Berakhot 044
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BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI
of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel
RABIN MISHNAH STUDY GROUP
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One whose dead relative lies [unburied] is excused from reciting the Shema and from Tefillin. Concerning the pall-bearers (and their replacements) regardless of whether they are in front of the bier or behind it – those that are needed [to carry the bier] are excused [from reciting the Shema] while those who are not needed are not excused. Both, however, are excused from the Amidah.
EXPLANATIONS (continued):
7:
We have given as the reason for the bridegroom and the mourner being excused from the duty of reciting the Shema the fact that they are already engaged in the performance of a mitzvah. However, Rambam [Hilkhot Keri'at Shema 4:7] extends this excusal in an interesting way:
Anyone who is excused the duty of reciting the Shema but nevertheless wishes to recite it out of supererogation may do so provided that their minds are free to concentrate on it. If, however, the excused person is in a state of emotional upheaval they may not do so until calm returns.
This seems fair enough, but it rouses the acute criticism of Rambam's contemporary, Ra'ved [Rabbi Avraham ben-David of Posquières, France]. He comments:
What difference would it make if such a person did recite [the Shema]? – They could recite it and be considered as someone reciting passages from the Torah! At least they would not be throwing off the yoke of Divine Sovereignty… There is no need to consider such an act as "showing off", because the majority of worshippers know that this is now just a mechanical task.
Despite the strident language the reasoning is sound.
8: DISCUSSION:
Jack Edwin Lipinsky, has sent the following insight into what he calls "The Great Debate between Gamli'el and the Rabbanim", and I think you will find it interesting reading.
Sorry to respond so late to your text of the great debate in Brachot between Rabban Gamli'el and the other Rabbanim, but I thought that you would be interested in hearing the reactions of Grade 8 Solomon Shechter Day School students to this. I have taught this Topic in Grade 8 Talmud for many years, and invariably the teenagers are most taken with the fact that the members of the Sanhedrin had so much patience with Rabban Gamli'el. They always insist on learning what happened in the dispute with Rabbi Yehoshu'a on Rosh Hashana and the whole B'chorot mess, and see this, correctly in my view, as the revolt of the many against the hegemony of Rabban Gamli'el. They are quite ready to concede his brilliance and fitness for the job in intellectual terms; they also point out that he was a very poor teacher who ruled the class very unfairly and victimized those who opposed him with a vengeance. This invariably leads to a discussion of how Rabbi El'azar ben Azariah did everything right, by first gaining consensus about what halakhot were universally agreed on (thus formulating Tractate Eduyot) and by allowing all students, rather than just a talented elite to enter the classroom. It is this last part that you were right to call attention to. I just thought it might do our ĥavruta [That's us, folks! – SR] well to know how the next generation sees this debate and to note that they see it as a conflict of teaching styles and prefer the democratic and fair teacher who seeks to work with all and welcome everyone to the admittedly brilliant intellectual autocrat who sought to impose elitism upon all. Perhaps this is a caution to all of us in the teaching profession to value intellect tamed with humanitarianism and regard for others.
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