פירוש על ברכות 1:6

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.

בין תכלת ללבן – Between the threads of azure and the threads of white in the ritual fringes (of the Tallit. The Torah – Numbers 15:38 – commands that a “cord of blue” be attached to the fringe at each corner; these two colors – blue/azure and white – are sufficiently distinct from each other that one can with relative ease distinguish between people and objects). Another explanation: The sheering of wool whose color is azure/blue and (yet) there are places (in the wool) where the color was not absorbed [properly] and which remained white.

Introduction Today’s mishnah proceeds to discuss when the morning Shema is recited. The Torah says that it should be recited “when you get up,” so the debate in our mishnah is essentially over the meaning of this phrase.

בין תכלת לכרתי – The color of the azure/blue is close to/resembles the color “leek-green” which is called “PORUSH” in a foreign language.

From what time may one recite the Shema in the morning?
From the time that one can distinguish between blue and white. Rabbi Eliezer says: between blue and green. Both opinions in the mishnah determine when one can recite the morning Shema by whether it is light enough to distinguish colors. This is probably connected to the wearing of tzitzit in the morning and the ability to recognize the colors of the threads. The first opinion holds that one must be able to distinguish between blue and white, the two colors in one’s tzitzit. Rabbi Eliezer holds that one must be able to distinguish between blue and green. Green is close to the color of tzitzit, so Rabbi Eliezer is saying that one must be able to tell that the tzitzit are blue and not green. This would require more light than distinguishing between blue and white.

עד שלש שעות – In the day until the conclusion of the third hour, which is one-quarter of the day, at the time when [the length of] the days and the nights are equal. And always, the time for the Recitation of the [Morning] Shema is until the [end of the] first quarter of the day, whether the [length of the] days are long or short. And similarly, that which is taught [in the Mishnah] further on [in the fourth chapter of Berakhot, Mishnah 1], Tefillat HaShahar/The Amidah of the Morning Service is [recited] until the fourth hour of the day that is until one-third of the day, and the “four hours” that was used [by the Mishnah] is because it is one-third of the day – four hours at occasion when the [hours of] daylight and the [hours of] night time are equal. And every place in the Mishnah where it is mentioned “such and such hours” in the day – by this manner you must consider and adjudicate. This I understood from the commentaries of Maimonides that I have received. And the reason of Rabbi Yehoshua [ben Hananiah] who said, “until the third hour of the day” (Mishna Berakhot 4:1), is that it was the practice of royalty who did not rise from their beds until the end of the third hour [of the day], for as the All-Merciful One (God) who stated (Deuteronomy 6:7), “and when you get up”, until the time when all people get up from their beds, it is stated. And the Halakha/law is according to Rabbi Yehoshua. However, ab initio, one must have the intention to recite the [Morning] Shema with sunrise like the conscientious pious ones of former days would do.

And he must finish it by sunrise. Rabbi Joshua says: until the third hour of the day, for such is the custom of the children of kings, to rise at the third hour. If one recites the Shema later he loses nothing, like one who reads in the Torah. According to the first opinion one must finish reciting the Shema by sunrise. This is the time of day when most people would get up. Rabbi Joshua holds that “when you get up” doesn’t refer to when an average working person rises, but to when the last people, the children of kings who do not have to work, get up. They rise at the third hour of the day, meaning when one quarter of the day has passed. Therefore, all of Israel has until this time to recite the Shema. Rabbi Joshua adds that after the third hour one who reads the Shema has not transgressed. We might have thought that by reciting a prayer which he was not obligated to recite he thereby recited God’s name in vain. However, this is not so because the Shema is in the Torah and reading the Torah and pronouncing God’s name is not considered taking God’s name in vain. Nevertheless, one who recites the Shema after the third hour has not fulfilled the mitzvah of reciting the Shema.

לא הפסיד – that is to say, they did not lose out from reciting [the blessings] before and after [the Shema] but even though the time had passed [for its recitation], he recites [the Shema] and the blessings before it and after it.

