Seudah Mafsekes
[1] (Halacha 1140)
Question: What may one eat at the seudah hamafsekes?
Answer: The Mishnah in Maseches Taanis1 says: 'On Erev Tishah B'Av, a person may not eat two cooked dishes, may not eat meat, and may not drink wine. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: He should change'.
And the Gemara2 explains the words of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel: 'Rabbi Yehudah said: How does one change? If he was accustomed to eat two cooked dishes, he should eat one kind; and if he was accustomed to dine with ten people, he dines with five. If he was accustomed to drink ten cups, he drinks five cups'.
And the Gemara brings a Baraisa in which we also find a dispute regarding this seudah: 'It was taught in another Baraisa: On Erev Tishah B'Av a person may not eat two cooked dishes, may not eat meat, and may not drink wine — these are the words of Rabbi Meir. And the Chachamim say: He should change, and reduce meat and wine. How does he reduce? If he was accustomed to eat a litra of meat, he should eat half a litra; if he was accustomed to drink a log of wine, he should drink half a log of wine; and if he is not accustomed at all, it is forbidden. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: If he was accustomed to eat a radish or salted food after his seudah, he is permitted'.
> Thus we have seen that in the Mishnah and the Baraisa there is a dispute whether one may eat two cooked dishes.
And the Rambam writes3: '.. And he may not eat meat or drink wine at the seudah with which he concludes, but he may drink wine from his winepress that is three days old or less, and eat salted meat that is three days old or more, and he may not eat two cooked dishes'.
And the Ramban4 writes: 'And even though the Baraisa teaches in the language of the Chachamim "he should reduce," and Rav Yehudah in the name of Rav explains their statement, even so the halacha follows the anonymous Mishnah, that it is forbidden to eat meat and drink wine at all; for we hold that where there is an anonymous Mishnah and a dispute in a Baraisa, the halacha follows the anonymous Mishnah. And these Rabbanan of the Baraisa are saying the same as Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel of the Mishnah; or alternatively it is Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel of the Mishnah, for Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says in the Mishnah "he should change," since reducing and changing are one law; and Rav Yehudah in the name of Rav is merely explaining Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel — what is reducing and what is changing — and not that they hold so; rather, as in the Mishnah, it is forbidden to eat meat and drink wine altogether. And the sugya of the Baraisos were all taught according to the anonymous Mishnah, to prohibit. And so ruled all the Geonim and our great teacher z"l in his Halachos. And his version, z"l, reads "Rav Yehudah said: How does one change," and it is the end of the Baraisa, and Rabbi Yehudah is a Tanna and disagrees; and according to this version, all the more so is it obvious that the halacha follows the anonymous Mishnah, for Rabbi Yehudah and Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel are individual opinions, and their words are not supported by the Amoraim. However, our versions and the Yerushalmi version teach it in the name of Amoraim. And in any case, the anonymous Mishnah and the sugya of the Rabbanan take precedence, and so is the halacha'.
And the Ra'aviah writes5: 'And similarly they do not disagree regarding what Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says in the other Baraisa: if he was accustomed to eat a radish or salted food after his meal, he is permitted. And even though he says "he is permitted," it is a mitzvah to conduct oneself with abstinence, as we see in the incident of Rav, who dipped his bread in ashes. And something similar is also found in Midrash Eichah6'.
And so writes the Mordechai7: 'The Ra'avyah HaEzri writes: even though Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and the Tanna Kamma disagree about other matters, in this matter we do not see that they disagree; and similarly they do not disagree regarding what Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says in the other Baraisa: if he was accustomed to eat a radish or salted food after eating, he is permitted. And even though he says "he is permitted," it is a mitzvah to conduct oneself with abstinence'.
