232. Mixing Up the Brachos of Shema

Kriyas Shema 1:7

The first blessing before Shema, both by day and by night, starts with a “Baruch” phrase (“Blessed are You…”) and ends with a “Baruch” phrase. The rest of the blessings all end with “Baruch” phrases but they do not start with them. These blessings, like all blessings, were instituted by Ezra and his court. We do not have to authority to add to or detract from them. When they instituted to conclude with a “Baruch” phrase, we may not omit it. If they did not include a “Baruch” phrase, we may not insert one. The same is true for whether or not a blessing begins with a “Baruch” phrase. The general rule is that if one deviates from the form of a blessing as instituted, he must recite the blessing again properly.

If a person does not recite “True and certain...” by day or “True and faithful...” by night, he does not fulfill his obligation in reciting the Shema.

Kriyas Shema 1:8                                               

If a person recited the second blessing before the first, whether by day or by night, regardless of whether this happened with the blessings before or after Shema, he fulfills his obligation. This is because the order of the blessings is not indispensable.

In the morning service, if a person begins “the One Who forms light” but concludes “the One Who brings on the evening” (mixing in the text of the evening service), he does not fulfill his obligation. If he began “the One Who brings on the evening” and concluded “the One Who forms light,” he would fulfill his obligation.

In the evening service, if one were to begin “the One Who brings on the evening” and conclude “the One Who forms light,” he would not fulfill his obligation but if he began “the One Who forms light” and concluded “the One Who brings on the evening,” he would. This is because the essence of a blessing is determined by its concluding phrase.