Berakhot 055

נושא: Berakhot

Berakhot 055

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

Today's shiur is dedicated by Carol Kestler in memory of Abe Cohen – Avraham Ya'akov ben Etta v' Elyoham Ha-Cohen z"l – on the occasion of the shloshim.

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].

In Berakhot 053 I wrote: 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.

Ron Kaminsky writes:

The meaning of "sovereignty" here is not clear to me. Perhaps you could go into more detail as to the meaning of "acknowledging God's sovereignty" here? And how in the Shema do we acknowledge this sovereignty?

I respond:

At the very start of his great code on halakhic Judaism, Mishneh Torah, Rambam states:

The most basic principle of all … is to know that there exists a Prime Being that is the origin of everything that exists… This Being is the God of the Universe … To realize this is a positive mitzvah [Exodus 20:2], and anyone who imagines that any other deity exists violates a basic theological premise, for this is the great premise upon which everything else [in Judaism] depends. This Deity is One… Not one like a species, which consists of several unities, nor one like anything physical, which may be subdivided into constituent elements; but rather a unity the like of which does not exist in the universe… It is explicitly stated in the Torah and in the prophets that God is not physical… And since God is not physical God cannot be affected by any of the properties associated with physicality… This God it is a mitzvah to love and to venerate [Deuteronomy 6:5 and 13].

All this [Mishneh Torah, Laws of Basic Principles, Chapters 1-2] is involved in "acknowledging Divine Sovereignty". Also check out Berakhot 001 and Berakhot 002, where this subject was extensively explained. In particular I would like to draw attention to the following passage in Berakhot 002:

When we believe in such a Deity it is but logical that we willingly subject our behaviour to what is perceived as being the dictates of the Deity [the 613 miztvot], and it is this element that is referred to as Kabbalat Ol Malkhut Shamayaim – acceptance of Divine Sovereignty. Divine sovereignty is referred to directly in the second line of the Shema (in Hebrew: Barukh shem kevod malkhuto le'olam va'ed), which may be rendered as "Blessed be His Majesty's glorious Name for ever".

When we say Adonay Eloheynu we are admitting – indeed, celebrating – God's existence and God's Sovereignty. For the word Elohim, which is usually rendered in English as 'God', has as its root meaning 'power'. Adonay Eloheynu means that we accept Rambam's 'Prime Being' as having power over the whole universe in general and over ourselves in particular. There is no greater sovereignty than that.

Also in Berakhot 053 I wrote: 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.

David Freidenreich comments:

It was my understanding that, halakhically, women had to unexcuse themselves; i.e. the "default setting" for women is that they are already excused. Are you saying that Conservative/Masorti Judaism changes that default setting? Are women obligated to perform all mitzvot unless they decide otherwise?

I respond:

I agree. Women are held to be excused all the positive time-specific mitzvot unless our sources [Talmud etc] specifically state otherwise. What I meant to say was that, in my opinion, a modern and observant Jewish woman – especially one who espouses the tenets and values of Conservative Judaism – should decide to unexcuse herself and to elect to observe the mitzvah of Keriat Shema twice daily. Remember that as far as Kabbalat Ol Malkhut Shamayim is concerned her "default setting" – what a felicitous description, David! – is that she is required to observe this mitzvah! Women who enter the Conservative rabbinate are required to change their "default setting" and – as per the famous responsum of Rabbi Joel Roth – to obligate themselves to observe all mitzvot from which tradition exempts them.

To be continued.

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