[And note what the Seder HaYom writes8: 'Erev Tishah B'Av is more severe, and one who was stringent upon himself in matters before this day must be more and more stringent on this day; and all according to what he has accepted and according to his minhag. How so? If he accepted or had the practice not to eat meat or drink wine, but would eat a cooked dish of cheese and other things, he must be stringent on this day not to eat a cooked dish of cheese, nor of fish, nor anything that comes from a living creature, since ultimately it is tastier; but he should eat only a cooked dish of lentils. And one who had the practice not to eat anything that comes from a living creature from Rosh Chodesh, but would eat another cooked dish until Erev Tishah B'Av, should not eat even another cooked dish, but only raw fruits and the like, of vegetables. And at the seudah hamafsekes he should sit between the oven and the stove with dry bread and a jug of water, like the minhag of Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai, of blessed memory, for it is proper to be more stringent in it. It emerges that the general rule of the matter is that from the 17th of Tammuz until the day of Tishah B'Av there are five periods, each more severe than the other: 1) From the 17th of Tammuz until Rosh Chodesh. 2) From Rosh Chodesh until the week in which Tishah B'Av falls. 3) Erev Tishah B'Av. 4) The seudah hamafsekes. 5) The fast day itself, on which the troubles were multiplied because of our sins. And it appears to me to conduct oneself during these periods in this order, in an easy way, even for those of weak constitution: From the 17th of Tammuz until Rosh Chodesh, he should refrain from meat in the middle of the week, but not from wine, if wine strengthens him more, since refraining from meat is not so difficult; and if he feels that refraining from meat weakens him more than refraining from wine, he should refrain from wine and drink only the cup of Birchas HaMazon, the measure of a revi'is or most of it; and a cooked dish in which meat was cooked he may eat, since he accepted upon himself only to afflict himself by refraining from meat itself. And from Rosh Chodesh until the week, he should refrain from wine and from meat itself. In the week in which Tishah B'Av falls, he should not eat a cooked dish in which meat was cooked, but he may eat another cooked dish, and fish and cheese and anything that comes from a living creature, until Erev Tishah B'Av. And on Erev Tishah B'Av he should not eat a cooked dish of fish or cheese, nor anything that comes from a living creature, but he may eat a cooked dish of lentils in the morning. And at the seudah hamafsekes, if he has the strength to bear it, he should not eat even a cooked dish, but rather follow the minhag of Rabbi Yehudah bar Ilai, of blessed memory, or close to it; and all according to what kind of person he is'].
As halacha the Mechaber writes9: 'On Erev Tishah B'Av, at the seudah hamafsekes, which is eaten after chatzos, a person may not eat meat, may not drink wine, and may not eat two cooked dishes'.
And the Rema writes in his gloss: 'And even of other beverages one should drink less than he is accustomed to drink; and likewise he should not eat after his seudah a radish or salted food — things he is accustomed to at other times — so that he conducts himself with abstinence'.
Notes:
1 26b ↩
2 30a ↩
3 Hilchos Taaniyos, ch. 5, halacha 7 ↩
4 Toras HaAdam, Sha'ar HaEivel - Inyan Aveilus Yeshanah ↩
5 Siman 888 ↩
6 Ch. 3, siman 16 ↩
7 Taanis, Hilchos Tishah B'Av, remez 639 ↩
8 Seder Tishah B'Av ↩
9 Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 552, se'if 1 ↩
[2] (Halacha 1141)
Question: What is considered two cooked dishes?
Answer: Rashi writes1: 'Two cooked dishes — meat2 and fish, or meat with eggs upon it, or fish with an egg upon it, as it says in Perek Arvei Pesachim3'.
And Tosafos4 write: 'The explanation of two cooked dishes means in two pots, as people say, "we ate two kinds," which they call meisho"n; but one should not forbid eating a dish made from onions, cheese and eggs, for even though people are not accustomed to eat raw onions, as it says in Eruvin5, "one who ate an onion and rose early and died, etc.," since they are as harsh as swords to a person's whole body — nevertheless, since one does not make a cooked dish of them by themselves unless one adds fat or something that gives them flavor, it is not called a cooked dish so as to forbid the eggs that are put with them. And as for cheese cooked in a pot, there is no concern about eating it, for anything that is eaten as it is raw, such as milk, such as cheese, such as apples, has no status of cooking whatsoever'.
