פירוש על ברכות 1:1

From When. The Tana is referring to a Possuk as it says in the Possuk, "When you lie down and when you get up." From there we learn that it is an obligation on each man to read Shema in the evening and in the morning. And the Mishna now asks when is the time? and from the Possuk that says when you lie down at the beginning, we start with the evening Shema.

מאימתי קורין את שמעו בערבית? משעה שהכהנים נכנסים לאכול בתרומתן – Kohanim (Priests) who became defiled and immersed [in the Mikveh/Ritual Bath] are not able to eat of the Terumah/heave offering (2% of a yield that a person initially tithes for a Kohen), until after sunset, which is, (at the time) when the stars appear. And the fact the Mishnah does not teach, “from the time when the stars appear” is an incidental matter, which comes to tell us, that if Kohanim were defiled with an uncleanness whose purification is dependent upon [the offering of] a sacrifice, such as one afflicted with gonorrhea or leprosy – their [form of] atonement does not prevent them from eating the heave offering, as it written (Leviticus 22:7): “As soon as the sun sets, he shall be pure; and afterward he may eat of the sacred donations [for they are his food].” The setting of the sun prevents him from his eating the heave offering, but his atonement [sacrifice] does not prevent him from eating his heave offering.

Introduction Tractate Berakhot begins by discussing what time the Shema (only two paragraphs were recited at night, Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21) is recited in the evening. It probably begins by discussing the evening Shema because in rabbinic thought the day begins at night. This is also the order reflected in Deuteronomy 6:7 and 11:19, “Recite them…when you lie down and when you get up.” In our mishnah the sages debate what the halakhic meaning of the words “when you lie down” really are.

The Possuk "And after you shall eat from the Kodshim" is referring to Terumah in Yevamos daf 74. Here the possuk understands, until the firmament goes away from the light and becomes dark that is when the stars come out.

עד סוף האשמורה הראשונה – The first third of the night (is the end of the first “watch”), as the night is divided into three watches, and from then onwards is no longer called the time [for the] Recitation of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41) when lying down, and we do not refer to it as “when you lie down” (Deuteronomy 6:7), and prior to the stars coming out (literally, “going out”), it is also considered daytime and not the time of lying down. And those who recite Evening Shema early while it is still day, rely upon that [opinion] of Rabbi Yehuda who said further on in Chapter “Tefillat HaShahar”/The Morning Prayer/Amidah (Chapter 4 of Berakhot, Mishnah 1), that the Afternoon prayer is recited until “Plag HaMinhah”/the middle of the afternoon (the half-way point between the time when the Tamid/Daily Sacrifice was offered – 3:30 pm and 6:00 pm when the time of sunset arrives at the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes), which is an hour and a quarter prior to the night time. And we establish (literally, “hold”), that he followed [the opinion of] Rabbi Yehudah, and immediately when the time for Minhah ends, the time for the Evening Recitation of the Shema begins.

From what time may one recite the Shema in the evening?
From the time that the priests enter [their houses] in order to eat their terumah until the end of the first watch, the words of Rabbi Eliezer. The priests would immerse at dusk so that after the sun had set and the stars came out they could go into their homes and eat terumah. Rabbi Eliezer determines that until the sun has set the Shema cannot be recited. The night is divided into three watches. Rabbi Eliezer holds that once the first watch has passed (this would be about 10 PM, if the day and night are both 12 hours), one can no longer recite the Shema. It seems that he interprets “when you lie down” to mean that the Shema must be recited at a time when most people go to sleep, that is between the time that the stars come out and the end of the first watch.

עד שיעלה עמוד השחר – Since all night long is called the time for lying down, and the Halakha/law follows [the opinion of] Rabban Gamaliel since the Sages also agree with him, and they [the Sages] did not say, “Until Midnight” (for the recitation of the Evening Shema) other than to distance a person from [the possibility of committing a] sin. However, ab initio, when the time for the recitation of the Evening Shema of our Mishnah arrives, that is, from the time that the stars come out, it is forbidden to eat, and all the more so, to lie down until he recites and the Shema and recites the [Amidah] prayer.

