The Gemara asks why according to Rebbi does the Pasuk needs to say v'Hayu and answers that otherwise he would learn out from Shema like the Chachamim. But Rebbi needs Shema to learn out that you have to be able to hear what you say. Similarly the Gemara asks on the Chachamim why the Pasuk needs to say ??? and answers that otherwise the would learn out from v'Hayu like Rebbi. But they also need v'Hayu for another Derashah. Is the Gemara saying that if it had written only Shema or v'Hayu there would be no Machlokes and Rebbi and the Chachamim wouldn't have learnt anything else out? If not what is the Gemara asking?
David Halter, United Kingdom
(a) That is an excellent question. If a Tana learns a particular Derashah from the Pasuk, it would seem that he considers that to be the most logical way to learn the verse. So why does our Gemara suggest that had he not found the Pasuk "v'Hayu", Rebbi would 'forfeit' his Derashah of "Hashme'a l'Oznecha" and learn from the word "Shema" that Kerias Shema can be recited in any language (unlike the rest of the Torah)?
(b) We could suggest a simple answer to your question, based on the Gemara later (14a) which says that from the word Shema 'Tarti Shema Mina' - i.e., two Derashos can be learned from the single word (see Rashi and Rashba there who explain why). If so, our Gemara may not mean that Rebbi would have "forfeited" his Derashah of "Hashme'a l'Oznecha". Rather, that had it not been for "v'Hayu" he would have also learned from the word "Shema" that it can be said in any language.
The same suggestion can hold for the Chachamim; had they not learned otherwise from the word "Shema", they would have learned from "v'Hayu" two things, since v'Hayu teaches that the Parshah must be recited exactly , i.e. not backwards and in Lashon ha'Kodesh.
(c) Although the above approach seems consistent and may have been the interpretation of numerous Rishonim, Tosfos in a number of places does not seem to have understood it that way. He apparently inferred from our Sugya that sometimes the Pasuk teaches us not to use the the most logical inference from the verse but rather the second most logical inference. (See Tosfos Chulin 38a DH Ki Yivaled, Nidah 40a DH Yotzei, Peachim 61b DH Kasav, Yevamos 74b DH Mi'Chlal.)
In our case, Rebbi's preference would have been to learn from Shema that the prayer can be said in any language. Only after the Torah teaches from another verse that this is not so, Rebbi is forced to learn from Shema "Hashme'a l'Oznecha," the second best Derashah.
Best wishes,
Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld
Kollel Iyun Hadaf