The Rambam counts the tefillin of the hand and the head as two mitzvot (#12-13.) He explains its counted as two mitzvot because one can do one without the other. The Ramban asks if that’s the criteria, then krias shema should be counted as two mitzvot, once for the morning and a second for the evening? Rav Solevetchik explains that the Rambam holds that even though the two times of saying shema are independent, if one does only one of them, he is lacking in the complete fulfillment of shema. Why is that? The Rambam at the beginning of Sefer Ahavah brings the possuk ofמה אהבתי תורתך כל היום היא שיחתי, the constant attachment to Torah shows one’s love for Hashem. In the same vein, the two times of reciting shema are bookends to the kabbalas ol that should last throughout the day. We read the words twice a day but the קיום lasts throughout the day. Now we understand if one misses one of the times of shema, he is lacking in the complete kabbalas ol throughout the day.
That is why the Rambam cites the times of tefillah in the mitzvah of shema. Just as in tefillah there is one mitzvah to pray during the day, yet Chazal enacted that one should do it three times during the day, so too regarding shema, its one mitzvah with multiple parts during the day. It is noteworthy that the Derech P'kudecha (from Bnei Yissoscher,) in his intro. suggests that one must have in mind by all three prayers to fulfill the mitzvah of tefillah because Chazal extended the mitzvah to three times a day.
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