Berakhot 2

הָיָה קוֹרֵא בַתּוֹרָה, וְהִגִּיעַ זְמַן הַמִּקְרָא, אִם כִּוֵּן לִבּוֹ, יָצָא. וְאִם לָאו, לֹא יָצָא. בַּפְּרָקִים שׁוֹאֵל מִפְּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד וּמֵשִׁיב, וּבָאֶמְצַע שׁוֹאֵל מִפְּנֵי הַיִּרְאָה וּמֵשִׁיב, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, בָּאֶמְצַע שׁוֹאֵל מִפְּנֵי הַיִּרְאָה, וּמֵשִׁיב מִפְּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד, בַּפְּרָקִים שׁוֹאֵל מִפְּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד, וּמֵשִׁיב שָׁלוֹם לְכָל אָדָם:

If one were reading [the section of the Shema] in the Torah and the time for the recital [of the Shema] arrived — if he concentrated, [According to the view that mitzvoth require intent, "If he concentrated" is understood as: if he were intent upon fulfilling his obligation; and according to the view that mitzvoth do not require intent it is understood as: if he concentrated upon reciting it with the correct vocalization (as opposed to reciting it for proof-reading purposes, where he does not read the words as they are vocalized, but as they are written in order to discriminate between defective and plene forms, in which instance he does not fulfill his obligation). And we rule that mitzvoth require intent.], he has fulfilled his obligation, and if not, he has not fulfilled his obligation. Between sections ["Between sections" is explained later in our Mishnah.] he extends greeting out of honor [He extends greeting to one whose honor warrants it, such as his father, or his teacher, or one superior to him in wisdom], and he returns greeting. [It goes without saying that he returns greeting to them if they greet him first.] And in the middle [of a section], he extends greeting out of fear [i.e., where he is afraid that the other might otherwise kill him. And it goes without saying that he returns greeting to him. But he may not do so out of honor], and he returns greeting. These are the words of R. Meir. R. Yehudah says: In the middle [of a section] he extends greeting out of fear, and returns greeting out of honor [i.e., in deference to one it is incumbent upon him to honor]. Between sections he returns greeting to all men [who greet him. And the halachah is in accordance with R. Yehudah. And wherever it is forbidden to interrupt the recital, it is forbidden to speak in the holy tongue as in any other language.]

אֵלּוּ הֵן בֵּין הַפְּרָקִים, בֵּין בְּרָכָה רִאשׁוֹנָה לִשְׁנִיָּה, בֵּין שְׁנִיָּה לִשְׁמַע, וּבֵין שְׁמַע לִוְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ, בֵּין וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ לְוַיֹּאמֶר, בֵּין וַיֹּאמֶר לֶאֱמֶת וְיַצִּיב. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, בֵּין וַיֹּאמֶר לֶאֱמֶת וְיַצִּיב לֹא יַפְסִיק. אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן קָרְחָה, לָמָּה קָדְמָה שְׁמַע לִוְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ, אֶלָּא כְדֵי שֶׁיְּקַבֵּל עָלָיו עֹל מַלְכוּת שָׁמַיִם תְּחִלָּה, וְאַחַר כָּךְ יְקַבֵּל עָלָיו עֹל מִצְוֹת. וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ לְוַיֹּאמֶר, שֶׁוְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ נוֹהֵג בַּיּוֹם וּבַלַּיְלָה, וַיֹּאמֶר אֵינוֹ נוֹהֵג אֶלָּא בַּיּוֹם:

The following constitutes "between sections": between the first blessing and the second, between the second and Shema, between Shema and vehaya im shamoa, between vehaya im shamoa and vayomer, between vayomer and emeth veyatziv. R. Yehudah says: It is forbidden to interrupt between vayomer and emeth veyatziv. [For it is written (Jeremiah 10:10): "And the L-rd G-d is emeth." Therefore, it is forbidden to interrupt between ani hashem elokeichem and emeth. And this is the halachah.] R. Yehoshua b. Karcha said: Why was Shema placed before vehaya im shamoa? So that one first take upon himself the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, and thereafter the yoke of mitzvoth. Why was vehaya im shamoa placed before vayomer? For vehaya im shamoa obtains both by day and by night [it being written therein (Deuteronomy 11:19): "And you shall teach them to your sons"; and the mitzvah of Torah study obtains both by day and by night.], whereas vayomer obtains only by day. [For it contains the section of the mitzvah of tzitzith, which does not obtain at night, it being written (Numbers 15:39): "And you shall see it."]

