The Time of the Shabbos Seudah
[1] (Halacha 1126)
In the previous halachos1 we saw the law regarding davening Maariv early on Shabbos night
Question: Is it possible to eat the Shabbos seudah before tzeis hakochavim and thereby fulfill one's obligation?
Answer: Tosafos wrote2: 'The seudah of Shabbos and Yamim Tovim may be eaten while it is still day, as is stated in Perek Tefillas HaShachar3: a person may daven the tefillah of Shabbos on Erev Shabbos and recite the Kiddush of the day while it is still day'.
And the Rosh4 wrote: 'On Shabbosos and other Yamim Tovim one may add from the weekday onto the holy and eat before it gets dark, as we say in Perek Tefillas HaShachar: a person may daven the tefillah of Shabbos on Erev Shabbos and recite Kiddush over the cup'.
And in the Terumas HaDeshen5 he elaborated in explaining the minhag that they would daven early6: 'For in the days of the early ones in Krems, they davened Maariv and recited Shema on Erev Shabbos while it was still broad daylight, so much so that the Rav of the city, who was among the great early authorities, and all the leaders of the community with him, would go for a stroll after eating the Shabbos seudah along the bank of the river Danube, and would return to their homes before nightfall'.
> The implication of their words7 is that one fulfills the obligation of the seudah even if one finishes the Shabbos-night seudah before nightfall.
And the Taz8 wrote, explaining why a seudah before nightfall is effective: 'And it appears to me that since adding from the weekday onto the holy is d'Oraisa, therefore one has properly fulfilled the obligation even if he finished before nightfall'.
However, in Sefer Chassidim9 he wrote: 'One who ate on Erev Shabbos while it was still broad daylight, for example immediately upon leaving the beis haknesses, and three stars had not yet appeared — since he finished his seudah while it was still day, he should eat after tzeis hakochavim the amount for which one recites Birkas HaMazon, in order to fulfill the mitzvah of the three seudos on Shabbos, for how can what he ate while it was still day count toward the three seudos? And as for what they said, "from the time people eat their bread on Erev Shabbos" — that is because the public do not have long candles that would stay lit to wait until after tzeis hakochavim. Furthermore, if they were to delay their eating, they would not daven until dark, and it is a mitzvah to daven while it is still day so as to accept Shabbos, adding from the weekday onto the holy. Likewise Krias Shema and its brochos, whose law is to be after tzeis hakochavim at night — they should let the congregation daven while it is still day, for if they were to wait until their proper time to daven, they would eat beforehand and forget. But those who fear Heaven recite [Shema] and its brochos after tzeis hakochavim, and likewise they should eat at least the amount requiring a bracha after tzeis hakochavim on Shabbos night'.
And so wrote the Maharal of Prague10: 'The Rosh inferred from what we learned in the Mishnah, "A person may not eat from Minchah onward until it gets dark," that it teaches us that regarding Pesach it is forbidden to eat until it gets dark; even though on other Erev Shabbosos one may add from the weekday onto the holy and eat before nightfall, on Erev Pesach it is forbidden, because matzah is juxtaposed to the Pesach offering, and just as the Pesach offering is eaten at night, so too matzah is eaten at night. End quote. And this requires further study, for the Shabbos seudah must be at night, since one must eat one seudah at night — so how may he eat it by day before nightfall? And it is not comparable to Kiddush: even though one must make Kiddush at night, one may make Kiddush by day when adding from the weekday onto the holy, for there the Kiddush itself demonstrates that he is adding onto the night, and therefore he may make Kiddush by day, since the Kiddush refers to Shabbos, and even though he makes Kiddush early, in this respect he can add from the weekday onto the holy. But eating the seudah that one is obligated to eat at night — ultimately the eating is by day. And it appears that they relied on holding the Shabbos seudah by day only because it continues until nightfall; and since it continues until nightfall, the seudah is on Shabbos as well. And even though the beginning of the seudah was not on Shabbos, since he ate after Kiddush, it is well demonstrated that the seudah is in honor of Shabbos. Only the mitzvah of the seudah, that one must be at night, is satisfied by the seudah continuing until nightfall. Accordingly, those who hurry so that they finish eating before the holiness of the day [has begun] are not acting properly'.
