Study Rosh Hashanah folio 28B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אבל הכא, ״זכרון תרועה״ כתיב, והאי מתעסק בעלמא הוא — קא משמע לן. אלמא קסבר רבא: מצות אין צריכות כוונה.
But here, with regard to a shofar, it is written: “A memorial of blasts” (Leviticus 23:24), which might have been understood as requiring conscious intent, and this one was merely acting unawares, without having any intent whatsoever of performing the mitzva. Therefore, Rava teaches us that the absence of intent does not invalidate fulfillment of the mitzva, even in the case of shofar. The Talmud concludes: Apparently, Rava maintains that the fulfillment of mitzvot does not require intent. That is to say, if one performs a mitzva, he fulfills his obligation even if he has no intention of doing so.
איתיביה: היה קורא בתורה והגיע זמן המקרא, אם כוון לבו — יצא, ואם לאו — לא יצא. מאי לאו, כוון לבו: לצאת!
The Talmud raised an objection to this conclusion from what we learned in a Mishnah: If one was reading the passage of Shema in the Torah, and the time of reciting Shema arrived, if he focused his heart, he has fulfilled his obligation, but if not, he has not fulfilled his obligation. The Talmud reasons: What, is it not that he focused his heart to fulfill his obligation, and if he failed to do so, he has not fulfilled his duty, therefore implying that the fulfillment of mitzvot requires intent?
לא: לקרות. לקרות?! הא קא קרי! בקורא להגיה.
The Talmud rejects this argument: No, the Mishnah means that he intended to read the passage. The Talmud asks in astonishment: To read? But he is already reading it, for the Mishnah explicitly states: If one was reading in the Torah. The Talmud answers: We are discussing one who was reading from a Torah scroll in order to correct it, uttering the words indistinctly. The Mishnah teaches that if such an individual intends to articulate the words correctly, he has fulfilled his obligation.