The sages say: until midnight. The sages say that he can read the Shema only until midnight.

מעשה שבאו בניו מבית המשתה – The sons of Rabban Gamaliel followed the teaching of the Rabbis (regarding the ending time to recite the Evening Shema) who said, “until midnight,” and this is what they said to him: That when the Rabbis are in dispute with you, especially when they say, “until midnight” and not any longer, and [when there is a dispute between] and individual and a majority [view], the law follows the majority [view] (see Mishnah Eduyot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 5) or perhaps (alternatively), The Rabbis [hold] like you thinking and that which states, “until midnight, in order to distance a person from committing a sin,” and he (Rabban Gamaliel) said to the Rabbis that they hold like him, and that which [the Mishnah] states “until Midnight” in order to distance a person from [committing] a sin and you are required to recite the Shema [now].

Rabban Gamaliel says: until dawn. Rabban Gamaliel says that the Shema can be read until the sun rises the following morning. As we shall see below, Rabban Gamaliel does not actually disagree with the sages but rather explains their opinion.

ולא זו בלבד– It is entirely the words of Rabban Gamaliel which he said to his sons.

Once it happened that his sons came home [late] from a wedding feast and they said to him: we have not yet recited the [evening] Shema. He said to them: if it is not yet dawn you are still obligated to recite. In this story Rabban Gamaliel’s sons are out all night at a wedding party and they do not come home until early in the morning. Being good rabbi’s children, the first thing they ask him upon their return is if they can still recite the evening Shema or whether they have missed the opportunity altogether. Rabban Gamaliel answers that if it is not yet dawn, they may still recite the Shema.

הקטר חלבים – of the Temple sacrifices.

And not in respect to this alone did they so decide, but wherever the sages say “until midnight,” the mitzvah may be performed until dawn. The burning of the fat and the pieces may be performed till dawn. Similarly, all [the offerings] that are to be eaten within one day may be eaten till dawn. Why then did the sages say “until midnight”? In order to keep a man far from transgression. Here and in the following sections we see that Rabban Gamaliel holds that whenever the sages say that a certain mitzvah must be performed before midnight, in actuality it can be performed until the following morning. The sages said that the mitzvah should be performed before midnight so that the person would perform the mitzvah with plenty of time to spare and not miss his opportunity and thereby transgress. The mishnah brings two more such cases where they said that the mitzvah should be performed before midnight but it could actually be performed until the following morning. Parts of sacrifices that were not offered during the day were offered at night. While this should be done before midnight, if not done by then it can still be done up until the following dawn. Similarly, some sacrifices can only be eaten for a day or two and the night that follows. The sacrifice should be eaten before midnight, but if it is still leftover it can be eaten until dawn of the following morning.

ואברים – [the limbs of] the burnt offering sacrifice offered daily at even-time in which its blood is cast on the day he is commanded to offer up the pieces all night long, as it written (Leviticus 6:2): “The burnt offering itself shall remain where it is burned upon the altar all night [until morning]…”

וכל הנאכלים ליום אחד – such as the thanksgiving offering, and the sin offering and the guilt offering and others like them, which are eaten in the daytime, but the nighttime is when they are eaten until the crack of dawn and he is the one who brings remnants [of the sacrifices left over beyond the legal time and bound to be burnt].

אם כן למה אמרו חכמים עד חצות – Regarding the Recitation of the [Evening] Shema and the eating of the Holy Things, but concerning the burning of the fats and limbs on the altar, the Sages did not say regarding it “until midnight” at all and [the Mishnah] did not hold this tradition other than to inform [us] that any Mitzvah which is to be performed at night is appropriate to be performed all night long (see Mishnah Megillah, Chapter 2, Mishnah 6).

כדי להרחיק את האדם מן העבירה – [Concerning the fats and limbs ]that he should not come to eat them after the crack of dawn and be liable for extirpation, and similarly regarding the Recitation of the Shema, that he shouldn’t say, “I still have time” and the time period would pass.