And the Bach agreed with him11: 'The conclusion of the seudah, even on other Erev Shabbosos and Yamim Tovim, must be at night, for the essential obligation of the seudah is derived from the drasha12 of the three times "today", one of which refers to the night. If so, one does not fulfill the obligation of the seudah unless he ate it at night, and when he stops eating before the holiness of the day [has begun], he certainly has not fulfilled his obligation. And it is not comparable to Kiddush, where one may add from the weekday onto the holy, as stated in Perek Tefillas HaShachar, for Kiddush is different, since it refers to Shabbos and one may add onto its holiness; which is not so regarding eating, which must at least be at night. So wrote the Maharal of Prague, of blessed memory, and his words are correct'13.
And the Taz wrote there that this was the practice of the Maharshal: 'And the Rashal's practice was not to eat on Shabbos night until nightfall'14.
> Thus we have seen the various opinions as to whether one must eat the Shabbos seudah at night, or whether it suffices that he eats after having accepted Shabbos while it is still day. In the next halacha we will see how the poskim, and the Alter Rebbe, ruled in practice.
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Notes:
1 See Halachos 1102 - 1105 ↩
2 Pesachim 99b, s.v. "Ad Shetechshach" ↩
3 Brochos 27b ↩
4 Pesachim, perek 10, siman 2 ↩
5 Siman 1 ↩
6 The poskim also discussed his words regarding davening before plag haminchah, and this is not the place to elaborate; here, however, it is cited only to show the minhag that they would finish the Shabbos seudah before nightfall ↩
7 See also the words of Rabbeinu Yerucham (Toldos Adam VeChavah, nesiv 12, chelek 1, 66c): 'On Erev Shabbosos and Yamim Tovim, except for Pesach, one may eat while it is still day in order to add from the weekday onto the holy, as we say: a person may daven the tefillah of Shabbos on Erev Shabbos and recite kedushah over the cup, etc.'. See also Tashbetz Katan (siman 1): 'And also he does not eat immediately upon coming from the beis haknesses while it is still broad daylight, as people are accustomed to do at weddings when they go to the beis haknesses while it is still broad daylight' ↩
8 Orach Chaim, siman 291, se'if katan 6 ↩
9 Siman 269 ↩
10 Gevuros Hashem, perek 48 ↩
11 Orach Chaim, siman 472 ↩
12 Shabbos 117b ↩
13 See Eliyah Rabbah (siman 267, se'if katan 2): 'And in my humble opinion, the reason is that the three seudos are derived from the three times "today", which implies that we require the actual day of Shabbos and not the added time' ↩
14 However, note what the Perishah wrote (Orach Chaim, siman 271, se'if katan 4): *'And the Rashal's practice was not to eat in the summer days until close to sunset*, and so wrote the Tashbetz (Katan, siman 1), and he brings proof (Shabbos 23b): "provided that he neither advances it nor delays it," and he said that the Rosh and the Rambam used the expression "before it gets dark", implying not while it is still broad daylight; and consider this carefully' ↩
[2] (Halacha 1127)
In the previous halacha we saw differing opinions as to whether one must eat the Shabbos seudah specifically at night, or whether one may eat immediately after accepting Shabbos while it is still day.
Question: How is the halacha ruled?
Answer: The Shelah wrote1: 'And so I found written, how the Maharash's practice was not to eat in the summer days until close to sunset. And he also brought proof from that [teaching] "he should neither advance it nor delay it." And so too wrote Moreinu HaRav R. Leib ben Bezalel in Sefer Gevuros Hashem, perek 48, daf 26; see there. And he brought clear proofs. And this is the language of Sefer Chassidim, siman 269: One who ate while it was still day on Erev Shabbos, for example when they left the beis haknesses and three stars had not yet appeared — since he finished his seudah while it was still day, he should eat after tzeis hakochavim the amount for which one recites Birkas HaMazon, in order to fulfill the mitzvah of three seudos on Shabbos, for how can what he ate while it was still day count toward the three seudos, etc.; see there, where he elaborated'.
And the Magen Avraham wrote2: 'It is written in the Shelah in the name of Sefer Chassidim that nevertheless one must eat a kezayis at night in order to fulfill the three seudos on Shabbos, and so wrote the Bach, siman 472, in the name of R. L. of Prague. But from Tosafos and the Rosh it is implied that one may finish the seudah while it is still day, and so wrote the Terumas HaDeshen, siman 1, and so it is implied in Rabbeinu Yerucham, chelek 1; and the reason is that after plag haminchah we consider it night. Nevertheless, it is good to be stringent'.
