Class #009 VIDEO / Berachot 2.2 / What if you die? Why is covering the eyes in the recitation of the Shema?

Base text (Berachot 2:2)

“In terms of what constitutes a paragraph, these are the breaks between the paragraphs:
Between the first blessing, and the second, between the second and the Shema), between Shema and the second paragraph (‘VeHaya im Shamoa’), between ‘VeHaya im Shamoa’, and the third paragraph (‘VaYomer’), and between ‘VaYomer’ and ‘Emet veyatziv’, the blessing following the Shema.
The rabbis held that every blessing and every paragraph of the Shema is its own entity, and treat the interruptions between them as between paragraphs.
Rabbi Yehuda, however, says: between ‘VaYomer’ and ‘Emet veyatziv’, one may not interrupt at all.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korja said: why, in the mitzvah of reciting the Shema, the portion of the Shema preceded that of ‘VeHaya im Shamoa’?
This is for that one first accept upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and only then accept the yoke of the mitzvot.
And why ‘VeHaya im Shamoa’ precedes ‘VaYomer’?
Because the paragraph of ‘VeHaya im Shamoa’ applies to both day and night, while ‘VaYomer’, which is about the tzitzit (fringes rituals), applies only day.”

I. general Context of the treaty Berachot

The treaty Berachot (“Blessings”), opens the Babylonian Talmud and it mainly deals with the jewish prayer and the blessingsbeginning with the recitation of the Shema Israel (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

The Shema is not a spontaneous prayer, but a statement of faith and acceptance of the divine kingdom.
The Mishnah 2:2 explains how you should organize your recitation within the daily service and how it is structured paragraphs and blessings that accompany it.

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II. Structure of the Shema

The Shema is composed by three sections of the Torah:

1. Devarim / Deuteronomy 6:4-9 – “Shema, Israel...”
   → Unity of God and love of the Eternal.
   → Acceptance of the “kingdom of heaven” (ol maljut shamayim).
2. Devarim / Deuteronomy 11:13-21 – “VeHaya im Shamoa...”
   → Reward and punishment for obedience or disobedience.
   → Acceptance of the “yoke of the mitzvot”.
3. Bamidbar / Numbers 15:37-41 – “VaYomer Adonai el Moshe...”
   → Mitzvah of the tzitzit, visual reminder of the commandments.
   → Recites only the day (when the fringes can be seen).

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III. Analysis halachic (legal)

1. Interrupts allowed

The Mishnah defines the “breaks” between sections (פרשיות, parashiyot) and blessings:

• Between each blessing and the next.
• Between the three paragraphs of the Shema.
• Between “VaYomer” and the blessing “Emet veyatziv” (that follows the Shema).

The wise men (Jajamim) allow interruptions minor (for example, to respond to a greeting, or a need ritual) between these blocks.

2. The opinion of Rabbi Yehuda

Rabbi Yehuda prohibits interrupt between “VaYomer” and “Emet veyatziv”.
According to him, should be recited consecutively, because the verse that follows says:

“Hashem Elohejem Emet” — “The Lord, your God, is truth.”

Cut between “VaYomer” and “Emet” break the continuity theological: you pass of the declaration of the commandments to the immediate recognition of the divine truth.

3. Concept of "paragraph" (פרשה, parashah)

In the fall, in the “paragraphs” are defined by their liturgical function, not only textual.
Each parashah is a unit of thought and mitzvah, and breaks mark the boundaries where you can stop or resume without violating the integrity of the sacred text.

IV. Analysis of theological and symbolic

1. Order of paragraphs

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korjá gives two reasons:

• First, it accepts the kingdom of God (Shema).
• Then, the yoke of the mitzvot (VeHaya im Shamoa).
• Finally, the remembrance practice (VaYomer), which connects thought with the action (tzitzit).

This order represents a progression spiritual:

Awareness → Commitment → Action.

2. Yoke of the Kingdom and of the Mitzvot

• Ol Maljut Shamayim: accept that God is sovereign, the foundation of all faith.
• Ol Mitzvot: to accept the laws and specific duties resulting from that faith.

Judaism teaches that ethics without faith it lacks root, and faith without action is devoid of fruit.

V. Dimension of liturgical and practice

• The Shema it is recited twice a day (morning and night) in Deut. 6:7 (“when you lie down and when you get up”).
• Between the paragraphs, the rules on the disruption determine the fluency spiritual and disciplinary of prayer: the devotion not be broken except in greater need.
• The blessing later (“Emet veyatziv”) linked the Shema with the Amidá, consolidating the continuity between faith and supplication.

VI. Reading philosophical

The order of the texts you have a message that transcends the ritual:

The Shema is, therefore, a spiritual architecture that takes faith to action, and the action of the visible witness to the world.

VII. Classical commentaries

🔹 Rashi:

Stresses that the order of the liturgical do not follow the order of the Torahprecisely in order to express a hierarchy theological: the divine unity precedes obedience.

🔹 Rambam (Mishné Torah, Hilchot Keriat Shema 1:2):

Stresses that the one who interrupted unduly between “VaYomer” and “Emet” commits a fault, because “the divine truth should not be separated from the act of remembering the commandments.”

🔹 Rav Soloveitchik (the TWENTIETH century):

Seen in this mishna a synthesis of the experience of jewish religious: “The Shema is not a read; it is an act of acceptance of divine sovereignty and moral commitment in total.”

VIII. Conclusion

Berachot 2:2 it is not only a technical instruction on breaks liturgical.
It is a theological exposition condensed from judaism:

1. Acknowledge God (unity).
2. Take responsibility (obedience).
3. Manifest in the life (action).

And the insistence of Rabbi Yehuda does not interrupt between VaYomer and Emet it reflects a profound idea:

The truth of God is not separated from the fulfillment of His commandments.