📖Daily Rambam (1) Hilchos Kerias Shema – Chapters 4: Exemptions from Kri’at Shema and the Laws of Distraction, Mourning, and Ritual Impurity (Sunday 18th Nissan)

Hilchos Kerias Shema – Chapters 4: Exemptions from Kri’at Shema and the Laws of Distraction, Mourning, and Ritual Impurity

Halachah 1 — Who Is Exempt from Kri’at Shema

Women, slaves, and children are exempt from Kri’at Shema.
Nevertheless, children should be educated to recite the Shema at its proper time with its blessings.

Anyone who is preoccupied with a mitzvah and mentally distracted is exempt from all mitzvot, including Shema.
Therefore, a groom who marries a virgin is exempt until consummation, due to his anxiety. If he delays until Saturday night without consummation, he becomes obligated, since his mind has settled.

Halachah 2 — One Who Marries a Non‑Virgin

A groom who marries a woman who is not a virgin is obligated to recite the Shema, since his involvement in the mitzvah does not distract him to the same degree.

Halachah  3 — Mourners and Guards of the Dead

A mourner for a close relative is exempt from Shema until burial.
Anyone guarding a body is also exempt, even if not a relative.
If there are two guards, they alternate—one recites Shema while the other guards.
Gravediggers are likewise exempt.

Halachah  4 — Funeral Processions

A body should not be taken out close to the time of Shema unless the deceased was a great person.

If the funeral procession is already underway when the time for Shema arrives:

• those required to carry the coffin are exempt,
• others accompanying the body are obligated to recite the Shema.

Halachah  5 — Eulogies

If eulogies are taking place:

• in the presence of the deceased, individuals should withdraw briefly to recite the Shema;
• if the deceased is not present, everyone recites Shema except the mourner, who remains exempt until burial.

Halachah  6 — Consoling the Mourners

After burial, if people can begin and finish even one verse of Shema before reaching the condolence line, they should do so.
If not, they wait until after consoling the mourners.

Those standing in the inner line (facing the mourners) are exempt; those in the outer line are obligated.

Halachah  7 — Voluntary Stringency

Anyone exempt from Shema who wishes to be stringent and recite it may do so, provided his mind is settled.
If he is emotionally disturbed or distracted, he may not recite Shema.

Halachah  8 — Ritual Impurity

All ritually impure individuals are obligated to recite the Shema and its blessings, even if they could purify themselves that day.

Ezra once decreed that a man who had a seminal emission may not study Torah or recite Shema until immersion, but this decree was not upheld.
The accepted ruling is that Torah and Shema are never subject to impurity, since the words of Torah are eternally pure.