And the Ramban6 writes: 'Rabbeinu Hai Gaon z"l writes: the two cooked dishes they spoke of are, for example, rice and lentils, which are two kinds. And the Rav, Rabbi Yitzchak ben Gias z"l, writes: any two cooked dishes are a manner of honor, and the Chachamim forbade them even of one kind of legume or one kind of vegetable, and needless to say of two kinds. And the words of the Rav z"l are the main view: any two kinds of pot dishes, or two kinds of pan dishes, and the like, are forbidden, and these are what are called "tavshil" everywhere in the Talmud; but two kinds in one pot are one cooked dish. And some are stringent to forbid two kinds in one pot, and even fish with an egg upon it, or a leek cut up beneath the fish, because they are called two cooked dishes with regard to eruv7; but this is not so — the Chachamim were lenient regarding eruv tavshilin to treat them as two cooked dishes, and it has no bearing on Tishah B'Av. And kinds of vegetables and fruits — it is permitted to eat them with bread when they are raw, even many kinds'.
In the Shibbolei HaLeket8 he writes: 'And I found in the name of Rabbi Avigdor Kohen Tzedek zt"l that even pancakes or macaroni cooked with cheese are called two cooked dishes; and it is reasonable to follow him, that any two cooked things, even onion and cheese or onion and egg, are called two cooked dishes, as it says there: even beet and rice, and even fish with an egg upon it'.
And the Ritva writes9: 'The Rishonim z"l wrote much about this, and the essence of the matter is that here, regarding Tishah B'Av, where the prohibition is due to pleasure and importance, one cannot say that fish with an egg upon it should be judged as two cooked dishes, as they said regarding eruv and regarding the night of Pesach10, and as some of my teachers z"l thought; rather, whatever is in two dishes, even of one kind — for example, one roasted and one cooked, and the like — these are two cooked dishes; and whatever is in one dish and one pot, even several kinds together, is only one cooked dish. And so is the opinion of my teacher in the name of our Rabbeinu, may his light shine, in the name of his teachers. And regarding kinds of fruit, it also appears that since, regarding bishul akum, whatever is eaten as it is raw is not subject to bishul akum, because it is not a matter of importance that leads to intermarriage, so too regarding Tishah B'Av; and even though one relies on them for eruv tavshilin, as stated in the Yerushalmi11. But Tosafos forbid all kinds of cooked fruits, and also our great teacher z"l permitted only raw fruits; it appears that they compare the matter to eruv to be stringent, and one who is stringent, may bracha come upon him'.
The Rosh12 cites the words of Rav Hai Gaon and the Ri"tz Gias, and writes: 'And in France they are lenient to put several kinds in one pot, for since one cooks them together, they say it is one cooked dish. And in Ashkenaz they are stringent. And some say: specifically two cooked dishes of something that is not eaten as it is raw; but something that is eaten as it is raw, such as milk, cheese, and dry salted fish, is not called two cooked dishes — even if one is not eaten as it is raw and the other is eaten as it is raw. And the Ra'avad z"l writes that even cheese is called a cooked dish, and so it is reasonable, for there is no place here to distinguish between what is eaten raw and what is not eaten raw. The reason is none other than that in multiple cooked dishes there is honor and pleasure, and one makes good cooked dishes from something that is eaten as it is raw just as from something that is not eaten as it is raw. And in Ashkenaz the practice is to eat an egg, as is the practice at the seudas havra'ah, and therefore they eat no other cooked dish at the seudah hamafsekes'.
And the Tur writes13: 'And it appears that even according to the words of those who are stringent, something that is customarily prepared this way all year, such as peas into which onions and eggs are put, is permitted'.
The Beis Yosef challenged his words: 'This is not so, for fish with an egg upon it is customarily prepared so all year, and even so there is one who forbids it. Nevertheless, in practice, the Ramban, who rejected the reasoning of those who are stringent, is worthy to rely upon'.
> Thus we have seen several opinions in the words of the Geonim and Rishonim as to what is considered two cooked dishes that were forbidden at the seudah mafsekes: A) Some write that even one cooked dish with something additional, such as fish with an egg upon it, is forbidden. B) Some forbade when it is two types of food, such as rice and lentils, even if they were cooked in one pot. C) Some forbade (only14) when it is two pots, and different types of cooking15, even though it is one kind. We have also seen that some write that even something eaten raw that was cooked is considered a cooked dish.
