Berakhot 11a (יא.) — the Talmud in English

Gemara:

The Gemara raises a difficulty:

Granted, according to Beit Hillel, they explain their reasoning: “

as you go on your way,” which means in any position,

and

in this way they also answer

the reasoning of Beit Shammai,

and explain the verse that Beit Shammai cited as proof of their position in a different manner.

But according to Beit Shammai—

what is the reason they do not say

that the explanation of the verse, “when you lie down and when you rise,” is to be understood simply as referring to the times for reciting the Shema, and

in accordance with Beit Hillel?

The Gemara explains: Beit Shammai held that

if so,

the intent of the verse is to establish a time for reciting the Shema,

let the verse say, “in the morning

and in the evening” "

,”

so that there would be no doubt concerning the intent of the verse. And because of

what

did the verse state

“when you lie down and when you rise”?

Rather, necessarily, the intent of the verse “when you lie down and when you rise” is not only to establish a time for reciting the Shema, but also to establish the manner in which the Shema must be recited:

“when you lie down”—

he must recite it while actually in a state of

lying down. And “when you rise”—

he must recite it while actually in a state of

standing.

The Gemara asks:

And according to Beit Shammai, what do they do with this verse, “as you go on your way,”

from which Beit Hillel derived that a person recites the Shema in any position—

what do they do with it?

How do they interpret this verse?

The Gemara explains:

That verse—

they require it for that which was taught in a beraita,

to teach us this halakha: “

And you shall speak of them

when you sit in your house”—

excluding one who is engaged in a mitzva,

who is exempt from reciting the Shema.

“And as you go on your way”—

excluding a groom

who is occupied with thoughts of a mitzva, who is not required to interrupt his thoughts, but is exempt from the mitzva of reciting the Shema.

From here they said

the Sages:

One who marries a virgin,

who is preoccupied with thoughts of the mitzva of intercourse, is

exempt

from reciting the Shema.

And

one who marries

a widow is

obligated

to recite the Shema.

The Gemara analyzes:

What is the indication

from these verses that one engaged in a mitzva and a groom are excluded and exempt from reciting the Shema? The Gemara explains:

Rav Pappa said:

The word “way” is superfluous, and it comes to teach that his obligation is

like that of a

that of a

way,

meaning that “when you sit” and “as you go on your way” are compared to “way.”

Just as a way—

one who is going to engage in

an optional matter

is the subject of the verse, and only he is obligated to recite the Shema,

so too, everyone

who is engaged in or preoccupied with thought because of an

optional matter

is obligated to recite the Shema. This excludes one who is engaged in or preoccupied with thought because of a mitzva, which is not optional but obligatory, who is exempt from reciting the Shema.

The Gemara raises a difficulty: How do we know that the verse speaks only of one traveling for an optional purpose? After all, “way” is written without qualification,

and

is it not possible that

we are dealing

with a situation

in which he is going for the sake of a mitzva, and even so the Merciful One said that he should recite

the Shema?

The Gemara answers

If so,

that even one traveling on the way for the sake of a mitzva must recite the Shema,

let the Merciful One write “when he sits” and “when he goes”

on the way. And because of

what

did it write

“when you sit” and “as you go on your way”?

Necessarily, this is to teach that only

“when you sit” in your own manner and “when you go” in your own manner obligate you

to recite the Shema.

But

when going

or sitting for the sake of a mitzva, you are exempt,

you are exempt from reciting the Shema.

The Gemara raises a difficulty:

If so,

if, as you say, the reason a groom is exempt from reciting the Shema is that one engaged in a mitzva is exempt from a mitzva —

even one who marries a widow should also

be exempt, since he too is performing a mitzva.

The Gemara answers:

This one,

the one who marries a virgin, is

preoccupied

with thoughts of intercourse and is therefore exempt.

But this one,

the one who marries a widow, is

not preoccupied.

The Gemara asks:

If

the reason for the exemption is only

because of preoccupation—

even if his ship sank at sea, he should also

be exempt, since he is preoccupied with his distress.

