Torah · Halacha YomitShabbat Candle LightingRabbi Uri Nahum · August 14, 2022 · Shabbat Candle Lighting-15Play+30Position0:00—Save⌄ShareA Shabbat halacha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum.Recorded by BSD Productions.Transcript0:00Welcome to Wednesday Halacha Hour here on JRoot Radio.0:05Let's give you the numbers first to the station, as we always do:0:10718-683-5858. Today, Baruch Hashem, we have Rabbi Levine with us,0:13who is going to help us, be'ezrat Hashem, with the phone calls, people call in.0:18And, yeah,0:21718-683-5858, that's the number to call if you have any questions.0:23The text number is0:31347-927-8398, okay? This is the Halacha Hour, where we usually learn from the book the0:36Ben Ish Chai, but today, we are going to still continue learning from the0:39Ben Ish Chai. However, we're going to deviate a little bit because it's an important subject.0:42The subject, be'ezrat Hashem, we're going to discuss mainly today0:45are the halachot of Ben0:47Hashmashot. Not all of them, obviously; we can't cover them all in one hour,0:49but some of the important topics of the halachot from Ben0:56Hashmashot. So therefore, if you have any questions, make sure to listen in.0:59It's a very important class.1:01And, be'ezrat Hashem, hopefully we'll have enough time at the end of the show,1:04we'll dedicate about five, ten minutes to speak about1:07Shovavim, or as some people call it,1:09Shovavim. And this year it's a special year.1:11Be'ezrat Hashem, make sure you're tuned in. By the end of the show,1:13be'ezrat Hashem, we'll speak about1:16Shovavim, okay? So let's get to the halacha.1:17We're in the middle of learning Hilchot Hadlakat Nerot.1:21We haven't touched it for a while because we had to take care of Hilchot Chanukah and Asa1:26B'Tevet, but now we're back, be'ezrat Hashem,1:27we're back to the halachot of lighting candles on Erev Shabbat.1:30I see a lot of excitement, Baruch Hashem.1:33So, Halacha Tet, we're in the book,1:36the Ben Ish Chai. We work off the book,1:38the Ben Ish Chai, and we're up to the halacha1:42regarding... The getting dressed1:44and what to, how a person should come into lighting1:47candle lighting. Obviously this is speaking to the woman mainly,1:50and let's learn the1:51halacha, but you'll see there's a lot of application here1:53for the men as well.1:55So halacha tet, we'll read from1:57the Ben Ish Chai, translate and explain.1:58The halacha says,2:01Nachon lehadlik achar shetachlif bigdei Shabbat. It is proper, it's more correct,2:04that a woman who is coming to light candles,2:07the Shabbat candles meaning,2:08she should come in to lighting candles2:10after she already wore her Shabbos clothing,2:12after she wore her clothing for Shabbat already,2:14then she should come to light the candles.2:17Mihu, however,2:21im me'echarah vechosheshet she'im tachlif begadeha lo she'elazman lehadlik. If she sees that she's getting late,2:23she hears a siren here in2:25Brooklyn, or she knows she has the timer and it's going off,2:28and she knows that what's going to happen is,2:31you know, by the time I change and get in my clothing,2:33it might be very late2:34and I might not be able to light the candles on time.2:37So in that case,2:40as tuchal lehadlik, she can wear her weekday clothing,2:41even though the clothing that might not be so clean2:44because she was wearing them the whole day2:46cooking and cleaning and preparing the house for2:48Shabbat. Even though it's not the nicest of2:50clothing, but still,2:51chas v'shalom, you shouldn't even come close to2:54making an issur of maybe lighting the candles on Shabbat.2:57So therefore, in such a case,2:58let her keep her clothing on,3:02light, ve'achar kach tachlif begadeha. Then afterwards she could go3:04and change into her Shabbat clothing.3:06Okay,3:07this is point number one in this3:09halacha. A woman should first put on Shabbat clothing3:12and then light the3:14candles. This is all preferable.3:15If she's not able to,3:17then it's not an3:18issur. She could still light the candles in her regular clothing3:21and she'll change afterwards.3:22Now here's the halacha where we're going to talk about3:25and probably spend the whole day on,3:27the