Book of Love: Introduction and Laws of Reciting the Shema

Introduction: Dedication of the Lecture

Good, Baruch Hashem, with the help of Hashem, we are beginning with great joy the second book of the Rambam, Sefer Ahavah (Book of Love). The first thing is, it’s important to mention, if there is flour in the Torah, there is, Baruch Hashem, a donor. Today’s lecture has been donated by our esteemed friend, the well-known president of Machon Kerem Torah V’Chochma, the well-known supporter of Torah and lover of Torah, Rabbi Yoel Wertzberger, who is himself a Jew who loves to learn and learns several hours every day, and loves to support. When he sees that it’s an interesting lecture, an interesting talmid chacham, an interesting book, it’s warm to his heart. A good friend, yasher koach for being the donor, and may others learn from him and do likewise.

Connection to the End of Sefer HaMadda: “Shogeh Bah Tamid”

At the end of the laws of Sefer HaMadda, the Rambam told us the secret: How does one know if someone loves the Almighty? If he is constantly busy with the Almighty, “shogeh bah tamid” (constantly engrossed in it). Just as one loves a woman very much, how do you know that he loves a woman very much? He is constantly busy with her, he constantly thinks about her, he is constantly busy with her.

So if someone says, “I love the Almighty, but twenty-three hours a day I think about money. What should I do? I need to make money, but truly I love the Almighty very much.” According to the Rambam, that is not called ahavah (love). That means you would have wanted to, that means perhaps some desire, some distant desire. Ahavah means that you are constantly busy with the Almighty.

The Frequent Mitzvot in Sefer Ahavah

And that is Sefer Ahavah. Sefer Ahavah speaks about our daily service of Hashem through Kriat Shema, tefillah (prayer), things that every day, that we are busy with the Almighty every day. One hundred times a day we say berachot (blessings), three times a day we pray, twice a day we say Kriat Shema. All these things show our love for the Almighty.

Very good. Right?

Discussion: Two Approaches to Ahavah — “From Above Down” and “From Below Up”

Reb Yitzchak:

Yes, very good. When you say it this way every time, and I say every time, when we say this, I say that I hold that it also goes the opposite way. It’s true what you’re saying, as we learned at the end of Sefer HaMadda, it’s also true that it’s the opposite.

That is, a person will ask, “How can I come to ahavat Hashem (love of God) or to yediat Hashem (knowledge of God)?” and so on. One of the pieces of advice is, he needs to constantly remind himself, constantly to remember, to remind, to say Kriat Shema, and through this he reminds himself. Through this perhaps, if one says Kriat Shema twice a day, it helps him to think more deeply.

Yes, we learned that there is an obligation, one must truly know the entire… according to the Rambam. And immediately when one says Kriat Shema about “yichudo yitbarach” (His blessed unity), that one should remember that the Almighty is One.

I say, I see here both ways. First of all, this is ahavat Hashem, it is shogeh bah tamid, that’s one thing. Secondly, perhaps more, for most people the second way is easier, that through this one reminds oneself. This is a childish love, when one uses a way to come to love. I didn’t say it’s not good, on the contrary, it’s very good.

Parable of a Chassidic Wedding

And I think that also in the way we have weddings, Chassidic Jews, it’s also not the simple meaning that one falls in love, as they call it in the gentile world, one falls in love, and then one has a wedding. Rather, exactly the opposite, one meets a woman who is okay, it seems the families match, and it’s good enough, and then one invests in it, and one is shogeh bah tamid, and then comes a certain love.

So there are two approaches. So it’s true, not always does one know the Almighty, and one falls in love, and then one begins to read Kriat Shema. Rather the opposite, one does avodat Hashem (service of God) for many years, when one is young there are other desires, it comes hard, but eventually one comes to love.

Very good, Reb Yitzchak, may his merit protect us, with something more that is easier for people.

The Rambam’s Introduction to Sefer Ahavah

So every book of the Rambam he also begins with a verse.

Ah, so what you just told me is what the Rambam says basically. I said, it’s not truly on page 5, it was only there in the introduction to the entire book. He says this is the reason why he divided the fourteen books. So it actually says there that the second book… do you want to read it?

Reading: “B’Shem Hashem El Olam”

Reb Yitzchak:

Yes, let’s begin from the top. All his books the Rambam begins “B’Shem Hashem El Olam” (In the name of God, God of the universe). It’s like we say “B’ezrat Hashem Yitbarach” (With the help of God, blessed be He). It’s a language of the verse that Avraham Avinu called out “B’Shem Hashem El Olam”. And the Rambam, with writing the books, he is thereby calling out b’Shem Hashem El Olam.

Reading: The Frequent Mitzvot

Further the Rambam says that the second book of the fourteen books of Yad HaChazakah and books of Mishneh Torah, “I will include in it the mitzvot that are frequent, that are mitzvot that we are obligated in them constantly, so that they will be for us constantly as a reminder. In order to love the Omnipresent and to remember Him constantly”, in order that we should always remember the Almighty and love Him. “Such as Kriat Shema and tefillah and tefillin and berachot.”

Milah — Why in Sefer Ahavah?

The Rambam includes milah (circumcision) in this. Milah one actually does only once in a lifetime, but it is yes in a way it is something that is constant. It also has the concept of frequency. Why? Because it is always an ot bivsareinu (sign in our flesh). As long as a person has the brit milah on him, it is something that can remind him, when he doesn’t have tefillin and doesn’t have tzitzit and the like.

And one probably has the midrash that says that when David HaMelech had nothing — a king, and a king has a Sefer Torah on him, and he has tzitzit, and so on, and things that remind him of the Almighty — but David HaMelech, because he was in the bathhouse, he had nothing, he said, “But I have the milah.” The milah reminds a person. So we will say, ot hi (it is a sign), it’s a sign to the person.

The Verse “Mah Ahavti Toratecha”

Further, Kriat Shema, this book, Sefer Ahavah, how much the ahavah comes out from this, we have already said, because these things remind us or make us love the Almighty.

On this Sefer Ahavah the Rambam places a very beautiful verse. In front of each book he places a verse. The Rambam says a verse, usually from David HaMelech, actually the same David HaMelech. The Rambam says, David HaMelech says in Tehillim, in the longest chapter, he says, “Mah ahavti Toratecha” (How I love Your Torah). I love the Torah so much. How do you see that I love the Torah? Because “kol hayom hi sichati” (all day it is my conversation), I speak about this all day, with this I am busy all day.

It could be that “Mah ahavti Toratecha” is a language of question: How much do I love the Torah? The answer is, “kol hayom hi sichati”, I love so much because I speak about it constantly. This is exactly such a shogeh tamid verse.

Chiddush of Rav Rabinowitz: Frequency as an Essential Virtue

It’s very good, I saw in Rav Rabinowitz, he brings out a bit deeper. That is, one can say two explanations why the Rambam begins with the frequent mitzvot. Also the Shulchan Aruch begins this way. Tadir kodem (the frequent takes precedence). There is such a rule, it’s a halachah, it’s also an order in tamid. What is every day, it’s more useful, one needs to know it every day, so tadir kodem.

But he says that one can say deeper. Tadir kodem in the simple sense, because the entire subject of ahavat Hashem and lizkor et Hashem (to remember God) is tamid (constant). Through this is the entire thing, that it should be constantly. A mitzvah that one does once a year, Pesach, the thing is not that it’s simply that more time comes. The mitzvot have a certain essential virtue, not only that they are tamid, that it happens to be necessary to know constantly, rather it’s actually a thing that ahavat Hashem is brought out or brings to ahavat Hashem through the fact that one does it tamid.

So the virtue of constancy is actually the thing that it is constant, not that it’s simply another time. Okay. It could be that about this there is in our Haggadah the piece that “to include Kriat Shema of the evening, kol yemei chayecha” (all the days of your life), that one must have tamid, it’s not enough once. We will go see it, we will speak about this in chapter 5.

The Order of Halachot in Sefer Ahavah

Okay, we will skip I think the halachot, the mitzvot we already learned in their introduction with all these things. I think the Rambam writes simanim (signs) on each book, but let’s go. If so, the first mitzvah is Hilchot Kriat Shema. But one must think for a second, why Kriat Shema? Yes, the order, let’s yes see but the order of halachot.

Yes, the halachot go Kriat Shema, tefillah and birkat kohanim is the second, the third is tefillin and mezuzah and Sefer Torah, the fourth is Hilchot Tzitzit, the fifth is Hilchot Berachot, and the sixth is Hilchot Milah.

Why This Order?

So, how do we understand the order? It could be that this is… not all are almost every day, right? All these first six, five things, except milah. Milah is the last, as the Rambam said that what is more frequent, as if he will count from what is always in our days, but in practice it doesn’t come in entirely into this book, so it’s the last.

Kriat Shema — The Most Frequent

Yes, Kriat Shema is the most frequent, which is actually twice a day. Tefillah is mid’oraita (from the Torah) is not necessarily that it’s three times a day, apparently three times a day is derabbanan (rabbinic), as the Rambam says that the essence is that every day one should pray.

But tefillin is also once a day. Tefillin, I don’t know, also not really, it’s a mitzvat kiyumit (optional mitzvah), every day when one puts on tefillin one has a mitzvah, but I don’t know if the obligation is so strong on that day.

And tzitzit is also, tzitzit is a mitzvat kiyumit, a person can manage to go always, but the obligation is not the simple meaning that if a person didn’t go one day with tzitzit he was transgressing, when he went with a four-cornered garment without tzitzit he was transgressing, but one day that he didn’t go with tzitzit he wasn’t transgressing, he was nullifying a mitzvat kiyumit.

