What is Shema Yisrael?

Shema Yisrael is the declaration that God is One (Devarim 6:4). Saying it is accepting "the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven." The full Keriat Shema has three Torah passages: Devarim 6:4–9 (loving God, Torah study, tefillin, mezuzah), Devarim 11:13–21 (reward and punishment), and Bamidbar 15:37–41 (tzitzit and remembering the Exodus).

It is a Torah obligation to say it twice a day, "when you lie down and when you rise up." The morning Shema may be said from the time you can recognise an acquaintance (misheyakir), until the end of the third halachic hour of the day (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 58:1). The evening Shema is said after nightfall (OC 235:1).

Women are exempt from the time-bound obligation. They should still accept the Kingdom of Heaven, and many say at least the first verse (OC 70:1).

A Beit Din may ask you to recite the first verse, translate it, and say when the morning deadline falls.

A common mistake: thinking an early evening Arvit in summer covers the evening Shema. If it was said before nightfall, the Shema must be repeated after dark (OC 235:1).