כאדם הקרוא בתורה – Even though he did not fulfill his religious obligation of reciting the Shema at its appropriate time, he does receive the reward as one who reads [these verses] from the Torah.

יטו – [they should lean] on their sides as it is written (Deuteronomy 6:7), “when you lie down” – in the manner of lying down.

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.

יעמדו – [the should stand] – as it is written (Deuteronomy 6:7), “and when you get up” – in the manner of rising.

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.

כדרכו – whether [one is] standing or [one is] sitting or [one is] lying or [one is] walking.

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.

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.

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.

שתים לפניה – [The two blessings before the recitation of the Shema] – “who creates light”/יוצר אור and “love” [i.e “with great love, You, O LORD have loved us”/אהבה רבה]

Introduction This mishnah deals with the blessings that come before and after the Shema in the morning and evening. It will help you understand this mishnah if you open a siddur while learning it.

ואחת לאחריה – [The blessing] “True and established/אמת ויציב”

In the morning he recites two blessings before it and one after it; in the evening two before it and two after it, one long and one short. In the morning the Shema is preceded by two blessings. The first is called “Yotzer Or” and it deals with the creation of light and darkness. The second is called “Ahavat Olam” (in the Sephardi tradition) or “Ahavah Rabbah” (in the Ashkenazi tradition) and in it we thank God for choosing us as worthy of the Torah. The blessing after the Shema is called “Emet veYatziv” and it finishes with “Goel Yisrael.” The general theme is one of gratitude to God for redeeming Israel. In the evening there are two before the Shema, both of which are similar in theme to the two morning blessings. The first is “Hamaariv Aravim”, “who causes the sun to set” and the second is “Ahavat Olam,” similar to that in the morning. The blessing after the Shema is also similar in theme to the blessing after the Shema in the morning. It is called “Emet veEmunah” and it finishes with “Goel Yisrael” as does the morning’s blessing. The major difference between the morning and the evening is that in the evening there is a second blessing after the Shema called “Hashkivenu” whose theme is peace and wellbeing and mentions going to sleep at night. Of these two blessings the first is a long blessing and the second is short (according to Rashi’s explanation; for another explanation of “long and short” see below).

ובערב – [And in the evening] one recites [the blessing(s)]

Where they [the sages] said that a long one should be said, he may not say a short one; where they said a short one he may not say a long one The mishnah now proceeds to give some general rules concerning blessings. The basic gist is that if the sages said to recite a blessing in a certain way, the supplicant may not deviate from this prescribed manner. If the sages said that the blessing should be long, then it must be long. Rashi explains that long refers simply to the length of the blessing hence the first blessing recited after the Shema is long and the second is short. However, Maimonides explains that long refers to a blessing that begins and concludes with a blessing. This would be characteristic of the first blessing recited before the Shema in both the morning and evening but not of any of the other blessings. The first blessing of Birkat Hamazon would also be a long blessing.

שתים לפניה – “One brings on the evening twilight/המעריב ערבים” and “With eternal love/אהבת עולם”.

[Where they said] to conclude [with a blessing] he is not permitted to not conclude; where they said to not conclude [with a blessing], he may not conclude. Some blessings conclude with a blessing formula “Barukh At Adonai.” This is true for all of the blessings surrounding the Shema. However, other blessings begin with a blessing formula but do not end with an additional “Barukh” formula. This is true of blessings recited over food and other pleasures (smell, seeing things and others we will explore these blessing in chapter nine). Again, one cannot deviate from these formulas.

And two afterwards – “True and Certain/אמת ואמונה” and “Cause us to lie down/השכיבנו.”

אחת ארוכה ואחת קצרה – Referring to the two [blessings recited] before the Shema, יוצא אור/”Who Forms light” is a “long” [blessing], in that it opens [with the words] “Praised [are You]” and concludes with “Praised [are You]” and similarly [with the blessing in the Evening service] “Who brings on the evening twilight” [which begins with “Praised are You” and concludes with “Praised are You”]. The blessing “Love” (“With great love” – and its evening equivalent “With eternal love”) is short as it concludes with “Praised [are You]” and does not open with “Praised [are You].”