whole day, the whole hour.3:29If a woman3:30is usually a woman who prays3:32Mincha, she usually prays.3:37Tzarich shetitpalel Mincha kodem hadlakah ve'achar hadlakah. According to the3:38Ben Ish Chai, she must pray3:40Mincha. According to everybody, really,3:41she must pray3:44Mincha. Before lighting her3:46candles, and not after lighting her candles,3:51because if she already lit the candles,3:53she already accepted Shabbat.3:56If she accepted Shabbat,3:58how could she then afterwards4:00pray4:01Mincha? By accepting Shabbat,4:03you're making it Shabbat.4:04So now,4:05according to you, you're Shabbat,4:06you don't do any4:06melacha, so now how could she pray4:07Mincha, which is a weekday tefillah,4:09a weekday prayer?4:10So according to the4:11Ben Ish Chai, if a woman lights candles4:13and she accepts Shabbat by the candles,4:15and she did not pray4:17Mincha, she lost it.4:18So what should she do?4:20What she should do,4:20it seems like from here,4:22that she should pray Arvit twice,4:23as we're going to talk about soon.4:26The only prayer that she keeps4:29after lighting the candles4:30is the prayer of4:32Arvit. Okay,4:32so let's summarize in very, very short.4:34The Ben Ish Chai writes4:36that a woman must pray4:39Mincha of Friday afternoon4:41before lighting candles.4:42If for some reason4:43she lit the candles first,4:44then she should not pray4:46Mincha. However,4:47the tefillah of4:48Arvit, she should only pray4:49after lighting candles.4:50She should not pray4:51Arvit and then light the4:52candles. Okay,4:53now these two4:53halachot are actually4:54a huge discussion,4:55which is going to lead us4:57into a very, very important5:00subject,5:01and that is5:02the5:03subject of5:05bein hashmashot. If you've ever heard of the5:06term5:07bein hashmashot, you already understand5:09how complicated it is5:10and how deep it is.5:11And if you have not heard5:13the word5:14bein hashmashot, well,5:15it's never too late,5:16and it's very important5:17to know5:18what the5:19laws of5:20bein hashmashot and what is5:21bein hashmashot. Let's explain5:22a little bit, first of5:23all, what is5:25bein hashmashot. According to halacha, there's a lot of things5:26that depend on time.5:28That means if it's5:29daytime, if it's5:30nighttime, you could think of anything.5:32The most important thing5:33that we're discussing right now5:34is the halachot of Shabbat,5:36right?5:36Shabbat comes in at night,5:38so therefore5:39you really have to know5:40exactly when nighttime is,5:42that you know5:42when Shabbat is.5:43Okay,5:44but it's not so simple.5:45It's actually very, very complicated5:47to know5:48when nighttime is5:49and when daytime is.5:50Let's talk about,5:51let's start with simple5:52and get a little bit more complicated,5:54okay?5:55Friday5:55day,5:56that's what we call in5:58halacha vadai yom,5:59when it's for sure day,6:00the sun is out,6:01nobody could argue6:02that's6:04daytime. So in such a case,6:05we will tell you6:06that that's Friday.6:08If a person6:08denies accepting Shabbat,6:09it's a regular day,6:10you could do6:11whatever you want6:12as far as6:13melacha is concerned.6:14There's nothing that's forbidden6:15as far as Shabbat is concerned.6:16You could do whatever you like.6:17You want to put on the lights,6:18you want to drive a car,6:19you want to cook for Shabbat,6:21you could do6:21whatever you want6:23on Friday afternoon.6:24Even if you want to do it6:25for other things,6:25you could do it.6:26There's no issur,6:27okay?6:28That's vadai yom.6:29It's vadai layla.6:30The other period of time is6:33when it's certainly6:34nighttime. What's called certainly6:36nighttime? This nobody disagrees6:37when there's enough stars in the sky,6:40that's called6:41nighttime. And according to all opinions,6:42for sure6:44nighttime. That's according to everybody.6:46There's nobody who disagrees.6:47All the laws of6:49Shabbat are in effect,6:50everything.6:51Whether it's6:51assuming6:52haTorah or it's assuming6:53derabbanan, everything is forbidden6:55when it's Shabbat.6:56Doesn't make a difference.6:58That's6:59asur. The problem is7:00the time in between.7:02You see, in7:03halacha it's not black and white.7:04There's no specific time7:06that