Page 18 - HaMizrachi #27 Purim USA 2021

GLOBAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Chief Rabbi David Lau
Purim Q&A

ISRAEL’S CHIEF RABBI ANSWERS SOME OF OUR PURIM QUESTIONS

What exactly is the source of dress- these destructive customs?” (See also to the poor person in the name of the
ing up on Purim, and are there Mishna Berura, 5296:8) sender, the sender has performed the
boundaries regarding which cos- mitzvah.
tumes are appropriate? If one knows the proper boundaries,
this day can be a day of true joy.
The Rema mentions this minhag and
writes that the custom of wearing What should people who are in
masks on Purim, and for men to dress How can a person in quarantine quarantine and who live on a high
up as women and women to dress up perform the mitzvah of mishloach floor do if there is no one to read
as men, contains no prohibition, since manot and matanot la’evyonim? the Megillah for them?
the intention is only for the purpose of In such a case it is possible to bring
merriment (Shulchan Aruch, Orach According to the halacha, one can the Megillah to a person in quaran-
Chaim 5296:67). appoint an emissary to perform a tine, wrapped in plastic, so that he
mitzvah for oneself.
The Bach discusses the kashrut of this can read it himself, even without the
minhag, but concludes ל ֵ א ָ ר ְ ׂשִי ְ ל ם ֶ ה ָ ל חַּנ ַ ה, Therefore, when a person’s emissary cantillation.
do not admonish the Jews for this gives the mishloach manot, it is as if As opposed to Torah reading, Megil-
custom, for it is better they sin inad- the sender himself performed that
vertently than purposefully. However, action. The emissary can also receive lah can be read when there is a sepa-
anyone with םִי ַ מ ָ ׁש ת ַ א ְ רִי should caution mishloach manot on behalf of the ration of plastic between the reader
his household and those who will listen person who appointed him, and can and the scroll. In such a way, after the
to him not to violate a prohibition on also perform the mitzvah of gifts to Megillah is removed from the quaran-
Purim (Yoreh Deah, end of 182). the poor on behalf of his sender. tine room, the plastic can be sterilized
without harming the parchment.
Olelot Ephraim (309), writes sharply The emissary can be a family member,
about those who behave in an inap- a man, woman or even a child, a neigh-
propriate way, and concludes, “is this bor or a friend. The important thing is
how a day of feasting and a day of ’ה ןֹוצ ְ ר the outcome – the moment he gives Rabbi David Lau is the Ashkenazi Chief
should look? Where is the source for the mishloach manot or the money Rabbi of Israel.

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