And so wrote the Alter Rebbe3: 'Just as they said regarding tefillah, so they said regarding the Kiddush of the day, that one may make Kiddush and eat from plag haminchah onward even if he has not yet davened Maariv. And with this eating while it is still day he fulfills the obligation of one of the three seudos that one is obligated to eat on Shabbos (since he has already accepted upon himself tosefes Shabbos, it becomes for him like Shabbos itself in every respect). And there are those who are stringent that he should continue his seudah into the night itself, so that he eats at least a kezayis after tzeis hakochavim, in order to fulfill the three seudos on Shabbos itself; for since the Sages derived these three seudos from the fact that "today" is said three times regarding the eating of the mon on Shabbos, therefore one must eat them in the very essence of the day and not in its addition. And it is good to be concerned for their words'.
It should be noted that according to the first view, which permits eating the entire Shabbos seudah after accepting Shabbos even though it is before tzeis hakochavim, one would need to say Retzei VeHachalitzeinu in Birkas HaMazon, as the Alter Rebbe wrote4: '(And it goes without saying that if he spread the cloth, made Kiddush and finished his seudah, he must mention Shabbos in Birkas HaMazon, even if he was stringent and spread the cloth and made Kiddush while it was still day before the time of Kiddush had arrived, and also recites Birkas HaMazon while it is still day — since he made Kiddush, the holiness of Shabbos has taken effect upon him)'.
> Thus in practice, the Alter Rebbe wrote in accordance with the words of the Magen Avraham: one who eats the Shabbos seudah before tzeis hakochavim — it is good to be concerned and be stringent to eat at least a kezayis at night5.
[In the words of the Alter Rebbe here it is explained that eating a kezayis after tzeis hakochavim suffices, and seemingly this requires explanation, for in siman 2746 he wrote that some say that to fulfill the Shabbos seudah one needs more than a kebeitzah: 'And since he ate slightly more than a kebeitzah, he has fulfilled his obligation, but a kebeitzah alone is called casual eating and one does not fulfill [the obligation] with it'. And so he wrote in siman 2917: 'One should be very careful to fulfill the third seudah, and even if he is satiated he can fulfill it (with slightly more than a kebeitzah, but) with a kebeitzah — and even though a kebeitzah is a casual seudah (and one does not [fulfill the obligation with it]), nevertheless, since it contains enough to satiate, it is called a seudah (and one fulfills [the obligation] with it). (And some say that even with a kezayis one fulfills his obligation l'chatchilah in each of the three seudos, as will be explained in siman 639, and one should be stringent l'chatchilah like the first view if it is possible for him)'.
If so, it requires explanation why he wrote here that a kezayis suffices, without mentioning that there are those who disagree and require a kebeitzah.
HaGaon R. M. S. Ashkenazi in Marei Mekomos VeTziyunim wrote: 'And perhaps here it refers to one who has already eaten, and if so, eating a kezayis afterward suffices; and see Sha'arei Teshuvah, siman 197, se'if katan 5, regarding Birkas HaMazon in a similar vein'.
And in Shulchan HaAri he wrote to explain: 'And one may say regarding the reason for this, that the source of this stringency is Sefer Chassidim (siman 269), and there he wrote that one must eat the amount requiring Birkas HaMazon, namely a kezayis (and so the Magen Avraham cited here, se'if katan 1). And perforce we must say that this is because he holds that even in ordinary seudos one does not need more than a kezayis (like the second view in siman 291). Therefore, in such a case, where he began his seudah while it was still day, where it is only a stringency to continue the seudah into the night itself in order to be concerned for the view of Sefer Chassidim (as he wrote, 'and it is good to be concerned for their words'), one need not be stringent to eat at night itself more than what he himself holds for every Shabbos seudah, and a kezayis suffices].
Notes:
1 Maseches Shabbos, Perek Ner Mitzvah, in the gloss ↩
2 Orach Chaim, siman 267, se'if katan 1 ↩
3 Shulchan Aruch there, se'if 3 ↩
4 Siman 271, se'if 13 ↩
5 And so wrote the Mishnah Berurah there, se'if katan 5 ↩
6 Se'if 6 ↩
7 Se'if 1 ↩
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