Purim Food Obligations: ‘Mishloach Manot’, Gifts to the Poor, Feasting, and Intoxication (Megillah 7a-b)

Upon the occasion of the upcoming holiday of Purim.

This sugya develops the core ritual food obligations of Purim through a combination of derasha, anecdotal case law, social observation, and pedagogical reinforcement. It addresses three primary mitzvot of the day—sending portions (mishloach manot), gifts to the poor (מתנות לאביונים), and the Purim feast (סעודת פורים)—and then turns to the associated question of festive drinking and intoxication,¹ before concluding with a rule about the timing of the feast and a didactic vignette illustrating legal transmission.

The sugya opens with a baraita taught by Rav Yosef, which derives precise quantitative requirements directly from Esther 9:22. The verse’s phrasing is read with close attention to number and distribution. “Sending portions one to another” is interpreted as requiring two portions to one recipient, while “gifts to the poor” requires two gifts to two distinct poor individuals. This establishes a baseline: mishloach manot is defined by multiplicity of items to a single person, whereas matanot la-evyonim is defined by multiplicity of recipients.

An anecdote involving R’ Yehuda Nesia and R’ Oshaya probes the boundary between these two obligations. R’ Yehuda Nesia sends a substantial gift—meat and wine—to R’ Oshaya, who is poor. R’ Oshaya responds that through this single act, R’ Yehuda Nesia has fulfilled both mishloach manot and matanot la-evyonim.

A longer narrative sequence involving the Babylonian rabbis Rabba, Marei bar Mar, and Abaye shifts the focus from legal minima to social texture. Rabba sends very simple Purim portions—dates and roasted flour—despite his elevated institutional status, prompting Abaye to invoke a folk saying about enduring habits of poverty. Marei bar Mar responds with luxury items, ginger and long peppers, leading to a second proverb contrasting sweet and pungent gifts.

Abaye then adds an extended digression describing an extravagant meal served to him by Marei bar Mar. This culminates in folk maxims about hunger and appetite—either that the poor do not recognize their own deprivation, or that there is always room for sweets.

A brief report about Abaye bar Avin and R’ Hanina bar Avin then returns to law: by simply exchanging their meals with one another, they fulfill the obligation of mishloach manot.

The sugya then pivots to Purim’s ritual drinking and intoxication. Rava states that one is obligated to become intoxicated on Purim until one cannot distinguish between “cursed Haman” and “blessed Mordecai.” Immediately following, a dramatic anecdote recounts how Rabba and R’ Zeira, while intoxicated, reach a point of lethal violence, which is reversed only through prayer and miracle. The next year, R’ Zeira refuses to repeat the experience, stating that miracles cannot be relied upon.²

The sugya concludes by returning to Rava with a different ruling: a Purim feast eaten at night does not fulfill the obligation, because the verse speaks of “days of feasting and gladness.” An anecdote involving Rav Ashi and Rav Kahana reinforces this rule. Rav Ashi questions why Torah study was displaced by daytime feasting; Rav Kahana cites Rava’s ruling; Rav Ashi memorizes it through forty repetitions (illustrating both the authority of the rule and the methods by which halakhic knowledge is internalized).

Outline

Intro

The Passage - Purim Food Obligations: ‘Mishloach Manot’, Gifts to the Poor, Feasting, and Intoxication (Megillah 7a-b)

1. Rav Yosef’s Baraita - Derives quantitative requirements: sending portions requires 2 portions to 1 person; gifts to the poor requires 2 gifts to 2 people - Esther 9:22

2. Anecdote of R’ Yehuda Nesia and R’ Oshaya - A single substantial gift can fulfill both sending portions and gifts to the poor when the recipient is poor

3. Anecdote of Rabba, Marei bar Mar, and Abaye - Exchanging Purim portions may vary in quality; social sayings frame disparity without negating fulfillment

   1. Marei bar Mar sends back a gift

   2. Abaye - “they served me 60 plates of 60 kinds of cooked dishes”

   3. Abaye - Folk maxim

4. Anecdote of Abaye bar Avin and R’ Ḥanina bar Avin - Mutual exchange of meals suffices to fulfill sending portions

5. Rava - Posits obligation to become intoxicated on Purim until one cannot distinguish between “cursed Haman” and “blessed Mordecai”

6. Anecdote of Rabba and R’ Zeira - intoxication led to lethal harm, reversed by miracle

   1. Recurrence the next year declined as miracles are not reliable

7. Rava - Rules that a Purim feast eaten at night does not fulfill the obligation; feast must be by day

   1. Prooftext - Esther 9:22

8. Anecdote of Rav Ashi and Rav Kahana - Pedagogical reinforcement of Rava’s ruling

   1. Repetition ensures retention

The Passage

Megillah.7a.20-7b.9

Rav Yosef’s Baraita - Derives quantitative requirements: sending portions requires 2 portions to 1 person; gifts to the poor requires 2 gifts to 2 people - Esther 9:22

ומתנות לאביונים.

