Reading the Megilla

SERVICE FOR PURIM Before the reading of the Megilla, the congregation stands and the Reader says the following three blessings: ‘111 Blessed are You, Lorn our God, King of the Universe, who has made us holy through His commandments, and has commanded us about reading the Megilla. ‘17 Blessed are You, Lorp our God, King of the Universe, who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this time. ‘1114 Blessed are You, Lorp our God, King of the Universe, who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time. The Megilla is read. When the reading is completed, the scroll is rolled up and, if a minyan is present, the Reader continues: ‘117 Blessed are You, Lorn our God, King of the Universe, who pleads our cause, judges our claim, avenges our wrong, brings retribution to our enemies, and punishes our foes. Blessed are You, LoRD, who on behalf of His people Israel, exacts punishment from all their foes, the God who brings salvation. The following is said after the night reading of the Megilla: X27 WH [God] frustrated the plan of the nations, thwarted the intentions of the crafty. An evil man rose up against us, an arrogant branch of Amalek’s tree, haughty, rich, he dug his own pit; his hubris became his own snare. He was trapped in the trap he set for others; seeking to destroy, he was destroyed. Haman shared his ancestors’ hate, and stirred against children the hostility of brothers. He did not remember Saul’s act of mercy, his pity for Agag, through which a new enemy was born. The wicked planned to cut off the righteous, but the impure were defeated by the pure.