Unlike Kriat Shema, if he nullified one day he nullified a mitzvah that he is obligated in. Very good. So also berachot, if one doesn’t eat one day, usually a person eats, but if one doesn’t eat… yes, it’s good.

Conclusion: The Order Goes According to Frequency

Very good, it goes in order, from Kriat Shema is the most frequent. Mid’oraita, let’s think this way, mid’oraita the daily order of a Jew has to do with Kriat Shema morning and evening. Then mid’oraita is also tefillah once, but it’s not really, it doesn’t have any time mid’oraita, yes, the time of tefillah the Rabbis learned. Unlike the time of Kriat Shema which is mid’oraita, as we will see apparently. And Kriat Shema has very much to do with time, because immediately when the Torah says the mitzvah of Kriat Shema it says “b’shochbecha uv’kumecha” (when you lie down and when you rise), and the Rambam begins immediately with this.

Kriat Shema — The Essential Mitzvah of Remembrance

Kriat Shema is a mitzvah of reminding every day a Jew, it’s an essential mitzvah, and there one actually says “v’ahavta et Hashem” (and you shall love Hashem), I think that this is actually the thing, lizkor tamid (to remember constantly), as the Rambam will bring out in the first chapter. It’s very good, so what we hold here, Hilchot Kriat Shema, has one mitzvah, and that is to read Kriat Shema.

The Six Remembrances and the Rambam

It’s interesting, because one can perhaps learn from here that the Rambam… one says shesh zechirot (six remembrances), I think it’s from Sefer Charedim, which one is obligated constantly, and the thing apparently according to the Rambam is in Sefer HaMadda, that one should always know that there is only one Creator. But I don’t know if the Rambam said that it’s something that one must actually remind oneself every day. Every time when a person thinks about the world or thinks about creation, he should know that the Almighty…

Zecher Yetziat Mitzrayim — The Rambam and the Ramban

One must go see for a minute about the commandment zecher yetziat Mitzrayim (remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt), I want to speak for a second how it appears here from the Rambam he understands it. Those shesh zechirot, there is a part of them that the Ramban for example makes into a mitzvah, but the Rambam is different, the Rambam doesn’t bring that mitzvah zecher yetziat Mitzrayim, the remembrances in the name of remembrances.

The same thing with Miriam, the Ramban says that it’s a warning against lashon hara (evil speech), and the Rambam says differently, that it’s a mitzvah to remember. It could be that whole thing comes from Shu”t HaRamban, which is a bit different about the versions. The Shu”t HaRamban one needs to think about when one learns Rambam now.

Conclusion: Shesh Zechirot Is Not an Obligation According to the Rambam

So yes, it’s certain that the Rambam doesn’t rule that way. I mean it’s certain that it’s only a… one needs chassidut (piety), I know what it says there, it’s not really any… one doesn’t have to say the shesh zechirot. If one doesn’t say it one is not nullifying a mitzvah. When one says it it’s certain that apparently according to other Rishonim one does a mitzvah, even according to the Rambam one does simply a mitzvah of leda’at et Hashem (to know God), to remind oneself of the Almighty. It’s certainly a mitzvah, it’s certainly a beautiful thing to learn Torah in general. But it’s certain that there is a discussion actually with Acharonim in that idea.

Talmud Torah — Why Not in Sefer Ahavah?

In any case, there is an interesting thing. Talmud Torah (Torah study), also the Rambam says that one must, the minimum Talmud Torah is to learn every day morning and night, yes? True, it also apparently has a connection with Kriat Shema, because it’s the same thing “v’shinantam l’vanecha” (and you shall teach them to your children) and “ul’madtem otam” (and you shall learn them), which apparently goes on Kriat Shema, and one only learns that it goes on kol haTorah kulah (all the Torah in its entirety). True.

But Talmud Torah apparently is a matter of knowledge, it’s also a matter of knowledge, it’s not a matter of love, it’s a matter of knowledge, to know, and then one can do mitzvot. It’s also, the essence of the obligation of Talmud Torah the Rambam will say as it says in Kriat Shema, one will learn here.

Also it’s certainly that the mitzvah of Talmud Torah is not a mitzvat aseh shehazman grama (positive time-bound commandment), yes? Not only the batei din (courts), it wasn’t any external learning, it wasn’t the simple meaning that the mitzvah is…

The time is here a minimum though, a minimum every day something.

Yes, right. One can perhaps say a thing like this, that Talmud Torah is a mitzvah above time.

Kriat Shema — Time, Sections, and the Frequency of the Mitzvah

Introduction: Talmud Torah — A Frequent or Eternal Mitzvah?

Speaker 1:

It’s certainly a mitzvah, it’s certainly a beautiful thing to learn Torah in general, but it’s certain that it’s more actually with the Acharonim that idea.

In any case, yes, there is, there is a mitzvah of Talmud Torah. Also the Rambam said that one must, the minimum Talmud Torah to learn every day morning and night, yes? True, it also apparently has a connection with Kriat Shema, because it’s the same thing as “v’shinantam l’vanecha” and “ul’madtem otam”, which apparently goes on Kriat Shema, and one only learns that it goes on kol haTorah kulah. True. But Talmud Torah is apparently a matter of knowledge, it’s also a matter of knowledge, it’s not a matter of love, it’s a matter of knowledge, to know, and then one can do mitzvot. It’s also true. By the way, Talmud Torah according to the Rambam he says what it says in Kriat Shema actually, this one must learn here. Also it’s certainly that the mitzvah of Talmud Torah is not a mitzvat aseh shehazman grama, yes? Women are exempt not because of this, it’s an extra learning. It’s not a mitzvat aseh shehazman grama, the day causes it. The time is that there is a minimum on it, a minimum every day something.

Distinction Between Frequent and Eternal

One can perhaps say such a distinction, that Talmud Torah is a mitzvah above time, that is, there are mitzvot, there is a distinction between tadir (frequent) and nitzchi (eternal), right? Tadir means every day, constantly. Nitzchi means that it’s not dependent on time, therefore it’s always. There is such a thing, it could be that emunah (faith) is always, kol yameinu (all our days) is always. Very good. The same thing, the Chinuch says that there are frequent mitzvot. I think it’s not correct, I mean according to the Rambam. I don’t have any objections to the Sefer HaChinuch, he is a great Jew, and also regarding halachah l’ma’aseh (practical law) he is correct, it’s a good thing to remind oneself constantly of frequent mitzvot, it’s brought in customs, also in the Mishnah Berurah I remembered. But I think that as the Rambam learns it, it’s not the simple meaning that there is a frequent mitzvah of emunah. Emunah is not a frequent mitzvah in time, it’s a mitzvah that is above time, always.

The Mitzvot of Sefer HaMadda — Always, Not Frequent

One could perhaps say that everything that stands in Sefer HaMadot is eternal. For example, that one should also be on the middle path, when should a person not be angry? Always. Always should he not be in pride. So it’s a mitzvah that isn’t every day, but rather a whole day. Right, exactly, not every day, but rather all the time. As if, it’s also not the simple meaning that one does it one day, one is now fulfilling the mitzvah of today learning Talmud Torah. It’s actually true, there is such a halacha that one must learn twice every day. Right, if we’re already talking about Kriat Shema, if a person sleeps through two days, he has been mevatel Kriat Shema for two days. If a person slept through two days, he was not mevatel the mitzvah of emunah, or the mitzvah of not being angry. But furthermore, the mitzvah of emunah is not the same thing as the mitzvah of thinking about emunah, right? If a person believes, I don’t remember now, it’s a different mitzvah, the mitzvah of love, perhaps the mitzvah of remembering, “ve’ahavta et Hashem,” or from Kriat Shema, etc., but it’s already truly a practical thing of the love. But the advice and mitzvah of yediat Hashem doesn’t mean thinking that there is a God, it means knowing, right? I ask you in the middle of the night, do you believe in God?

Speaker 2:

Once it’s already established, does he no longer need to be engaged in it? That is, as long as a person doesn’t know it clearly, perhaps there is indeed a mitzvah that he must be engaged in order to understand it?

Speaker 1:

Yes, it’s a mitzvah to be engaged in it. I just want to say, that you wake up a person in the middle of the night and you ask him, “Do you believe in God?”, he will say, “Yes.” So he believed the whole time, even when he was sleeping, it wasn’t active. Okay. But yes, it’s certainly different. The mitzvot of Sefer Ahava are mitzvot tedirot, not mitzvot nitzchiyot. Sefer HaMada one can call mitzvot nitzchiyot, mitzvot that are not dependent on time at all. Okay, I think we’re giving the Rambam a chance to speak also.

Halacha 1: The Time of Kriat Shema — “Pe’amayim Bechol Yom”

The Rambam says, “Pe’amayim bechol yom korin Kriat Shema”.

First, I said the first introduction.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

“Mitzvat aseh achat, vehi likrot Kriat Shema pe’amayim bayom”. “Likrot Kriat Shema”, it’s an action. Why exactly do they say this way, “reading Kriat Shema”? Like “gut yom tov”. Okay. “Uve’ur mitzvah zo befrakim elu”.

Speaker 2:

No, but it’s interesting, you’ll see, he begins, he already speaks about what Kriat Shema is. It’s something that is agreed upon, Kriat Shema, everyone knows what that is.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, it’s known by the name Kriat Shema, that’s understood.

