You say:
(a) Rebbi Eliezer subscribes to the opinion that there are three Mishmaros, and the reason that he gives the time for saying the Shema as the end of the first watch, and not four hours, is because he wants to teach us that, just like there are four Mishmaros in the Heaven, so too are there four Mishmaros (meaning specific discernible periods) on earth.
Doesn't Rebbi Eliezer hold there are three mishmaros in shamayim v'aretz? (like you wrote in the reisha)?
Russell Levy, Toronto, Canada
Dear Russel,
It is exactly as you say. Rebbi Eliezer does indeed hold that there are three Mishmaros in Heaven and on earth, and when I wrote 'four' it was merely a slip of the pen. Thank you for pointing it out.
Kol Tuv,
R. Eliezer Chrysler