I am unconvinced of the answers offered for the questions on the Chasam Sofer in your online shiur on this daf (Megilah 14; see copy from Insights below).
The new explanation of the kal v'chomer may very well be what the Chasam Sofer had in mind (I'd have to see the original text).
Also, the answer to the second question, that the reason the gemara asks about Hallel in addition to Megilah is because they thought the exact text of Hallel was important and would be preferable to be used on Purim, would only be accurate if the gemara asked that we should say Hallel instead of Megilah. If the text is the important element of Hallel, then why should we read the Megilah at all? However, the gemara's question was to add Hallel to the reading of the Megilah, acknowledging that the reading of the Megilah should take place.
Finally, the difference drawn between the Chagim recorded in Megilat Ta'anit and Chanukah and Purim is simply not true. Chanukah was a neis nigleh, clearly, with the few beating the many, the weak beating the strong, etc. However, Purim was anything but a neis nigleh. On the contrary, it is the prime example of hester panim in all rabbinic literature. The Chachamim even saw a hint to that in the name of the protagonist, Ester.
The isolated events recorded by Mordechai took place over a period of over two years. It took someone of Mordechai's madregah to sift through all that happened over those years and see the key events and notice Hash-m's hidden yet continually guiding hand. Everyone else would see it as a mere string of coincidences, that Mordechai happened to hear Bigsan and Seresh talking, that Ester happened to be chosen as queen, and that Haman was hung on the tree built for Mordechai because it was there, because it was convenient and expedient. In fact, that may very well be what happened, because no other documentation of this "miraculous" event has been found from any source, Jewish or Persian. Therefore, the question still stands. Why and how could the Chachamim be mevatel the Chagim listed in Megilat Ta'anit, and what makes Purim different? (Also, the connection drawn between Chanukah and Purim is now inaccurate.)
Please respond to my questions.
Sincerely,
Adam Langer, Teaneck, NJ
1. You seem to agree with me about the answer to the first question.
2. Regarding the answer to the second question, even if Hallel were recited on Purim, it would be important to read the Megilah for Pirsumei Nisa (just like we light candles in addition to reading Hallel on Chanukah.
3. "Hester Panim," as in the verse the Gemara quotes as a hint for Esther's name, (Devarim 31:18) does not refer to salvations that come in hidden ways. Look it up; you will see that it refers to serious punishments that threaten the entire Jewish People due to their sins. When the nation sinned, causing Haman to decree that all Jews would be killed, Hash-m's presence was hidden from the world, since it looked as though He wouldn't be there to save the Jews. When they did Teshuvah, they indeed merited a salvation from Haman's Gezeirah.
Although the miraculous salvation of Purim did not involve clear miracles such as one day's worth of oil burning for eight days, it was no doubt recognized as a miraculous turn of events by all who fasted three days for a salvation and immediately experienced it. One day the grand vizier, the next day hanging from a pole. Even Haman was caught off guard by his sudden turn of fate! (See also Emek Berachah, p. 123, paragraph starting "v'Hineh, b'Maseches Megilah....") In any case, if you have a quick look at Megilas Ta'anis, I think you will agree that those events were much more mundane, and less miraculous than the events of Purim. Which is why those holidays are no longer observed (see Rosh Hashanah 18b, Shabbos 13b.)
What was "hidden" about Purim was, as you wrote, that the events leading to Haman's downfall had already been planted firmly in place, unbeknownst to all involved (Refu'ah Kodem l'Makah). Even though it looked like disaster, Hash-m's guiding Hand was there all the time.
May we see the miracles of Hash-m's redemption speedily in our days,
Mordecai Kornfeld
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From Insights to Megilah 14:1
1) THE TORAH SOURCE FOR RECITING HALLEL AND FOR READING THE MEGILAH OPINIONS: The Gemara says that the Chachamim instituted the reading of the Megilah on Purim because they found a source for doing so in the Torah. They derived, through a Kal v'Chomer, that there is a Mitzvah to give praise to Hash-m when He makes a miracle to save us. The Torah relates that the Jewish people sang the Shirah in praise to Hash-m when they left Mitzrayim, crossed the Sea, and saw the Egyptians drown. If it is appropriate to sing praises to Hash-m when He does a miracle to bring us from slavery to freedom, then how much more so is it appropriate to sing praises to Hash-m when He does a miracle to save us from death and gives us life (as in the events of Purim)!
(a) The CHASAM SOFER (Yoreh Deah #233) says that this is a Kal v'Chomer d'Oraisa, since we are deriving the obligation to praise Hash-m when He saves us through a miracle from the Shirah that the Jewish people said when they were saved from Mitzrayim which seemed to be a fulfillment of a Torah obligation to sing praise. Accordingly, this would explain the opinion of the BEHAG, quoted by the Ramban in Sefer ha'Mitzvos (Shoresh Rishon), who maintains that Hallel (on Chanukah) and Mikra Megilah (on Purim) are Mitzvos d'Oraisa . The Kal v'Chomer of our Gemara teaches that there is a Chiyuv d'Oraisa to thank Hash-m when He saves us through a miracle.
The Chasam Sofer says that this does not mean that there is a Mitzvas Aseh d'Oraisa to light the Neros of Chanukah and to read the Megilah on Purim. Rather, it means that mid'Oraisa, there is a requirement to make some display of praise to Hash-m to show appreciation for the miracle. The Chachamim instituted what form of praise to make -- in the case of Purim, it is the reading of the Megilah. However, even if one does not fulfill the rabbinical requirement but makes any display of praise to Hash-m, he fulfills the Torah obligation to praise Hash-m for the miracle.
