Chapter 17: 6-8
Recitation of the Shema
6. A person who is reciting the Shema [should not try to communicate with
others even though he does not speak] - i.e., he should not wink with his
eyes, move his lips, or gesture with his fingers. However, for the sake of
a mitzvah, he may make gestures from the second passage onwards.
7. Before reciting the Shema, [in the blessing Ahavoh rabboh] when reciting
the phrase v'havieinu ("and bring us [from the four corners of the
world"]), a person should take his tzitzis in his hand. During the
recitation of the Shema, he should hold them in his left hand, between his
forefinger and middle finger, opposite his heart.
When he reaches the passage Vayomer, the passage concerning tzitzis, he
should hold them in his right hand. When he recites the verse ur'isem oso,
he should place them on his eyes, look at them and kiss them. It is
customary to kiss them every time one recites the word "tzitzis."
One should hold them until the phrase v'nechmodim lo'ad in the blessing
Emess v'yatziv, when one should kiss them and release them.
8. When one concludes the Shema with the phrase Ani Ado-noi Elo-hechem, one
should recite the word emess immediately, so that no interruption is made
between them. The chazon should do the same when he recites the Shema by
himself and then, he should pronounce out loud - Ado-noi Elo-hechem emess.
All the congregants should concentrate on hearing these three words from
the chazon, for these three words bring the total of the words in the Shema
to 248, corresponding to the 248 limbs in the human body. Afterwards, one
starts the following blessing, V'yatziv, but it is forbidden for them to
recite emess a second time.
A person who is praying without a minyan should recite the phrase El Melech
ne'emon before reciting the Shema, to complete the number of 248 words.
