Shulchan Aruch: Chapter 64 - Laws Relating to One who Erred in Recitation of Shema

SECTION 64 Laws Relating to One who Erred in the Recitation of the Shema. (1–4)

1 A person who recited the Shema in incorrect sequence has not fulfilled his obligation,1 for it is written,2 “And [these words] shall be....” Implied3 is that they shall be [recited] as they are [written in the Torah].

To what does the above apply? To the order of the verses. If, however, one read a [later] passage before another, then even though [initially] he is not permitted to do so, he has [after the fact] fulfilled his obligation, because [these passages] do not appear in succession in the Torah.4

2 [The following laws apply if] one read a passage and made a mistake. If one knows where he erred, e.g., he read the entire passage and skipped a verse in the middle, he should go back to the beginning of that verse and continue to the end of the passage, for if he were to read the [omitted] verse at the point at which he realized [his mistake], he would be reading [the passage] in incorrect sequence. (Even5 if one omitted a single word or a single letter, or changed the pronunciation of a letter in a way that [changed the meaning of the word], as stated in sec. 142,6 he should go back to the beginning of the verse in which he erred.)7 If he does not know where he erred, he should go back to the beginning of the verse, at the point from which he thinks he could have erred. For example, if he knows that he paid attention while reciting the verse beginning with Shema, he should go back to VeAhavta. If he is uncertain whether he paid attention while reciting the verse beginning with Shema, he should go back to Shema.

3 If one erred between one passage and another, i.e., he knows that he completed one of the passages but does not know whether it was the first or the second, he should go back to the end of the first passage and begin VeHayah im shamoa.

4 If one reached the word uchsavtam and is uncertain whether it is the uchsavtam8 of the first passage or that of the second passage, he should go back to the uchsavtam of the first passage.

When does the above apply? When he had not [yet] begun to say the [following] phrase, lemaan yirbu yemeichem.9 If, however, he began [to say] lemaan yirbu yemeichem, he need not be concerned that perhaps he began this verse after the verse beginning uchsavtam [which immediately precedes it] in the first passage. For it may be assumed that he read according to his habit, and he is habituated not to say lemaan yirbu until the end of the second passage. How much more so does this apply if one finds himself reciting another word in the midst of a passage: we rely on the presumption that he said everything that preceded it.