The Weekly Shtikle - EIkev

This past Wednesday, the 15^th of Av, marked the 14^th yahrtzeit of my Opa, Mr. George Jakobovits. This week's shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmaso, Tovia Yehudah ben Yoel, a'h.

 

There are a number of interesting little differences between the first parsha of keriyas shema, which we read last week, and the second which we read this week. One of them is that in the first parsha, the mitzvah of keriyas shema, the words "beshivt'cha beveisecha, uv'lechtecha vaderech" are written before the mitzvah of tefillin is mentioned. It is the other way around in the second parsha.

 

R' Chaim Kanievsky, zt"l, in his unique manner, offers a novel explanation. The Beiur Halacha in the beginning of siman 58 concludes that keriyas shema kevasikin, i.e. immediately prior to haneitz hachamah (sunrise), takes precedence over davening with tefillin. If you can do only one or the other, it is better to recite shema kevasikin. Rashi has explained that the first parsha speaks to a yachid, a single individual while the second parsha is addressing the rabbim, the masses. The gemara (Yoma 37b) asserts that a tzibbur does not have the ability to synchronize all together kevasikin. Therefore, it is definitely suggested that the tzibbur daven at a time where they would be putting on tefillin.

 

So, the first parsha which refers to a yachid, puts keriyas shema first because for a singular individual, performing this mitzvah in its ideal manner takes precedence over the mitzvah of tefillin. But the second parsha speaks to the rabbim, so it puts tefillin first since for them, it takes precedence as keriyas shema in its ideal time is not a recognizable reality.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

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