As halacha the Mechaber writes16: 'Even if one cooked one kind in two pots, it is called two cooked dishes. And likewise one should be stringent and careful about two kinds in one pot, unless it is something customarily prepared this way all year, such as peas upon which onions and eggs are put; and a cooked dish made from something that is eaten as it is raw is called a cooked dish in this regard'.
And the Rema writes in his gloss: 'And there is no distinction between roasted and cooked in this regard'.
And the Mechaber further writes17: 'It is permitted to eat fruits when they are raw, even several kinds'. And the Levush explains: 'But raw vegetables and fruits, even several kinds, one may eat with bread, for this is neither a manner of lordliness, nor honor, nor pleasure'.
And the Magen Avraham writes18: 'But it is forbidden to fry fish with eggs, since most of the time they are cooked without eggs, as written in the Tur, and anything similar. And the Shibbolei Leket writes that it is forbidden to make pancakes filled with cheese'.
> Thus we have seen that two pots, even of one kind, are considered two cooked dishes, and one is stringent also regarding two kinds in one pot, except for things that are customarily cooked together. And in the next halacha we will see what the practical minhag is.
Notes:
1 26b ↩
2 In a note in the Schottenstein Gemara it is written that Rashi's intent is salted meat, which is explained in the Baraisa on 30a ↩
3 114b ↩
4 30a ↩
5 29a ↩
6 Toras HaAdam, Sha'ar HaEivel - Inyan Aveilus Yeshanah ↩
7 Beitzah 15b ↩
8 Seder Taanis, siman 265 ↩
9 Taanis 26b ↩
10 Pesachim 114b ↩
11 Nedarim, ch. 6, halacha 1 ↩
12 Taanis, ch. 4, siman 34 ↩
13 Orach Chaim, siman 552 ↩
14 See above in the words of the Rosh, where it appears that according to this opinion two kinds are forbidden even if they were cooked in one pot; but in the words of the Ramban it is explicit that according to this opinion they forbade specifically in two pots, but in one pot even two kinds are permitted ↩
15 See Magen Avraham (siman 552, se'if koton 3): 'In two pots — meaning that one has a thick consistency and one has a soft consistency; but if both are the same, there is no concern about cooking in two pots'. However, see Shu"t Knesses HaGedolah, siman 36 ↩
16 Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 552, se'if 3 ↩
17 Se'if 4 ↩
18 Se'if koton 4. And see the Machatzis HaShekel, who writes that the Magen Avraham intended in his words to explain the above words of the Tur in light of the Beis Yosef's challenge ↩
[3] (Halacha 1142)
In the previous halacha we saw that one should not eat two cooked dishes at the seudah hamafsekes
Question: What is customary to eat in practice?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Ta'anis1 says: 'Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: This was the minhag of Rabbi Yehudah bar Rabbi Il'ai: On Erev Tishah B'Av they would bring him dry bread with salt, and he would sit between the oven and the stove, and eat, and drink after it a pitcher of water, and he resembled one whose dead lies before him'.
And in the Talmud Yerushalmi, Ta'anis2, it is stated: 'Rav, when he had eaten all he needed, would dip his piece of bread in ashes and say: This is the essence of the seudah of Tishah B'Av, to fulfill what is stated3: ויגרס בחצץ שני הכפישני באפר ("He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in ashes"). Rabbi Yehudah spoke well; what is the reason of the Rabbanan? They treated him like one whose dead lies before him — he neither overturns his bed nor sleeps on an overturned bed'.
And so it is in Eichah Rabbah4: 'Rav, when he had eaten all his food, would take one small piece of bread, put ashes on it, and say: This is the seudah of Tishah B'Av, to fulfill what is stated: ויגרס בחצץ שני הכפישני באפר'.
> Thus we have seen the conduct of Tanna'im and Amora'im who were stringent upon themselves at the seudah hamafsekes and ate only bread, without any cooked dish.