The Rambam’s Language — Tedirut is the Main Point

The Rambam says, Chapter 1, is the essence of the mitzvah, the Rambam says, “Pe’amayim bechol yom korin Kriat Shema”, one reads the reading of Shema, “ba’erev uveboker, shene’emar ‘uveshochbecha uvekumecha’”. What does it say? “Ve’ahavta et Hashem Elokecha”, what does it say that you should mention the love of Hashem, the parsha, “beshochbecha uvekumecha”. “Beshochbecha uvekumecha” is not… There is a shita there in the Mishna that it means lying or standing, but we pasken like those who say that it speaks of time. “Bisha’ah shebnei adam shochvim”, when is the time when normal people for thousands of years, until we came out with lights, at night people are lying. There are two types of people, people can be standing and lying. I remember, there was a time when I was in the hospital, and it wasn’t a normal time. The doctor told me, even if you don’t sleep, make sure to lie down, the body needs to lie down lying for a period of time during the day, it’s very important. The time when people are lying, vehu layla, bisha’ah shebnei adam holchim lebateihem, and when people are standing, vehu yom.

The Kli Yakar — Shechiva Means Rest

The Kli Yakar brings what this meant. Shechiva doesn’t mean sleeping, shechiva means a rest of the body. I hear. Before this I said it this way. The Kli Yakar says that even according to Beit Shammai he also agrees that one must read Kriat Shema at night and during the day. He only learns furthermore, that when it’s beshochbecha one shouldn’t do it in lying position. Yes, but it’s clear that Beit Shammai also learns. The Gemara actually says that Beit Hillel says no, it doesn’t mean that, it means at the time. But it’s clear that Beit Shammai agrees to the mitzvah of reading Kriat Shema during the day and at night. That’s not truly the dispute here. The Rambam brings the language that goes according to Beit Hillel, but it’s certain that Beit Shammai also holds. Beit Shammai holds two things, one must do it both lying and at night. But it could be that according to Beit Hillel he’s not right, that it doesn’t mean lying, it actually means at the time.

Why Does the Torah Say “Beshochbecha Uvekumecha” and Not “Bayom Uvalayla”?

Why doesn’t the Torah say, why doesn’t the Torah say bayom uvalayla? Why mean this? I think it does have a bit of meaning, it has something to do with the order of the day. I think the simple understanding of the verse without understanding the drash of Chazal is, you should always love the Almighty, when you go, when you come, when you’re at home, when you’re outside, when you dance, when you sleep. So the Torah lists all kinds of ways, and you should put it on your door, and you should… So that’s the simple meaning, that’s how the poetic verse, how one should learn it, that you should always love the Almighty, no difference whether you wake, whether you go, whether you stand, whether you come, and you should write it everywhere. But the commentators of Chazal put it into a time, that beshochbecha uvekumecha are two times. It’s not a contradiction, this way one actually fulfills that thing, that beautiful thing you say one fulfills this way.

They only say that it’s not bayom uvalayla. Chazal make it even less, that according to the simple reading one must murmur the verses of Kriat Shema all day. I don’t know. But I only mean to say that when… No, seemingly the translation is when you go to sleep and when you get up, not when you go to get up. The Rambam doesn’t say yes, when you sleep one doesn’t speak of Kriat Shema. I mean the seasons, there are two onot, there is the onah of day and the onah of night, by both of them there is a Kriat Shema of day. One doesn’t speak when you sleep and when you’re up. The times when people are… Yes. But I ask you whether it means shochvim when they’re already lying and sleeping, or does he speak of a whole night, so the halacha is truly this way. But he can say when the onah of your sleeping comes in and when the onah of your rising comes in. He speaks early, early and beginning of night.

Kriat Shema is Dependent on People, Not on the Sun

One can certainly understand that it’s not… It’s true that the halacha is bayom uvalayla, but it’s not dependent on the day and night. Not the simple meaning that Kriat Shema is a blessing on the sun that comes up. It’s dependent on the people who get up and go to sleep. It’s not zman gorem? You can call it zman gorem, but I’ll tell you that there are two types of zman gorem. There is for example Shabbat becomes Shabbat because now it’s the seventh day of the week, it has to do with the sun. Kriat Shema becomes Kriat Shema because now is the time when people get up, and you need to mention the Almighty again. No, not about that, because the people are now getting up. There are two types of situations of people, there are situations of people sleeping or lying, and situations of standing. By both of these situations… It’s a very good thing, which is two states of mind basically. You can say, when people are very active they should mention the Almighty, and when people rest and they eat and they go to sleep they should mention the Almighty again. It’s like two states of mind.

The Imrei Noam — MiD’oraita According to the Person’s Rising

And one can even say, there are acharonim, literally acharonim, who want to argue that if for example, as you said, if in current times it’s not the way of people to go to sleep at that time, it could be that at least mid’oraita is when one gets up one must read Kriat Shema. The Imrei Noam speaks of all those bachurim that if one gets up late, mid’oraita one must immediately read Kriat Shema. He says that one shouldn’t delay saying Kriat Shema, because true, regarding the Rabbanan perhaps the time is already past, but the d’oraita says that when you get up you should say Kriat Shema. When you go to sleep, you go to sleep early, also say Kriat Shema. Eh, true, it’s not so the halacha, but the simple peshat is indeed so. As if, also if it’s dependent on the lying and not on the day, one can understand it this way.

Why Does the Rambam Begin with “Pe’amayim Bayom”?

Okay, that’s the time, yes? It’s interesting that the Rambam didn’t begin mitzvat aseh likrot Kriat Shema, umah zemana, he begins to say pe’amayim bayom. It could be because of the love, as we discussed, according to what he says. The main point of Kriat Shema is that it should be pe’amayim bayom, the consistency, the tedirut of it.

Halacha 2: The Three Parshiyot — Yichud, Ahava, Talmud

He says, umah hi korei? What is the Kriat Shema that one says? He says, shalosh parshiyot elu, vehaya im shamoa. He doesn’t say like the parshat tzitzit, and the parshat vehaya im shamoa, and the parshat vayomer, because one says Kriat Shema a few years before one even begins learning Rambam. But for example by vayomer he says nothing, he says that the Torah commanded parshat vayomer. It must be that the Rambam meant that there is already a siddur. Look in the Rambam’s siddur, in the Rambam’s siddur it also doesn’t say. He only says the verse, I don’t remember. In any case, the Rambam doesn’t reckon that it already says in Torah shebichtav, he only reckons on the siddur.

Speaker 2:

Yes, but which vayomer? Imagine there’s someone who didn’t learn, he never went to cheder, he never went, he doesn’t know what’s happening here. He says, “vayomer”, which vayomer? Here it already says Bamidbar tehiyeh, yes, the attached one. At most he’ll say all the vayomers, I don’t know how far he’ll need to go.

Why Does One Begin with Shema?

Speaker 1:

The Rambam says further, “Umakdimin likrot parshat Shema”, the first of the three parshiyot one begins with Shema. Yes. Why? This is actually vayomer stands earlier in the Torah, perhaps he means that. True, true. Why does one begin with Shema? “Mipnei sheyesh ba tzivui al yichud Hashem”. Shema tells us yichud Hashem, because we say “Hashem Elokeinu Hashem echad”. “Ve’ahavato”, because it says “Shema Yisrael”, hear Jew that there is a Creator. “Ve’ahavato”. Ah, Shema means Shema ve’ahavato, ah, I’m sorry. Shema, ve’ahavato, and then vehaya im shamoa is the next, I’m sorry. Ve’ahavato is ahavato et Hashem, “vetalmudo” is the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, it’s the essence that there is a Torah.

Talmudo — Learning the Works of Hashem

Talmudo is learning the Almighty, learning about the Almighty. It says in the Torah, “ve’ata Yisrael ma Hashem Elokecha shoel me’imach ki im leyir’ah et Hashem Elokecha”, the Rambam says there that you become elevated to love Him, bishvil shetitbonen. What this is a part of Torah, it’s learning. Learning is learning ma’aseh Hashem. Ma’aseh Hashem has two parts, as it says in Borei Olam, there are mitzvot, there is ma’aseh Hashem that He commanded mitzvot, and there is ma’aseh Hashem that He made the creation, both of them.

Three Stages of the Same Thing

Actually there is yichud Hashem that there is one Creator. The ahavato perhaps means that the Almighty has something with people, that there is a connection, and knowing about the Almighty, talmudo. It’s also possible that it’s three stages of knowing the same thing. Yichud Hashem is the essence of existence. Ahava is that one has learned the mitzvah of learning, loving, “veshogeha ba tamid”. And talmudo is how one does it, through the Talmud.

“Shehi Ha’ikar HaGadol SheHakol Talui Bo”

“Shehi”, shehi means, he goes back to the verse in Shema, or to the three things, the yichud Hashem, ve’ahavato, vetalmudo, which is all the same thing, all the yichud Hashem shehi… This is the ikar hagadol shehakol talui bo, everything, the entire Torah, there he speaks of the entire creation, but the entire Torah is dependent on this thing of yichud Hashem vehavayato vetalmido.

Is this the second time that we see in the Rambam that the true thirteen principles that the Jews learned Hilchot Teshuva, ikar gadol, yes, free will is an ikar gadol, but here the Rambam says that the ikar hagadol shehakol talui bo is only the yichud Hashem, that is metziyut Hashem veyichudo, that’s the same thing, and

Parshat Vehaya Im Shamoa and Parshat Tzitzit — Command on the Rest of the Mitzvot and Remembering the Exodus from Egypt

Halacha 2 (Continued) — Parshat Vehaya Im Shamoa: Command on the Rest of the Mitzvot

Speaker 1:

Ve’acharav, and after that stands, this is what one says in parshat vehaya im shamoa, that there is a tzivui al she’ar hamitzvot kulan, there one lists all other mitzvot besides yichud Hashem ve’ahavato vetalmido.

