The time for reciting the evening Shma.
You may be familiar with the first Mishna in Brachot: “From when do we read the Shma? From the time that the Priests enter to eat their Truma”, This time is defined by the Talmud as a time very close to nightfall. If you attend synagogue services, you may have noticed that, in fact, most congregations pray and therefore recite the Shma much earlier. This anomaly serves as the basis of comments by the Rishonim.
Rashi(ibid) approaches this quandary by positing that,as stated in the Mishna, one who prays and recites the Shma before the nightfall, does not fulfill the obligation of reciting the Shma and must recite it again after nightfall. Why then do we read it at all during the evening service? “To stand up in Prayer(the Amida) from among the words of Torah”. While consistent with the conclusion of the Gemara and conforming to the custom, this solution suffers from several disadvantages. Among these is the problem of the fact that the the Shma on retiring consists of only of the first chapter, of the three Parshiot of the Shma. The second chapter is certainly an important part of the proper fulfillment of the Mitsva( or it would not be recited at all). Why then can it be skipped on a routine basis? In addition, if Rashi is right, an average man would find himself very rarely fulfilling the obligation of saying the Shma in the way that it was instituted, in the framework of blessings and within the communal prayer. Why then bother instituting it? Most importantlym if this be the case, one must ask why are the blessings of the Shma recited at all, when they serve no true ritual purpose. If it is to “stand inprayer from among the words of Torah", one could just as easily read the Shma( or for that matter any Scriptural Passage) without the blessings and proceed to the Amida. In fact the Baal Hamaor(ibid) understands the Yerushalmi as exactly that - a recitation of the Shma without its blessings in a manner analagous to the recitation of Ashrei before the Mincha Shmone Esrei.
The Rambam accepts the conclusion of the Gemara in Bavli as normative practice(Laws of Shma 1,9). Although the Amida can be recited from Plag Hamincha (1 1/4 hour before nightfall), the Shema and its accompanying blessings must be recited after nightfall.
The Rabbeinu Tam’s view(Tsafot ibid) is most interesting. He begins by citing the evidence that one may pray the Amida before nightfall and proceeds to conclude that the same is the case for the Shema. In other words, Shema is a type of prayer. The Halacha follows not our Mishna that restricts reading it to after nightfall but the lenient opinion of R. Yehuda(Brachot 26a) who allows Shmone Esrei from Plag Hamincha (1 1/4 hour before nightfall). Rabbeinu Tam express wording includes the Shma in this leniency of Rabbi Yehuda. To R. Tam, the Shma is in fact a prayer, similiar to the Shmone Esrei and subject to the same rules. Rashi, on the other hand, sees the Shma as being different and distinct from prayer albeit connected to prayer within the order of the service and therefore delimited by different considerations. We must note that the view of R. Tam has prevailed and reflects the majority opinion.
For a more detailed treatment of this issue, see here.
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Posted by: Dixie Yid | May 02, 2008 at 09:07 AM