The Rambam5 writes: 'This is the measure of all the people, who cannot bear more than this; but the early chassidim — such was their measure: on Erev Tishah B'Av they would bring a person, alone, dry bread with salt, and he would soak it in water, and sit between the oven and the stove, and eat it, and drink after it a pitcher of water, with worry, desolation and weeping, like one whose dead lies before him. And it is fitting for Sages to do like this, or close to it. And in all our days we have not eaten a cooked dish on Erev Tishah B'Av, not even a dish of lentils, unless it was on Shabbos'.
And the Hagahos Maimoniyos6 writes: 'From here they became accustomed to sit on the ground at the seudah hamafsekes: And they became accustomed to sit at this seudah on the ground, and they eat boiled, cold eggs, similar to a mourner, as it is said7: Just as an egg rolls, so does mourning, etc.'.
And the Shibbolei HaLeket8 writes: 'Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: This was the minhag of R' Yehudah bar Il'ai: On Erev Tishah B'Av they would bring him dry bread with salt, and he would soak it in water, and sit between the oven and the stove, and eat it, and drink after it a pitcher of water, and he resembled one whose dead lies before him. There are some of the Sages who dip their bread in ashes at the end of the seudah of Erev Tishah B'Av; and so it is stated in Maseches Ta'anis of the Yerushalmi: Rav, when he had eaten all he needed, would dip his bread and dye it in ashes, and say: This is the essence of the seudah of Erev Tishah B'Av, to fulfill what is stated: ויגרס בחצץ שיני הכפישני באפר. And at the seudah hamafsekes they do not recline at the table, and they do not make a zimun with one another; rather, each one recites the bracha for himself, and they sit in grief like mourners. And the Gaon Rabbeinu Yitzchak zt"l was accustomed to eat on Erev Tishah B'Av one egg, by way of mourning. And I found in the name of R' Avigdor Kohen Tzedek zt"l, who received from his teacher R' Simcha of Speyer zt"l, that on Erev Tishah B'Av they do not wait for one another at the seudah; rather, whoever is first breaks bread, so that they not become obligated in zimun'.
And the Rosh9 writes: 'And in Ashkenaz they were accustomed to eat an egg, as they are accustomed at the seudas havra'ah; and therefore one does not eat any other cooked dish at the seudah hamafsekes'.
And the Hagahos Asheri10 writes: 'All the Torah scholars in the land are accustomed, on Tishah B'Av at the seudah hamafsekes, not to recline; rather, each one sits by himself, and each one recites the bracha for himself, and they do not make a zimun for Birkas HaMazon; and so do Torah scholars do in all the lands of their exile. [From the] Or Zarua'.
And in the Minhogim of the Maharil11: 'They eat, after Minchah, the seudah hamafsekes on the ground: eggs or lentils, and fruits, since fruits are not called a cooked dish. It is written in the Agudah not to drink beer at the seudah hamafsekes. In the gloss in the Maimoni [it is written] that they do not make a zimun together, but each one should say Birkas HaMazon by himself. The Mahari Segal ate lentils on Erev Tishah B'Av as [a sign of] mourning'.
Halachically, the Mechaber12 writes: 'It is customary to eat lentils with eggs13 cooked within them, for they are food of mourners'.
And the Rema writes in the gloss: 'And some are accustomed to eat hard-boiled eggs, which are also food of mourners'.
And the Mechaber further writes14: 'One who is able should eat at the seudah hamafsekes only dry bread with salt and a pitcher of water'.
And the Rema writes in the gloss: 'And some are stringent, after eating them, to dip bread in ashes and eat it, on account of ויגרס בחצץ etc.'.
> Thus we have seen that it is customary to eat food of mourners (eggs or lentils) at the seudah hamafsekes, and some are accustomed to dip the bread in ashes and eat it15.
