1) Reading the Megillah scroll at night and during the day
2) Mishloach Manos - food packages to friends
3) Mattanos Le'evyonim - money to the poor
4) Seudas Purim - the festive Purim meal
Today we will be focusing on the mitzvah of Mishloach Manos. We will begin with the verse in Megillas Esther itself and with the Talmud which expounds on this verse.
How many gifts is one required to send?
What type of gifts is one required to send?
To how many people is one required to send these presents?
וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים. תָּנֵי רַב יוֹסֵף: ״וּמִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ״ — שְׁתֵּי מָנוֹת לְאִישׁ אֶחָד. ״וּמַתָּנוֹת לָאֶבְיוֹנִים״ — שְׁתֵּי מַתָּנוֹת לִשְׁנֵי בְּנֵי אָדָם. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה נְשִׂיאָה שַׁדַּר לֵיהּ לְרַבִּי אוֹשַׁעְיָא אַטְמָא דְּעִיגְלָא תִּלְתָּא וְגַרְבָּא דְחַמְרָא, שְׁלַח לֵיהּ: קִיַּימְתָּ בָּנוּ רַבֵּינוּ, ״וּמִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ
The mishna mentions: And gifts distributed to the poor. Rav Yosef taught that the verse states: “U'Mishloach Manos... - And of sending portions one to another” (Esther 9:22), indicating two portions to one person. The verse continues: “And gifts to the poor” (Esther 9:22), indicating two gifts to two people.
The Gemara relates that, on Purim, Rabbi Yehuda the Prince sent to Rabbi Oshaya the leg of a third-born calf and a jug of wine. Rabbi Oshaya sent him a message of gratitude: You have fulfilled through us, our teacher: The mitzva of: “And sending portions one to another.”
1) What is the Talmud teaching us from this story?
2) Is there any chiddush (novel idea) that is being told about mishloach manos?
רַבָּה שַׁדַּר לֵיהּ לְמָרֵי בַּר מָר בְּיַד אַבָּיֵי מְלֵא טַסְקָא דְקַשְׁבָּא וּמְלֵי כָּסָא קִמְחָא דַאֲבִשׁוּנָא. אֲמַר לֵיהּ אַבָּיֵי: הַשְׁתָּא אָמַר מָרִי: אִי חַקְלָאָה מַלְכָּא לֶיהֱוֵי — דִּיקּוּלָא מִצַּוְּארֵיהּ לָא נָחֵית. הֲדַר שַׁדַּר לֵיהּ אִיהוּ מְלֵא טַסְקָא דְזַנְגְּבִילָא וּמְלֵא כָּסָא דְּפִלְפְּלָתָא אֲרִיכָתָא. אֲמַר אַבָּיֵי: הַשְׁתָּא אָמַר מָר: אֲנָא שַׁדַּרִי לֵיהּ חוּלְיָא, וְאִיהוּ שַׁדַּר לִי חוּרְפָּא. אֲמַר אַבָּיֵי: כִּי נְפַקִי מִבֵּי מָר, הֲוָה שָׂבַעְנָא. כִּי מְטַאי לְהָתָם, קָרִיבוּ לִי שִׁיתִּין צָעֵי דְּשִׁיתִּין מִינֵי קְדֵירָה, וַאֲכַלִי בְּהוּ שִׁיתִּין פְּלוּגֵי. וּבִישּׁוּלָא בָּתְרָיְיתָא הֲווֹ קָרוּ לֵיהּ צְלִי קֵדָר, וּבְעַאי לְמִיכַּס צָעָא אַבָּתְרֵהּ. אָמַר אַבָּיֵי, הַיְינוּ דְּאָמְרִי אִינָשֵׁי: כָּפֵין עַנְיָא וְלָא יָדַע. אִי נָמֵי: רַוְוחָא לִבְסִימָא שְׁכִיחַ. אַבָּיֵי בַּר אָבִין וְרַבִּי חֲנִינָא בַּר אָבִין מְחַלְּפִי סְעוֹדְתַּיְיהוּ לַהֲדָדֵי.
The Gemara relates that Rabba sent Purim portions from the house of the Govener to Marei bar Mar in the hands of Abaye, who was his nephew and student. The Purim portions consisted of a sack full of dates and a cupful of roasted flour. Abaye said to him: Now, Mari will say the popular expression: Even if a farmer becomes the king, the basket does not descend from his neck. Rabba was named the head of the yeshiva in Pumbedita, and nevertheless, he continued to send very plain gifts.
Marei bar Mar sent back to him a sack full of ginger and a cupful of long peppers, a much more expensive gift. Abaye said to him: The master, Rabba, will now say: I sent him sweet items and he sent me pungent ones.
In describing that same incident, Abaye said: When I left the house of the master, Rabba, to go to Marei bar Mar, I was already satiated. However, when I arrived there at Marei bar Mar’s house, they served me sixty plates of sixty kinds of cooked dishes, and I ate sixty portions from each of them. The last dish was called pot roast, and I was still so hungry that I wanted to chew the plate afterward. And in continuation Abaye said: This explains the folk saying that people say: The poor man is hungry and does not know it, as Abaye was unaware how hungry he had been in his master’s house. Alternatively, there is another appropriate, popular expression: Room in the stomach for sweets can always be found.
