Study Megillah folio 5A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
the rejoicing that takes place on Purim is practiced only in its designated time, the 14th of Adar.
§ Rav said: One may read the Megilla in its proper time, i.e., on the 14th of Adar, even privately. However, when it is read not at its proper time, e.g., when the villages advance their reading to the day of assembly, it must be read with a quorum of 10, because the enactment allowing the Megil
The Talmud asks: And did Rav actually say this, that when the Megilla is read not at its proper time, it can only be read with a quorum of 10? Didn’t Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, say in the name of Rav: If Purim occurs on Shabbat, Friday is the proper time for reading the Megilla? Th
The Talmud rejects this argument: Rav’s statement was not made with regard to reading the Megilla with a quorum of 10. Rather, what is the meaning of Rav’s statement that Friday is the proper time? It was meant to exclude the opinion of R' Yehuda HaNasi, who said: Since the readings in the large to
Mishnah: What is considered a large city, where the Megilla is read on the 14th of Adar? Any city in which there are 10 idlers. However, if there are fewer than that, it is considered a village, even if it has many inhabitants.