“ The Sages made a fence for their words so that a man, on returning home from the field in the evening, should not say: I shall go home, eat a little, drink a little, sleep a little, and then I shall recite the Shema' and the Tefillah, and meanwhile, sleep may overpower him, and as a result he will sleep the whole night. Rather should a man, when returning home from the field in the evening, go to the synagogue. ”

“ Or, if you wish, I can say because they want to exclude the opinion of those who say that the evening prayer is only voluntary. [1] Therefore they teach us that it is obligatory.
The Master said: [2] 'Let him recite Shema' and say the Tefillah'. This accords with the view of R. Johanan. [3] For R. Johanan says: Who inherits the world to come? The one who follows the Ge'ullah [4] immediately with the evening Tefillah. ”

“ Hence in the evening the Ge'ullah must not be joined closely to Tefillah. [9] R. Johanan argues: There is here an analogy between lying down and rising. Just as [at the time of] rising, recital of Shema' precedes Tefillah, so also [at the time of] lying down, recital of Shema' precedes Tefillah. R. Joshua b. Levi argues [differently] : There is here an analogy between lying down and rising. Just as [at the time of] rising, the recital of Shema' is next to [rising from] bed, [10] so also [at the time of] lying down, recital of Shema' must be next to [getting into] bed. ”