we have7:07that we know7:08exactly when daytime finishes7:10and when nighttime finishes.7:11The Gemara calls that time7:16bein hashmashot. Bein hashmashot literally means7:17between the suns,7:18which means between two days,7:20between Friday and Shabbat,7:21for example.7:22The time period7:23between Friday and Shabbat7:24is called7:27bein hashmashot. In that case,7:28the Gemara really has a7:29safek, even the Gemara has a7:30safek. What is that time considered?7:33Is that time considered7:34part of the day?7:35Is it part of the night?7:36Maybe it's a mixture.7:37What exactly do you do over there?7:39What happens over there?7:40So therefore,7:40because of that confusion.7:43In the Gemara,7:43even from the time of the Gemara.7:44So therefore, the Gemara says7:46that there are certain halachot of Shabbat7:47that do apply over there,7:49and there are certain7:50halachot that do not apply,7:50as we're going to explain soon.7:52Now,7:52we are already7:54about 1,500 years7:55after the Gemara,7:57and after all the discussion.8:00Between the commentaries on the Gemara and the Acharonim and the Rishonim and all the commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch,8:07really we're in a time where it's much more complicated than what I just said.8:10The time in between Shabbat, when the beginning of Shabbat begins, or really when the end of the day, which is what we call8:17bein hashmashot, this time of bein hashmashot is a very, very confusing time.8:21And anybody who, you know, I remember when I was in yeshiva, before I started learning halacha, I was still learning Gemarot,8:25and I wanted to learn an hour of halacha.8:29Yeshiva set me up with one of the rabbis, you know, and we were learning halacha.8:35And I told him, you know, I want to learn this whole concept of8:38bein hashmashot. I want to know when is exactly Shabbat. Why is everybody so confused?8:41So he started laughing. He says, Oh yeah, you want to know? Okay.8:43He opened up one of the books of Shulchan Aruch where he showed me a Gra, the Biur HaGra on Shulchan Aruch,8:48where he quotes all the sources for the subject that's being discussed.8:51So on the subject, I believe it was the very same Mechalef, where he showed me all, just the list of the rabbis that discussed this,8:59and it's a whole big list. He says, You want to cover everything in depth? You want to do it properly?9:03Here, we got to learn all of these. And just looking at the list, I said, Forget it.9:06You know, it's a big subject. It's a huge thing9:09to really cover it on live radio without any books, very difficult.9:13So I will tell you in short that bein hashmashot... It begins, according to, let's say, most opinions,9:20it begins at the time that the sun sets, what we call shekiyah, shekiah means something that sunk,9:25which is when the ball of the sun sinks on the ground.9:28When you can't see the sun anymore, that's called sunset.9:31You can see everybody has today a calendar,9:34and whenever it says sunset, that's the beginning of9:37bein hashmashot. How far does it go to? That's already a big discussion.9:41Some say thirteen and a half minutes, and some say that goes even up to seventy-two, or believe even ninety-six minutes.9:48There's even some who go even more.9:50But let's just, for argument's sake, let's just stick to thirteen and a half minutes, just because of our subject today.9:56Because really, you can't just take this thing and make it a rule every time, thirteen and a half minutes.10:01But just for our sake, for a second, as far, for example, if a person wants to pray Mincha, right?10:06If a person wants to pray Mincha even during the weekday, we know Mincha is a prayer of the daytime.10:10But let's say already the sun set, could you still pray10:13Mincha? And the answer is, you have up to thirteen and a half minutes,10:15up to bein hashmashot, according to the earliest opinion,10:19which means, let's say sunset is five o'clock, so thirteen and a half minutes will be six— I mean, excuse me, five thirteen and a half.10:27So about five thirteen and a half, the person should say, okay, that's it, I cannot pray Mincha after this time.10:32Now, let's get back here to Shabbat, okay?10:35In