Notes:
1 30a ↩
2 Ch. 4, halacha 6 ↩
3 Eichah 3:16 ↩
4 3:6 ↩
5 Hilchos Ta'aniyos, ch. 5, halacha 9 ↩
6 Hilchos Ta'aniyos, Minhogei Tishah B'Av ↩
7 Bava Basra 16b ↩
8 Seder Ta'anis, siman 265 ↩
9 Ta'anis, ch. 4, siman 34 ↩
10 Ta'anis, ch. 4, siman 35, hagahah 2 ↩
11 Hilchos 17 B'Tammuz and Tishah B'Av [13] ↩
12 Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 552, se'if 5 ↩
13 And the Magen Avraham, se'if koton 5, explained the permissibility of eating these two cooked dishes: 'It must be said: specifically when he is accustomed to this all year, as written in se'if 3; and the Tur wrote "lentils or eggs," and so wrote the Levush' ↩
14 There, se'if 6 ↩
15 See Sefer Lev Mevin by HaRav Yitzchak Navaro, daf 51, column 4, cited in Mo'ed LeChol Chai, ch. 10, din 29, that it is also customary to dip the egg in ashes. And see also Alei Tamar on the Yerushalmi there; and see also Eshel Avraham (Buczacz), siman 554 ↩
[4] (Halacha 1143)
Question: May one hold the seudah hamafsekes immediately after eating a seudah with various cooked dishes?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Ta'anis1 says: 'On Erev Tishah B'Av a person may not eat two cooked dishes, etc. Rav Yehudah said: They taught this only from six hours and onward, but from six hours and before, it is permitted. And Rav Yehudah said: They taught this only regarding the seudah with which he concludes, but at a seudah with which he does not conclude, it is permitted. And both are lenient'.
It is explained in the words of the Gemara that at a seudah held before the seudah hamafsekes one may eat two cooked dishes.
However, the Ramban2 writes that this is on condition that he afterwards eats a fixed seudah: 'And it stands to reason that "the seudah with which he concludes" is any [seudah] after which he is not going to eat another fixed seudah, even though he intends to eat casually; not like those whose belly is the belly of the wicked, who eat meat, and drink and become drunk with wine, and afterwards eat casually in order to conclude with eating that has no meat and wine'.
And in the Minhogim of the Maharil3 it is written: 'On Erev Tishah B'Av they eat the evening seudah before Tefillas Minchah, after Minchah Gedolah. And afterwards they pray only Tefillas Minchah, and return to their homes and eat the seudah hamafsekes on the ground'.
Halachically, the Mechaber4 writes: 'All this applies at the seudah hamafsekes, after which he does not intend to eat another fixed seudah, and when it is after chatzos; but if it was before chatzos, or after chatzos and he intends to eat a fixed seudah after it, he need not be careful about these things'.
And the Rema writes in the gloss: 'And the minhag in all the regions of Ashkenaz is to eat a fixed seudah before Minchah, and afterwards they pray Minchah and eat the seudah hamafsekes. And they are accustomed to eat somewhat more at the first seudah, so that the fast will not harm them, since they stop [eating] while it is still day, as on Yom Kippur; and there is some proof for this from Midrash Eichah Rabbasi. However, one who is able to afflict himself, and knows himself that the fast will not harm him, and is stringent upon himself, is called holy, as stated above'.
[An additional reason to eat more at the first meal is written by the Magen Avraham5: 'And it seems to me there is another reason: because in the time of the Second Beis HaMikdash, Tishah B'Av was a Yom Tov and they would eat a large seudah; even now they have not moved away from it, so that it be a remembrance that it will be transformed, speedily in our days, to joy and gladness'].
> Thus the Mechaber wrote that the entire restriction against eating two cooked dishes is only after chatzos and only at the seudah hamafsekes; and the Rema wrote that in Ashkenaz they were accustomed to eat a larger seudah, to pray Minchah, and then to hold the seudah hamafsekes.
