SHEMA: BLESSING AND REMEMBRANCE · 1 OF 2
Blessings around the Shema
The Shema sits within a pattern of blessings. Learn to recognize that pattern, then ask what our commentators mean when they call a blessing “long” or “short.”
In this lesson
The recitation and what surrounds it
The Shema, “Hear,” is our morning and evening recitation of three passages from the Torah, the five books of Moshe (Moses). A berakhah is a blessing addressed to Hashem, “the Name,” our reverent way of referring to God. The blessings around Shema are distinct from the Torah passages themselves. Together they help shape our attentive service of Hashem.
The Mishnah gathers our sages’ teachings. Its first tractate, or named book, is Berakhot, “Blessings.” Berakhot 1:4 means chapter 1, mishnah 4. After the earlier teachings about time and bodily manner, this mishnah turns to the surrounding blessings. We will read the whole teaching in two parts.
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book. If you have one, keep it nearby for the final activity. First learn the source’s pattern on paper, so you know what to look for.
1. Map before and after
In this passage, “before it” and “after it” mean before and after the Shema. Read the numbers first; we will then investigate “long” and “short.”
בשחר מברך שתיים לפניה ואחת לאחריה;
ובערב מברך שתיים לפניה ושתיים לאחריה,
אחת ארוכה ואחת קצרה.In the morning one says two blessings before it and one after it;
in the evening, two before it and two after it,
one long and one short.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
Write two lines headed Morning and Evening. In each, put Shema in the middle and add the number of blessings on either side. Support each number with a word from the source.
1. What changes between morning and evening?
Morning: two blessings before Shema, then one after. Evening: two before, then two after. The before-count stays the same; the after-count changes.
“One after it” and “two after it” are the phrases that establish the difference. You have reconstructed an arrangement, not merely memorized the totals three and four.
The Shema’s three Torah passages remain in the center of this map. The Amidah, the standing prayer, is a different part of the service.
2. Does “four in the evening” mean four Shema passages or every blessing in the evening service?
Neither. Four is the total of the surrounding blessings named here: two before and two after Shema. It is not a count of the Shema’s Torah passages, and the Mishnah is not counting every blessing elsewhere in the service.
Keep the object being counted beside the number. “Four blessings around evening Shema” is more accurate than simply “four prayers.”
2. Read long and short with a commentator
The phrase “one long and one short” does not name its blessings. Our traditional commentators explain it in different ways. We will work through Bartenura’s explanation first, then compare it with one other reading.
Opening, middle and closing
Barukh means “Blessed.” A blessing’s formal opening begins with a Barukh formula. Its chatimah, or formal closing, concludes with a blessing formula beginning with Barukh. Opening and closing are parts of one blessing; they are not two extra blessings to add to our count.
Here we study those parts by their names, without using complete blessing formulas as practice recitations. For the purpose and common language of a blessing, review What is a berakhah?
Bartenura’s structural reading
Rabbi Ovadiah of Bartenura wrote a commentary explaining the Mishnah. He refers to Yotzer Or, “Who forms light,” the first morning blessing before Shema; Maariv Aravim, “Who brings on evenings,” the first evening blessing; and Ahavah, the blessing of “love” that follows each of them.
אשתים שלפניה קאי, יוצר אור ארוכה שפותחת בברוך וחותמת בברוך,
וכן מעריב ערבים.
אהבה קצרה, שחותמת בברוך ואינה פותחת בברוךIt refers to the two before it: Yotzer Or is long because it opens with Barukh and closes with Barukh;
so too Maariv Aravim.
The blessing of love is short because it closes with Barukh but does not open with Barukh.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
Worked reasoning: Bartenura first identifies the pair: the two blessings before Shema. He then gives the feature that distinguishes their forms. The first has both a Barukh opening and a Barukh closing. The second has the closing but not a fresh Barukh opening.
3. In this explanation, what makes the first blessing long?
Its opening-and-closing structure, not a count of its printed lines. Bartenura expressly connects “long” with opening and closing in Barukh.
The short form here still has a formal closing. So “short means no closing” would misstate this explanation. Start your answer with “According to Bartenura…” to preserve the source of the interpretation.
Apply that model to two invented outlines, not actual prayer texts:
- A: Barukh opening; a brief middle; Barukh closing.
- B: a substantial middle without a Barukh opening; Barukh closing.
4. Which outline matches each structural form, even if B has more words?
A matches the long form in Bartenura’s explanation because it has both formal opening and closing. B matches the short form because it has a closing without that opening.
Changing the number of words in the middle does not change the feature we are using to classify these two outlines. This is a reading exercise, not permission to shorten an actual blessing’s middle.
Why name the commentator?
Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, gives a different reference for the Mishnah’s phrase. He comments on the Talmud, which joins the Mishnah with the Gemara, its discussion. On Berakhot 11a he writes:
אשתים לאחריה דערבית קאי
It refers to the two after it in the evening.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
Rashi identifies the evening blessings Emet ve-Emunah, “Truth and faithfulness,” as long and Hashkiveinu, “Lay us down,” as short. His reference is not the pair before Shema used in Bartenura’s explanation.
