Mishnaic Musings 2 by slaveofone
A bridegroom is exempt from reciting the Shema’ on the first night, or until the close of the [next] Sabbath if he has not consummated the marriage.
m. Berakoth 2:5
Recitation of the Shema’ was a holy and righteous act that had many strict limitations upon it. All these requirements are annulled on the night of a wedding. Why? One word: sex. And if a husband is unable to make love to his wife the first day, he is exempt then from the Shema’ on the second day so he and his new wife may romp and roll. And if not the second, so the third. And so on and so forth up until the Sabbath. Of course, it should be kept in mind that sexual intercourse actually made one unclean, and it took some time to become clean afterwards, which probably factored into the decision to not say the Shema’ when one was defiled by lovemaking. But oh what a glorious and righteous defilement! Nonbelievers think we can’t really celebrate and enjoy defilement. If only they knew. Why we even postpone our religious duties to do it! Of course, in the ancient world, that was a major difference—sexual activity was often a part of religious activities outside Israel. In Israel, such things were separate.
R. Eliezer says: He that makes his prayer a fixed task, his prayer is no supplication.
m. Berakoth 4:4
I know a lot of Protestants who dislike Catholicism (and others) because of the rituals, the formalism, the fixed prayers, and such. In fact, my father (a former Catholic) said he disliked those structured and ordered prayers because it felt like a demand instead of a delight—something he was supposed to do instead of something he wanted to do. I’ve never understood that. Rather than being felt compelled by ritual and fixed, traditional prayers, I’ve found a unique sort of freedom—particularly a freedom to voluntarily join my voice and my heart with many others so that we stand together as one instead of apart as individuals.
This saying that is remembered of or attributed to R. Eliezer exposes another benefit of ritualistic, fixed, formal prayers. As a Protestant, I am all too familiar with the very common way Protestant prayer turns into little more than supplication and self-focus. When you have a fixed task and a traditional prayer, if it means something to you, it more often turns your heart, mind, and will away from yourself and outward to God. I have found that as my prayers become more formal, they become more focused on the person of God.
The Mishnaic Musings are a periodic series of posts where I reflect on one thing or another in the compendium of the Oral Law (the Mishnah) as I read through it for the first time. Quoted portions are taken from Hebert Danby’s eminent single-volume edition, The Mishnah, published by Oxford University Press.