Quanto segue costituisce "tra le sezioni": tra la prima benedizione e la seconda, tra la seconda e Shema, tra Shema e vehaya im shamoa, tra vehaya im shamoa e vayomer, tra vayomer ed emeth veyatziv. R. Yehudah dice: È vietato interrompere tra vayomer ed emeth veyatziv. [Perché è scritto (Geremia 10:10): "E l'L-Dd Dio è emeth". Pertanto, è vietato interrompere tra ani hashem elokeichem ed emeth. E questa è l'halachah.] R. Yehoshua b. Karcha disse: Perché Shema fu posto davanti a vehaya im shamoa? In modo che uno prima di tutto prende su di sé il giogo del regno dei cieli, e successivamente il giogo di mitzvoth. Perché Vehaya im Shamoa è stato posto prima di Vayomer? Poiché vehaya im shamoa ottiene sia di giorno che di notte [in esso scritto (Deuteronomio 11:19): "E tu li insegnerai ai tuoi figli"; e la mitzvah dello studio della Torah ottiene sia di giorno che di notte.], mentre vayomer ottiene solo di giorno. [Perché contiene la sezione della mitzvah di Tzitzith, che non si ottiene di notte, essendo scritta (Numeri 15:39): "E lo vedrai."]
Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
בין ויאמר לאמת ויציב לא יפסיק – As it is written, “But the LORD is truly God.” (Jeremiah 10:10). Therefore, we do not interrupt between [the words] “I the LORD your God” (Numbers 15:41) and “truth” and this is the Halakha.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Introduction
The first section of this mishnah explain what counts as “between the breaks” such that it is more permissible to interrupt (see yesterday’s mishnah).
In the second section a sage explains the order of the three paragraphs of the Shema.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
והיה אם שמוע נוהג בין ביום ובין בלילה – As it is written (Deuteronomy 11:19), “and teach them to your children” and the study of Torah is practiced both during the daytime and during the nighttime.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
These are the breaks between the sections: between the first blessing and the second, between the second and “Shema,” between “Shema” and “And it shall come to pass if you listen” between “And it shall come to pass if you listen” and “And the Lord said” and between “And the Lord said” and “Emet veYatziv” (true and. Rabbi Judah says: between “And the Lord said” and “Emet veYatziv” one should not interrupt. There is a break between each of the blessings and between each paragraph of the Shema. Rabbi Judah however holds that one should not interrupt between “And the Lord said”, the last paragraph of the Shema and “Emet veYatziv”, the first blessing after the Shema. By doing so he connects the word “Emet (truth)” to the last two words of the Shema “the Lord your God”, thereby creating the phrase from Jeremiah 10:10, “The Lord your God is truth.” Today, the prayer leader recites these three words after completion of the Shema.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Berakhot
ויאמר אינו נוהג אלא ביום – which includes the portion of the Ritual Fringes/Tzizit (Numbers 15:37-41) which are not observed at night, as I states (Numbers 15:39), “look at it.”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Berakhot
Rabbi Joshua ben Korhah said: Why was the section of “Shema” placed before that of “And it shall come to pass if you listen”? So that one should first accept upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and then take upon himself the yoke of the commandments. Why does the section of “And it shall come to pass if you listen” come before that of “And the Lord said”? Because “And it shall come to pass if you listen” is customary during both day and night, whereas [the section] “And the Lord said” is customary only during the day. The first paragraph of the Shema, the one that begins “Hear O’ Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” is concerned with the acceptance of the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. This paragraph is about faith and it is this faith that must precede the acceptance of the commandments which is mentioned in the second paragraph. The opening words of the second paragraph hint at this step-by-step theology first you listen, “And it shall come to pass if you listen” then “to My commandments which I command you this day.” Finally, the second paragraph “And it shall come to pass if you listen” precedes the third paragraph because the third paragraph which is about tzitzit was recited only at night (today it is always recited). This fits the general rule that something which is recited regularly (tadir) takes precedence over something recited less regularly (she’ayno tadir). It also makes practical sense considering that the Shema was recited from memory. It is easier to end a prayer earlier than at other times one ends the prayer, then to skip a section within the prayer. Using myself as an example, if someone told me not to do the last paragraph of the Amidah (which I usually recite by heart) I would not have great difficulty. But if someone told me to skip a paragraph in the middle of the Amidah, I would have to concentrate hard to remember where that paragraph comes in order to skip it. This is why it is easier to save the “And the Lord said” paragraph to the end of the Shema.
