Q&A: A Groom Is Exempt from Reciting the Shema
A Groom Is Exempt from Reciting the Shema
Question
Hello Rabbi. According to Jewish law, a groom is exempt from reciting the Shema, but nowadays the practice is to recite it anyway, because in the past people knew how to have proper intention, and therefore they needed a special level of concentration that a groom does not have. But we, who in any case do not have proper intention, do not need special concentration. That sounds a bit strange. Both the claim that the level of intention has changed since then, and that because of the inability to have excellent intention, they exempted a groom from reciting the Shema with lesser intention. After all, we do fulfill our obligation with our lesser intention, so why shouldn’t the groom at least fulfill a Torah-level commandment just like we do?
Answer
Regarding a change in reality, I have nothing to say. The sages see that in their generation it is not reasonable to demand intention. What was the case in the past? Who knows?
The second question is a good one. Apparently the sages thought that reciting it without intention is detrimental. It also bothers the groom, who is exempt from commandments, and if in any case he is not thereby fulfilling the commandment, they do not obligate him.
Discussion on Answer
First of all, that is possible. And still, the halakhic decisors think it is proper to do it anyway. Besides, it is possible that there are different levels of fulfillment and it is not binary—either there is a commandment or there is not.
But it comes out that we also have no commandment then. Because we have only lesser intention, which is not even a commandment after all (otherwise a groom in the past would also have been obligated despite lesser intention).