1. He whose dead lies before him is exempted from reciting the Shemah,—from the prayer,—and from the phylacteries. 1 Those who carry the bier, and those who relieve them, and those who relieve the relief, those who go before the bier, and those who follow it, who are required for the bier, are exempted from reciting the Shemah. But those not required for the bier are bound to recite it. Both (parties) are exempted from the prayer.
2. When they have buried the dead, and return, if they have time to begin and end (the Shemah) before they reach the rows (of mourners), they must begin: if not, they must not begin. Of those standing in the rows, the inner (mourners) are exempt, but the outer ones are bound to recite the Shemah.
3. Women, slaves, and children, are exempt from reciting the Shemah, and also from the phylacteries; but they are bound in the prayer, the sign on the door-post, and the blessing after food.
4. A man in his legal uncleanness is to meditate in his heart on the (Shemah), but he is not to bless before, or after it. After his food he blesses, but not before it. R. Judah says "he blesses both before and after it."
If one stand in prayer, and recollect that he is in his uncleanness, he is not to pause, but to shorten (the prayer). If he has gone down into the water (to bathe), 2 and can go up, dress, and recite the Shemah before the sun shines forth, he is to go up, dress, and recite it. But he is not to cover himself with foul water, or with water holding matter in solution unless he has poured clean water to it. "How far is he to keep from foul water, or excrement?" "Four cubits."
6. A man in his uncleanness with a running issue, a woman in her uncleanness, during separation, and she who perceives the need of separation, require the bath. But R. Judah "exempts them."
53:1 Phylacteries consist of texts of Scripture (Exod. xiii. 2-10, 11-17; Deut. vi. 4-9, 13-22) written on parchment and inclosed in a leather box. They are bound by thongs round the left arm and forehead.
53:2 Lev. xv. 16.
