Talmud Class: Why Don't We Say Hallel on Purim?

From the Bimah: Jewish Lessons for Life

For Talmud this week a different kind of move, in two ways. First, we are actually going to study a page of Talmud, tractate Megillah 14a. Second, we are going to examine a halakhic question: why do we not say Hallel on Purim? We say Hallel on Pesach, when we were rescued from Egyptian slavery. We say Hallel on Hanukkah, when we were rescued from the Syrian Greeks. We say Hallel on Yom Haatzmaut, when we established the State of Israel. Why do we not say Hallel on Purim, when we were rescued from genocide in the Persian Empire? And what does this halakhic conversation teach us about how traditional Jewish sources value Israel and value the diaspora as places for Jewish living?