Berachot 13: The Shema - Intent in our Hearts and Recitation

During a discussion about remembering the Exodus, we learn a story from the baraita about the fate of the Jewish people.  A man was attacked by a wolf and he survived and told the story.  He was then attacked by a lion and he survived and told that story.  After this he was bitten by a snake and he did not even think of the other two stories.  In the same way, the Jewish people will only remember our most recent troubles.  This could be true today, where the Holocaust continues to be the main calamity that we recall even when our community has faced many other tragedies longer ago.

The rabbis explain name changes - Jacob/Israel, Sarai/Sarah, and Avram/Avraham.  They provide proof texts for each name change.  Is it permitted to call these people their original names after G-d has changed their names?   Each case is different.  It is notable that G-d tells Avraham Sarai's new name. 

We begin Perek II with a new Mishna.  It teaches about intent when reading the Shema. Rabbi Chananel says that as long as we focus our hearts, we have met our obligation, even if we haven't said that surrounding prayers.  The Tana'im say that it is permitted to interrupt one's recitation of the Shema between paragraphs to say hello or to respond to a greeting.  Rabbi Meir says that we can say hello back to someone who has interrupted our Shema if we are afraid.  Rabbi Yehuda shares his opinion which includes interrupting between paragraphs and responding out of fear.  The rabbis argue about those breaks between paragraphs; which ones are appropriate for interruptions?  Some of the paragraphs are only recited at one time of day which would affect the ability to interrupt at that time. 

The Gemara learns from these teaching about the Shema that we must have intent when we perform mitzvot.  The rabbis discuss whether we are permitted to say the Shema in any language that we can hear and understand.  We must say the Shema in its proper order.  And the Shema must be heard; it is also written and spoken. Reciting the Shema inaudibly to ourselves is permitted.

Must we focus our hearts on the entire Shema?  And when are we meeting the mitzva of recitation, where we speak the required words, versus the mitzvah of intent, where the words are written in our hearts?  The Gemara teaches us about how to say the Shema, including extending the pronunciation of the letter dalet which is said will extend our lives.  The rabbis also consider prayers on our exodus from Egypt that are said at the same time as the recitation of the Shema.

Finally, the rabbis discuss the position that we should be in while reciting the Shema.  We already know that our feet should be still and together.  Now we learn that we should not be lying down while saying the Shema.  The rabbis argue about whether or not our recitation is permitted if we lean even slightly to one side.

Before ending today's daf, the rabbis return to our Mishna's discussion of when we can interrupt the Shema to respond to others' greetings.