The Gemara relates that Abaye bar Avin and Rabbi Ḥanina bar Avin would exchange their meals with each other to fulfill their obligation of sending portions on Purim.
(טו) ... וְכֵן חַיָּב אָדָם לִשְׁלֹחַ שְׁתֵּי מְנוֹת בָּשָׂר אוֹ שְׁנֵי מִינֵי תַּבְשִׁיל אוֹ שְׁנֵי מִינֵי אֳכָלִין לַחֲבֵרוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (אסתר ט יט) "וּמִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ", שְׁתֵּי מָנוֹת לְאִישׁ אֶחָד. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה לִשְׁלֹחַ לְרֵעִים מְשֻׁבָּח. וְאִם אֵין לוֹ מַחֲלִיף עִם חֲבֵרוֹ זֶה שׁוֹלֵחַ לְזֶה סְעֻדָּתוֹ וְזֶה שׁוֹלֵחַ לְזֶה סְעֻדָּתוֹ כְּדֵי לְקַיֵּם וּמִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת אִישׁ לְרֵעֵהוּ:
Similarly, a person is obligated to send two portions of meat, two other cooked dishes, or two other foods to a friend, as implied by Esther 9:22, "sending portions of food one to another" - i.e., two portions to one friend. Whoever sends portions to many friends is praiseworthy. If one does not have the means to send presents of food to a friend, one should exchange one's meal with him, each one sending the other what they had prepared for the Purim feast and in this way fulfill the mitzvah of sending presents of food to one's friends.
Based on what the reasoning is behind the mitzvah of meshloach manos, we can understand the practical implications it would have on the obligation. Let's take a look at the responsa of the Terumas Hadeshen, Rabbi Yisrael Isserlein (1390-1460).
(א) שאלה קיא בני אדם השולחים לחביריהם בפורים חלוקים וסדינים וכה"ג יוצאים ידי משלוח מנות או לאו:
(ב) תשובה יראה דאין יוצאים בהן דנראה טעם דמשלוח מנות הוא כדי שיהא לכל אחד די וספק לקיים הסעודה כדינא כמשמע בגמ' פ"ק דאביי בר אבין ורב חנינא בר אבין הוו מחלפים סעודותייהו בהדדי ונפקי בהכי משלוח מנות אלמא דטעמא משום סעודה היא. ותו נראה דלא אשכחן בשום מקום דמיקרי מנות אלא מידי דמיכלי או דמשתי וכן דקדק הרמב"ם בלשונו שכתב וחייב לשלוח שתי מנות של בשר או שתי מיני תבשיל או שתי מיני דאוכלים ונראה דשתייה בכלל אכילה ובמתנות לאביונים כתב מעות או מיני מאכלים אלמא דגבי משלוח מנות סבר דווקא מידי דמיכלי:
Question 111: Do people who send robes, sheets, and the like to their friends on Purim fulfill the commandment of sending portions (mishloach manot) or not?
Answer: It appears that we do not fulfill [the commandment] with them. For it appears that the reason for sending portions is so that each one will have enough and what is sufficient to have the meal as required, as is understood from the Gemara in the first chapter (Megillah 7b:6). As Abbaye bar Avin and Rabbi Chanina bar Avin would exchange their meals with each other, and fulfill sending portions with this. Hence the reason is on account of the meal. Moreover it appears that we do not find anywhere that anything besides food items or drinks are called portions. And the Rambam (Mishneh Torah, Scroll of Esther and Hanukkah 2:15) was accordingly precise with his language. As he wrote, "One is obligated to send two portions of meat or two types of cooked food or two [other] types of food; and it appears that drinking is included in eating." But with gifts to the poor (matanot le'evionim), he wrote (2:16), "money or types of food." Hence concerning the sending of portions, he reasoned that it is only edible items.
The Manos Halevi was a commentary on the Megillah written by Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, most well known as the writer for his song Lecha Dodi. In his book which was itself given as a meshloach manos gift, he gives a different reason for the mitzvah based on the following two verses from the book of Esther:
(8) Haman then said to King Ahasuerus, “There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; and it is not in Your Majesty’s interest to tolerate them.
(18) But the Jews in Shushan mustered on both the thirteenth and fourteenth days, and so rested on the fifteenth, and made it a day of feasting and merrymaking.)
...היה משלוח מנות ומתנות כי זה מורה שהם בלב אחד ואחוה זש"ה קבל בלב א'
They gave mishloach manos and matanos (gifts to the poor) - for this teaches the quality of unity, accepting the Torah with one combined heart.
We see clearly from the approaches of the Terumas Hadeshen and the Manos Halevi a clear difference as to what the purpose of mishloach manos is, whether it's for the sake of providing food for the Purim meal (according to Terumas Hadeshen), or for building unity (according to Manos Halevi). Here are some interesting cases in which there would be a practical difference when determining if one has fulfilled the mitzvah:
1) If a person delivered their mishloach manos but was turned around because:
a. the food they brought their friend was allergic to, b. was unhealthy, or c. wanted nothing to do with them
2) If a person gifted:
a. cigarettes b. words of Torah
3) If the giver gave anonymously/forgot to write his name