Berachot 2: From What Time Do We Recite the Shema in the Evening?

Today we begin the first daf of the first tractate of the first order of the Talmud.  Our first Mishna seems to be a simple set of questions and answers.  It is one of the most famous of all of our Mishnayot, and the discussion begins our understanding of how complex our Talmud conversations will be.  

The Mishna asks: when, interpreted as 'from what time', do we recite the Shema in the evening?  From the time when the priests enter to eat their teruma, portion of food given to them by the Jewish people.  Until when does the time for the recitation of the evening Shema extend?  Rabbi Eliezer says until the end of the first [nighttime] watch; from when people sleep (Deuteronomy 6:7).  The rabbis say until midnight.  Rabban Gamliel says we may recite the Shema until dawn, which helped his sons who arrived just before dawn after celebrating their friend's wedding.  The rabbis were concerned about people using that leniency to postpone their reciting of the Shema, eventually forgetting do perform it at all.

The Gemara discusses when a day begins and when a day ends.  They refer to Deut. (6:7) again, which tells us that we should talk about the Shema "when we are in our homes and when we walk on our way, when we sleep and when we rise".  The rabbis consider the creation of the world as described in Genesis (1:5), "and there was evening and there was morning, one day".  

Why not teach that we must see three stars in the sky to mark the end of evening?  In Leviticus (22:6-7) we are told that "the sun sets and it is purified".  This is interpreted as meaning that with the setting of the sun comes purification like that required before teruma is permitted to the priests in the evening.  The Gemara lists several rabbis and their opinions on when the day ends.  One that is particularly appealing to me discusses the fact that poor people and priests may eat their bread at the same time.  

Rabbi Hai Gaon creates a chart to help us remember what the different rabbis said about this:

The Sage	When is it evening and we can say the Shema	Reasoning
Rabbi Eliezer	From the time when the day becomes holy on the eve of Shabbat	Night begins with sunset. The verse “and the sun sets” refers to the beginning of sunset.
Rabbi Yehoshua	From the time when the priests are eligible to eat their teruma	Night begins with the appearance of stars. The verse “and the sun sets” refers to the end of sunset.
Rabbi Meir	From when the priests immerse themselves in order to partake of their teruma	Night begins a few minutes after the appearance of stars.
Rabbi Chanina	From when the poor person enters to eat his bread with salt	Rejects any connection between sunset and the recitation of Shema. The time of “lying down” is determined based solely on ordinary human activity.
Rabbi Acha	From the time when most people enter to recline	Rejects any connection between sunset and the recitation of the Shema.  The time of lying down is determined based on ordinary human activity based on the general population and not the behaviour of the poor.

 Based on chart published in Koren Talmud Berachot p.11

Our opening daf is both simple and challenging; straightforward and complicated.  It is a perfect introduction to the study of Talmud.  What is different about learning it the second time is the introduction I've had to the basic concepts of ancient halacha and principles.  At the same time, I'm not clear that I've understood every component of the daf.  I was inspired by several of the rabbis at today's Siyyum HaShas in Toronto celebrating the end of the thirteenth cycle of the daf when they said that even one word of learning is important; there is no need to pretend that we know everything.