I never understood, where does it say in vehaya im shamoa more mitzvot than what it says in vehaya im shamoa “tishmeu el mitzvotai asher anochi metzaveh etchem hayom”? There is a concept of reward and punishment, but it doesn’t say the word mitzvot, that’s the word. It says there “ve’ahavta et Hashem Elokecha bechol levavcha uvechol nafshecha”, it also says “veshinantam levanecha vedibarta bam”, my entire Torah, is a concept of love.

Ah, he says “vetalmido” he means, “vehayu hadevarim ha’eleh asher anochi metzavcha hayom al levavecha”, that the entire Torah should be al levavecha, that’s “vetalmido”.

The Rambam’s Translation of the Mishna

This the Mishna doesn’t hold, this is what the Rambam says, translates, this is one of the very interesting things that one can see how the Rambam translates a Mishna. The Mishna says, this is kabbalat ol malchut shamayim, and this is kabbalat ol mitzvot. The Rambam lays down, what does kabbalat ol malchut shamayim mean? This is yichud Hashem. And ol mitzvot is the tzivui al she’ar hamitzvot. Very good. So here is the ikar hagadol which is yichud Hashem, one mitzvah, and then there are 612 mitzvot, that’s vehaya im shamoa. Good. Then the third, yes.

Why Doesn’t the Rambam List Reward and Punishment?

Vehaya im shamoa also has the concept of reward and punishment, but the Rambam doesn’t list it, because he says what the Mishna says, he doesn’t say his opinion. Not only does the Rambam not list it, the Mishna, it’s actually very interesting, I would have said that vehaya im shamoa is the main topic of reward and punishment. Neither the Mishna nor the Rambam held that this is the point.

I don’t know what the peshat is. It could be the Rambam would have said because the reward and punishment that stands there is the interesting way that it got mixed in the middle of the end of chapter 44, that it only says reward in this world, therefore it’s not like the reward and punishment of the main reward and punishment that stands in parshat Bechukotai.

But perhaps the opposite, perhaps that reward and punishment is about mitzvot, one can say so. What is the reward one receives from parshat Shema? Olam Haba. Because Olam Haba is the attainment of unity. And what is the reward one receives from doing the mitzvot? Is actually the life of this world, which is calculated for the world. It’s a contradiction with the topic of she’ar hamitzvot.

The Rambam Holds to the Mishna

But I think, what I see here, is that the Rambam wants to hold to the Mishna. Because if the Rambam would have gone entirely with himself, he would have said this way: that in ve’ahavta there are the principles of yichud Hashem, ein od milvado, and prophecy, yes, about Torah is prophecy. He could have made his… The Rambam could have made his Torah.

The Rambam here wanted, as you say, to translate the Mishna of al malchut shamayim ve’al hamitzvot. He can say that prophecy is not such a principle, it’s actually hinted, it’s the Torah word, but it’s not so…

And then, where does it say here lema’an yirbu? Ah, rav, it’s a few Mishnayot later… No, very good.

The Rambam, but the entire order of the Rambam, if one begins from ahava, ahava is in the Rambam’s own order, actually, he adds from order about the order. But ahava, actually begins Kriat Shema, and the order of Shas.

Parshat Tzitzit — Remembering All the Mitzvot

Speaker 1:

The Rambam says about parshat tzitzit, “shegam hi”, also it, parshat tzitzit, “yesh ba tzivui al zechirat kol hamitzvot”, it has another command on remembering all mitzvot, not only on doing the mitzvot, but there it says about remembering the mitzvot, that’s what the Rambam puts the emphasis on, it has to do with love, always remembering the Almighty. And there it says “lema’an tizkeru”, always remembering, which generally is coming to what is remembering the Almighty.

Why Does One Say Tzitzit at Night?

Translation

And the Rambam says further, says the Rambam, “because the mitzvah of tzitzit does not apply at night”, the other things are practiced day and night, and it’s very good that we recite them at night. So why do we recite tzitzit at night? When it’s not practiced during the day, it’s completely inappropriate.

He says, first of all, it is practiced at night, true “because it contains the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt”, the essence of the mitzvah of tzitzit is indeed not present at night, but in the parsha there is remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt, “and it is a mitzvah to mention the Exodus from Egypt day and night”. So there is another mitzvah of…

The Structure of the Rambam’s Reasoning

Very interesting, see what the essence of why we recite parshat tzitzit is because it is remembrance of all the mitzvot, but the remembrance of all the mitzvot means because tzitzit reminds us of all the mitzvot, and one remembers tzitzit… Very interesting, very interesting the structure of how he says it here, yes.

We recite it, we say tzitzit itself is a reminder of all the mitzvot, and when we recite the parsha of tzitzit it’s even more important than tzitzit itself. That means we may recite it even when we don’t have tzitzit on, because when we recite the parsha we remember all the mitzvot. That means reciting the reading of parshat tzitzit has in itself certainly like wearing tzitzit, yes, that it reminds us of all the mitzvot. I must say it.

It means like this, when one has tzitzit it’s more in an active way, yes, because the way is that he should see it on the spot, he remembers the 613 mitzvot. But in any case, the recitation also reminds us of the mitzvot.

He says, and at night, he certainly could have said, but at night one must also remember all the mitzvot. It’s a bit interesting like this…

The Rambam Inserts a Step That Doesn’t Appear in the Mishnah

True, what it looks like is that the Rambam has inserted here a step that doesn’t appear in the Mishnah. In the Mishnah it says why is tzitzit the latest? Because it’s only practiced at night, therefore it’s delayed. And if so, it’s difficult why do we include tzitzit at all? On this it says in the next Mishnah, in order to mention the Exodus from Egypt day and night. It’s actually a dispute, but we hold like the Sages.

Therefore what I’m asking is, that you can say that even though the mitzvah of tzitzit is not practiced at night, but remembrance of all the mitzvot is indeed practiced at night. Very good, but that’s what I’m saying, that the Rambam goes backwards apparently.

That is, the Mishnah only stated, and therefore we don’t place tzitzit… we place tzitzit last, because it’s weaker, because it’s only practiced at night. But the Mishnah doesn’t yet say at all why we recite tzitzit. In the Mishnah it only says the topic of the Exodus from Egypt, but that would have been enough.

The Rambam holds that because it’s also parshat Exodus from Egypt, or just, it doesn’t really come in here, that is, just as the Exodus from Egypt would have been enough. The Rambam says, first of all the mitzvah of tzitzit belongs essentially to the whole topic, because it’s remembrance of all the mitzvot. And if so, why do we place it… It’s not so difficult, if it’s really not so difficult, I don’t know what the difficulty is, if it’s correct, it’s not so clear.

Speaker 2:

What’s difficult? If remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt is not practiced at night, perhaps it wouldn’t be appropriate to recite the reading of it at night.

Speaker 1:

But he says that we do recite it at night, “because there is remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt”, and the Exodus from Egypt is indeed practiced day and night. “It is a mitzvah to mention the Exodus from Egypt day and night, as it says ‘so that you remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life’”.

Discussion: Is Remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt a Separate Mitzvah?

It Appears the Rambam Doesn’t Hold That It’s a Separate Mitzvah

Speaker 1:

It appears here that the Rambam doesn’t hold that there is… Everyone knows, when Pesach comes now, the official shiur is the shiur of the first day of Pesach. It turns out that… and when one learns about the mitzvah of remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt before Pesach, there is a discussion among the Acharonim what is the difference, you have a mitzvah every day. We say in the Haggadah of Pesach the Mishnah that says “so that you remember” in the Haggadah.

But it appears from the Rambam that there isn’t really a mitzvah of the Exodus from Egypt day and night. It’s not really a mitzvah, he doesn’t count two mitzvot, “to recite Kriat Shema” and “to mention the Exodus from Egypt”. It’s implied from the Rambam that the whole formulation of “mitzvah” — sometimes we learned that “mitzvah” sometimes means it’s a good thing, not necessarily a mitzvah from the 613 mitzvot.

It appears that the mitzvah only comes to answer why we attach saying parshat tzitzit. But it’s different, that Kriat Shema has like this: Kriat Shema has the mitzvah of unifying Hashem’s name, it has the mitzvah of remembering the mitzvot, and it has a mitzvah of the Exodus from Egypt. That’s how I would have said it.

Or it could be that all mitzvot are a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt, that’s also written. Not that, that’s a very broad thing.

The Rambam Could Have Said Otherwise

But the Rambam doesn’t say that. The Rambam could have said many other things, but the Rambam could have said explicitly that there are two mitzvot in Kriat Shema, the third parsha is another mitzvah.

It’s implied from the Rambam that the third parsha is just such a detail in why we say it at night. It says like this: the essential reason why we say tzitzit is because of remembrance of all the mitzvot. But there is a reason why we should leave out tzitzit at night.

So let’s say like this, as one sits in the beit midrash, a sage says: “Let’s leave out tzitzit at night”. They say: “Why should we leave it out?” He says: “You know what, let’s leave it anyway, because there’s another virtue there, we remember the Exodus from Egypt”. So the whole mitzvah is just a virtue that causes us to say, when we make the siddur, which parsha do we put in the siddur? Ah, for that. But it doesn’t mean that it’s really a positive commandment. It’s more like a nice thing. You have many parshiot, a nice thing. So one of the nice things is the Exodus from Egypt.

Discussion About the Verse “So That You Remember”

Speaker 2:

The verse “so that you remember” refers to tzitzit, so if it’s a verse about tzitzit that’s…

Speaker 1:

No, the verse doesn’t have tzitzit. “So that you remember” means about Pesach, to remember.