לחתום – with [the word] “Praised [are You, O LORD].”

שלא לחתום – such as the blessings for fruits and blessing for the commandments.

מזכירין יציאת מצרים בלילות – The section of Tzizit (Ritual Fringes – the third paragraph of the Shema: Numbers 15:37-41) is said during the Recitation of the Shema at night, and even though the night time is not the time [for the wearing of] Tzizit, as it says, “look at it (and recall all the commandments of the LORD and observe them…)” to the exclusion of nighttime clothing, we recite it (Numbers 15:37-41) at night because of [the mention of] the Exodus of Egypt which is in it.

Introduction In Eretz Yisrael during the time of the Mishnah people did not recite the third paragraph of Shema at night. This is the paragraph that talks about the tzitzit and about the Exodus from Egypt. The reason why it was not recited at night was that tzitzit, the central topic of the paragraph, are not worn at night. Our mishnah teaches that although the paragraph itself is not recited, the blessing after the Shema still makes mention of the Exodus.

כבן שבעים שנה – as I appeared old and not actually old, but because [the locks of] his hair had turned white on the day when he was appointed to be the Nasi/head of [the Sanhedrin] in order that he would look “old” and appropriate for the “presidency.” And on that self-same day, Ben Zoma expounded upon this Biblical verse.

They mention the Exodus from Egypt at night. The Exodus from Egypt is mentioned in the blessing that follows the Shema. In this prayer God is the redeemer of Israel redeeming us from Egypt and continuing to redeem us (we pray) in our time. Although the third paragraph of the Shema is not recited, the mention of the Exodus is still made. We should note that it might have been confusing for people to recite completely different blessings in the morning and at night, especially if major themes were different. After all, there were no siddurim in this period; prayers were recited from memory. Therefore, the sages preserved some of the similarities between the morning and evening blessings.

ולא זכיתי – I did win over by Sages and similar to this in the Talmud [is the episode] found in the chapter “B’not Kuttim” (chapter four of Tractate Niddah 38b), in that Rabbi Eleazar defeated the Rabbis, that is to say, he won out against them.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said: "Behold, I am almost a seventy-year old man and I have not succeeded in [understanding why] the Exodus from Egypt should be mentioned at night, until Ben Zoma explained it from a verse (Deuteronomy 16:3): ‘In order that you may remember the day you left Egypt all the days of your life.’ ‘The days of your life’ refers to the days. ‘All the days of your life’ refers to the nights. This section sounds, perhaps, familiar because it is contained in the Pesah Haggadah. Ben Zoma, a colleague of Rabbi Akiva, offers a midrash, an exegesis on the word “all” from Deuteronomy 16:3. It would have been sufficient for the Torah to state “the days of your life.” The extra “all” comes to teach that the Shema should be mentioned at night. As an aside, the process of midrash is revealed well in this story. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah has been mentioning the Exodus all of his life in the evening blessings, but he doesn’t really know why he does so. He would like a midrash, but in absence of one, his tradition is sufficient to maintain his practice. Finally, when he is nearing the end of his life, he hears a midrash which supports that which he already does.

And the sages say: ‘the days of your life’ refers to this world. ‘All the days of your life’ includes the days of the Messiah. The other sages offer a competing interpretation for “all.” It refers to the Messianic period. In other words, even when the ultimate messianic redemption comes, the original story of the Exodus from Egypt will not be entirely surpassed. The previous redemption from Egypt will continue to serve as a reminder of God’s favor, even when it has been manifested in a more ultimate fashion. I like to compare this to the difference between the first time one realizes that one is in love with someone versus the day of the wedding. Although the wedding far surpasses that initial moment in intensity and significance, one doesn’t forget that first moment of love. So too with God and the people of Israel Jews must continue to recall their first moment of love with God, the love with which God took us out of Egypt.