Hi Eliyahu,

As an ex-South African myself I was very pleased to receive your questions on Berachos.

(a) RASHI seems to be saying that if we Daven Ma'ariv early then we can fulfill the obligation of Shema at night by reading the first paragraph of Shema when we go to sleep.

(b) With regard to the time limitation of Chatzot for eating Korbanos, refer to the Mishnayos of Eizehu Mekoman which you will find in your Siddur before Baruch She'amar.

(c) As regards the various time options, e.g. from when the Kohanim eat their Terumah, or when the poor men eat: each of these are different times. The Torah does not say that we read Shema at night, rather it describes this time as be'Shochbechah, even if technically it is not yet night. These opinions argue as to when this time period of be'Shochbechah starts. We find that the Gemara later says that be'Kumecha is until three hours of the day since that is when royalty wakes up. Similarly, the times in our Gemara are to be taken as indicators of when B'Shochbecho is.

Bi'vracha,

Zvi Wainstein (formerly from Johannesburg)