Speaker 2:

No, no, the verse from Deuteronomy 16, “so that you remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt all the days of your life”, the verse refers to Pesach, when one makes Pesach, “so that you remember”. How does it say?

Speaker 1:

But in Numbers it says, it refers to tzitzit, “so that you remember and do all My commandments”.

Speaker 2:

No, not “remember the day of your departure”, “so that you remember all the commandments”. It’s “and you shall remember and do all My commandments”, it’s remembering the mitzvot. “So that you remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt” refers to what you do on Pesach, to “you shall not slaughter with chametz”, to making the holiday of Pesach and eating matzah. It’s not at all…

The simple meaning of the verse is very difficult to learn from this that there is a mitzvah of remembering the Exodus from Egypt. Yes, there is remembering the Exodus from Egypt “all the days of your life”. The whole exposition is very far from the simple meaning of the verse.

The Rambam Doesn’t Bring the Gemara’s Exposition

Speaker 1:

From this the Rambam apparently learned that it doesn’t mean that there is a new law of “to remember the day of your departure”, it means “all the days of your life” every day. It’s just, you see that the Torah wants us to remember constantly. One can even make an inclusion. The Rambam doesn’t even bring the inclusion.

You see, the Rambam doesn’t even bring the whole law from the Gemara, that “all” is to include the days, to include the nights. He doesn’t go into this.

Speaker 2:

What would have been really a mitzvah?

Speaker 1:

I would have had to go in, there is a source, and from this we learn that it means also at night. The Rambam in the enumeration of mitzvot doesn’t count an extra mitzvah of “so that you remember the day of your departure” day and night. It’s a mitzvah “to do this important matter”. It’s something that all mitzvot depend on it, so it’s worthwhile to also include the matter of the Exodus from Egypt.

In the verse we don’t see explicitly, yes, there is something to remember. Remembering has no difference between day or night, right? Always remember. It’s not simple that there is a mitzvah. So apparently we see aside from the formulation of…

The Rambam Doesn’t Say That the Exodus from Egypt Reminds Us of the Mitzvot

And the Rambam also doesn’t say that the Exodus from Egypt itself reminds us of the mitzvot. It could be that what the Rambam meant to say is like this: Why shouldn’t we say at night some other parsha that reminds us of all the mitzvot? There are other parshiot where it says that we should remember the mitzvot of the Almighty.

So perhaps it would have been a nice thing, so early when we place tzitzit, it’s appropriate to say the verse that is remembrance of all the mitzvot. At night we should remember something else. He says that besides remembrance of all the mitzvot there is in the parsha another virtue of remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt.

Speaker 2:

True, true. “I am Hashem your God who brought you out” appears very much.

Speaker 1:

I don’t know, it’s not clear. After everything I think it’s not completely clear in my opinion. That is, one wants to say the simple meaning why the Sages chose to say parshat tzitzit from the Torah, and the Rabbis to say the third parsha. It’s also a small parsha, it’s hard to find a small parsha that is self-contained, where a whole mitzvah is stated, there are many times the Exodus from Egypt, but it’s a long verse, and the Sages don’t want to say a piece that isn’t complete. Understandably, one doesn’t want to just take out a piece cut and paste.

Halacha 2 (Conclusion) — Reciting Three Parshiot in Order

Anyway, until here, that is Kriat Shema. Reciting these three parshiot in this order, the order is important, perhaps later he will say what happens when one doesn’t keep the order. This is what is called Kriat Shema, because the order is because unifying Hashem’s name is more important and so on, and this is Kriat Shema. When we say Kriat Shema we always mean the three, all three.

So until here we have learned what is the meaning of the essence of Kriat Shema, what is the meaning of the mitzvah of Kriat Shema from the Torah that one must do. Now the Rambam is going to add an interesting custom that the Jews have, all Jews have this, not part of the mitzvot but a custom, that we add another thing to Kriat Shema. That is, besides the three parshiot that we say, Shema, Vehaya im shamoa, Vayomer, there is another piece that we add.

Halacha 4 — Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto Le’olam Va’ed

The Tradition from Yaakov Avinu

Says the Rambam, One who recites Kriat Shema, when he finishes the first verse, says quietly, we say quietly the verse “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever”. This is not a verse, this is a statement, it doesn’t appear anywhere. It doesn’t appear. What is the first source? It’s certain that it appears somewhere. Does it appear in the Gemara? No, it’s a custom, we’ll see where the custom comes from, it’s a tradition. No, but this appears in a Midrash, the thing that the Rambam says next is a Midrash or a Gemara. Yes, but the words “kevod malchuto” don’t appear anywhere, do they appear somewhere? Shem and kavod and malchuto appear. Baruch shem kevod malchuto doesn’t appear in a verse.

Says the Rambam like this, when one finishes the verse, one says quietly the statement from the words of our Sages, “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever”, and returns and recites in his usual way, one goes back to the continuation of the verses, and says “And you shall love Hashem your God” until the end.

Why Isn’t It Bal Tosif?

Says the Rambam, let’s look, what is the meaning of this? Perhaps the Rambam would have asked, why isn’t this a matter of bal tosif (not adding)? Okay, according to the Rambam this is not bal tosif, but Master of the Universe, what is adding to the essence of the mitzvah of Kriat Shema? Yes, there were true Jews who didn’t say it, yes, the people of Jericho, with the strength of a prince, didn’t say it, so the Rambam is significantly instructive.

The Scene of Yaakov and the Tribes

But the answer is like this, says the Rambam, We have a tradition, there is a tradition in our hands, that when Yaakov Avinu gathered his sons in Egypt at the time of his death, Yaakov Avinu stands there in parshat Vayechi, Yaakov Avinu gathered his children, and he said “Gather and I will tell you”. And he commanded them and warned them about the unity of Hashem’s name, he commanded them and warned them about the unity of Hashem’s name, and about the way of Hashem that Avraham and Yitzchak his father walked in.

Just as the Rambam said in Sefer HaMada, that Avraham Avinu made known Judaism to the whole world, and afterwards he established each one a son, Avraham afterwards established his son Yitzchak, and Yaakov were the heads of yeshivot and publicizing His divinity, may He be blessed, and before Yaakov dies he wants to transmit the tradition to his children.

And he reminds them about the unity of Hashem’s name, because the way of Hashem, the unity of Hashem’s name is what Avraham Avinu invented, different from the idol worshippers of his time. And also “and they shall keep the way of Hashem” is something that Avraham Avinu innovated, that there is reward, and that one must go in the way of Hashem and go with good character traits and mitzvot, go with good character traits, behave like a person, like a Jew, like a righteous person.

And he asked them and said to them, he asked them, “My sons, perhaps there is among you something defective, is there among you someone who is not good? Someone who does not stand with me in the unity of the Master of all the world, someone who has two heads, someone who is not with me on the same page that there is one great Master of all the world?”

Parallel to Moshe Rabbeinu

In what way did he ask it? He says like we see another one who before he died, in his will to his generation, also asks such a question, like Moshe Rabbeinu asks there in the Deuteronomy series, “lest there be among you a man or woman”, perhaps there is among you someone who needs strengthening, whom we must quickly return in repentance. So ah, Yaakov Avinu didn’t say what I will say before this. No, but the Ramban brings that… No, how do we see that it’s knowledge that one should ask before he dies such a question?

Like Moshe says, yes. But there actually, I cry a bit for this. And the same thing here, Moshe asked “lest there be among you”. Says the Ramban, that if here there is a tradition that Yaakov already asked this, perhaps there is one of my children who has, probably not, and if yes I will quickly expel him, yes.

“Shema Yisrael” — The Answer of the Tribes

“They all answered and said to him”, all twelve children answered, “Shema Yisrael”, and this is Yisrael, they are speaking to Yisrael, to Yaakov Avinu, and they say, “Hashem is our God, Hashem is One”. That is, “Hear from us, our father Yisrael”, the other ways have taken that “Shema Yisrael” speaks to every Jew, but Moshe Rabbeinu says “Shema Yisrael”, listen Jew. But he says no, that this already has an older tradition, that this is the language that the twelve tribes answered to Yaakov. He says, “Hear from us”, listen from us, our father Yisrael, no, we all believe that “Hashem is our God, Hashem is One”, the Hashem who is our God, we have only one God. This is what the tribes said.

The elder opened and answered, the elder answered, “and said Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever”. He thanked the Almighty, he rejoiced. Or it could be that they perhaps thought that perhaps, perhaps they pronounced it with the explicit Name, and he answered “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever” like the Kohanim and the people. Because they answered, you shouldn’t think that I’m stuck on the Baal or on I don’t know which Baal Peor, “Hashem is our God, Hashem is One”. He quickly said “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever”.

What Is the Meaning of “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto”?

Is it a good explanation? Like it says that when the Kohen Gadol says the explicit Name we say “Baruch Shem”. It’s not a deletion, “Baruch Shem” means that it’s weak. “Baruch Shem kevod malchuto” is a weak answer. But it’s also like when we praise the Almighty, like we say as it were “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever”. This is not the explanation. The reason why we say “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever” when we say the Name explicitly, as the Rabbis say, is not to delete it, it’s to honor the Almighty’s Name.

What has now been revealed? That we don’t say it for nothing. We now say a… we praise the Almighty. It works out for nothing. Hashem, blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom. We don’t say it as praise, it’s not forgiveness. But the fact is that initially we didn’t say it. But “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom” is the right thing. When we mention His Name we must praise, we must… As it says, “just as I call with greatness”, whatever the expressions are. So “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom” is simply such an answer.