And if you would say that this too is indeed the case,

that he too is truly exempt from reciting the Shema—this cannot be said, because if so,

why, why

did Rav Abba bar Zavda say in the name of Rav:

A person who is

a mourner

over his deceased relative, although he is preoccupied with his distress, is

obligated in all the mitzvot stated in the Torah, except for phylacteries, since it is stated with regard to them “splendor,” as it is stated

[Ezekiel 24:17]

“Your splendor is bound upon you.”

Since phylacteries require splendor, whereas a mourner is rolling in his distress in the dust, this is not splendor . This indicates that the mourner is exempt from the mitzva of phylacteries only for this reason. Why, then, should he not be exempt from the mitzva of phylacteries and from the other mitzvot as well, such as reciting the Shema, because of his preoccupation with the distress of his mourning?

The Gemara answers:

There,

in the case of one who marries a virgin, he is

preoccupied with a mitzva-related preoccupation,

and we learn from the verse that such preoccupation exempts one from reciting the Shema. But

here,

in the case of one whose ship sank at sea and in the case of a mourner, he is

preoccupied with an optional-matter preoccupation,

and such preoccupation does not exempt one from reciting the Shema. He is obligated to set aside his distress and recite the Shema.

And

since earlier Rav Pappa said that

Beit Shammai

held that “way” was stated to exclude “one engaged in a mitzva,” whereas here they derive this from the words “when you sit” and “as you go on your way,” it would appear that “way” is superfluous.

And the Gemara explains that

that “

way”

they require

to exclude

messengers of a mitzva,

who, although they are not yet engaged in the mitzva itself but are merely on the “way” to it, are nevertheless exempt from reciting the Shema].

And

the Gemara explains, conversely, the position of

Beit Hillel: how did they derive in the Mishna from “way” that “every person recites in his usual manner,” given that they too learn from “way” that one engaged in a mitzva is exempt from a mitzva?

How did they derive from “way” in the Mishna that “everyone recites according to his usual manner,” given that they too learn from “way” that one occupied with a mitzva is exempt from another mitzva?

They say

to you:

In any event, infer from this that

he recites the Shema even on the way, because it is evident that were it not for the preoccupation, one could recite the Shema in any position.

The Sages taught: Beit Hillel say: One stands and recites

the Shema, and likewise

one sits and recites

the Shema,

and

likewise

one reclines and recites

it while lying down, and likewise

one walks on the way and recites

the Shema. And likewise

one engages

in his work and recites

the Shema.

And there was an incident involving Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, who were reclining in one place

in the evening.

Rabbi Yishmael was reclining, and Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya was upright. When the time for reciting the Shema arrived, Rabbi Elazar reclined

to recite the Shema, in accordance with Beit Shammai, who hold that at night one must recite it while lying down,

and Rabbi Yishmael sat upright. Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said to Rabbi Yishmael: Yishmael, my brother! I will give you a parable

about what you have done.

What is this comparable to? It is comparable to someone to whom people say, “Your beard is grown out”

and very handsome.

He said to them:

Since you have praised and lauded it,

let it be placed before those who destroy it.

Let it be placed before a razor and scissors, with which I will destroy it! He is acting irrationally.

So too, you: all the time that I was upright,

you

were

reclining. Now that I have reclined

in order to recite the Shema, I am thereby praising your conduct when you were reclining, whereas

you sat upright

now!?

He said to him,

Rabbi Yishmael:

I,

who sat upright,

acted in accordance with the words of Beit Hillel,

who hold that even at night one need not recite the Shema while lying down.

And

you,

acted in accordance with the words of Beit Shammai.

Moreover,

I did not do so only for this reason—

but

for an additional reason:

lest the students see

what you did and think that the halakha follows Beit Shammai,

and establish the halakha for generations.

The Gemara analyzes:

What is the meaning of “moreover”?

Why did Rabbi Yishmael need an additional reason?

The Gemara explains: Rabbi Yishmael meant to say that you should not find this difficult:

And perhaps Beit Hillel too agree with “one reclines,”

and it is permissible to recite the Shema while lying down. If so, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya’s reclining is no proof that he holds in accordance with Beit Shammai.

That is not so, for

this applies only when

Beit Hillel hold that one may recite it while lying down specifically in a situation

where he was already reclining from the outset,

and continues reclining and recites the Shema. In that case, it is proper to do so even according to Beit Hillel.