תני רב יוסף:

• ״ומשלוח מנות איש לרעהו״ —

  • שתי מנות לאיש אחד.

• ״ומתנות לאביונים״ —

  • שתי מתנות לשני בני אדם.

The Mishnah mentions: And gifts distributed to the poor.

Rav Yosef taught a baraita that

• the verse states: “And of sending portions one to another” (Esther 9:22),

  • indicating two portions to one person.

• The verse continues: “And gifts to the poor” (Esther 9:22),

  • indicating two gifts to two people.

Anecdote of R’ Yehuda Nesia and R’ Oshaya - A single substantial gift can fulfill both sending portions and gifts to the poor when the recipient is poor

רבי יהודה נשיאה שדר ליה לרבי אושעיא

1. אטמא דעיגלא תלתא

2. וגרבא דחמרא

The Talmud relates that, on Purim, R’ Yehuda Nesia sent to R’ Oshaya

1. the leg (אטמא) of a 3rd-born calf

2. and a jug of wine.

שלח ליה:

קיימת בנו רבינו,

• ״ומשלוח מנות איש לרעהו

• ומתנות לאביונים״.

R’ Oshaya sent him a message of gratitude:

You have fulfilled two mitzvot through us, our teacher:

• The mitzva of: “And sending portions one to another,”

• and the mitzva of: “And gifts to the poor,”

as R’ Oshaya was poor and this was a substantial gift.

Anecdote of Rabba, Marei bar Mar, and Abaye - Exchanging Purim portions may vary in quality; social sayings frame disparity without negating fulfillment

רבה שדר ליה למרי בר מר ביד אביי

1. מלא טסקא דקשבא

2. ומלי כסא קמחא דאבשונא

The Talmud relates that Rabba sent Purim portions from the house of the Exilarch to Marei bar Mar in the hands of Abaye, who was his nephew and student.

The Purim portions consisted of

1. a sack [taska] full of dates [kashva]

2. and a cupful of roasted flour [kimḥa de’avshuna].

אמר ליה אביי:

השתא אמר מרי:

אי חקלאה מלכא ליהוי —

דיקולא מצואריה לא נחית.

Abaye said to him:

Now, Mari will say the popular expression:

Even if a farmer (חקלאה) becomes the king --

the basket does not descend from his neck.

Rabba was named the head of the yeshiva in Pumbedita, and nevertheless, he continued to send very plain gifts, because he was impoverished.

Marei bar Mar sends back a gift

הדר שדר ליה איהו

1. מלא טסקא דזנגבילא

2. ומלא כסא דפלפלתא אריכתא

Marei bar Mar sent back to him

1. a sack full of ginger

2. and a cupful of long peppers [pilpalta arikha],

אמר אביי:

השתא אמר מר:

• אנא שדרי ליה

  • חוליא,

• ואיהו שדר לי

  • חורפא.

Abaye said to him:

The master, Rabba, will now say:

• I sent him

  • Sweet (חוליא) items

• and he sent me

  • Pungent (חורפא) ones.

Abaye - “they served me 60 plates of 60 kinds of cooked dishes”

אמר אביי:

כי נפקי מבי מר --

הוה שבענא

In describing that same incident, Abaye said:

When I left the house of the master, Rabba, to go to Marei bar Mar --

I was already satiated.

כי מטאי להתם --

1. קריבו לי שיתין צעי

2. דשיתין מיני קדירה,

3. ואכלי בהו שיתין פלוגי.

ובישולא בתרייתא הוו קרו ליה צלי קדר,

ובעאי למיכס צעא אבתרה.

However, when I arrived there at Marei bar Mar’s house --

1. they served me 60 plates (צעי)

2. of 60 kinds of cooked dishes³

3. and I ate 60 portions (פלוגי) from each of them.⁴

The last dish was called pot roast (צלי קדר),

and I was still so hungry that I wanted to chew the plate afterward.

Abaye - Folk maxim

אמר אביי,

היינו דאמרי אינשי:

כפין עניא

ולא ידע

And in continuation Abaye said:

This explains the folk saying that people say:

The poor man is hungry

and does not know it,

as Abaye was unaware how hungry he had been in his master’s house.

אי נמי:

רווחא לבסימא שכיח.

Alternatively,

there is another appropriate, popular expression:

Room in the stomach for sweets (בסימא) can always be found.

Anecdote of Abaye b. Avin and R’ Ḥanina b. Avin - Mutual exchange of meals suffices to fulfill sending portions

• אביי בר אבין

• ורבי חנינא בר אבין

מחלפי סעודתייהו להדדי.

The Talmud relates that

• Abaye bar Avin

• and R’ Ḥanina bar Avin

would exchange their meals with each other

to fulfill their obligation of sending portions on Purim.