(b) The NETZIV (Ha'Emek Sh'eilah, Vayishlach 26:1) challenges this explanation of the Chasam Sofer. First, he asks, how can we derive an obligation to praise Hash-m every year for a miracle that occurred once, from when the Jews praised Hash-m at the Sea for the miracle that occurred then? When they praised Hash-m for taking them from slavery to freedom, that Shirah was said at the time that the miracle actually took place. From there we can only learn that there is an obligation to praise Hash-m at the time that the miracles occurs , but not that there is an obligation to praise Hash-m every year on the anniversary of the miracle! How can there be a Chiyuv d'Oraisa for that?
Second, we may ask according to the Chasam Sofer, who understands that the Gemara is saying that we learn from the Shirah at the Sea that there is an obligation to make a display of praise to Hash-m for His miracle, why does the Gemara ask that we should also say Hallel on Purim because of this Kal v'Chomer ("Iy Hachi, Hallel Nami Neimra?")? What is the question of the Gemara? We make another display of praise for the miracle -- we read the Megilah, send Shaloch Manos, give Matanos l'Evyonim, etc.! Why does the Gemara ask that we should say Hallel, if any display of praise suffices to fulfill the Torah obligation?
Third, the Netziv asks, according to the Chasam Sofer, how can the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 19b) say that the days of Yom Tov of Megilas Ta'anis were annulled? Those days were all days on which miracles took place, and the Chachamim established them as days of Simchah to give praise to Hash-m for His miracles. According to the Chasam Sofer, there is a Chiyuv d'Oraisa to give praise to Hash-m for His miracles, and if so, how can those days become annulled so that no display of praise is made on those days? According to the Chasam Sofer, refraining from giving praise to Hash-m on those days constitutes a transgression of a Mitzvas Aseh d'Oraisa! (RAV CHAIM ZIMMERMAN, zt'l, in "Agra l'Yesharim," ch. 19-21, discusses this at length and points out that the son of the Rambam already debated this point with Rav Daniel ha'Bavli in Sefer MAASEH NISIM, #1.)
To answer these questions on the Chasam Sofer, we might suggest as follows.
The Kal v'Chomer that teaches that we must praise Hash-m when He saves us through a miracle actually includes two parts. First, there is the Kal v'Chomer from the Shirah at the sea which obligates us to praise Hash-m at the time that a miracle occurs. Second, there is another Kal v'Chomer from the annual commemoration of the miracle that the Torah requires us to observe -- the Yamim Tovim. We are obligated by the Torah to observe the Pesach and Sukos as a display of praise to Hash-m for the miracles that He did for us many years ago. If we have an obligation to perpetually commemorate a miracle which brought us from slavery to freedom, then Kal v'Chomer we must make a perpetual commemoration of a miracle which brought us from death to life! Thus, the Kal v'Chomer teaches that we must praise Hash-m for the miracle when it happens, and also that we must commemorate it each year on the anniversary of the miracle!
Regarding the second question, when the Gemara asks that we should say Hallel on Purim, even though we already perform another display of praise to Hash-m for the miracle, the Gemara is asking that we should say Hallel since it should be preferable to use the exact form of thanking Hash-m that is expressed in the Torah (i.e. singing a song of praise, like Hallel, to Hash-m). Why should we instead enact a new way of praising Hash-m (such as Mikra Megilah)? The Gemara answers (among other answers) that "reading the Megilah replaces the recitation of Hallel." That is, it is certainly appropriate to read the Sefer that was instituted to record the events of Purim. But once we have done that, it is no longer necessary to recite Hallel, since we have already commemorated the events by reading the Megilah.
Regarding the third question, how could the Chachamim annul the days of Simchah of Megilas Ta'anis, it could be that those days were different than Chanukah and Purim. The obligation to praise Hash-m for those miracles is not included in the Kal v'Chomer, and is thus only d'Rabanan. On those days, the miracles that occurred were not obvious and open miracles. A heretic could easily attribute them to natural causes and coincidences (see Ta'anis 17b-18b).
For example, the twenty-eighth day of Adar was instituted as a day of Yom Tov to commemorate the miracle that occurred when the Jews, led by Rebbi Yehudah ben Shamua and his colleagues, held a demonstration to protest the harsh decrees that the Romans had issued against them, and they successfully had the decrees rescinded. That miracle could easily be attributed to natural factors, such as the political pressure exerted by a prominent segment of the population lobbying on behalf of social reform. Other days commemorated the deaths of Roman antagonists, or successfully quelling the protests of Tzedukim to certain Mitzvos, etc. The Chiyuv d'Oraisa to give praise to Hash-m for His miracles, as derived from the Shirah, only includes those miracles that are similar to the redemption from Mitzrayim -- open and obvious miracles. It does not include miracles that are not obvious. At Chanukah and Purim, the miracles that occurred were obvious -- on Chanukah, the few and weak Jews defeated the large and mighty army of the Syrian- Greeks, and on Purim, an unexplainable, sudden reversal of the plans of Haman occurred. One moment he was the highest ranking citizen in the country, the next moment he was headed for the gallows -- when it had previously seemed impossible to abolish his evil decrees. Therefore, those miracles are included in the Chiyiv d'Oraisa to give praise to Hash-m. (M. Kornfeld)