Beth Shammai dit: Le soir, tous les hommes s'allongent [sur leurs côtés, il est écrit: "quand vous vous couchez" — à la manière de se coucher] et le matin ils se tiennent, [il est écrit: "et quand tu te lèves" —à la manière de se lever], comme il est écrit (Deutéronome 6: 7): "et quand vous vous couchez et quand vous vous levez". Et Beth Hillel dit: Chaque homme le récite à sa manière, [soit debout, assis, allongé ou marchant] il est écrit (Ibid.): "Et en marchant sur le chemin." Si oui, pourquoi est-il écrit «quand vous vous allongez et quand vous vous levez»? Le moment où les hommes se couchent et le moment où les hommes se lèvent. R. Tarfon a dit: "Une fois, alors que sur la route, je me suis allongé pour le réciter conformément à Beth Shammai, et j'ai failli être attaqué par des voleurs"— sur quoi ils lui dirent: "Tu aurais mérité d'être tué [(et si tu étais mort, ton sang serait sur ta tête)] pour avoir transgressé les paroles de Beth Hillel."
Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
יטו – [they should lean] on their sides as it is written (Deuteronomy 6:7), “when you lie down” – in the manner of lying down.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Introduction
The Torah says that one should recite the Shema “when you lie down and when you get up.” In our mishnah, Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel debate the meaning of this phrase.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
יעמדו – [the should stand] – as it is written (Deuteronomy 6:7), “and when you get up” – in the manner of rising.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Bet Shammai say: in the evening every man should recline and recite [the Shema], and in the morning he should stand, as it says, “And when you lie down and when you get up” (Deuteronomy 6:7). Bet Shammai reads the verse quite literally. In the evening one must lie down and recite the Shema and in the morning one must stand up and recite it.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
כדרכו – whether [one is] standing or [one is] sitting or [one is] lying or [one is] walking.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Bet Hillel say that every man should recite in his own way, as it says, “And when you walk by the way” (. Why then is it said, “And when you lies down and when you get up?” At the time when people lie down and at the time when people rise up. In contrast, to Bet Hillel these words refer to the time when people lie down and the time when they rise up. The words “and when you walk by the way” prove that the Torah does not really care what position a person is when he recites the Shema.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
כדי היית – you would have been liable to have been killed and if you had died, you would have been liable for [the loss of] your life.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Rabbi Tarfon said: I was once walking by the way and I reclined to recite the Shema according to the words of Bet Shammai, and I incurred danger from robbers. They said to him: you deserved to come to harm, because you acted against the words of Bet Hillel. Rabbi Tarfon, a sage who lived after the destruction of the Temple, testifies that one time while going on the way in the evening (probably riding on his donkey), he went out of his way to lie down on the ground and he almost incurred danger from robbers. The rabbis to whom he is talking tell him that he deserved whatever trouble he got in for going out of his way to act like Bet Shammai. The halakhah is like Bet Hillel and a rabbi who acts against this halakhah is endangering his own life.
