שחטו את התמיד אימת אילימא בשאר ימות השנה לא סגיא דלאו כהן גדול אלא ביום הכפורים מאור הלבנה מי איכא
But there is Hanukkah? - We refer to those included in Scripture. That will be right according to the opinion that Esther was meant to be written,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Meg. 7a. To protect the books of the Bible, they were declared unclean, so that after touching them, one had to wash one's hands. The question hence, as to whether any book defiled the hands, implies the question as to whether it was included in the Canon and has inspiration ascribed to its contents. About the Book of Esther there is a dispute in Meg. 7a, one of the Rabbis ascribing inspiration to it, whence it was to be written and included in the Canon, the other denying it inspiration, hence declaring its touch did not defile the hands. V. Yadaim III, 5.');"><sup>11</sup></span>
Shut min haShamayim
They responded: "These days are recalled and observed" (Esther 9:28) - just as they are observed by an individual, so too are they recalled by an individual. They also said: the reading of the Megillah is like Hallel (Megillah 14a) - just as the recitation of Hallel at its time is done by an individual, so too with the Megillah. As it is written (Psalms 22:3) "My God, I cry by day—You answer not; by night, and have no respite" - all this in first person singular. So too, "This is my God, I shall glorify Him" (Exodus 15:2) - first person singular. Some time later they responded again: "Isaac spoke and said, why have you come to me, and you hate me, etc." "And they said to him, behold we have seen that God is with you etc.," "And we shall send you in peace, for you are now blessed by God." "Let there be a bond between us, and let us make a covenant with you." (Genesis 26:27-29) "Like an apple among the trees of the forest is my lover among men, I craved to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my tongue." (Song of Songs 2:3) All this they reported to me in truth, in my dream, exactly as I have written.
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