Laws of Kriat Shema: Blessings of Kriat Shema, The Formula Established by the Sages, and the Order of the Blessings

Law 6: The Order of the Blessings — Morning and Evening

Speaker 1:

The Rambam says as follows: In the morning, the first blessing before it is Yotzer Or with the conclusion of Yotzer HaMeorot. The second is Ahavat Olam with HaBocher BeAmo Yisrael BeAhava. Afterwards, Emet VeYatziv with the blessing of Gaal Yisrael. And in the evening it is as follows: The first blessing before it at night is Maariv Aravim. The second is Ahavat Olam Beit Yisrael Amcha Ahavta. And the third… no, two after it. And after it is Emet VeEmunah and Hashkiveinu.

And these are the seven blessings. The one that some say, Baruch Hashem LeOlam, is not a blessing after Kriat Shema, you see it’s an extra blessing inserted there. Yes, it doesn’t come in here. I said it’s not… it’s not with Kriat Shema. It’s like an extra thing inserted. It’s claimed for Shemoneh Esreh, whatever, it’s a different story. Yes, there are two blessings before and one after in the morning, and two and two at night.

Now, the two blessings have… you said everything quickly, it makes it harder to learn. Not harder, I mean, the blessings… the Rambam didn’t say how the entire text of the blessings goes. The entire text of the blessings will be at the end of the book, in Nusach HaTefillah the Rambam will spell it out. But he says even the text of the blessings, he only says the headings, so you should know what we’re talking about. He says the laws of the blessing.

Law 7: The General Rule of Opening and Closing with Baruch

Speaker 1:

The blessing before it, whether the blessing before it, the first blessing, ah, yes, yes, whether by day or by night, the first one, the first that begins Maariv Aravim or Yotzer Or, begins with “Baruch Atah Hashem Yotzer Or” or “Baruch Atah Hashem Asher Bidvaro,” yes, begins with Baruch, and ends with “Baruch Atah Hashem Maariv Aravim” or “Baruch Atah Hashem Yotzer HaMeorot.”

But the other blessings, Ahavat Olam, don’t begin with “Baruch Atah Ahavat Olam,” they end with Baruch, they close on their own with Baruch, but the beginning doesn’t have an extra opening with a blessing, just as Emet VeYatziv VeNachon doesn’t have an opening with Baruch.

Apparently this is simply the rule, I mean he will go read and say the rule later in Hilchot Berachot, but this is apparently the usual simple rule, that when you say two blessings in order, the second doesn’t come with a beginning of Baruch. So even though here there is an interruption of Kriat Shema, but it’s not considered an interruption regarding the blessings, so even the blessing after it doesn’t begin with Baruch, but it ends with Baruch. So I remember there is a rule, but here he doesn’t say the rule, he says here the specific law. Only the first blessing of all two sets begins with Baruch.

Law 8: The Formula Established by the Sages — One May Not Change the Formula

Speaker 1:

Now we’re going to learn what happens if a Jew holds, he holds differently, he wants to do… we’ve now learned laws that first, one must make the expressions perhaps? One must see if we also have the expressions, in any case, that the first has a Baruch and not the second. What if someone wants to do differently? We’re going to learn the law that one may not do differently. One must do as the order of the… what they just said stands.

The Rambam says, “These blessings, together with all the other blessings arranged in the mouths of all Israel,” these blessings, and the same thing all other blessings that are arranged in the mouths of all Israel, that Jews clearly know the blessings, it’s known among Jews. Ah, perhaps this is the reason, because before this he perhaps doesn’t say right away what it means, because all Jews don’t know. “Ezra and his court established them,” this was established by Ezra the Scribe with his court. The court that is called in other places Anshei Knesset HaGedolah, we will learn about this explicitly at the beginning of Hilchot Tefillah.

The Rambam says, “And therefore no person is permitted to subtract from them or to add to them.” Because such an important court established it, and consequently it became accepted, a person doesn’t have permission, it’s no longer just some suggestion, like Ezra made an example, but you can say your own blessings. No, as Ezra established it, and it already became arranged in the mouths of all Israel this way, one cannot add or subtract.

Discussion: What Does “Changing the Formula” Mean?

Speaker 2:

But I want to understand, does the Rambam here mean that if a person for example hurries, he wants to leave out words from the order of for example “VeTishkon BeToch Yerushalayim,” he wants to leave out there the “UVneh Otah Binyan Olam” the whole piece, he may not, because the blessing was arranged this way? Or the part of “Baruch,” the beginning with Baruch and ending with Baruch, that cannot be changed? I mean the next piece… it seems the Rambam means one of these.

Speaker 1:

So, let’s learn further, yes? It’s not clear. The Rambam simply holds that one must say, first of all one must see what the text is. One must look whether the Rambam says the versions at all or not. There is indeed a dispute among Geonim and Rishonim whether one must say it specifically. But whatever the text is, the customs of Israel, what’s in our siddur doesn’t yet mean the customs of Israel. It could be that the Rambam had a different text.

But the Rambam apparently holds, first of all what’s written here doesn’t say that. It says here apparently only that one does differently than the order. But the truth is, the Rambam says here in Hilchot Tefillah, and there are responsa about this, the Rambam held that certainly ideally one should say exactly the text that’s written, that was established. He holds that in the Avodah one can add, just as the piyutim one adds, although it’s not maintained, but it’s the subject of the blessing, so one cannot say it’s forbidden. But what’s being discussed here apparently is the topic of opening with Baruch and closing with Baruch. But it’s the true dispute of Rishonim. The Rambam apparently holds that changing the formula means one must do the whole thing as it’s written.

Specific Law: Opening with Baruch and Closing with Baruch

Speaker 1:

Let’s see what the Rambam says. “Where they established to close with Baruch,” places where Ezra and his court established that the blessing should end with Baruch, “one is not permitted not to close,” one may not just say the beginning and not end with Baruch. “And where they established not to close,” a place, a blessing where, for example, which blessing begins with Baruch and doesn’t end with Baruch?

Speaker 2:

All blessings of enjoyment for example. Ah? Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro, and the like. By Kiddush, the second blessing.

Speaker 1:

But very many blessings, all short blessings. It’s called a short blessing, because it’s only once. One doesn’t end Shehakol Nihyeh Bidvaro Baruch Atah Hashem. One may not add, “one is not permitted to close.” “Where they established not to open with Baruch,” like for example one begins “Ahavah Rabbah Ahavtanu,” “one is not permitted to open,” one may not add a Baruch. “And where they established to open,” also “one is not permitted not to open,” one may not remove the beginning, one may not begin “Asher Bidvaro Bara Olamo” instead of saying “Baruch Atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech HaOlam.”

“The general rule is, anyone who changes from the formula that the Sages established” from the text that the Sages established the blessings is cast out.

Speaker 2:

And?

Speaker 1:

And what, the language of Chazal is also cast out or a bit sharper than that?

Speaker 2:

Cast out, and he has not fulfilled his obligation. Consequently, he must go back and bless according to the formula the Sages established.

Discussion: What Does “Formula” Mean?

Speaker 1:

I think that the formula the Sages established is perhaps such a metaphor, just as when a government makes a currency, not everyone can now take a printing machine and make, but if yes they’ll arrest you, it’s that. One says just as our currency is blessings, you cannot, it has a… yes? It’s a good explanation, that’s what they meant.

Speaker 2:

That’s the meaning.

Speaker 1:

I say that’s the metaphor. He says further, matbea is as they meant, matbea is an expression of teva, a custom, as the Rambam says teva minhago shel olam, a custom.

Speaker 2:

No, teva as an expression of teva is later, it’s the opposite, it came from here. In other words, the expression teva is an innovation of the Rishonim, and the Chazal didn’t know that teva means nature. It’s the opposite, I mean that teva means literally, you know, like a stamp. That is, just as a coin was stamped, one has a teviah, one can say, yes, teviah like the Sea of Reeds, but it means that he dipped or stamped in the coin. That is, they stamped, meaning they engraved the text.

Speaker 1:

No, I mean that this is the comparison, that currency belongs to the government and blessings belong to the court.

Speaker 2:

No, but that’s what I’m saying, it’s more the stamping, that is, they sealed, they said that this is the text, you shouldn’t make a… one must look at other places where this sort of metaphor appears. But matbea doesn’t mean a coin, matbea means a thing, technically, literally, it means a thing that has a seal, such a ring that has a seal, it could be that the ring is not necessarily a ring, perhaps such a thing. A thing that has a seal, a thing that is stamped, teva means they engraved in the coin.

Speaker 1:

Okay.

Law 8 (Continued): Emet VeYatziv in the Morning, Emet VeEmunah in the Evening

Speaker 1:

And another interesting law that I don’t understand what… He says further, “Anyone who doesn’t say Emet VeYatziv in the morning, and Emet VeEmunah in the evening,” the blessing after it, “has not fulfilled his obligation,” he has not fulfilled the obligation. So what can one say that he has not fulfilled his obligation? That he didn’t read Kriat Shema according to the enactment. That is, he apparently fulfilled the positive commandment, and he didn’t do the commandment of Kriat Shema in the manner that the Sages established it. He has not fulfilled the obligation of the blessings of Kriat Shema.

So this is the language of the Gemara, the other language Rava said, he said specifically the language. The Rambam often brings such languages from the Gemara after he explains the rule, and one doesn’t know clearly what he wants. This is first of all something the Rambam does often.

