On this post-Purim Tuesday: a TorahTutors Tidbit that looks back to Purim and ahead to Pesach.
One of several points of contrast between Purim and Pesach is the fact that Hallel is recited on Pesach but not on Purim.
A preteen TorahTutors student studied the Talmudic discussion of this difference, found in Arakhin 10a-b. The Gemara there notes that Purim seems to fit the criteria for recitation of Hallel, since it commemorates a miracle, then offers three explanations for the omission – the first and third of which highlight direct contrasts to Pesach:
1. Rabbi Yitzchak says we do not recite Hallel to commemorate the Purim miracle because it occurred in the diaspora, rather than in the land of Israel.
Why, then do we recite it for the miracles of Pesach, which also occurred outside the land of Israel?
The Gemara concludes that before the children of Israel entered the land of Israel, any land was appropriate for Hallel; once they entered the land, it gained a special status [Maharsha: God’s direct supervision] so that Hallel would be recited only over miracles that happen there.
2. The reading of the Megillah somehow stands in place of Hallel.
3. The salvation of Pesach was more complete than the salvation of Purim, and so its miracle calls for the praise and thanksgiving expressed by Hallel while that of Purim does not.
A #TuesdayTorahTutorsTidbit: Real Torah, from real TorahTutors sessions.
