Is there a limit or specific amount of time that can pass between saying Baruch Shem and Vehavta when trying to fulfill the mitzvah of saying Shma?

 

One should not pause unnecessarily in the middle of reading Shema and definitely not interrupt with speech or doing other things.

Nevertheless, one does not need to restart Shema even if he had paused for a long time, unless he has paused because he was not fit to read Shema at that time (e.g. he relieved himself) or he passed a place where he cannot read Shema and the lapse was long enough for him to read the entire Kriyas Shema in it’s entirety – in such a case he would have to restart from the beginning of Shema.

 

Source:

שוע”ר סג ז, מג”א סה, סק”א. שוע”ר סה, סס”א.

 

 

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