returning to the question of shema time...

Our daf today returns to teh qeustion at hand, when may we recite the evening Shema, concludes its discussion (and there's some great stuff about Passover, of course, a digression -- welcome to the Talmud!!! Digression is its middle name) and moves on to the next Mishnah, a question: From when may we recite the Shema in the morning? (Vayehi erev, vayehi voker, tov me-od....there was evening, there was morning....and it was very good)

And I love the answer that the Mishnah gives:

From when there is daylight enough to distinguish between blue wool and white woold, or perhaps blue wool and green wool....and the Gemara gives other choices, between a wolf and a dog, a domestic donkey and a wild donkey (who's ever met a wild donkey???), or when one can see a friend four amot away and recognize him at that distance.

Basically -- the point of this is that it's not enough to say "when one rises", because without enough daylight to see, one can't really rouse oneself. (I agree, and living in the Midwest, this makes winter mornings a little tough!) but I like the final answer, that one can recognize a friend....we can't say our morning Shema until we've acknowledged another human being's presence first....that our whole connection to God, again, comes through a connection to another human being.

(What if you're color blind? You'd have to use the donkey example, surely:)