As announced previously, this and the following three sessions are an extension of the series on Shema and its Berachot.
The present semester is “Zman Elul”, the semester beginning with Rosh Hodesh Elul and ending in the Ten Days of Repentence. Hence we will point out, in our study of the remaining blessings of the Shema, various themes and ideas that are relevant to the season of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and discuss them where it is appropriate.
In this session, we will study in depth the 2nd blessing before the Shema — both the one for the morning (which begins with the words “Ahavah Rabah” (acc. to the Ashkenaz custom) or “Ahavat Olam” (acc. to Sefard and all other customs)), and the one for the evening (which begins “Ahavat Olam” according to all customs). We will discuss the language style of the morning blessing, which unmistakably alludes to a theme central to our prayers at this time of year.
Studying the 2nd blessing raises the question: is our recitation of Kriat Shema considered an act of learning Torah? We will learn together a passage in the Shulchan Aruch and the commentary on it, the Mishnah Berurah, which discusses a halachic implication of the answer to this question. I have posted here the sources on this, so that if you want you can look them over before our class.
NOTE: Due to personal family reasons, Rabbi Zuriel will not be able to teach the class originally scheduled for Monday August 28. The course will resume on Monday September 4.