Rava - Posits obligation to become intoxicated on Purim until one cannot distinguish between “cursed Haman” and “blessed Mordecai”

אמר רבא:

מיחייב איניש לבסומי בפוריא

עד דלא ידע בין

• ארור המן

• לברוך מרדכי

Rava said:

A person is obligated to become intoxicated (לבסומי) with wine on Purim

until he is so intoxicated that he does not know how to distinguish between

• cursed is Haman

• and blessed is Mordecai.

Anecdote of Rabba and R’ Zeira - intoxication led to lethal harm, reversed by miracle

רבה ורבי זירא עבדו סעודת פורים בהדי הדדי.

איבסום.

קם רבה שחטיה לרבי זירא

The Talmud relates that Rabba and R’ Zeira prepared a Purim feast with each other,

and they became intoxicated

to the point that Rabba arose and slaughtered R’ Zeira.

למחר,

בעי רחמי

ואחייה.

The next day,

when he became sober and realized what he had done, Rabba asked God for mercy,

and revived him.

Recurrence the next year declined as miracles are not reliable

לשנה,

אמר ליה:

ניתי מר

ונעביד סעודת פורים בהדי הדדי.

אמר ליה: לא בכל שעתא ושעתא מתרחיש ניסא.

The next year,

Rabba said to R’ Zeira:

Let the Master come

and let us prepare the Purim feast with each other.

He said to him: Miracles do not happen each and every hour,

and I do not want to undergo that experience again.

Rava - Rules that a Purim feast eaten at night does not fulfill the obligation; feast must be by day

אמר רבא:

סעודת פורים שאכלה בלילה —

לא יצא ידי חובתו.

Rava said:

A Purim feast that one ate at night --

did not fulfill his obligation.

Prooftext - Esther 9:22

מאי טעמא?

״ימי משתה ושמחה״ כתיב

What is the reason?

“Days of feasting and gladness” (Esther 9:22) is written,

i.e., days and not nights.

Anecdote of Rav Ashi and Rav Kahana - Pedagogical reinforcement of Rava’s ruling

רב אשי הוה יתיב קמיה (דרב כהנא),

נגה

ולא אתו רבנן.

אמר ליה: מאי טעמא לא אתו רבנן?

דלמא טרידי בסעודת פורים.

The Talmud relates:

Rav Ashi was sitting before Rav Kahana his teacher on Purim,

and it grew dark

and the Sages who usually came to study with him did not come.

Rav Ashi said to him: What is the reason that the Sages did not come today?

Rav Kahana answered: Perhaps they are preoccupied with the Purim feast.

אמר ליה: ולא הוה אפשר למיכלה באורתא?!

אמר ליה:

לא שמיע ליה למר הא דאמר רבא:

סעודת פורים שאכלה בלילה לא יצא ידי חובתו?

Rav Ashi said to him: Wasn’t it possible for them to eat the feast at night on Purim, instead of being derelict in their Torah study on Purim day?!

Rav Kahana said to him:

Didn’t the master learn that which Rava said:

A Purim feast that one ate at night did not fulfill his obligation?

Repetition ensures retention

אמר ליה: (אמר רבא הכי?!)

[אמר ליה: אין].

תנא מיניה ארבעין זימנין

ודמי ליה כמאן דמנח בכיסיה.

Rav Ashi said to him: Did Rava say that?!

Rav Kahana said to him: Yes.

Rav Ashi then learned it from him 40 times⁵

until he remembered it so well that it seemed to him as if it were placed in his purse.

1. לבסומי - on this ritual obligation, see Hebrew Wikipedia, “שתיית יין בפורים”.

2. The juxtaposition thus leaves Rava’s statement formally intact while surrounding it with a narrative that problematizes unrestrained intoxication.

3. קדירה - literally: “pots”.

4. The recurring number 60 here is typological; it serves as a conventional expression for “a huge amount”.

5. תנא מיניה ארבעין זימנין.

This expression appears a number of times in the Talmud, see the search results here.

As with the number 60 earlier, the number 40 here is typological; meaning here that he studied it a huge number of times, in order to memorize it.

And compare Taanit.8a.3:

כי הא דריש לקיש

הוה מסדר מתניתיה ארבעין זמנין,

כנגד ארבעים יום שניתנה תורה,

ועייל לקמיה דרבי יוחנן

That is like this practice of Reish Lakish,

who would review his studies (מסדר מתניתיה - literally: “organized his mishnah“) 40 times,

corresponding to the 40 days in which the Torah was given to Moses at Sinai,

and only afterward would he go before R’ Yoḥanan to study from his teacher.

רב אדא בר אהבה מסדר מתניתיה עשרין וארבע זמנין,

כנגד

1. תורה

2. נביאים

3. וכתובים,

ועייל לקמיה דרבא.

Similarly, Rav Adda bar Ahava would review his learning 24 times,

corresponding to the 24 books in the

1. Torah,

2. Prophets,

3. and Writings,

i.e., the Bible,

and only afterward go before Rava to study with him.