As many who begin the study of rabbinic text (Mishnah, Talmud, etc.) find rabbinic logic a difficult intellectual process to follow, the following very small group of sources aims to demonstrate the differences between Aristotelian and Rabbinic purposes, particularly as they apply to the study of Jewish text. In Aristotelian logic, the form of logic in which most of us in the West have been schooled, the purpose is to reach a clear conclusion: first, we present a predicate or a proposition, then we go through a series of discussions, the purpose of which is to reach a conclusion. This approach is exemplified in the example from Maimonides Mishneh Torah.
The Rabbinic purpose, however, as exemplified in the selections from the Mishnah and the Tosefta, is to engage in sacred study in ways that help us to live Torah. "Rabbinic literature arose mostly out of the attempt to adapt the Torah as the Jewish rule of life to changing conditions" (Strack and Stemberger, 15). Because God gave us both written and oral Torah at Sinai, the rabbis believe that we are obliged to engage both groups of law in an attempt to fully understand the rule of the Divine as it relates to our everyday lives.
In its simple but profound declaration of monotheism, the Torah instructs us to "Hearken, O Israel, the Lord is your God, the Lord is One" (Deut. 6:4); this is Judaism's fundamental Shema prayer. The text goes on to tell us how and when to recite this prayer (see immediately below). One of the questions the rabbis struggle with is an "unpacking" of this command, and the first question they pose for themselves in the Mishnah is, at what times of day do we recite the Shema?
The Biblical Source
(ו) וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ׃ (ז) וְשִׁנַּנְתָּ֣ם לְבָנֶ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתָּ֖ בָּ֑ם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ֤ בְּבֵיתֶ֙ךָ֙ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ֣ בַדֶּ֔רֶךְ וּֽבְשָׁכְבְּךָ֖ וּבְקוּמֶֽךָ׃
(6) And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart; (7) and you shall repeat them to your children, and speak of them while you sit in your house, and while you walk on the way, and in your lying down and in your rising up.
The Rabbinic Approach to the Text
10-220 CE
מאימתי קורין את שמע בערבית. משעה שהכהנים נכנסים לאכול בתרומתן, עד סוף האשמורה הראשונה, דברי רבי אליעזר. וחכמים אומרים, עד חצות. רבן גמליאל אומר, עד שיעלה עמוד השחר. מעשה שבאו בניו מבית המשתה, אמרו לו, לא קרינו את שמע. אמר להם, אם לא עלה עמוד השחר, חיבין אתם לקרות. ולא זו בלבד, אלא כל מה שאמרו חכמים עד חצות, מצותן עד שיעלה עמוד השחר. הקטר חלבים ואברים, מצותן עד שיעלה עמוד השחר. וכל הנאכלין ליום אחד, מצותן עד שיעלה עמוד השחר. אם כן, למה אמרו חכמים עד חצות, כדי להרחיק את האדם מן העבירה.
From when may one recite Shema in the evening? From the time when the Kohanim go in to eat their Terumah until the end of the first watch – so says Rabbi Eliezer. And the Sages say: Until midnight. Rabban Gamliel says: Until the break of dawn.
It once happened that his [Rabban Gamliel’s] sons came from a house of feasting. They said to him: "We have not recited Shema." He said to them: "If dawn has not broken, you are obligated to recite it." And [this is true] not only in this case; rather, in all cases where the Sages said that [some precept can be performed only] until midnight — their precepts are [still in force] until the break of dawn. [For example:] Burning the fats and limbs [of the sacrifices, on the Temple altar] — their precepts [can be performed] until the break of dawn. And [another example:] all [sacrifices] which may be eaten for one day — their precepts [of eating them can be performed] until the break of dawn. If that is so, why did the Sages say, "until midnight"? To distance a person from transgression.
מאימתי קורין את שמע בערבית משעה שבני אדם נכנסין לאכול פיתן בערבי שבתות דברי רבי מאיר וחכמים אומרים משעה שהכהנים זכאין לאכול בתרומתן סימן לדבר צאת הכוכבים ואף על פי שאין ראיה לדבר זכר לדבר (נחמיה ד) וחצים מחזיקים ברמחים מעלות השחר עד צאת הכוכבים.
From when do we read Shema in the evenings? "From the time when people come [home] to eat their bread on Shabbat (Sabbath) nights," [these are] the words of Rebbi Meir. And the Sages say from the time when the Priests are able to eat their Terumah. A sign for this is the coming out of the stars. And even though there is no explicit proof for this matter, there is an indirect reference: "… and half of them were holding spears from the morning twilight until the coming out of the stars" (Nehemiah 4:15).
The Aristotelian Approach to the Text
Maimonides 1135-1204 CE
פעמים בכל יום קוראין ק"ש בערב ובבקר שנאמר ובשכבך ובקומך בשעה שדרך בני אדם שוכבין וזה הוא לילה ובשעה שדרך בני אדם עומדין וזה הוא יום.
Two times every day one recites the Shema, in the morning and in the evening as it says [in Scripture], "in your lying down and in your rising up" (Deut. 6:7). [This means] the time when people generally lie down, which is night, and the time when people generally arise, which is day.