The Sources, Reasons, & History Behind the Now Popular Vilna Gaon Version of Megillas Esther
March, 2019
In preparation for Purim, I would like to discuss the most common question I have received over the past three years—something that many people would like to understand.
- The Not-So-Secret Present
One year my wife wanted to surprise me with a special present, a Megillas Esther. V’nahapoch hu—as it turned out, it was she who was surprised, or better said, stupefied.
After months of researching the most trustworthy sofrim and sellers, she narrowed it down to one seller with whom she felt comfortable. This individual spent time with her on the phone and offered to ship the megillah in a specially made case for, among other accommodations.
Now she just had to decide which megillah to purchase. She assumed the choices would involve price, based on the beauty of the lettering and the experience of the sofer.
“Should I assume your husband would want a Megillas HaGra?” asked the dealer, referring to a megillah written according to the opinion of the Vilna Gaon.
“A Megillas haGra?” my wife repeated.
The dealer clarified for her the various options in writing a megillah, explaining that many people in the Litvish world had been purchasing “Gra-approved” megillos and even replacing their old ones with them.
My wife was in a quandary. Purim was a week away. If she were to buy a megillah for me only to discover that I would have preferred another type, there would be no time to return it before leining.
An eishes chayil,she preferred that I be happy over the excitement of a surprise. “I’m sorry,” she said to me. “I really wanted this to be a surprise,” and she then explained the whole, well, megillah.
But I wasn’t sure what I wanted either, and I only had a day or so to decide!
And so…
- A Book of Mystery
It is surprising to learn that there is so much ambiguity over how to write a Megillas Esther. But in truth, Megillas Esther is riddled with mystery. Even the simple question of who wrote it is open to debate. In Esther 9:10 (with Rashi), it is clear that Mordechai composed this sefer, but later, in 9:29, we learn that Esther did write something(see Maharal in Ohr Chadash et al., who discuss this apparent contradiction).
The Gemara too is unclear about the megillah’s authorship. In Bava Basra (15a) we are told that the Anshei Knesses Hagedolah wrote it, but in Megillah 7a we can infer that it was Esther (see Chiddushei HaGriz). Amazingly, another Gemara (Yerushalmi, Megillah 1:5) states: “Rav and Rav Chanina and Rav Yochanan and Bar Kafra and Rav Yehoshua Ben Levi [all] said, ‘Megillas Esther was given to Moshe at Har Sinai, but there is no order to the Torah’” (meaning that this is why Esther is counted among the Kesuvim).
There is even a debate about whether Megillas Esther should even be considered one of the books of Tanach (shittas Shmuel, Megillah, ibid.).
Knowing all this, it should not be surprising that there is a lot of uncertainty even about how to write this sefer!
- The ‘Mini’ Megillah
The first time I saw a Megillas HaGra, I thought it was a travel-size megillah. At just 11 lines per daf, it is less than half the size of most others. But because there are so few words on each daf,one must roll and fold the scroll endlessly.
Indeed, some likkutim (see, e.g., Purim V’Chodesh Adar) state that some people who use such a megillah will not use it to lein publicly in shul as it will cause a tirchah d’tzibura, a burden for listeners, because of the extra time it takes to fold the scroll. According to halachah, the
megillah must be read like a letter, with each section folded beneath the scroll as it is read (siman 690:17). After leining, it is rolled up before the brachos are recited (see Mishnah Berurah ad loc., #57). All of this would entail a lot of extra time.
But just what is the source for the minhag of a megillah with 11 lines per page?
In the sefer Purim V’Chodesh Adar (hakdamah,p. 63), the author published 11 minhagim of Purim followed by the Chazon Ish and written by Rav Chaim Kanievsky. Number three on that list reads, “His megillah had 11 lines [throughout] so as to fulfill the opinion of the Gra.”
- The Many Options
The Tur (siman 691) cites the Yerushalmi (3:7), which states that when the sofer writes the names of the tens sons of Haman at the end of the megillah (aside from separating them in a unique way; see below) he should place the word “ish” (the last word of 9:6) at the beginning of the daf and the word “es” atthe end.
What this means is that each name of the ten sons is singled out, line after line, in a column on the far right side of the daf, and the word that follows each name, “v’es,” is in a column on the far left side, with blank space
between the two columns (see also, Megillah 16b). This is how all megillos have it.
Although it is not mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch (cf. Beis Yosef and Mishnah Berurah 691:20), there is an additional Chazal requiring that the word “aseres,” which is mentioned after the sons’ names, should be at the very end,so that we find it right underneath the final “v’es” (Maseches Sofrim, 13:6).
Because this comes out to only 11 lines of text, virtually all megillos—whether they are 28-, 42-, or 48-line megillos—have the names of Haman’s ten sons on its own separate page, in eleven lines. However, so as to avoid the need to suddenly use a smaller klaf so as to accommodate such a small, eleven-line column, we also enlarge the words on this eleven-line page. This way we have the first word, “ish,” and the last word, “aseres,” on one daf, without too much notice.
However, the Vilna Gaon felt that this was not the correct way to interpret that Gemara. In addition, he felt that letters in Tanach cannot simply be enlarged without a mesorah. However, writing a megillah this way—switching from, say, a 42-line megillah to 11 lines just for the ten sons—means that the names of Haman’s sons would have to be enlarged.
To eliminate this concern, many simply write the entire megillah with 11 lines per page so that the names do not have to be enlarged. This is what we now call the Megillas HaGra.
It should be mentioned that although this would certainly work, the term Megillas HaGra can be misleading since, ironically, the Gra never used such a megillah!
The Gra also felt that there was no need to have the list of Haman’s sons’ names on its own page.. He was of the opinion that Chazal meantthe names should be written in the formation that we use (but without enlarged letters) at the very beginning or end of a daf, but that there could certainly be other text on the same page.
This is actually the minhag of Chabad —to write the sons’ names in a column at the end of a daf, but allowing for other pesukim before it. This was also the minhag of the Chasam Sofer and the Binyan Tzion. It obviates the need for enlarged text.
So what we now call the Megillas HaGra is in reality a combination of two views:
1) The names of Haman’s ten sons and the words “ish” and
“aseres”should be the only words on one particular page (Piskei HaTosfos).
2) In accordance with the Gra, the names should not be written in enlarged letters.
Due to halachicconsiderations beyond the scope of this article, as well to account for other opinions of the Gra (such as a marginal gap size, which gedolim who use an 11-line megillah avoid), I chose to go with a regular, non-Gra megillah.
(I thank the esteemed sofer, Rab Reuvein Mendlowitz, for his assistance. All errors are my own. For the reader who wishes to delve into this matter more thoroughly, after reviewing the primary sources cited earlier, including Shaar Hatzion #16,see Kerem Eliezer, siman 25,p. 760 in the back of Pardes Yosef, Purim. For a detailed explanation in English, see Inside Sta”m,p. 268ff,and milu’im 12a and 12b.)
Shul Chronicles 
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