Introduction

The first section of this mishnah deals with having proper intention when reciting the Shema. The second section deals with interrupting reciting the Shema to greet someone.

Mishnah One

1)      If one was reading in the Torah [the section of the Shema] and the time for its recital arrived, if he directed his heart [to fulfill the mitzvah] he has fulfilled his obligation.

2)      In the breaks [between sections] one may give greeting out of respect and return greeting; in the middle [of a section] one may give greeting out of fear and return it, the words of Rabbi Meir.

3)      RabbiJudahsays: in the middle one may give greeting out of fear and return it out of respect, in the breaks one may give greeting out of respect and return greeting to anyone.

Explanation

Section one:  Someone is reading the Torah and he just happens to read the portions of the Shema at the time in the morning or evening when he is supposed to recite the Shema.  While this may seem extremely unlikely since the Shema’s three portions are not found consecutively in the Torah the mishnah is teaching a lesson. Merely reading the Shema as if one is simply reading from the Torah is not sufficient to fulfill one’s ritual duty to recite the Shema in the morning and in the evening. One must recite the Shema with the intention in mind of fulfilling one’s obligation to perform this mitzvah.  Only if one has such an intention in mind, has he fulfilled his mitzvah.

Section two:  This section deals with being forced to interrupt someone to offer a greeting.  It seems that in ancient times people took greetings far more seriously than we take them today.  Not greeting someone properly was considered a serious insult.  Therefore, both Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Judah allow certain interruptions in the recitation of the Shema in order to greet people. Rabbi Meir rules more strictly.  In between the paragraphs one can greet and respond to someone to whom one owes respect.  In the middle of a paragraph one can interrupt but only to greet or respond to someone whom one fears, such as a king or other powerful official.  But one should never interrupt just to greet an ordinary person and in the middle of a paragraph one may interrupt only out of fear and not out of respect.

Rabbi Judah is more lenient on each count.  In the middle of a paragraph he may initiate a greeting out of fear (Rabbi Meir agrees with this) and he may respond to one even out of respect (Rabbi Meir says only out of fear).  In between paragraphs he may initiate a greeting out of respect (this agrees with Rabbi Meir) and he may respond to anyone (Rabbi Meir disagrees).