But here,

since until now you were upright, and only now, in order to fulfill the mitzva of reciting the Shema, you brought yourself

into a reclining position, they will say

the students who see you and me reciting the Shema while reclining:

Infer from this that they hold in accordance with Beit Shammai.

And there is concern

lest the students see this and establish the halakha for generations

in accordance with Beit Shammai; therefore, in order to prevent this error, I sat upright.

Rav Yeḥezkel taught: If

a person

acted

in accordance with

in accordance with the words of Beit Shammai,

for example, he reclined to recite the nighttime Shema or stood to recite the morning Shema—

he has acted properly!

His recitation while reclining is considered a mitzva, since he fulfills his obligation even according to Beit Hillel.

If he

acted in accordance with the words of Beit Hillel

and did not recline in the evening or stand in the morning—

he has acted properly,

he fulfilled his obligation, because the halakha follows Beit Hillel.

Rav Yosef said: If he acted in accordance with the words of Beit Shammai,

for example, he was upright and reclined to recite the nighttime Shema —

he has accomplished nothing!

It is not considered a mitzva for him at all, because the position of Beit Shammai in a place where Beit Hillel is authoritative is not regarded as a valid position.

And proof of this is brought from the following:

as we learned [

Sukka 28a]:

One who was

in a large sukka, but only

his head and most of his body were in the sukka, while

if

his table was inside the house

although the sukka itself was not invalid -

Beit Shammai deem him unfit;

they prohibit eating in it, as a decree lest he be drawn outside while eating, and if he ate, he did not fulfill his obligation;

and Beit Hillel deem him fit.

Beit Hillel said to Beit Shammai:

There is proof for our position:

It happened that the elders of Beit Shammai and the elders of Beit Hillel went to visit Rabbi Yohanan ben HaḤoranit. They found him sitting with his head and most of his body in the sukka, while his table was inside the house, and they said nothing to him—

the elders of Beit Shammai

said nothing.

They said to them—

Beit Shammai said to Beit Hillel: Is it really

from there

there a

proof

for your position? On the contrary, from there there is proof for our position. For

even they,

the elders of Beit Shammai,

said to him

to Rabbi Yohanan ben HaḤoranit:

If this is how you conducted yourself

always—

you never fulfilled the mitzva of sukka in your entire life!

Rav Yosef reasoned that just as Beit Shammai said that one who transgresses their decree and acts according to Beit Hillel has not thereby fulfilled the mitzva, so too, according to Beit Hillel, if one acted according to Beit Shammai and reclined while reciting the Shema, he did not fulfill the mitzva by doing so, because this could lead to a mishap: if he would be unable to recline, he might not recite the Shema at all.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: One who acts in accordance with the statement of Beit Shammai—

is liable to death

at the hands of Heaven.

As we learned

in our Mishna:

Rabbi Tarfon said: I was traveling on the road, and I reclined to recite the Shema in accordance with the statement of Beit Shammai, thereby endangering myself because of robbers. The Sages said to him:

“

You deserved to incur harm upon yourself

because

you transgressed the statement of Beit Hillel.”

Mishna:

In the morning—

one recites

two blessings before it,

before reciting the Shema: the blessing of Yotzer Or and Ahava Rabba;

and one afterward,

Emet Veyatziv.

And in the evening—

one recites two blessings before it

HaMa'ariv Aravim and Ahavat Olam,

and two afterward,

Emet ve-Emuna and Hashkivenu [and they instituted these seven blessings corresponding to that which is stated in Psalms: “Seven times a day I praise You”].

The two blessings recited afterward in the evening—

one is long:

Emet ve-Emuna;

and one is short,

Hashkivenu.

Where they said to lengthen

the wording of the blessing, such as in the blessing of Emet ve-Emuna—

he may not shorten

the wording of the blessing.

And where they said

to shorten

the blessing, such as Hashkivenu—

he may not lengthen

the wording.

Where they instituted

that the blessing be concluded

with “Blessed”—

he may not

recite the blessing and

not conclude it

with that formula.

And if they instituted

that it not be concluded

in a blessing, such as the blessings over fruits and mitzvot—

he may not

recite the blessing and

conclude it.

Gemara:

The Gemara inquires:

What does one recite

in the morning, two blessings before it?

The Gemara explains:

Rabbi Yaakov said that Rabbi Oshaya said: