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61 [1] **Laws of how much one needs to be precise and have intention during the Recitation of the Sh'ma; contain 26 se-ifim**
One should recite the Sh'ma with intention, awe, fear, shaking and trembling. [2] [The verse states:] "Which I have commanded you today," (Deuteronomy 6:6) - which teaches that every day it should appear in your eyes as if it was new, and not like someone who already heard it many times and is [therefore] not precious to him. [3] The Recitation of the Sh'ma has 245 words, and in order to bring the number up to 248, which corresponds to the number of limbs of the human body, the prayer leader ends by saying "the Lord Your God - Truth!", and then repeats this aloud, and says: "the Lord Your God - Truth!" Rem"a: By doing so, each person [in the congregation] fulfills their obligation since they hear these three additional words from the mouth of the prayer leader (Beit Yosef in the name of Orchot Chaim). And if one wishes to say these words individually along with the leader, it is not forbidden. And if one is reading [the Sh'ma] individually, he should have in mind regarding the fifteen *vav*s in the [prayer] 'Emet V'yatziv' (each of which have the gematria value of 6), that their value adds up to 90 (ie. 15x6=90) - and this corresponds to three Tetragrammatons... for each name has a value of 26 and [adding one for each of] its four letters brings it to 30 (ie. 26+4=30; 30x3=90). Rem"a: There is another reason for doing so, since the fifteen *vav*s add up to 90, and the reading [of the entire text] counts as one, this is then 91, which is the value of the God's name as it is pronounced and written, and it is then as if one is said "Hashem (ie. YKVK) Adon-ai, Truth" (Mahari"k, Root 42 and the Agur). There are those who wrote that anyone who recites the Sh'ma by themselves should say "Kel Melekh Ne-eman" before [saying] Sh'ma, etc., since these three words bring the count up to 248, and this comes in the place of the Amen (ie. the initial letters of "Kel Melekh Ne-eman"spell out 'Amen') that one is required to answer after [the blessing of] "Blessed... Who chooses His nation Israel with love". And this is our custom. It seems to me that, nevertheless, when one recites [Sh'ma] with the congregation, one should not say "Kel Melekh Ne-eman", but [rather] only say Amen after the leader concludes the blessing - this is our custom, and it is correct. [4] The custom is to recite the first verse out loud in order to awaken the intention [we need]. [5] The custom is to place one's hands over their faces during the recitation of the first verse in order that one will not look at something else that will prevent him from intending [his heart]. [6] It is necessary to extend [the pronunciation of] the [letter] chet of [the word] echad (one) in order to declare the Holy One, blessed be He's, sovereignty in the Heavens and the Earth (i.e. seven heavens + Earth = chet (8)), for this is alluded to by the humps in the middle of the roof of the chet. One should [also] extend [the pronunciation of] the letter dalet of [the word] echad (one) the amount [of time it takes] to contemplate that the Holy One, blessed be He, is One in His world and rules in the four directions of the world. But he should not extend more than this amount. There are those who have the custom to turn the head in accordance with the thought: up, down, and to the four directions. [7] One should accentuate the dalet so that it does not [sound] like a resh. [8] One should not contract/rush [the pronunciation of] the chet, nor extend the aleph. [9] It is forbidden to say "Sh'ma" two times, whether doubling the words such that one says "sh'ma, sh'ma" or doubling the first verse. [10] When one recites the Recitation of the Sh'ma on one's bed (ie. before going to sleep), it is permitted to recite the entire passage and to [then] repeat it. And there are those that say that also with this, one needs to be careful about saying the first verse Rem"a: two times. [11] Those who say the verse "Sh'ma Yisrael" two times in the early morning during Se'lichot or during Yom Kippur during the Ne'ilah prayer - they should be taught to not to say it. [12] [Regarding saying] "Adon-ai hu haElo-him" seven times on Yom Kippur during the Ne'ilah prayer - this is a legitimate custom. Rem"a: There are those who say that one should be careful to not answer "amen" two times to any blessing (Beit Yosef in the name of Ohel Moed) [13] After the first verse [of Shema], one needs to say, "Blessed is the Name of His glorious Kingdom forever and ever" in an undertone. [14] One needs to pause a little between “forever and ever” and “and you shall love” in order to pause between acceptance of the kingship of Heaven to other commandments. Rem"a: and one should pause in the first verse between "Israel" and "YHVH" and between "our God" and the second "YHVH" so that it should sound as [if one is saying] "Hear O Israel because YHVH who is our God, He is YHVH who is One (Rokeach). And one should pause a little between "one" and "blessed" because the main acceptance of the kingdom of Heaven is the first verse (Abudarham). [15] One should pause between "today" and "upon your heart" and between "today" and "to love" so it should not appear [as if he is saying] "today, but not tomorrow" [16] One should pause between "was sworn" and "YHVH" in order to pronounce the ayin well so that it does not sound like a hey. [17] One should distinctly pronounce the zayin in "tizkeru" so that it does not sound like "tishkeru" (lying) or "tiskeru" (reward) and then he would be [considered] like slaves working only for reward. Similarly, one should distinctly pronounce the zayin in "u'zchartem." [18] One should accentuate the yud of "Sh'ma **Y**israel" so that it is not swallowed up and it does not seem like an aleph. And similarly the yud of "v'ha**y**u" so that it does not sound like "v'ha-oo" [19] One should put a gap between "charah" and "af" so that it does not sound like "charaf" [20] One should put a gap between a word whose beginning [letter] is like the end [letter] of its predecessor, for example: "b'chol l'vav'kha", "al l'vav'khem", "eisev b'sad'kha", "v'avdem m'heira", "hakanaf p'til", "etkhem meieretz" [21] One must, with every aleph [that comes] after a mem, break between them. For example: "v'limad'tem otam", "ukshartem otam", "v'samtem et", "uritem oto", ("uzkhartem et", "v'asitem et") so that it does not seem like one is reading "motam" [or] "meit" (death) [22] Even in P'sukei D'zimrah (Verses of Song) and the Prayer ("Amidah"), one needs to be exact with this. Rem"a: and similarly, the one who reads from the Torah, Prophets, and Writings needs to be careful [Beit Yosef in the name of Radak] [23] One needs to be precise not to weaken the strong [letters with a dagesh] or strengthen the weak [letters without a dagesh] and not rest the moving [sh'va] and move the resting [sh'va]. [24] One needs to recite Sh'ma with the cantillation (trop/ta'amim), just like they are [written when reading] in the Torah. Rem"a: But the custom is not like this in these lands. And in any case, those who are precise [in general regarding mitzvot] are strict about this. [25] When one says "ukshartam l'ot al yadekha" ("and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand"), one should touch the arm tefillin. When one says "v'hayu l'totafot bein einekha" ("and they shall be frontlets between your eyes"), one should touch the head tefillin. When one says "uritem oto" ("and you shall look at it"), one should touch the two tzitzit that are in front of one (See above: Siman 24, S'if 5). [26] There are those who practice to recite the Recitation of the Sh'ma in a loud voice and there are those who apractice to recite it in a whisper. Gloss: And in any case, they say the first verse in a loud voice, and this [is what we] how we practice (Kol Bo).
Version: Sefaria Community Translation
Source: https://www.sefaria.org
License: CC0