{"id":6255,"date":"2010-01-15T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2010-01-15T07:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=6255"},"modified":"2018-05-24T11:38:50","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T08:38:50","slug":"02-15-09","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/02-15-09\/","title":{"rendered":"09 – The Laws of Reciting Shema"},"content":{"rendered":"

A person must recite Shema<\/i> with great kavanah<\/i>, fear, awe, and trembling, and concentrate in his heart that he is now proclaiming the sovereignty of the King, Hakadosh Baruch Hu<\/i>. Even though Shema<\/i> is recited every day in Shacharit<\/i> and Ma<\/i>\u2019ariv<\/i>, one must try hard to concentrate on the meaning of the words, as if they were new to him (Shulchan Aruch <\/i>61:1-2).<\/p>\n

In addition to kavanah<\/i>, the person saying Shema<\/i> must pronounce the letters precisely, being careful not to swallow any letter nor to emphasize the soft sounds, or weaken the strong ones. Therefore, l’chatchilah<\/i>, one should make a distinction in sound when pronouncing an alef<\/i> and an ayin<\/i>, a chaf<\/i> and a chet<\/i>, a kamatz<\/i> and a patach<\/i>, a tzeirei<\/i> and a segol<\/i> (Shulchan Aruch<\/i>, Orach Chaim<\/i>, 61:14-23). The Chachamim<\/i> say, \u201cOne who recites Shema<\/i> and is careful to pronounce its letters exactly, Gehinnom<\/i> is cooled down for him\u201d (Berachot<\/i> 15b). B\u2019dieved<\/i>, if he did not recite the Shema<\/i> meticulously, he nevertheless fulfilled his obligation provided that he did not miss a word or a full syllable of a word (Shulchan Aruch<\/i> 62:1; Mishnah Berurah<\/i> 1).<\/p>\n

A person\u2019s ears must hear what is coming out of his mouth. B\u2019dieved<\/i>, if he read the words only with his lips but did not hear what he was saying, since he mouthed the words, he fulfilled his obligation. However, regarding one who only recited Shema<\/i> in his mind, since he did not mouth the words, he did not fulfill his obligation (Shulchan Aruch<\/i> 62:3; and see earlier in this book 1:9).[6]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In principle, though it is proper to recite Shema<\/i> and the Amidah<\/i> in Hebrew, if a person recited Shema<\/i> and prayed the Amidah<\/i> in a different language, he fulfilled his obligation, provided that he understands that language (see earlier in this book 1:10). However, a few of the major Acharonim<\/i> write that today we cannot fulfill the obligation of Keriat<\/i> Shema<\/i> by reciting it in a different language because there are words that we do not know how to translate accurately. For example, the Hebrew word \u201cv\u2019shinantam<\/i>\u201d means both learning (shinun<\/i>) and sharpening (chidud<\/i>). There is no such single word in other languages. Hence, since the Shema<\/i> cannot be translated exactly, it may not be recited in a different language (Mishnah Berurah<\/i> 62:3).[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

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[6]<\/a>.Talmidei<\/i> Rabbi<\/i> Yonah<\/i> maintain that it is proper to recite Shema<\/i> with cantillation signs and there are those who are accustomed to enhancing the mitzvah in that way (Shulchan<\/i> Aruch<\/i> 61:24). Others say that since kavanah<\/i> is of principal importance, if someone finds that reciting Shema<\/i> with cantillation signs disrupts his concentration, it is better that he recite Shema<\/i> without them (Rama<\/i>; Mishnah<\/i> Berurah<\/i> 61:38).<\/p>\n

The Mishnah<\/i> Berurah<\/i> 61:40 writes that, according to the majority of poskim<\/i>, a person can fulfill his obligation of Keriat<\/i> Shema<\/i> by hearing another person recite it. In the opinion of the Aruch<\/i> HaShulchan<\/i> 62:8, one can fulfill his obligation by hearing Shema<\/i> on condition that a minyan<\/i> is present. (There is disagreement as to whether the person fulfilling his obligation by hearing the Shema<\/i> is required to understand the whole paragraph. See Mishnah<\/i> Berurah<\/i> and Ishei<\/i> Yisrael<\/i> 20:26.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[7]<\/a>.This is problematic, for translations are never precisely like the original and if Chazal<\/i> say that one who recites Shema<\/i> in any language fulfilled his obligation, it can then be understood that it is unnecessary for the translation to be perfectly accurate. The Aruch<\/i> HaShulchan<\/i> 62:4 explains that, indeed, during the time of the Mishnah<\/i> and Talmud, they completely understood the Hebrew language. However, today, we have doubts regarding the meaning of some words, and therefore we cannot translate perfectly. The Aruch<\/i> HaShulchan<\/i> continues by giving some examples of uncertainties and concludes, \u201cTherefore at this time, it is forbidden to recite the Shema<\/i>, the prayers, and all the berachot<\/i> in any language other than the holy tongue. And that is what the prominent learned scholars taught for approximately eighty years.\u201d Still, this remains problematic, for were there no doubts regarding language prior to that time? If so, why did they not teach then that one may not fulfill his obligation with a translation? Maybe this question was not very common and therefore it was not written down. Or perhaps it is possible to say that nowadays (especially after the invention of the printing press) we are more meticulous concerning the precise meaning of the words, and as a result doubts have increased. Hence, regarding our translations today, there is no precision, and therefore one may not fulfill his obligation with them. However, when people were not so meticulous in translating the external meaning of the word, but rather focused on the idea that could be understood from the context, the translation was thought to be exact. As a rule<\/b>, even today, the Makor<\/i> Chayim<\/i> 62:2 writes that a ger<\/i> tzedek<\/i> (righteous convert) who does not read or understand Hebrew may recite Shema<\/i> in translation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A person must recite Shema with great kavanah, fear, awe, and trembling, and concentrate in his heart that he is now proclaiming the sovereignty of the King, Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Even though Shema is recited every day in Shacharit and Ma\u2019ariv, one must try hard to concentrate on the meaning of the words, as if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-15-keriat-shema"],"yoast_head":"\n09 - The Laws of Reciting Shema - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/02-15-09\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"09 - The Laws of Reciting Shema - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A person must recite Shema with great kavanah, fear, awe, and trembling, and concentrate in his heart that he is now proclaiming the sovereignty of the King, Hakadosh Baruch Hu. 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