Rabbi Rabinowitz’s Explanation

Speaker 1:

And Rabbi Rabinowitz argues that the Rambam means here to say that this is another law of changing the formula the Sages established. In other words, the Rambam understands that the law means, and so he brings from the responsa of the Rambam where it’s implied so, that since one may not change, someone says, what’s the difference Emet VeYatziv or Emet VeEmunah? It means approximately the same thing. I’ll say Emet VeEmunah in the morning, Emet VeYatziv at night. No, he has not fulfilled his obligation, the simple meaning is that the Rambam learns that he should repeat it, he should say the correct text. One may not switch the expressions. So here one sees that there is indeed literally every word that is precise. Although one can say that this is a stringency of the Sages, that this should be precise, other things one can indeed switch. But what here seems yes, that the Rambam learns from this that it’s precise on every word, that one must say VeYatziv in the morning and VeEmunah at night.

Discussion: What Does “Has Not Fulfilled His Obligation” Mean?

Speaker 2:

Ah, that the order should be specifically in this manner. The text, the exact words. Yes. But it could be that “has not fulfilled his obligation” means that he has not fulfilled Kriat Shema according to the custom of Chazal to say with blessings.

Speaker 1:

No, because he’s missing the commandment of Kriat Shema. Because Kriat Shema comes with blessings. He has not fulfilled his obligation of the Torah commandment of Kriat Shema.

Speaker 2:

No, he has not fulfilled his obligation of the Torah commandment of Kriat Shema, because the Torah commandment of Kriat Shema indeed goes up with the blessings of Kriat Shema. In other words, he will repeat, he will need to repeat and pray, say again.

Speaker 1:

But it says he must read Kriat Shema again.

Speaker 2:

No, this is a blessing after it, I don’t know.

Speaker 1:

No, it’s after Kriat Shema. Ah, he switched Ahavah Rabbah to Ahavat Olam? Yes, such a thing could be.

Law 9: If One Put the Second Blessing Before the First

Speaker 1:

So the Rambam says further. Now we’re going to learn if one switched the order of the blessings. That is, we’ve now learned that the blessings themselves must be done in the correct manner, with an opening and a closing, one may not turn a head. What if I mistakenly or deliberately, I don’t know, said Ahavah Rabbah before HaMaariv Aravim? Can I learn that then it’s not invalidating, because the whole is before, because then what I said doesn’t fit, the reasons that I said opening and blessing that comes after. In any case, let’s learn. Yes?

Time of Reciting Shema — Laws 1-4

Law 2 (Continued) — Order of Blessings and Law of Errors in Blessings

Speaker 1:

This is not… not made an order. Very good, he brings this already. Somewhere where the order happened. It could be that the order wasn’t made by Ezra, but later by the Sages. One order means… ah, I mean that one interpretation is that it’s not simple that Ahavas Olam is a continuation of this. It’s essentially two blessings, it’s two topics that they wanted to speak about before Krias Shema, but it’s not that if one does it backwards it’s a problem.

The only thing that’s difficult is that we just said earlier that the reason we don’t end with “Baruch” by the first and not by the second is because that’s how the order goes, one doesn’t need to say “Baruch” again. It comes out that perhaps if one does the reverse order, he should begin with “Baruch” by the second, even if he says Ahavas Olam, he should begin “Baruch Atah Hashem,” I don’t know what.

So he brings that here indeed the Maggid disagreed with this question. But anyway, perhaps this is also not me’akev. Perhaps, that is, I said that perhaps the idea is that the first blessing begins with “Baruch,” it’s a law in “first” or it’s a law in “Hamaariv Aravim.” If one says the first, if it’s one order of blessings, perhaps he can even lechatchila, perhaps this is only bedieved. He wants only lechatchila to say Ahavas Olam before this, but he must say “Baruch,” because the law is that the first blessing begins with “Baruch.” But most likely the whole thing is bedieved, anyway.

Law of Error in Blessings — We Follow the Conclusion

Now we’re going to learn another thing, what happens if one got mixed up. That is, he began… there’s a beginning and an end to each blessing. It begins with Hamaariv Aravim, and it ends with Hamaariv Aravim, yes? What if one begins with the wrong blessing? Yes, one begins with the… one got mixed up, one thought it was morning or vice versa.

Yes, in the morning, if one began with Yotzer Or, but at the conclusion of the blessing one said Hamaariv Aravim, lo yatza. Why lo yatza? Because he was meshaneh from the matbei’a shetav’u chachamim, right? No, because he made a mistake, he said the wrong blessing. He got mixed up, he says… we go mainly by the conclusion. So says the Rambam, yes.

But patach beMaariv Aravim vesiyem beYotzer Or, yatza. Because at the end he said correctly. Because the “Baruch Atah Hashem Yotzer Or,” he made the wrong blessing, but since at the end he said the correct one, he was yotzei. So says the Rambam here. We follow the final language, we follow the end.

He’s going to explain the principle here. Says the Rambam in Law 2, patach beMaariv Aravim vesiyem beYotzer Or, lo yatza. But patach beYotzer Or vesiyem beMaariv Aravim, yatza, shekol haberachot holchin achar chatimatam. In the blessings we look mainly at the conclusion of the blessings.

This is a Gemara in Berachos, about this there’s a great dispute, the Rishonim understand they disagree with the Rambam. Anyway, this is the Rambam’s principle. And one will learn, if one has nerves and time to learn the whole sugya and all the disputes, here itself in Kesef Mishneh and such, he’ll say if it’s correct. Because in the Gemara it’s implied that there are other Tannaim, it depends what he thought, he made an error in language, he had in mind at the beginning the correct things. But the Rambam makes it so simple, it’s all dependent on what one says at the end. If you say at the beginning the wrong beginning, that’s no difference.

So says the Rambam, there is in Hilchos Berachos for other errors, yes, he didn’t know which blessing he’s going to make. Okay.

This is until here what we’ve learned the text of Krias Shema. Now, what one says Krias Shema itself, and afterwards the text of the blessings of Krias Shema.

—

Law 3 — Time of Krias Shema of Evening

Now we’re going to learn the time of Krias Shema, when one recites Krias Shema. Says the Rambam further, it’s still all in the time of Krias Shema, now he’s going to go into the details.

Says the Rambam, eizehu zeman Krias Shema balailah? Mitzvosah mishe’as tzeis hakochavim ad chatzos halailah. This is the main mitzvah, the mitzvah behiddur, one should do it at night, one should do it from tzeis hakochavim, from the beginning of night until midnight.

Ve’im avar o icher vekara ad shelo alah amud hashachar, yatza yedei chovaso. If he delayed and he still recited before dawn, before amud hashachar, before daybreak, he is yotzei yedei chovaso, like the first Mishnah in Berachos.

Umah she’amru ad chatzos, the reason why Chazal said until midnight is not because afterwards one can’t, from the main law one can afterwards until morning, ela kedei leharachik min hapeshi’ah, because afterwards is already the order that people will be drawn to sleep, with sleeping, with forgetting, so it’s a distancing. Yes. This wasn’t changed, it’s only a time, it’s only a boundary, a fence. It’s a fence, one may not, one must lechatchila recite before this. If he didn’t, he was yotzei.

After Alos Hashachar — Only for Ones

He says, hakorei Krias Shema shel arvis, what is afterwards? That is, they learned, when does it begin without doubt, it begins at night, Krias Shema of evening begins at tzeis hakochavim, it ends until alos hashachar. But what is after alos hashachar?

Hakorei Krias Shema shel arvis achar she’alah amud hashachar, afilu im kara kodem hanetz hachamah, lo yatza yedei chovaso, ela im ken hayah ones, kegon shikor vecholeh vechayotzei bahem. Then, because he was an ones, we give him still. It means, until hanetz hachamah means still night. Hanetz hachamah means still a bit of night, and because he was an ones, so, well, we’ll let him.

He says, there’s an interesting thing, lo yatza yedei chovaso, but an ones, a worker is also the same thing, because they can make another effort to hold by the saying. I mean no, the takanah is different than the Chachamim.

But here stands a new chiddush, that bedieved gadol one can recite Krias Shema of evening still until hanetz hachamah, not only until alos hashachar, but until hanetz hachamah. And but there’s one difference.

Ones Doesn’t Say Hashkiveinu

Says the Rambam, the onesim mean that because he’s an ones, now night begins. It doesn’t work that way. There are people who think the clock revolves around them.

Ve’eino korei berachah shelifaneha, birchas Hashkiveinu. He can’t now say that now it’s becoming night, and we’re now making a blessing of Hashkiveinu Hashem Elokeinu, which means a blessing of asking for night. The blessing he says, indeed because Krias Shema is d’Oraisa, we say that one should still catch as long as there’s still something that’s called still a bit of night. But the blessing of night this one can’t say.

Hashkiveinu means that one is now going to sleep, this is a prayer for what one is going to sleep, one doesn’t see now. Even if the drunkard is now going to sleep, but it means asking for the lying down of people, asking the Almighty to protect the people when they sleep and the like.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, this is not, it’s not, it says something clearer, no, true? It says “bayom,” it’s working to the opposite. It says “bayom,” so Hashkiveinu one doesn’t say because it says “bayom.”

Speaker 1:

And on the other hand, it’s the time of lying down, since he’s now going to sleep, and there are people who will sleep still until netz, it means yes “uveshochbecha” regarding the verse “uveshochbecha” it means yes, but regarding the word “Hashkiveinu” it means no. It could be that “Hashkiveinu” is when you go to sleep, and “uveshochbecha” is the sleeping itself. When you go to sleep.

He brings that Rabbeinu Yonah said that he can say yes the blessing, he should just say “Hashkimeinu” instead of “Hashkiveinu.” About the question of the language, the language “Hashkiveinu” doesn’t fit, it’s not a thing that one is now going to do. Rabbeinu Yonah was an ish tzaddik. So brings the Kesef Mishneh.

