**Purim Message from Rabbi Mansour**
1) Rabbi Eli Mansour distributes Matanot La’Evyonim donations to many needy families and individuals on Purim. This year, you can have Rabbi Mansour be your Shaliach (messenger) in this required Mitzvah. See the Halacha entitled “Purim- The Laws & Importance of Matanot La'evyonim” for an understanding of the minimum dollar amount one should give to the needy. To fulfill your obligation and have Rabbi Mansour disburse your donations, send an email to info@dailyhalacha.com with the total amount of your contribution, and include your credit card number, name on the card, and expiration date. (This method is very secure. LearnTorah.com will be the listed merchant on your Credit Card bill.) Once processed, your credit card information will be permanently discarded. If preferred, you may phone in your contribution and payment information to Frieda Toussoun at 718-375-1023, on Monday Feb. 26th between 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM. The deadline to send your contribution via email is Wednesday, Feb. 28th.
2) Purim Schedule with Rabbi Eli Mansour:
Thursday, March 1st- Taanit Esther
Fast begins 5:23 AM
Daf Yomi 6:00 AM
Shacharit 7:00 AM
Minha 5:10 PM
Fast Ends 6:10 PM
Saturday Evening, March 3rd- Motzae Shabbat/ Purim Night
All on the basement level of Har HaLebanon
Minha Shabbat 5:15 PM
Seudat Shelishi 5:45 PM
Rabbi Mansour’s Lecture 6:00 PM
Arbit 6:45 PM
Megilah 7:10 PM
Purim Party 10:00 PM (Men Only)
Sunday, March 4th- Purim Day
All on the basement level of Har HaLebanon
Daf Yomi 7:00 AM
Shacharit 8:00 AM
Megilat Esther 8:30 AM
Seudah following Shacharit
Minha Gedolah 1:00 PM
Today’s Halacha….
The Gemara in Masechet Megila (16) discusses the particular arrangement required by Halacha for the writing of the names of Haman's sons in the Megila. This special arrangement is referred to as "Ari'ach Al Gabei Ari'ach U'leveina Al Gabei Leveina" – "A half-brick on top of a half-brick, and a whole brick on top of a whole brick." Rabbenu Tam (France, 1100-1171), along with many others, explained "half-brick" as a reference to the word "Ve'et" (which appears before the name of each of Haman's ten sons), and "whole brick" refers to the names themselves. Meaning, the Gemara requires writing this page of the Megila in two columns: all the names of Haman's sons are positioned on top of one another to form the left column, and the "Ve'et's" preceding each name are positioned on top of one another to form the right column.
These two columns must be separated by an empty space. Chacham Ovadia Yosef, in his work Chazon Ovadia (Laws of Purim, p. 255), rules that the empty space between the columns must be the length of nine letters.
If a Sofer (scribe) did not follow this two-column arrangement when writing a Megila, or if he did not leave the required space in between the two columns, the Megila is invalid for use for the Mitzva.
Furthermore, the names of Haman's ten sons must comprise a separate, entire page of the Megila scroll. This page should begin with the word "Ish" (the word immediately preceding the listing of the ten names) and conclude with the word "Aseret" (the first word following the list). Thus, the page containing the names of Haman's sons must consist of a total of eleven rows of text. In many Megilot, the other pages consist of many more than eleven rows of text, and thus the page containing the names of Haman's sons is written with much larger letters than the rest of the Megila. Chacham Ovadia rules that it is preferable for all the pages of the Megila to consist of exactly eleven rows of text, so as to maintain a uniform letter size throughout the Megila. It must be emphasized that this is only the preferred practice; a Megila that is not written in this fashion, in which the other pages consist of more than eleven rows of text, is nevertheless valid for use.
Summary: The verses in the Megila that list the names of Haman's ten sons must comprise an independent page of the Megila, which begins with the word "Ish" and ends with the word "Aseret." This page should consist of two columns separated by an empty space the length of nine letters. The first column contains the word "Ve'et," and the second contains the names of Haman's sons. A Megila that is not written in this arrangement may not be used for the Mitzva. It is preferable, though not required, for all pages of the Megila to consist of only eleven rows of text so that the letters on the page listing Haman's sons are the same size as the rest of the letters in the Megila.
