Berakhot 003

13:
The Torah states that the Shema is to be read beshokhbekha uvekumekha, "when you lie down and when you rise up" [Deuteronomy 6:7]. Our mishnah begins now to investigate the time-frame indicated by the word beshokhbekha, "when you lie down". Two terminal points are discussed: when does this time-frame begin and when does it end? If we can determine this, we shall have a time-frame within which the duty of reciting the Shema in the evening must be fulfilled. To our modern sensibilities it is very tempting to interpret the phrase "when you lie down" (for example) loosely: "sometime at the end of the day". This is not the understanding of the sages. According to the oral tradition [Torah she-b'al-peh], the time-frame within which the Shema may be read at the end of the day may be clearly defined.

14:
As far as the terminus a quo is concerned (i.e. the starting point) there is unanimity in the mishnah. The time from when onwards one may recite the Shema at the end of the day is the same as "the time that priests enter to eat their terumah". Terumah ['donative'] was originally an amount of farm produce varying between 1.666% and 2.5% of the produce, depending on the farmer's generosity, and was to be set aside as a perquisite for the kohen [priest] of his choice. [See RMSG of 7th January 1996] However, in order for the kohen to eat this produce he had to be in a state of ritual purity, which required him to bathe in a mikveh at the onset of dark, and, as was well known, this physical phenomenon was ascertained by the visibility of three stars in the darkening sky.

15:
Thus, in a rather roundabout way, the mishnah states that the time from which the Shema may be recited at the end of the day is from the onset of dark, measured by the visibility of three stars. The Gemara [Berakhot 2a] explains that the compiler of the mishnah used this roundabout way of making a definition, in order to "kill two birds with one stone": the time the Shema may be read in the evening and the time when priests eat their terumah are identical times: "star rise".

To be continued.

Rémy Landau writes concerning my use of the term "monotheism" to describe Judaism:

Fundamentally, we believe in and worship God. Period. We do not believe in one God because if we did, then we would essentially be opening the door to the next question which is "Which god?". And that essentially is the whole basis of my difficulty with the word "monotheism". It is usually a term of convenience for describing other faiths which center about a single deity, that deity not necessarily being God. For example, think of the ancient Egyptian worship of Ikhnaton the sun god, which has been described as "monotheism". Thus, when the word "monotheism" is applied to the beliefs of Judaism a very subtle semantic process is taking place which actually puts all of our beliefs on the very same plane of any other system of beliefs based on the worship of a single deity that is not God.

I respond:

I do not think that Rémy and I are really in disagreement – except as to the meaning of words. Rémy is absolutely correct when he points out that Rabbinic Judaism authenticates the worship of the sole Deity – one in the sense of 'unique and inimitable'. That meaning is at the very heart of the concept of God's unity in Rambam's theology (upon which we based our exposition yesterday). In his Mishneh Torah [Yesodé ha-Torah 1:2] Maimonides states categorically:

Obviously, then, when one recites the Shema one must also think that the description of God as being One must include the concept of God being the one and only Deity. Rambam is a great pains throughout his philosophic work "The Guide for the Perplexed" to explain that "one" when applied to God is a not an arithmetic proposition (as Rémy was suggesting) but a philosophic one (as explained yesterday).

I believe that Rémy's objection to the use of the word "monotheism" is answered when we point out that the worship of only one god while recognizing the existence of others is not defined as 'monotheism' but as 'monolatry', as can be verified by consulting any serviceable dictionary.

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