Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 60 - Laws Relating to Blessings for Recitation of Shema and Whether this Recitation Requires Concentration

SECTION 60 Laws Relating to the Blessings for the Recitation of the Shema and Whether this Recitation Requires Concentration. (1–5)

1 Our Sages differed with regard to the opening phrase of the second blessing [before the Shema].1 Some say [that it should begin with the words] Ahavah Rabbah (“With abounding love”) and others say [it should begin with] Ahavas Olam Ahavtanu (“With everlasting love You have loved us”). The Geonim decided the issue: Ahavah Rabbah should be said in the morning and Ahavas Olam in the evening. This is the custom in these countries.2

Why does this blessing not begin with Baruch... (“Blessed [are You, G‑d...])? Because it follows in direct sequence to the blessing Yotzer Or, and the phrase Baruch... [which begins that blessing] is sufficient for it.3

2 The blessings are not indispensable elements of the Shema. If one recited it without its blessings, he has fulfilled his obligation to recite the Shema,4 [but] he should then recite the blessings later without reciting the Shema. For the blessings of the Shema do not resemble the blessings for the other mitzvos, which are recited only before the mitzvah is performed.5 [This is indicated by the fact that in these blessings,] one does not [praise G‑d] “Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to recite the Shema,” as was explained in sec. 59[:4]. Nevertheless, it is desirable to recite the Shema again together with its blessings.6 If one did not recite the Shema again and did not recite its blessings, he has nevertheless fulfilled his obligation to recite the Shema. [This applies] whether it was an individual or a congregation that acted in this manner.

3 The order of the blessings is not an indispensable requirement. If one recited the second blessing before the first, he has [nevertheless] fulfilled his obligation [to recite] the blessings.

The second blessing does not begin with Baruch... and [thus does not mention G‑d’s sovereignty]. Although, [as a rule,] any blessing that does not recall G‑d’s sovereignty is not a blessing,7 [this case is exceptional]. Since it was ordained that it be recited in direct sequence to another blessing,8 [G‑d’s] sovereignty is not mentioned at its beginning even when it is recited independently.

4 The remembrance of [(a)] the [Giving of the Torah at] Mount Sinai, [(b)] the [attack] by Amalek, [(c)] Miriam’s [punishment for her criticism of Moshe] and [(d)] [the sin of] the Golden Calf are all positive commandments explicit in the Torah.9 Some authorities maintain that it is a mitzvah to recall the Shabbos every day.10 It is desirable that these [events] be recalled in proximity to the Shema; [hence they are alluded to in the blessing that precedes it.]11

When one says U’Vanu Vacharta (“and You chose us”), he should recall the Giving of the Torah;12 VeKeiravtanu (“and You drew us close”) alludes to Mount Sinai; LeShimcha HaGadol (“to Your great name”) — this alludes to the attack by Amalek, for the Divine name will not be complete until the seed [of Amalek] is obliterated;13 LeHodos Lecha (“to thankfully acknowledge You”) — this alludes to the incident involving Miriam, for the mouth was created to give thanks [to G‑d] and not to gossip.

The phrase U’Zechartem es Kol Mitzvos A‑donai (“and you shall recall all the commandments of G‑d”)14 alludes to Shabbos, which is equivalent to all the mitzvos.15

There is an authority who says that one should recall the Golden Calf while saying (LeYachedcha) BeAhavah (“to proclaim Your unity with love”),16 i.e., in contrast to those who made the Golden Calf at that time who did not [act] with love towards the Holy One, blessed be He.

5 When observing any mitzvah, one must be intent on fulfilling his obligation17 by performing the mitzvah at hand. If one performed it without intending to fulfill his obligation, but rather in the course of acting casually, without any particular intent,18 or [if he performed it] for another intent, not for the sake of the mitzvah, then according to Scriptural law he has not fulfilled his obligation.

Some authorities, however, maintain that [after the fact] the requirement to be intent [on fulfilling one’s obligation] when observing the mitzvos is not indispensable; after the fact, even if one performed them casually, without any particular intent, he has fulfilled his obligation. The halachah follows the first opinion.19

To what does the above apply? To Scriptural commandments.20 With regard to Rabbinic commandments, some authorities maintain that the halachah rules that [after the fact, such an] intent is not indispensable. Other authorities differ, as will be explained in sec. 475[:29].21 The recitation of the Shema is a Scriptural commandment and according to all views must be observed with the required intent.

Even according to those who maintain that even with regard to Scriptural commandments, fulfilling one’s obligation is not conditional on one’s intention to do so, with regard to the recitation of the Shema [a different requirement remains]: one must understand what he is saying. The intention which [after the event] is dispensable is the intention to fulfill one’s obligation. One must, however, concentrate on the matter at hand; i.e., he should not think of other matters, so that he accept [the yoke of] the Kingdom of Heaven with full-hearted commitment. [This mitzvah] is not comparable to other mitzvos, i.e., commandments requiring action. With regard to them, as long as one performed the mitzvah, even if he did not intend [to fulfill his obligation thereby], he did do the action required by the mitzvah;22 it is only that it was not done in the choicest manner. Needless to say, if one did intend to fulfill his obligation while observing [one of those other mitzvos], all authorities agree that he has indeed fulfilled it, even if intermittently he had other things on his mind. The recitation of the Shema and Shemoneh Esreh, however, focus respectively on the acceptance of the Kingdom of Heaven and the sequential praises [of G‑d];23 hence it is inappropriate that one’s heart should be distracted towards other matters.

All the above applies with regard to the first verse of the Shema, i.e., Shema Yisrael,24 which is the main expression of one’s acceptance of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the first blessing of Shemoneh Esreh. From the verse VeAhavta onward, [a lack of] concentrated intent does not — after the fact — disqualify one’s recitation. Even if, at the time for the recitation of the Shema one was [merely] reading the Torah scroll or checking the scribal writing of these passages, he has fulfilled his obligation even though he did not have that intent, provided he concentrated while reciting the first verse.25

(The26 rationale is that the fundamental [obligation] to recite the Shema involves only the first verse, for that is a Scriptural obligation. [With regard to] the remainder, which was ordained by the Sages, concentrated intention was required only as an initial preference. [After the fact,] if one recited the remainder without intention, he need not recite it again, regardless of whether he read it without the intent to fulfill his obligation or without concentrating on the meaning.

(Even according to the authorities who maintain that even mitzvos of Rabbinic origin require that one have the intent to fulfill his obligation, the recitation of [the remainder of] the Shema [is,] nevertheless, [an exception]. For what is required here is not the performance of an action, but the acceptance of the Kingdom of Heaven and the yoke of the mitzvos — and this acceptance depends on understanding the concepts [of which those passages speak]. Therefore, since [our Sages] did not require one to recite the passages again because his concentration on the meaning was lacking, they also did not require him to repeat them because he lacked the intent to fulfill his obligation. What value could there be in repeating words spoken without any feeling? It is enough that they required him to recite them every day, for this will lead him on most occasions to accept [these concepts] in his heart. For at the outset they did require that one concentrate; it is only that if it so happened that he did not concentrate [while reciting the Shema], they did not require that he repeat it.

(By contrast, according to those27 who maintain that [reciting the passage(s) from] VeAhavta onward is also required by Scriptural Law, one must intend to fulfill one’s obligation [when reciting] everything that Scriptural Law [requires]. Nevertheless, all authorities agree that, after the fact, concentrating on the meaning is an indispensable requirement for the first verse alone.)