Introduction to Shema and its Berachot (10) – The relationship between the blessings (2) – Yerushalmi, Berachot 2:1, Tosafot
Last time, we unpacked a complex sugya in the Bavli that struggled to understand the relationship of the berachot of the Shema to each other. Let’s take a look at a short comment of the Yerushalmi that appears to use this same phrase in a different way. The comment was made on the first Mishna of the second chapter of Masechet Berachot:
משנה ברכות ב:א
הָיָה קוֹרֵא בַּתּוֹרָה וְהִגִּיעַ זְמַן הַמִּקְרָא אִם כִּוֵּון לִבּוֹ יָצָא
Mishna, Berachot 2:1
If one was reading the Torah and arrived at the time of the reading of Shema – if you intend your heart, you can fulfill your obligation.
The Mishna understands that even though this person did not recite the complete liturgy — meaning that they did not recite any of the blessings — they could nonetheless appropriately fulfill the mitzvah of the Shema. The Yerushalmi then says:
תלמוד ירושלמי ברכות י”ב א (וילנא) פרק ב הלכה א
א”ר בא זאת אומרת שאין הברכות מעכבות.
Yerushalmi Berachot 12a (2:1)
Rabbi Aba said, “This teaches that the blessings do not stand in the way of [the Shema].”
It is clear that this short passage explains that the recitation of the berachot of Shema is not essential to the proper fulfillment of the mitzvah of reading the Shema. It seems that, while approximately the same phrase is used in both the Bavli and the Yerushalmi, they are talking about two very different questions. …