From when may the Shema be recited in the evening? From the time that priests enter to eat their terumah. Until the end of the first watch is the opinion of Rabbi Eli'ezer; the rest of the sages say 'until midnight', while Rabban Gamli'el says 'until first light'.
An incident is recorded in which his sons returned from a celebration and told him that they had not yet recited the Shema. He told them that if first light had not yet broken they were required to recite it.
And not only here; but wherever the sages say 'until midnight' the mitzvah [duty] is actually in force until first light. In which case, why did the Sages say 'until midnight'? – in order to keep a person far from wrongdoing.
23:
The
reisha [first section] of our mishnah determined the halakhah in accordance with the majority opinion, that the 'last moment' for reciting the Shema at night is midnight. (For halakhic purposes, by the way, 'midnight' is not 12 o'clock but the mid point between sunset and sunrise.) The
emtza'ita [middle section] of our mishnah, however, reinforces the view of Rabban Gamli'el, with which, as we have seen, the sages are really in agreement in principle. The mishnah records a
ma'aseh, an actual occurrence. The purpose of the mishnah in recounting this occurrence is to indicate the absolute certainty that Rabban Gamli'el had: his view was not merely theoretic, but when confronted with an actual situation he did not hesitate to determine the halakhah in accordance with his view.
24:
The sons of Rabban Gamli'el returned home late from a 'celebration'. The Hebrew word mishteh in this context probably indicates a "symposium", just like the imaginary one that Plato made famous: a dinner party in which the after-dinner drinks were accompanied by witty speeches delivered by everybody according to the directions of the host. Whatever the nature of this 'celebration' it lasted well beyond midnight. When the men returned home they asked their father whether it was 'too late' to recite the Shema, since it was already after midnight. He replied in accordance with his view of the meaning of beshokhbekha: "If first light has not yet broken you are required to recite it".
25.
Before we move on to the seifa of the mishnah let us summarize the halakhic situation so far:
- The earliest possible time for the Evening Service (Arvit) when recited by a congregation is plag ha-minĥah, about 75 minutes before sundown, provided that the Afternoon Service (Minĥah) was recited before plag ha-minĥah – otherwise it's the same as b).
- The earliest possible time for Arvit for an individual praying alone is when three medium stars can (or could) be seen in the darkening sky. This time is now accepted as being some 25 minutes after visible sunset.
- The Shema (Arvit) should be recited by halakhic midnight. If for any reason it has not been recited by then it should be recited until first light the following morning.
- The recitation of the Shema as part of the Evening Service is considered to be the prime recitation. However it is a most worthy custom to recite at least the first parashah [passage, paragraph] of the Shema before actually retiring to bed at night.
26:
It is not clear from the text of the mishnah whether the seifa [last section] is the continuation of the words of Rabban Gamli'el to his sons or the comments of the editor of the Mishnah. Apart from the recitation of the Shema our mishnah brings two other examples of duties that the sages say must be performed by midnight but whose performance can last until dawn:-
- The animal sacrifices that were offered on the main altar in the azarah [Priestly Court] of the Bet Mikdash were not always completely consumed by the flames. The fat around an animal's intestines and various other limbs were not easily burned. These were left on the altar until the evening. If they had not burned away during the evening hours they had to be deliberately incinerated by midnight (according to the sages) or by dawn (according to Rabban Gamli'el). (It was to this informal 'housekeeping' duty performed by the priests during the evening that later tradition linked the Evening Service of the Synagogue.)
- Certain offerings made in the Bet Mikdash had to be eaten by the celebrants bringing them on the same day that they were slaughtered. Our mishnah defines 'the same day' for this purpose as being midnight (according to the sages) or dawn the following morning (according to Rabban Gamli'el).
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