Rif Brachot 1b {Brachot 3a continues; 8b}

HIDE/SHOW IMAGE
1b

{Brachot 3a continues}
A sign to {approximate} the matter: the coming out of the stars.

And although there is no proof to the matter, there is a reference to the matter, for it states {in Nechemia 4:15}

טו וַאֲנַחְנוּ, עֹשִׂים בַּמְּלָאכָה; וְחֶצְיָם, מַחֲזִיקִים בָּרְמָחִים, מֵעֲלוֹת הַשַּׁחַר, עַד צֵאת הַכּוֹכָבִים.

15 So we wrought in the work; and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.

and it states {in the next pasuk}

טז גַּם בָּעֵת הַהִיא, אָמַרְתִּי לָעָם--אִישׁ וְנַעֲרוֹ, יָלִינוּ בְּתוֹךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם; וְהָיוּ-לָנוּ הַלַּיְלָה מִשְׁמָר, וְהַיּוֹם מְלָאכָה.

16 Likewise at the same time said I unto the people: 'Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labour in the day.'

{thus, day is defined as until the stars appear, at which point night begins.}

We thus derive, between the mishna and the brayta, that the time for the reading of Shema according to the Sages is from the time that the priests enter [their houses] to eat of their terumah, which is the time of the coming out of the stars.

And so is the halacha {and not like other opinions, such as R Meir, who give a different time one may start}.

For it it established for us, an individual opinion and an opinion of the many, the halacha is like the many.

{The parsing issue of the Mishna}
And this that we ask {in the gemara, a contradiction} of R Eliezer upon R Eliezer, for we learned in a brayta, 'From when may we start the reading of Shema in the evenings? From the time that we bless the day on Friday evening. These are the words of R Eliezer" and we also learn in our Mishna "From the time that the priests enter [their houses] to eat of their terumah [...] these are the words of R Eliezer,"

This is not to say that this that we said in the Mishna "From the time that the priests enter [their houses] to eat of their terumah" is only the words of R Eliezer, but rather, both according to R Eliezer and according to the Sages the maintain this, such that the Sages do not argue uon R Eliezer except as regards to the end {of the time span one may read the Shema}, that R Eliezer holds until the end of the first watch, and the Sages hold until midnight. But as regards "From the time that the priests enter [their houses] to eat of their terumah" they do not argue.

For if the Sages did not hold "From the time that the priests enter [their houses] to eat of their terumah," but rather only R Eliezer held of this, they should argue {in the Mishna} in the start time {lit. misha'a "from the hour"} just as they argue upon him as regards the end time {lit. ad sof "until the end"}. And since they only argue upon him as regards the ad sof, we deduce that between R Eliezer and the Sages, all maintain "From the time that the priests enter [their houses] to eat of their terumah."

And we find in the brayta that he {R Eliezer} holds "From the time they bless the day on Friday nights," in which case we ask from his opinion upon his own opinion. And we answer that it is two Tannaim within R Eliezer {each attributing or citing a different time}.

The second answer {of the gemara} is that we say, if you want I will say that the end of the statement {that is, "until the end of the first watch"} is Rabbi Eliezer, and the beginning of the statement {"From the time that the priests enter [their houses] to eat of their terumah"} is not R Eliezer {but rather the Tanna Kamma. See how I give these two parsings in the Mishna}. It is then clear that "from the time that the priests enter [their houses] to eat of their terumah" is only the Sages and not R Eliezer.

Therefore, whether according to the first answer or according to the second answer, this that we say in the Mishna "From the time that the priests enter [their houses] to eat of their terumah" is according to the Sages, and since it is according to the Sages we practice like this.

{Brachot 8b}
"Until the end of the first watch": Rav Yehuda cited Shmuel