Prayer and Blessings
Are Women Obligated to Recite Keriat Shema al HaMitah?
Question
What is the importance of Keriat Shema al HaMitah? Are women obligated?
Thank you very much in advance
Answer
Hello,
A. Keriat Shema al HaMitah has two parts:
1. Keriat Shema and additional verses, which are intended for protection (Mishnah Berurah, siman 239, sk"b, and Shaar HaTziyun, sk"h).
2. HaMapil, which is a blessing of praise and thanksgiving for the creation of sleep (Responsa Yechaveh Da’at, volume 4, siman 21).
B. Women are also obligated in Keriat Shema al HaMitah, including the blessing of HaMapil, with Hashem’s name and kingship.
Sources: See Eliyah Rabbah (siman 239, sk"d), who cites the words of the Magen Avraham that women were not accustomed to recite Keriat Shema al HaMitah because it is a positive commandment dependent on time at night, and he disagreed with this, for the reason for this mitzvah is protection, and do men need protection while women do not? See there. It is along the lines of what was said in Tractate Kiddushin (34a): do men need life and women do not need life? Likewise, the Shaar HaTziyun (siman 239, sk"tz) writes, based on the Eliyah Rabbah and the Pri Megadim, that women should recite Keriat Shema al HaMitah. This was also ruled in the sefer Chazon Ovadia, Berachot (page 212).
With blessing,
Hillel Meirs
