for those who speak a foreign language (lo’azos) in that language. This would seem to support the Saragossa practice. And indeed, Rambam (in his Mishnah commentary and in Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Megillah 2:4) and Rashi (quoted by other Rishonim) define lo’azos as people who understand a foreign language. Therefore, women should be able to hear Megillah from someone who reads it from a Spanish scroll.

However, the Gemara (Megillah 18a) points out that the words in the Mishnah directly before this phrase say the opposite — if you read Megillah in Aramaic or any other language, you do not fulfill the mitzvah. The Gemara answers that this means that you have to understand the foreign language in order to fulfill the mitzvah in that language. But everyone agrees that even if you don’t understand Hebrew, you can fulfill the mitzvah by hearing Megillah in Hebrew.

Ramban (Commentary to Megillah 17a) asks that if you understand Hebrew, why should you be allowed to fulfill the mitzvah with a translation? Rather, he says that lo’azos means people who only understand a foreign language and do not understand Hebrew. The mitzvah should be fulfilled in Hebrew but for the sake of publicizing the miracle, the Sages reluctantly permitted it in foreign languages for those who do not understand Hebrew. He quotes the Gemara in Makkos (6b) about a lo’azi who came to testify before Rava. Rava arranged for a translator. The Gemara asks how Rava could do that since a judge needs to hear the testimony directly from the witness. It answers that Rava understood him but felt more comfortable responding in Hebrew or Aramaic, for which he used the translator. Clearly, a lo’azi only speaks the foreign language. Ramban adds a proof from the Talmud Yerushalmi (Megillah 2:1).

1. Objecting to a Practice

Rivash’s main objection is that the Megillah reader understands Hebrew so even if the women in Saragossa do not, they are hearing Megillah from someone who himself is not fulfilling the mitzvah and therefore cannot read for them. Somewhat humorously, Rivash tells Ran that the local scholars countered that Ramban says that some people in Spain are mistaken on this – they claim he documents their practice. But he calls it mistaken! Rivash adds to Ramban’s arguments that the Gemara (18a) says that women and unlearned men can fulfill their obligation in Hebrew even though they do not understand because even “we” do not know how to translate “ha-achashtranim bnei ha-ramachim” (Esther 8:10). Rivash first points out that the Gemara’s practice was for women who do not know Hebrew to hear Megillah in Hebrew. Furthermore, he says that the Spanish translation of this phrase might not be an accurate translation of the Megillah’s text, in which case those who hear it in Spanish definitely do not fulfill the mitzvah.

In Ran’s response to Rivash (Responsa Rivash 390), Ran valiantly tries to defend Rambam and the Saragossa practice, proposing textual variants in the Talmud Yerushalmi. However, ultimately he agrees with Rivash that this practice must be discontinued. First, he finds Rivash’s argument convincing about the difficult phrase in Esther 8:10. Furthermore, argues Ran, we cannot deviate from the traditional custom of using a Hebrew Megillah in order to adopt a highly debated practice, especially when we can easily fulfill all opinions by reading the Megillah in Hebrew.

Significantly, Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 690:9) follows Rivash’s and Ran’s rulings on this matter, as do subsequent authorities. However, Rav Yosef Kafach (Commentary to Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Megillah 2:4) records a Yemenite practice to read for women from Rav Sa’adia Gaon’s Arabic translation of the Megillah. He even includes a picture of such an Arabic Megillah written in Hebrew letters. He says that he asked his grandfather, a leading Yemenite rabbi, why they accepted this questionable practice which contradicts the Talmud Yerushalmi. His grandfather defended the practice as the Rambam’s view, which the Ran explains can be consistent with the Yerushalmi.