Shema and Aseret Ha-davarim

[After the morning offering] ... They then went down from there to the Chamber of Hewn Stone to recite the Shema.

(1) The appointed [priest] said to them: “Say one blessing” [one right before the Shema], and they blessed. They then recited the Ten Commandments, 'Shema', 'Vehaya im Shamoa' and 'Vayomer' [the three paragraphs of the Shema]. They also blessed the people with these three blessings: Emet Veyatsiv [the blessing that follows the Shema in the morning prayer], Avodah [the blessing in Shemoneh Esreh calling for God to accept the Temple service], and the Birkat Kohanim [the Priestly Blessing]. On Shabbat, they added a blessing for the watch that was leaving.

(6) I the LORD am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: (7) You shall have no other gods beside Me. (8) You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters below the earth. (9) You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the LORD your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me, (10) but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

(11) You shall not swear falsely by the name of the LORD your God; for the LORD will not clear one who swears falsely by His name.

(12) Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. (13) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (14) but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do. (15) Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

(16) Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may long endure, and that you may fare well, in the land that the LORD your God is assigning to you.

(17) You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

(18) You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not crave your neighbor’s house, or his field, or his male or female slave, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

(19) The LORD spoke these words—those and no more—to your whole congregation at the mountain, with a mighty voice out of the fire and the dense clouds. He inscribed them on two tablets of stone, which He gave to me.

(4) Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. (5) You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6) Take to heart these words with which I charge you this day. (7) Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. (8) Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; (9) inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The tanna bases himself on the verse as it is written: “You will talk of them when you sit in your home, and when you walk along the way, when you lie down, and when you arise” (Deuteronomy 6:7).

The Gemara related above that the priests in the Temple read the Ten Commandments, along with the sections of Shema, VeHaya im Shamoa, VaYomer, True and Firm, Avoda, and the priestly benediction.

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: Even in the outlying areas, outside the Temple, they sought to recite the Ten Commandments in this manner, but they had already abolished recitation of the Ten Commandments due to the grievance of the heretics, who argued that the entire Torah, with the exception of the Ten Commandments, did not emanate from God (Jerusalem Talmud). If the Ten Commandments were recited daily, that would lend credence to their claim, so their recitation was expunged from the daily prayers.

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said, "Behold I am like a man of seventy years and I have not merited [to understand why] the exodus from Egypt should be said at night until Ben Zoma explicated it, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 16:3), 'In order that you remember the day of your going out from the land of Egypt all the days of your life;' 'the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked during] the days, 'all the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked also during] the nights." But the Sages say, "'the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked in] this world, 'all the days of your life' [indicates that the remembrance be invoked also in] the next world."

(10) Another interpretation: (Devarim 6:4) "the Lord is our God": in this world; "the Lord is One": in the world to come. And thus is it written (Zechariah 14:9) "And the Lord will be the King over all the land. On that day the Lord will be One and His name will be One."

(1) (Devarim 6:5) "And you shall love the L-rd your G-d": Act (i.e., serve) out of love.