Women, slaves and children are excused from reciting the Shema and from Tefillin, but they are required [to recite] the Amidah and [to affix] a Mezuzzah and [to recite] Birkhat ha-Mazon [Grace after Meals].
19:
I think the time has come to recapitulate what we have said concerning women and the duty of reciting the Shema. We have noted that in Talmudic times women were considered to be under the authority of someone else (father, husband) and therefore had to be excused from those religious duties that had to be performed at a specific time, so that they would not have to choose between obedience to two authorities – either God's or their husband's! This led to women being classified (psychologically at least) as "other". (In the Gemara [
Shabbat 62a] we find the completely serious statement that 'women are a separate people'!)
20:
Later poskim [decisors] noted that the Recitation of the Shema is not just a ritual task but is the psychological actualization of the mitzvah to acknowledge God's existence, God's unity and God's sovereignty. From performing this aspect of the mitzvah women could not be excused under any circumstances. It was deemed imperative that both men and women recite at least the first verse of the Shema in order to fulfill this commandment [see the comments of Raved in Berakhot 044 and the comments of later poskim in Berakhot 052].
21:
At this juncture I would like to redeem a promise I made to Elizabeth Weinberg and all other participants. IN Berakhot 036 Elizabeth asked: Given that it is not clear if women are expected to say the Shema at all, how many of these rules about how to say it would be binding on women? What could be considered a normative expectation for a religious Jewish woman?
It is now clear, I hope, that every "religious Jewish woman" is required to recite the Shema twice daily. This recitation should include, at the very least, the first verse "Shema" and the following doxology Barukh shem etc. In performing this mitzvah she is required to observe all the rules that have been covered by our study so far.
22:
However, I would like to add to this response a further point. What should be the attitude of the Conservative or Masorti observant woman? I give my own view. In view of the discussions we have had over the past few days I can see no reason why an observant woman who accepts the tenets of Conservative or Masorti Judaism should excuse herself from the mitzvah of reciting the Shema twice daily. Even the most stringent halakhists recognize a woman's right to recite the whole of the Shema with its attendant berakhot. All she has to do is to want to do so. A careful reading of our study so far will indicate that all the old saws as to why women should be excused are completely irrelevant in this modern age. Even the most harassed housewife should be able to find the few minutes needed to recite the Shema (Rambam guesses about six minutes!) some time between sundown and midnight and some time between sunrise and noon. To my mind, Egalitarianism also indicates equality of religious duty. If her husband is also observant he will presumably be prepared to do his 'tour of duty' in order to free her for this purpose (and others).
23:
In order to fulfill this mitzvah (assuming that one is not present where there is a minyan [quorum]) one recites the first berakhah and then the second. In the evening the first berakhah starts with the Hebrew words … asher bi-devaro ma'ariv aravim… and the second berakhah begins with the Hebrew words Ahavat olam…. In the morning the first berakhah starts with the Hebrew words …yotzer or… and the second starts (a couple of pages later) with the Hebrew words Ahavah rabbah… Then one should recite the three paragraphs of the Shema, taking care to enunciate the words properly and to be consciously aware of their meaning and import. By custom, which has become law, the first Hebrew word of the berakhah that comes after the Shema, Emet, is joined onto the last word of the third paragraph of the Shema. After the Shema in the morning there is but one berakhah, and it starts with the Hebrew words (Emet) ve-yatziv… and concludes (about a page later) with the words Ga'al Yisra'el. In the evening, after the Shema, there are two berakhot: the first starts with the Hebrew words (Emet) ve-emunah… and the second (about a page later) starts with the Hebrew word Hashkivenu and it ends with the Hebrew words Shomer amo Yisra'el la'ad. Everything that has been mentioned in this paragraph (#23) should preferably be recited in Hebrew; however, those who are "Hebraically challenged" may recite the Shema in any language that they understand (Japanese, Swahili, Urdu, Esperanto – even English!) provided that a reliable translation of the Hebrew text is being used.
To be continued.
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