However, several of the great poskim challenged the minhag of eating a large seudah after chatzos, as the Maharshal6 writes: 'It appears that those who eat delicacies on Erev Tishah B'Av, with several kinds of fried foods, with a great many cooked dishes, as if it were the seudah of Shlomo, except that they do not eat meat and drink wine — certainly this is included in "the belly of the wicked," as the Ramban writes and the Tur cites .. If so, even according to the Gemara, as the Ramban writes, that he permits meat before the seudah hamafsekes — and so rules the Semag — nevertheless it is the belly of the wicked, that they eat all they need in delicacies in order to eat casually afterwards. And the same applies to other dairy foods that they prepare elaborately, as for the festival of Shavuos in our land; and the Ramban took the common case. And a proof is from the Maimoni, who wrote, "In all our days we have not eaten on Erev Tishah B'Av even cooked dishes of lentils," and he wrote "Erev Tishah B'Av," meaning after chatzos. Moreover, if he were speaking of the seudah with which he concludes, but he had already eaten several kinds, then what is the novelty in his writing "in all our days we have not eaten etc."? Therefore I say that their sin is too great to bear, especially for some who are knowledgeable in Torah'.
The Levush7 likewise writes: 'But those who eat close to evening several kinds of cooked dishes, all they need, and say that they intend to eat a fixed [seudah] after it for the seudah hamafsekes — and it is known that they will be neither hungry nor thirsty — they have not found their hands and feet; for if so, there is here neither mourning, nor distress, nor remembrance of the Churban, but rather a manner of pleasure and Yom Tov, and it comes close to reading upon them ותהי עונותם על עצמותם ("and their iniquities were upon their bones")8. Rather, if he wishes to eat so that the fast will not harm him, he should eat his fill of one cooked dish that satisfies him, and not foods of pleasure; and if he is able to afflict himself and is stringent upon himself, knowing that the fast will not harm him, he will be called holy'.
The Magen Avraham9 cites their words, and writes: 'And one who is concerned for the minhag that the Rema wrote should eat more at the seudah before chatzos'.
And the Magen Avraham further writes10: 'Therefore one should be careful that even before Minchah he eat only one cooked dish; and so writes the Darkei Moshe11, that the meticulous separate themselves [from this]; and even though after Minchah he eats eggs, the two cooked dishes do not combine, since he interrupted in between, as stated above'.
However, the Eliyah Rabbah12 [cited also in the Mishnah Berurah13] writes to justify the ancient minhag written by the Maharil and the Rema: 'I say that as long as he intends it for the sake of Heaven, with the aforementioned intent [= that is, so that the fast will not harm him], he is permitted; but at any rate, every person should see to it that he does not satiate himself excessively, and החכם עיניו בראשו ("the wise man has his eyes in his head"), so that he will be able to eat the seudah hamafsekes after Minchah, and that it not be like gluttonous and casual eating'.
The Misgeres HaShulchan14 writes (regarding the seudah hamafsekes): 'And nevertheless, it is permitted to eat at this seudah too bread with butter, in order to be satisfied .. And one should do so (for through this, this seudah will be called a fixed seudah, and it will be permitted to eat two cooked dishes at the seudah before Minchah, even according to the Ramban and the stringency of the Acharonim; and something similar is written in the Darkei Moshe; only he should be careful not to eat another cooked dish besides the egg (Shulchan Aruch and Acharonim)'.
> Thus we have seen that according to the din it is permitted even after chatzos to hold a seudah with various foods, and so they were accustomed in the communities of Ashkenaz (and some wrote that this is also a remembrance that these days will be transformed to joy and gladness!). However, one should not eat so much that afterwards he will be unable to eat the seudah hamafsekes. After the bracha acharonah one prays Minchah, and then washes the hands again and eats the seudah hamafsekes with bread, ashes and an egg.
Notes:
1 30a ↩
2 Toras HaAdam, Sha'ar HaEvel — Inyan Aveilus Yeshanah ↩
3 Hilchos 17 B'Tammuz and Tishah B'Av ↩
4 Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 552, se'if 9 ↩
5 There, se'if koton 11 ↩
6 Shu"t, siman 30 ↩
7 Orach Chaim, there, se'if 9 ↩
8 Yechezkel 32:27 ↩
9 There, se'if koton 10 ↩
10 There, se'if koton 12 ↩
11 Os 3 ↩
12 There, se'if koton 12 ↩
13 There, se'if koton 22 ↩
14 Siman 123, se'if koton 6 ↩
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