A Mishna in Tractate Sotah (32a) deals with several mitzvos of the Torah that are fulfilled through speech, not only in Hebrew, leshon hakodesh, but also in any language. Some "verbal" mitzvos, such as reading the parasha of Bikkurim, are performed exclusively in leshon hakodesh. Tosafos (ad loc. s.v. ne'emarim), however, state that one is not allowed to recite the Shema in a foreign language unless he understands it. If he does not understand the foreign language he is not yotzei, that is, he has not fulfilled the mitzva of Kerias Shema. In contrast, one who recites the Shema in leshon hakodesh fulfills the precept even if he does not understand the words. This is so except for the first pasuk of the Shema and the first beracha of the Shemoneh Esreh, where knowledge of what one is saying is essential for the fulfillment of one's obligation. So rules the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayyim 62:2).


In What Language Should A Tourist Recite The Shema?

Although the Mishna states that the Shema can be recited "in every language," the Mishna Berura (Biur Halacha ad loc., s.v. yachol) points out that this is possible only when the foreign language is spoken in the country where the person happens to be. If a Jew from China, for example, is visiting Russia, he cannot recite the Shema in Chinese and fulfill the mitzva, since Chinese is not a language spoken in Russia. He must recite the Shema either in Russian or in leshon hakodesh. The Shema can be recited in leshon hakodesh anywhere because Hebrew is different from other languages in that it is a language that is essentially of Divine origin. Other languages are the result of convention and consensus reached by a country's people. Therefore, in a place where the people of the country do not know a certain language, that language is not considered a language that can be used for reciting the Shema. In most editions of the Mishna Berura, however, there is a note at the bottom of the page mentioning that this stringency seems to be contradicted by one of the laws of Hilchos Megilla. Therefore, he notes, a doubt remains as to what the practical halacha is.< BR>

What Languages Were "Spoken" In The Beth Hamikdash?

Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner, zt"l, Rosh Yeshivas Rabbenu Chaim Berlin (cited in a book commemorating his memory), questions this interpretation of the Mishna Berura based on the fact that the Gemara (Sotah 32b) teaches that the oath that a sotah must swear is one of the verbal precepts that can be performed in any language. Since it is reasonable to assume that only leshon hakodesh was spoken in Eretz Yisrael in the days of the Beth Hamikdash, this shows that a person can speak his own language no matter where he is, even if the language he speaks is not a locally spoken language where he now resides.

A way to resolve the difficulty of the Mishna Berura was suggested in the Sochachover Beth Midrash. According to the Mishna Berura, it seems that a person is not allowed to recite the Shema in a language other than leshon hakodesh if he is staying in a place where only isolated individuals know the local language. If, on the other hand, many people in that place speak the language in question, he can recite the Shema in that language. Since Jerusalem was a world center where people from many different countries were always passing through, no language was considered foreign because every language was spoken there, and not just by isolated individuals.


The Shema Recital Today

The Mishna Berura (ibid. s.k. 3) states that today foreign languages include many words that we do not pronounce correctly. Therefore we should be careful to read the Shema only in leshon hakodesh, for the Shulchan Aruch emphasizes that just as the words must be pronounced correctly when we recite the Shema in leshon hakodesh, so, too, must they be pronounced correctly when we recite the Shema in another language. Since the pronunciation of words in other languages has become distorted, it is preferable to recite the Shema in leshon hakodesh.



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