הַקּוֹרֵא אֶת שְׁמַע וְלֹא הִשְׁמִיעַ לְאָזְנוֹ, יָצָא. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, לֹא יָצָא. קָרָא וְלֹא דִקְדֵּק בְּאוֹתִיּוֹתֶיהָ, רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר יָצָא, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר לֹא יָצָא. הַקּוֹרֵא לְמַפְרֵעַ, לֹא יָצָא. קָרָא וְטָעָה, יַחֲזֹר לְמָקוֹם שֶׁטָּעָה:

One who recites the Shema without causing himself to hear it fulfills the obligation. R. Yossi says: He does not fulfill the obligation. [For it is written (Deuteronomy 6:4): "Hear" — Let your ear hear what your mouth utters. And the first tanna holds: "Hear" — in any language that you are accustomed to hear. And the halachah is according to the first tanna.] If he recited it without being precise with its letters [to enunciate them clearly, in an instance of two words where the second word begins with the same letter with which the first letter ends, as in "al levavcha," "esev besadecha," "va'avadetem meherah." If he does not leave space between them to separate them, it sounds as if he is pronouncing two letters as one.] — R. Yossi says: He has fulfilled his obligation. [And the halachah is according to R. Yossi. However, ab initio, he must enunciate the letters. Likewise, he must take care not to rest the mobile sheva and not to move the quiescent, and not to weaken (by pronouncing without a dagesh) a strong form and not to strengthen a weak one. And he must accentuate the zayin of "tizkeru," so that it does not sound like "tiskeru," that is, "so that you amass reward." For it is not fitting to serve the Master for the sake of reward.] R. Yehudah says: He has not fulfilled his obligation. If one recites it in inverted order [If he recites the third verse before the second, the second before the first, and the like], he has not fulfilled his obligation [it being written (Deuteronomy 6:6): "and these words shall be" — they shall remain in their original form, i.e., as they are ordered in the Torah. However, if he advances the section, reciting vayomer before vehaya im shamoa, and vehaya im shamoa before Shema, it would seem that this is not considered "inverted," and he fulfills his obligation; for they are not thus arranged, one after the other, in the Torah.] If he recited it and erred, he returns to the point of the error. [If he erred between one section and another, not knowing with which section he left off and to the beginning of which section he should return, he returns to the first verse, vehaya im shamoa. (Rambam says: Veahavta eth Hashem.) And if he stopped in the middle of a section, knowing which section, but not knowing where in that section he left off, he returns to the beginning of that section. If he recited "uchethavtam," but did not know whether it were that of Shema or that of vehaya im shamoa, he returns to the "uchethavtam" of Shema. And if he were in doubt after he began leman yirbu, he does not return, for he can rely on "the habit of his tongue."]

הָאֻמָּנִין קוֹרִין בְּרֹאשׁ הָאִילָן אוֹ בְרֹאשׁ הַנִּדְבָּךְ, מַה שֶּׁאֵינָן רַשָּׁאִין לַעֲשׂוֹת כֵּן בַּתְּפִלָּה:

Laborers may recite the Shema on the top of a tree or on top of a nidbach [a stone ledge, as in (Ezra 6:4): "nidbachin di even g'lal" ("rows of heavy stones"). Though they are apprehensive of falling and cannot concentrate, the sages did not require them to descend; for only the first verse of the Shema requires concentration], something they are not permitted to do for tefillah (Shemoneh Esreh) [for prayer is the imploration of mercy, and it requires concentration, so that they must descend to pray.]

