C-1.1.1:COMMENT

"RECITE THEM..WHEN YOU LIE DOWN AND WHEN YOU GET UP" --the passage is not entirely clear. The main questions that concern us are:
  1. What exactly is to be recited?

  2. When is it to be recited?

As to the first question, the meaning of the passage might be that the whole of God's teachings should be recited.Thus the medieval Spanish commentator Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra writes as follows: "The true meaning of `these words' is: All the commandments."

Other commentators claim that it refers

Regarding the second question: The point of the passages seems to be that person should continually be reciting at every minute of their day through all their activities,

The halakhah, however, gave a different interpretation to the verses in question. According to most talmudic sources, it is presumed that the Bible is here commanding that the two passages in Deuteronomy are to be recited at specific times. This recitation is known as the "Shema'," according to the first word of the Hebrew text of Deuteronomy 6:4 ("Hear...")

When you feel that you understand this passage, Question try to answer the following questions

C-1.1.2COMMENT

The special ways the Rabbis have of reading the verses of the Bible (or other sacred texts) are called "midrash" --a concept with which we will be dealing a great deal. The function of the midrash in our case appears to have been to turn an infinite (and therefore ultimately impossible-to-fulfill) command--to recite a limitless body of teaching (the divine Torah) through one's entire life--into a reasonable and finite obligation. The mechanics of midrashic exegesis appear to be a trivialization of a lofty ideal. However such literalism can frequently be a pretext for deeper theological or spiritual ideas. In our case too, the fact that Jewish law orders us to read the Shema' passages is not merely the result of an artificial way of reading the Bible, but reflects an emphasis on certain values and ideas which the Rabbis considered central to Jewish belief.

It should be noted that some of the talmudic sages were aware of the fact that the halakhic reading of Deuteronomy 6:7 was not the original meaning of the text. Thus we find in the Talmud tractate Berakhot 21a an opinion that the recitation of the Shema' is to be regarded as merely an ordinance of the Rabbis, not as a commandment of the Torah. When confronted with an objection from the Biblical verse, the Babylonian Amora Abaye retorts that Scripture is referring in general to `words of Torah," not to a particular formally defined passage.

Return to the "text" frame (the left-hand column).

C-1.2.1: COMMENT

For an introduction to the Mishnah, turn to the detailed presentation at the "A Page of Talmud" Web site.

After reading it, return to the "text" frame (the left-hand column).

C-1.5: COMMENT

"RECITE THE SHEMA'" --Note how the Mishnah is presuming that there is an obligation to recite the passages: Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Deuteronomy 11:13-21; and Numbers 15:37-41 in the evening and in the morning.

Question Proceed now to answer some questions.