“לא ישכב עד יאכל טרף” [וכתב רש”י לא ישכב בלילה על מטתו עד שהוא אוכל ומחבל כל מזיק, כיצד קורא את שמע על מטתו ומפקיד רוחו ביד המקום]
The מחבר (סימן רל”ט סעיף א’) brings the halacha of קריאת שמע על המטה, that one should recite the first parsha of krias shema before going to sleep. The Mishna Berurah says that it is better for one to recite all three parshiyos together with קל מלך נאמן which equal two hundred forty eight words corresponding to the two hundred forty eight limbs of a person.
If one davened maariv early there is a machlokes haposkim if he must repeat the third parsha of krias Shema. Can one fulfill the mitzvah of זכירת יציאת מצרים if he says krias shema early? The ט”ז brings the opinion of the תלמידי רבינו יונה that one can fulfill this mitzvah if he davens maariv early. However the Mishna Berura brings the opinion of the Shagas Aryeh that one does not fulfill his mitzvah, therefore when saying קריאת שמע על המטה he must also repeat the third parsha to fulfill the mitzvah of זכירת יציאת מצרים. He must also have כונה to fulfill this mitzvah. Even though the חיי אדם rules that בדיעבד if one did not have כונה he is still יוצא, the שער הציון explains that is only because he is davening and מסתמא he wants to fulfill the mitzvah the way the חכמים said to. When he is saying it for קריאת שמע על המטה, that reasoning doesn’t apply.
The מחבר (סימן רל”ה סעיף א’) rules, that if the tzibbur is davening maariv early you should daven together with them. When the right time for קריאת שמע arrives you should repeat קריאת שמע. The Mishna Berurah first brings the opinion of the ט”ז that you only have to repeat the first two parshiyos, and then he brings the שאגת אריה that a ירא שמים should repeat all three. Some meforshim point out that it doesn’t seem the Mishna Berurah in סימן רל”ה is ruling either way, where in סימן רל”ט he rules that one must repeat all three.
The Mishna Berurah in סימן רל”ה says that when you daven early and you need to repeat krias shema, you should not wait for קריאת שמע על המטה to do so. This is true even if your minhag is to recite all three parshiyos. The reason for this is because for the mitzvah of krias shema one needs כונה to fulfill the mitzvah. The krias shema recited before we go to sleep is for protection, not to fulfill the mitzvah.
I once asked my Mashgiach Reb Avrohom Turin zt”l, that it seems to be a contradiction in the Mishna Berurah. In סימן רל”ה he says you should not rely on קריאת שמע על המטה, whereas in סימן רל”ט he says that if krias shema was recited early you should have כונה by קריאת שמע על המטה and recite all three parshiyos. Should you have כונה to fulfill the mitzvah by קריאת שמע על המטה or should you not?
His answer was that the sefer of the Mishnah Berurah goes in order. In סימן רל”ה when discussing saying krias shema early he rules that one should not rely on קריאת על המטה and should rather repeat the shema beforehand. However in סימן רל”ט he is discussing if the person forgot to repeat krias shema earlier the way he was supposed to, and now he is ready to go to sleep, then when saying קריאת שמע על המטה he should recite all three parshiyos and have כונה to be יוצא, since he was not yet מקיים the mitzvah. However לכתחילה one should not wait for קריאת שמע על המטה.
The ערוך השלחן says that the minhag is only to say the first parsha of krias shema.1
Prepared by R’ Avrohom Yehoshua Ziskind
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