5. Repair: “The Mishnah explicitly says that the first blessing before Shema is long.”
The Mishnah says “one long and one short” without naming that blessing. Bartenura explains the phrase through the pair before Shema and their opening/closing forms. Rashi attaches it to the two evening blessings afterward.
A better sentence is: “Bartenura reads the Mishnah’s phrase as referring to the pair before Shema.” We can learn that explanation carefully without presenting it as a name printed in the Mishnah or erasing another commentator’s reading.
3. Preserve the prescribed form
The rest of the mishnah guards the forms our sages prescribed. “Closing” here means a formal blessing ending, not merely the last sentence on a page.
מקום שאמרו להאריך, אינו רשאי לקצר;
לקצר, אינו רשאי להאריך.
לחתום, אינו רשאי שלא לחתום;
ושלא לחתום, אינו רשאי לחתום.Where they said to lengthen, one may not shorten;
where they said to shorten, one may not lengthen.
Where they said to include a closing, one may not leave it out;
where they said not to include a closing, one may not add one.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
“Where they said” refers to the cases in which our sages established each form, not a particular room or building. In the structural reading we have studied, the instruction includes preserving the prescribed openings and closings. Tosafot Yom Tov, a later Mishnah commentary, explains this connection when discussing the structural reading.
6. Why is a new paragraph break different from adding a formal closing?
A paragraph break is a way of printing the text. A formal closing is part of the blessing’s prescribed wording and structure. The Mishnah’s final clauses address whether that closing belongs, not how many paragraphs a printer uses.
Likewise, a closing does not become another blessing merely because it starts with Barukh. Our before/after count concerns whole blessings, each with its own structure.
Apply the model to a new source
Rambam, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, organizes Jewish law in his code, the Mishneh Torah. Read this paragraph from its Laws of Shema. Use it to mark the formal opening and closing in each blessing around Shema.
ברכה ראשונה שלפניה, בין ביום בין בלילה--פותח בה בברוך, וחותם בברוך;
ושאר ברכותיה--חותם בכל אחת מהן בברוך, ואין להן פתיחה.The first blessing before it, both by day and by night, opens with Barukh and closes with Barukh.
The rest of its blessings each close with Barukh and have no opening.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva
7. How does this code paragraph fit the structural model? What does “no opening” mean?
Rambam gives the first blessing before Shema both a Barukh opening and closing. The remaining blessings have the closing without a separate Barukh opening. That fits the opening/closing distinction in the commentary we studied.
“No opening” does not mean no first words or no content. It means no opening of the formal kind just named. The code tells us more directly which forms to expect; it is a later source, not another line of the Mishnah.
A learner notices that a blessing after the first does not begin with Barukh and proposes adding an opening “so that every blessing matches.” Explain why that would confuse a common form with a universal form.
8. What evidence would you use before changing the prayer text?
Rambam explicitly distinguishes the first blessing’s opening from the remaining blessings. The Mishnah tells us to preserve the prescribed forms. Their difference is therefore something to understand, not automatically repair by adding words.
For an actual uncertainty, identify the siddur edition, the service and the exact blessing boundary, then ask a knowledgeable rabbi or teacher to show you its structure. A heading, line break or unfamiliar opening alone is not a reason to rewrite it.
Explain what you can now see
Write a brief explanation for someone opening a siddur for the first time. Include the two before/after patterns, Bartenura’s criterion for long/short, and why a commentator’s name belongs with that explanation. Point to a source phrase for each claim.
9. Compare with a worked explanation.
“The Mishnah places two blessings before Shema in both services, with one afterward in the morning and two afterward in the evening. These blessings surround the three Torah passages; they are not a count of those passages. Bartenura reads ‘one long and one short’ through the pair before Shema: the first has both a Barukh opening and closing, while the second has only the closing. I name him because Rashi gives the phrase a different reference, the two evening blessings afterward. This helps me identify the prescribed structure rather than change the text to make every blessing look alike.”
Check your own explanation for object counted, source attribution, structural criterion and practical restraint. Improve one sentence by adding the words that support it.
If you have a siddur, locate the beginning and end of the Shema and look for the surrounding blessings. Mark the boundaries on a separate note, not by altering the prayer text. If a boundary remains unclear, bring that particular question to your teacher. Find your way in the siddur can help you locate the service.
Read the sources in context
Mishnah Berakhot 1:4: the Hebrew witness labels this paragraph א,ח [ד]. Rambam, Bartenura and Tosafot Yom Tov on 1:4: separately labeled explanations of the forms. Rashi on Berakhot 11a: the alternative reference; 11a means folio 11, first side, of the Babylonian Talmud. Rambam, Laws of Shema 1:5–7: counts, blessing names and openings/closings.