Celui qui récite le Shema sans se faire entendre remplit l'obligation. R. Yossi dit: Il ne remplit pas l'obligation. [Car il est écrit (Deutéronome 6: 4): "Écoutez"—Laissez votre oreille entendre ce que votre bouche dit. Et le premier tanna tient: "Hear"—dans n'importe quelle langue que vous avez l'habitude d'entendre. Et la halakha est selon le premier tanna.] S'il la récitait sans être précis avec ses lettres [pour les énoncer clairement, dans une instance de deux mots où le deuxième mot commence par la même lettre avec laquelle la première lettre se termine, comme dans «al levavcha», «esev besadecha», «va'avadetem meherah». S'il ne laisse pas d'espace entre eux pour les séparer, on dirait qu'il prononce deux lettres comme une seule.]—R. Yossi dit: Il a rempli son obligation. [Et la halakha est selon R. Yossi. Cependant, ab initio, il doit énoncer les lettres. De même, il doit veiller à ne pas reposer le sheva mobile et à ne pas déplacer le quiescent, et à ne pas affaiblir (en prononçant sans dagesh) une forme forte et à ne pas renforcer une forme faible. Et il doit accentuer le zayin de «tizkeru», pour qu'il ne sonne pas comme «tiskeru», c'est-à-dire «pour que vous amassiez une récompense». Car il ne convient pas de servir le Maître pour la récompense.] R. Yehudah dit: Il n'a pas rempli son obligation. Si on le récite dans l'ordre inversé [s'il récite le troisième verset avant le second, le second avant le premier, etc.], il n'a pas rempli son obligation [étant écrit (Deutéronome 6: 6): "et ces mots doit être"—ils resteront dans leur forme originale, c'est-à-dire comme ils sont ordonnés dans la Torah. Cependant, s'il avance la section, récitant vayomer avant vehaya im shamoa et vehaya im shamoa avant Shema, il semblerait que cela ne soit pas considéré comme «inversé», et il remplit son obligation; car ils ne sont pas ainsi arrangés, l'un après l'autre, dans la Torah.] S'il l'a récité et s'est trompé, il revient au point de l'erreur. [S'il a erré entre une section et une autre, ne sachant pas avec quelle section il s'est arrêté et au début de quelle section il doit revenir, il revient au premier couplet, vehaya im shamoa. (Rambam dit: Veahavta eth Hashem.) Et s'il s'arrêtait au milieu d'une section, sachant quelle section, mais ne sachant pas où dans cette section il s'était arrêté, il revenait au début de cette section. S'il récitait «uchethavtam», mais ne savait pas s'il s'agissait de celui de Shema ou de celui de vehaya im shamoa, il retourne à l '«uchethavtam» de Shema. Et s'il avait un doute après avoir commencé le leman yirbu, il ne revient pas, car il peut se fier à «l'habitude de sa langue»].
Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
רבי יוסי אומר: לא יצא – As it is written (Deuteronomy 6:4): “Hear” – Cause your ear to hear what your mouth utters. And the first teacher [of our Mishnah] holds that “Shema” is recited in any language that you hear, and the Halakha follows this first teacher.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Introduction
Our mishnah deals with the question of what does it mean to actually “recite” the Shema.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
ולא דקדק באותיותיה – To emit them with one’s lips clearly – so that two words where the first letter of the second word begins with the same letter that concluded the first word – such as “Al L’va’vekha” (Deuteronomy 6:6 – “Take to heart”) עשב בשדך” (Deuteronomy 11:15 – “I will provide grass in the fields”), ועבדתם מהרה"” (Deuteronomy 11:17 – “and you will soon perish”) - that if you do not place a space between [these words] to separate them, you will end up reading these two (identicaletters as one letter.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
One who recites the Shema without causing it to be heard by his own ear, he has fulfilled his obligation. Rabbi Yose says: he has not fulfilled his obligation. According to the first opinion, one who whispers the Shema so faintly that he himself cannot hear what he said has nevertheless fulfilled his obligation. Rabbi Yose says that he has not. The Talmud interprets Rabbi Yose as deriving his halakhah from the word “Shema (listen)” the word implies that one must hear the words of the Shema being recited.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
רבי יוסי אומר – And the Halakha is like Rabbi Yosi. However, ab initio, one must take care to be exacting in pronouncing the letters of the words (of the Shema) and similarly, one should be careful not (concerning the usage of the SHWA), to make a moving SHWA a resting one or a resting one a moving one, nor to make a strong DAGESH of something which is soft or a soft DAGESH of something that is strong. And one must articulate clearly the ZAYIN of the word “תזכרו” (Numbers 15:40 –“Thus you will be reminded”) so that it does appear as if one is saying, “תשכרו” (to be rewarded), with the letter SIN, to say, that you should receive great reward [for the performance of the commandments] – for it is inappropriate (see Tractate Avot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 3) “to serve the master [i.e. God] in order to receive a reward.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
If he recited it without pronouncing the letters succinctly, Rabbi Yose says he has fulfilled his obligation. Rabbi Judah says: he has not fulfilled his obligation. This refers to someone who recites the Shema quickly, blurring one word into another. For instance he runs the word “bekhol” into the next word “levavekha”. Rabbi Yose holds that he has fulfilled his obligation whereas Rabbi Judah holds that he has not.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
הקורא למפרע – Recite the third verse before he second and the second before the first, and other similarities.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
If he recites it out of order, he has not fulfilled his obligation. If he recites the verses within a paragraph out of order, he has not fulfilled his obligation. However, the halakhah is that if he recited the paragraphs out of order he has fulfilled his obligation.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
לא יצא – As it is written (Deuteronomy 6:6), “these instructions [which I charge you this day],” as they are, that is to say, as they are organized in the Torah. But however, if one first read the "ויאמר" passage (Numbers 15:37-41) prior to the והיה אם שמוע"” passage (Deuteronomy 11:13-21), or the “והיה אם שמוע” passage prior to “שמע” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), it would appear that it is not important read out of order, and one fulfills [one’s obligation] since they are not set up that way, one after the other in the Torah.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
If he recites it and makes a mistake he goes back to the place where he made the mistake. If while reciting the Shema he realized that he made a mistake, what he must do is go back to the beginning of the verse in which he made the mistake.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
יחזור למקום שטעה – If between each section [of the Shema] he erred and did not know on which section he had interrupted (the appropriate order), and to which paragraph’s beginning he should return to, he should go back to the first interval – which is “והיה אם שמוע” (Deuteronomy 11:13-21). And Maimonides states that this is the first sentence: “ואהבת את ה' אלהיך” (Deuteronomy 6:5), and if he is in the middle of a section, he should stop [assuming that] he knows which section (of the Shema) that he is in, but if he doesn’t know which place and from which section he is in, he should stop and return to the beginning of that section. If he was reciting: “וכתבתם [על מזוזות]” and did not know if it was referring did not know if it was referring to “and you shall inscribe them” from the first section of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:9) or the second section of the Shema (Deuteronomy 11:20), he should go back to the first mention of “you shall inscribe them” (Deuteronomy 6:9). But if he became doubtful after he had begun (the concluding verse of the second section of the Shema), “to the end that you and your children may endure” (Deuteronomy 11:21), he should not go back, since he is following the natural flow of the language [of the Shema].