חָתָן פָּטוּר מִקְּרִיאַת שְׁמַע בַּלַּיְלָה הָרִאשׁוֹן עַד מוֹצָאֵי שַׁבָּת, אִם לֹא עָשָׂה מַעֲשֶׂה. מַעֲשֶׂה בְּרַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל שֶׁקָּרָא בַלַּיְלָה הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁנָּשָׂא. אָמְרוּ לוֹ תַּלְמִידָיו, לֹא לִמַּדְתָּנוּ, רַבֵּנוּ, שֶׁחָתָן פָּטוּר מִקְּרִיאַת שְׁמַע בַּלַּיְלָה הָרִאשׁוֹן. אָמַר לָהֶם, אֵינִי שׁוֹמֵעַ לָכֶם לְבַטֵּל מִמֶּנִּי מַלְכוּת שָׁמַיִם אֲפִלּוּ שָׁעָה אֶחָת:

A bridegroom is exempt from the recital of the Shema the first night, until motzai Shabbath if he had not performed the act. [A bridegroom who married a virgin is exempt from the recital of the Shema the first night, being preoccupied lest he not find her to be a virgin. And I have heard that (his preoccupation is) the fear that he might become kruth shafchah (mutilated) through intercourse, this being "preoccupation of a mitzvah." And Scripture states (Deuteronomy 6:7): "and in your walking upon the way" — It is in your (mundane) "walking" that you are obliged to recite it, but not in that entailed by a mitzvah. "if he had not performed the act": if he had not had intercourse until motzai Shabbath, his "preoccupation" lasting four nights [from the customary day (Wednesday) of the wedding for a virgin]. After that time, he is "familiar" with her and no longer preoccupied, so that even if he had not yet performed the act, he must recite the Shema.] It happened that R. Gamliel recited the Shema on his wedding night, at which his disciples said to him: "Did our master not teach us that a bridegroom is exempt from the Shema?" He answered: "I will not heed you to divest myself of the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven for even a short while!"

רָחַץ לַיְלָה הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁמֵּתָה אִשְׁתּוֹ. אָמְרוּ לוֹ תַלְמִידָיו, לֹא לִמַּדְתָּנוּ, רַבֵּנוּ, שֶׁאָבֵל אָסוּר לִרְחֹץ. אָמַר לָהֶם, אֵינִי כִשְׁאָר כָּל אָדָם, אִסְטְנִיס אָנִי:

And he bathed the first night after the death of his wife, at which his disciples said to him: "Did our master not teach us that a mourner may not bathe?" He answered: "I am not like most men; I am istanis." [cold and prone to catch cold (from "tzinah" - "cold"). He would suffer if he did not bathe, and only bathing for pleasure is forbidden a mourner.]

וּכְשֶׁמֵּת טָבִי עַבְדּוֹ, קִבֵּל עָלָיו תַּנְחוּמִין. אָמְרוּ לוֹ תַּלְמִידָיו, לֹא לִמַּדְתָּנוּ רַבֵּנוּ, שֶׁאֵין מְקַבְּלִין תַּנְחוּמִין עַל הָעֲבָדִים. אָמַר לָהֶם, אֵין טָבִי עַבְדִּי כִּשְׁאָר כָּל הָעֲבָדִים, כָּשֵׁר הָיָה:

And when Tevi, his bondsman, died, he accepted condolences for him, at which his disciples said to him: "Did our master not teach us that it is forbidden to accept condolences for bondsmen?" He answered: "Tevi, my bondsman, was not like other bondsmen; he was a man of integrity."

חָתָן אִם רָצָה לִקְרוֹת קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע לַיְלָה הָרִאשׁוֹן, קוֹרֵא. רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, לֹא כָל הָרוֹצֶה לִטֹּל אֶת הַשֵּׁם יִטֹּל:

A bridegroom who desires to recite the Shema on his wedding night may do so. R. Shimon b. Gamliel said: "Not all who wish to take the Name may do so." [If he is not recognized as a sage and a porush (saintly) in other matters, this is nothing but pride, pluming oneself on exemplary powers of concentration. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Shimon b. Gamliel. We find some of our rabbis saying that today all men should recite the Shema on their wedding night. For since in these generations we do not recite it with much concentration on all the other days, if a bridegroom did not recite the Shema on his wedding night, he would seem even more haughty, giving the impression that he concentrated at all other times except this, being preoccupied with the mitzvah.]