Aligned sentence by sentence
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Mishnah [1]
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"The time of reading" — this is one of the times for *Shema* recitation already fixed in the chapter that precedes this one.
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His statement "if he directed his heart" means that he brought intention to bear upon the recitation, for it is possible that one may be correcting the vowel-points and not aiming to recite the paragraph.
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His statement "he has fulfilled" — its meaning is that he has discharged his obligation. "*Perakim*" are the divisions, whose definition will come below.
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As for R. Meir's statement, "in the breaks one may greet [another] out of respect," it is yet more fitting and more certain that one should return a greeting to whoever greeted him. So too his statement "in the midst" — one should take the initiative in greeting, and all the more so should one answer whoever greeted him.
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"Out of respect" means that one greets, or returns a greeting to, a person whose honoring is incumbent upon him, such as his father, his teacher, or a man more learned than himself.
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"Out of fear" is a man one fears, whether a human being, an informer, or a gentile. And the law is according to R. Yehudah.
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Mishnah [2]
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By his statement "it applies only by day," he means that the commandment stated in the paragraph "And [the Lord] said" — namely the commandment of *tzitzit* (Num 15:37–41) — is not obligatory except during the daytime, as we have explained earlier.
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And the law is according to R. Yehudah.
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Mishnah [3]
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"Precision of the letters" is the care taken in recitation so that one does not render a vowelled letter quiescent nor a quiescent letter vowelled; that one fully sound out the vowels that require full sounding, and partially sound the vowels that require partial sounding; that one bring forth the letters according to their points of articulation; and that one not merge one letter into a second when the letter at the end of a word is identical with the first letter of the word that follows it — as in * va-avadtem meherah* (Deut 11:17), *be-khol levavkha* (Deut 6:5), and the like.
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All these matters cannot be set down in writing; they can only be acquired from a teacher who teaches them face to face.
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"And in reverse" is backwards — that one recite a verse, then the one before it, then the one before that. The explanation of "*ta'ah*" is that he erred.
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His statement "he returns to the place where he erred" follows the manner they laid out in the Tosefta, namely: "If he erred between one paragraph and another and does not know in which paragraph he is, he returns to the first paragraph; in the middle of a paragraph, he returns to the beginning of the paragraph; between one passage of Scripture and another, he returns to the first passage."
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And the law is according neither to R. Yose nor to R. Yehudah in their statement that he has not fulfilled his obligation.
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Mishnah [4]
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"*Umanin*" are the craftsmen. It is the practice of the builders who build walls out of earth to set up two boards and pour the earth between them, fixing them in place with stakes until the wall takes shape; then they raise those boards over what has already been built. This is what people today call the *ṭāfiya*.
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And each single one of those boards with which the *ṭāfiya* is built is called a *nidbakh* — and this is the true sense of the term.
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His statement here "at the top of the *nidbakh*" means at the top of the wall, when the craftsman is fixing the boards in place there, between the boards that are called *nidbakhin*. What requires that they not pray up there is the preoccupation of the mind.
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And *Shema* recitation does not require concentration of the heart except for the first verse alone.
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Mishnah [5]
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A person is never exempt from *Shema* recitation unless his mind is occupied with a matter of commandment, for "one who is engaged in a commandment is exempt from [another] commandment." Thus if one marries a virgin, he is exempt from *Shema* recitation for as long as he has not consummated the union with her, on account of the preoccupation of his mind lest he not find her a virgin — and he is moreover engaged in a commandment, namely the commandment of "be fruitful and multiply" (Gen 1:28).
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But if one marries a widow, *Shema* recitation is obligatory upon him, for although he is engaged in a commandment, he has no preoccupation of mind.
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And if he has tarried some days without having consummated the union, then he has no preoccupation of mind at that point, for the agitation of the wedding has departed from him. This is the meaning of his statement "if he did not perform the act" — namely that if he did not consummate the union and tarried until after the Sabbath before which he wed, then his preoccupation of mind has departed.
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As for this deed that Rabban Gamliel performed, it was an imposition of a burden upon himself.
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Mishnah [6]
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This washing was as though with hot water, for a mourner is forbidden to wash in hot water.
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The explanation of "*istanis*" is one whose body is delicate to cold; it derives from *tzinnah* (cold), and although it is written with a *samekh*, that sort of thing is common in languages.
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Mishnah [7]
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All of this is clear.
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Mishnah [8]
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The meaning of the words of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel is that he says: when one recites, people will regard him with an eye of esteem, [thinking] that he is ascetic and scrupulous, whereas it is most often the case that one does so for show.
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And the law is not according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.