I don’t see here Rabbeinu Yonah himself, he said Rabbeinu Yonah? The Rambam comes from Rabbeinu Yonah’s grandchildren, ah, so we don’t have this yet. Okay. So he indeed says? He says nice things, he says “al mah she’anu omrim kedei she’yomru rabanan acharav,” okay, it doesn’t come in. So he says that Rabbeinu Yonah has nice things. Okay.

So this is the topic of the time of Krias Shema of night, when it begins and when it ends. There are basically three times when it ends: chatzos, alos hashachar, and netz hachamah, three levels of bedieved.

—

Law 4 — Time of Krias Shema of Morning

Now we can learn about the time of Krias Shema during the day. When is the Krias Shema of day, of morning? The Rambam already says “day,” morning, of day.

Ve’eizehu zemanah bayom? Misheyakir bein techeles lelavan. Ah, the same thing as here, also here two levels. First of all, misheyakir bein techeles lelavan, sheyachol likro kodem hanetz hachamah. It’s interesting, before hanetz hachamah, if it’s still the time of lying down for an ones, why should one already then begin the morning?

No no, kedei sheyigmor likrosah im berachoseha, ah, it means, he should begin making the blessings from before, he should say so that when it’s netz hachamah… no no, berachah acharonah means berachah she’acharav. Berachah acharonah means yes, berachah she’acharav. It means he’s going to say Krias Shema closer, he’s going to daven at netz hachamah. But yes, he’s going to finish Krias Shema im berachoseha before netz hachamah. This is the mitzvah.

Because, we learned this, this you have drunks who go to sleep late, doesn’t mean normal people. Normal people get up before netz hachamah. So about this, the mitzvah is that lechatchila is, begin before netz hachamah, and so that it can finish the other words, a bit before netz hachamah, this is the time of Krias Shema.

The Rav says, what’s the measure? Veshi’ur zeh, kemo isar sha’ah, a tenth of an hour, kodem sheta’aleh hashemesh. Aha, about six minutes, correct. One sees here also that one must recite steadily. It means that from Krias Shema until Ga’al Yisrael, about six minutes.

Speaker 2:

From Yotzer Or?

Speaker 1:

From Yotzer Or, yes, okay, could be. It means, that it should come out clear, or from Yotzer Or, or from the second blessing. He should begin saying the blessings. Yes, okay. It should go quickly, six minutes, blessings of Krias Shema.

Bedieved — Until Three Hours

Further when, icher, bedieved dibbur, if he delayed and recited after netz hachamah, after the sun has risen yotzei dofan, what was yotzei, but shoneh sof, the main time of Krias Shema is ad shalosh sha’os bayom, lo avar ve’icher. Bedieved, eino sof, the ones, the time when one can still serve it is until three hours.

The holy Rambam one learns, that bedieved, mi she’avar, to the one who was over on this mitzvah to recite in time, that he delayed. True, the real Rambam is just to recite every day Krias Shema kifsukon, because the Rambam says explicitly that it’s a great bedieved to recite until what is the end time of Krias Shema. Well, mi she’avar ve’icher. So is the holy Rambam’s shittah.

Bedieved Earlier — From Amud Hashachar

And afterwards there’s another sort of bedieved. True, here another bedieved, it’s a bit earlier. Right? There’s a bedieved later, lechatchila is always netz hachamah, bedieved a bit after this, until three hours. And another bedieved, he recites from amud hashachar. Yes?

Mi shehikdim. Mi shehikdim vekara Krias Shema shel shacharis achar she’alah amud hashachar. And he didn’t wait for netz hachamah and then finish. Af al pi shehishlim kodem. He said the whole thing, still before it was netz hachamah. Means a lot before this, basically, before standing an hour. Yes.

The Rambam further, uvish’as had’chak, kegon shehayah mashkim laderech. He needs to get up early to travel. Including lechatchila mishaul holech das. That is, this is what I’m saying, that the whole thing is the fact that one can. He can wait a bit for you, he should be the correct time, wait. If he can’t, it’s indeed a lechatchila. Lechatchila means indeed literally, he plans himself lechatchila, he’s going to travel today, because he needs to get up at three, and at three he can’t recite Krias Shema.

Krias Shema After the Time — “Kekorei BaTorah” and Blessings Before and After

The Rambam’s Shittah: One Who Recites Krias Shema After Three Hours

The Rambam says, by the way, that he’s not yotzei anything. He’s not yotzei the mitzvah of Krias Shema be’onaso. But, he is yotzei, “harei hu kekorei baTorah”. When he recites Krias Shema it’s like reading in the Torah. So he is indeed yotzei a certain sort of Krias Shema which is called “korei baTorah.”

“Kekorei BaTorah” Is Not Nothing — Proof from “Umevarech Lefaneha Ule’achareha Kol Hayom”

So one must say, because look what he says further, “umevarech lefaneha ule’achareha kol hayom”. Blessings of Krias Shema he says the whole day, even if he davened after three hours.

That is, it seems that this “harei hu kekorei baTorah” doesn’t mean it’s nothing, like he’s learning a verse of Chumash. Learning a verse of Chumash, remembering the… he says indeed “lefaneha ule’achareha.” It’s an interesting thing. No, I’m saying, if it would have been just recited “korei baTorah,” there wouldn’t be any “lefaneha ule’achareha.” It’s interesting.

Precision in Language: “Lo Yatza Yedei Chovas Krias Shema Be’onaso” — Not “Lo Yatza Yedei Krias Shema”

And also, it doesn’t say “lo yatza yedei Krias Shema,” it says “lo yatza yedei chovas Krias Shema be’onaso”. That is, there’s no time name. There’s no time name of after three hours. But the mitzvos Krias Shema in a general way of reciting during the day is indeed here. Kekorei baTorah. But so it’s an ones, and therefore he makes a blessing. The blessings he can make the whole day, because what are the blessings? If there’s the time, what’s the difference? The time hasn’t gone away in the afternoon.

Analysis of the Blessings: Why Can One Say Them the Whole Day

No, the blessing lefaneha ule’achareha is indeed even the blessings that have to do with Krias Shema, but have no connection when that Krias Shema has an onah. It’s indeed kekorei baTorah, it’s indeed still more important than reciting other parts of the Torah. Wait, it’s still more important than reciting just verses, because these are indeed verses that have yichud Hashem, ve’ahavta, veyir’asam, and so on, that the Rambam calculated. And perhaps about this there are the blessings of lefaneha ule’achareha.

What Are the Blessings and What Is Their Connection to Krias Shema

No, what are the blessings? What do the blessings have with Krias Shema anyway? What are the blessings?

Ahavah Rabbah — Ahavah Rabbah speaks about ahavas haTorah, about this he says. Very good, what’s the problem? This is birchas haTorah. It’s birchas haTorah. Very good, so it’s indeed birchas haTorah, they inserted a birchas haTorah. Birchas haTorah one can make when one wants.

And what’s the first blessing? Yotzer Or — this has nothing with the time. The time doesn’t go away in the afternoon.

But the last blessing, Emes Veyatziv, that one says about yetzias Mitzrayim, about the truth that one just said, also, these are all good blessings. The blessings have nothing at all with the time. The blessings come in the whole time. But the mitzvah of reciting Krias Shema be’onasah one is not yotzei.

Very good. And we finished the chapter.

The Rambam’s Shittah in Comparison with Others — Chumra and Kula

What the Rambam learns there are certainly others who say differently, but this is the shittah of the Rambam. There are those who say one shouldn’t recite Krias Shema at all afterwards. One must know who says so.

The Rambam and Chatzos

The Rambam makes a distinction between chatzos and after chatzos. Chatzos has nothing with Krias Shema. There’s three hours, and afterwards there’s chatzos with Krias Shema. No one says that chatzos has with Krias Shema. Perhaps there’s a further word that he says about blessings of Krias Shema, but the Rambam doesn’t say so.

The Rambam’s Chumra and Kula

The Rambam has one chumra and one kula regarding what the world knows.

A great chumra, a great thing, the Rambam holds that the mitzvah lechatchila is to recite what we call vesikin, I won’t recite the words because the Rambam doesn’t bring the language, at hanetz hachamah. Everything else is bedieved.

Second, on the other hand the Rambam says that whoever recites later, that is even after four hours, he indeed is not yotzei at all the mitzvos Krias Shema be’onasah, but blessings and so on, kekorei baTorah, he indeed has.

Explanation in the Mishnah: “Hakorei Mikan Va’eilach Lo Hifsid Ke’adam Hakorei BaTorah”

That means the Rambam says that “k’korei baTorah” (like one who reads in the Torah) is not just something. It doesn’t mean that one shouldn’t do it, it means that one should indeed do it. That’s what the Mishnah says. “One who reads from here onward has not lost out, but is like one who reads in the Torah,” says the Mishnah.

In other words, the Mishnah means to say, I need to state the halacha for the people who get up late. The halacha is that if one gets up late, one should read Kriat Shema with the blessings. That’s what it says in the Mishnah. Well, the Mishnah certainly says with the blessings according to the Rambam, but certainly in the Mishnah it says one should read Kriat Shema.

“A person should not interrupt from Torah study” – don’t be foolish, a pleasure to read, a pleasure to read, he has learned a good piece of Torah, as you say, one of the most important portions in the Torah. It doesn’t mean that one is exempt, if one gets up later one is not exempt. There’s a distinction – one misses an important mitzvah of Kriat Shema at its proper time.