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Bracha on Megillah Reading When Unsure of Reading Accurately

Question

If one wants to try to read the Megillah for someone else, may he make the beracha if he isn’t certain he can read it without making errors?

Answer

Yes, he may make the beracha.

Sources

The Shulchan Aruch rules that in reading the Megillah “we are not precise about its errors.” Mistakes in the reading do not, as a rule, invalidate it. He also records a view that this leniency applies only to errors that do not change the meaning. The Mishnah Berurah explains that this ruling refers to the reading itself, not the writing of the scroll. Even if the reader made several errors, the reading is valid since he read the whole Megillah.

Since possible mistakes do not undo the reading, the reader’s uncertainty about whether he will read without errors does not make his beracha questionable. He may make the beracha.

  • Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 690:14 — we are not precise about errors in reading the Megillah; some hold this applies only to errors that do not change the meaning
  • Mishnah Berurah 690:50 — this refers to the reading: even if he read it with several errors, it is valid since he read all of it

Author

Rabbi Shay Tahan

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