The Megillah reading on Purim night together with Ma’ariv—more than three and a half hours ○ Shacharis and the Megillah reading on Shushan Purim ○ Special! A Purim Kiddush ○ Watch the replay

The Megillah reading on Purim night together with Ma’ariv—more than three and a half hours

At 19:43, Rabbi Berland shlit"a entered the balcony of his home for the Ma’ariv prayer of Shushan Purim night. He immediately began singing, “And Esther continued and spoke before the king…” for about half an hour. After that he recited Kaddish and began saying the Seder HaHiskashrus, together with a prayer to leave the Beis Midrash, and Psalm 22—“For the conductor, on Ayelet HaShachar”—as is customary. The Rav said it word for word, and the enormous crowd—more than two thousand people who came to shelter in the shadow of Rabbi Berland shlit"a and celebrate Shushan Purim—repeated after him word for word. He then began Ma’ariv, which lasted about twenty-five minutes. After the prayer, he delivered a fiery, flame-like shiur on the greatness of Purim and on the hidden secret of the letters מנצפ"ך (mantzepach).

After twenty-five minutes of the shiur, the Rav began the Megillah reading, which lasted about forty-five minutes. After the Megillah, they sang “Shoshanas Yaakov” for about ten minutes. Then he began saying “Ve’Atah Kadosh,” “Baruch Hu Elokeinu,” and the song “Hu Yiftach”—together, for about fifty minutes! All the people below, accompanied by a band, jumped and danced with song and dancing, with joy and gladness and endless vitality—while throughout it all Rabbi Berland shlit"a, with tremendous aliveness above, was himself jumping and dancing like David in his time before the Ark of the Covenant. After that he said Shir HaMa’alos and Aleinu Leshabe’ach. At 22:15 he concluded the prayer, adding that Shacharis would be at 4:30 in the morning, and he entered his holy, beautiful home to the singing of “Becha Rabbeinu Nagilah.”

Shacharis and the Megillah Reading

At 04:47 he entered the balcony of his home and immediately began Chatzos with the Psalms that are customarily said. After that he began Shacharis with melodies, with tremendous vitality and enthusiasm. At 6:10 Rabbi Berland shlit"a stood for Shemoneh Esrei. Afterward he went into his home for a few minutes of a break to put on Rabbeinu Tam tefillin. He then returned for the Chazaras HaShatz, followed by the Torah reading of “erasing Amalek,” as the Rav reminded everyone to have in mind to fulfill the Torah-level obligation of remembering and erasing Amalek. After the Torah reading, he shared words of Torah before the Megillah reading, emphasizing that the main mitzvah of reading the Megillah is during the day. The daytime Megillah reading on Shushan Purim lasted about half an hour. After the Megillah, he fulfilled the rest of the day’s mitzvos—Matanos La’Evyonim and Mishloach Manos. He concluded the prayer with singing and melodies, and with each melody he prolonged the singing and dancing with tremendous vitality.

Purim Kiddush:

As every year, after Shacharis on Purim day, Rabbi Berland shlit"a fulfills the mitzvah of the day by drinking wine. He makes “Kiddush” with a lighthearted word, and after the drinking he shares a few words of Torah and enters into the singing of “Becha Rabbeinu Nagilah…”