Siman - Berachos Daf 12

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Aseres HaDibros before Krias Shema

Chazal sought to establish the practice of reading the Aseres HaDibros before reciting Krias Shema in the morning in the provinces as is done in the Beis HaMikdash, but soon abolished it because they feared the minim (heretics) would attempt to convince the ignorant that the rest of the Torah is false.

Parshas Balak in Krias Shema

Chazal wanted to include Parshas Balak in Krias Shema because it includes a reference to lying down and getting up in the passuk of "כרע שכב כארי וכלביא מי יקמנו" - "He crouched and lay down like a lion and like a lion cub, who can stand him up?"

They refrained from doing so because of tircha d’tzibbura, the burden it would impose on the congregation due to its length.

Five reasons Parshas Tzitzis was included in the Shema

The parsha of tzitzis was included in Krias Shema for the following five reasons:

a)מצות ציצית – The mitzva of tzitzis

b)יציאת מצרים – The Exodus from Mitzrayim

c)עול מצות – The yoke of mitzvos

d)דעת מינים והרהור עברה - The need to beware of heretical opinions and sinful thoughts

e)הרהור עבודה זרה - Idolatrous thoughts

Siman--Twelve brothers. TWELVE BROTHERS carrying posters of the Aseres HaDibros and proudly wearing their Tzitzis out are marching towards the minim who are trying to read Parshas Balak to cause tircha d’tzibbura.

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Rabbi Avraham Goldhar

Rabbi Avraham Goldhar has been designing and teaching Jewish literacy courses for over thirty years. His knowledge frameworks for Biblical mastery, Jewish History, Talmudic Law & Jewish Holidays enable students of all backgrounds to better integrate Jewish concepts and learn systematically. After serving as the Educational Director of Aish HaTorah New York, Avraham launched GoldharSchool.com, Home of Big Picture Jewish Education, featuring Jewish literacy content for schools and individuals. He is the developer of the Goldhar Method, a revolutionary learning system that integrates memory into the learning process and has trained over 80,000 students, teachers and professionals. He lectures internationally on the topic of academic mastery and the solutions required to raise the bar in education. Avraham learned in Aish HaTorah, Mir, and Chaim Berlin and received his ordination under the tutelage of Rabbi Yitzchok Berkovits in Jerusalem.