this time of bein hashmashot, what is mutar, what is asur?10:38So I'll read for you what the Gemara says, and really it's brought down in Shulchan Aruch.10:42There's a famous, famous saying: if anybody prays the tefillah or Kabbalat Shabbat,10:48anybody who prays it, who goes to shul, or even if you don't go to shul, but if you say it in the house,10:52we read on Friday night, Sefardim, and I believe also the10:56Chassidim—is it Chassidim? I think it's Chassidim. Oh, you'll forgive me if I get mixed up.11:00Chassidim, not Chassidim, I don't want to offend anybody—but they read the...11:05I think Hasidim read Yekum Purkan. Sorry, not Yekum Purkan, it's Shabbat day.11:08They read something else.11:09Anyway, I think the Litvish, they read the perek of Bameh Madlikin,11:13perek bet of Bameh Madlikin,11:15rather than Shabbat, right?11:17That's okay. In any case, we read Bameh Madlikin.11:19In the end of Bameh Madlikin, the second chapter of the Mishnayot in Masechet Shabbat,11:24it says like this:11:27safek chashecha, safek ein chashecha. When it's safek chashecha, when it's a safek, we're not sure if it's dark or not dark.11:31That's what we call bein hashmashot, which is what we explained with tzatz, after sunset.11:36What could you do in that time? What could you not do?11:38So the Mishnah says,11:40Ein ma'asrinin vadai. If you had to take off ma'aser, you live in the Eretz Yisrael and you have to tithe your produce,11:45you cannot do that at that time.11:47Ve'ein matbilin et hakelim. When the time we had to ma'an taharah, if a person wants to dip, he wants to dip them in the mikveh,11:52you cannot do that at that time.11:54Ve'ein madlikin et hanerot. Also, one is not permitted to light the candles.11:57And here we see that clearly from this12:01Mishnah, anything that is forbidden min haTorah is asur, like lighting candles.12:05Once the sun sets, even though we don't know for sure that Shabbat began yet,12:09it doesn't make a difference.12:10Bein hashmashot comes, it's forbidden to do all melachot that are12:14asur min haTorah, like lighting candles, like cooking, anything that's asur min haTorah, that's forbidden at that time.12:18However, the Mishnah continues and says like this:12:21During bein hashmashot, you're allowed to do the following:12:27אבל מעשרין את הדמאי, ומערבין עירובי תחומין. You're allowed to take off ma'aser from something called12:30demai. There is a different discussion we don't have today, but something that we do have today,12:33me'arevin, you're allowed to make eruv, like for example12:37eruv chatzerot, ve'tomnin את החמין, you're allowed to also do12:41hatmanah. Now, hatmanah in itself is12:45asur deRabbanan. If a person wants to do hatmanah during the weekday—excuse me, during12:49Shabbat—that's forbidden12:51miderabbanan. The subject of hatmanah we'll be discussing later,12:53but basically it's a certain way of warming up food that's forbidden min12:58haChachamim. Here the Chachamim are telling us, the Mishnah says,13:00and that's the Shulchan Aruch, it's a Reish סמך א', הלכה א', it says13:04you're allowed to be tomen et hachamin, you're allowed to do13:07hatmanah, you're allowed to wrap the food in a certain way,13:08even though that's usually forbidden on Shabbat.13:11During bein hashmashot, you're allowed to.13:12And the question is why?13:14How come you're allowed to do an issur d'rabbanan during13:19bein hashmashot? And the answer is, you cannot do every13:22issur d'rabbanan bein hashmashot. Bein hashmashot is already safek Shabbat;13:25we're not sure if it's 100% Shabbat or not,13:26so everything becomes forbidden. They're right to end the rabbanan.13:29The only d'rabbanan that is permitted during13:34bein hashmashot is a d'rabbanan that a person needs for the sake of a mitzvah,13:39okay? And that mitzvah is something that has to be done on Shabbat.13:41So therefore, the hamim, which is the hot food which you need to have on Shabbat13:45in order to have the seudat Shabbat,13:47you're allowed to wrap up the food to keep it warm for Shabbat,13:52even though it's13:53an issur d'rabbanan. But since it's an issur d'rabbanan in13:57bein hashmashot for the sake of a mitzvah,13:59it's permitted to be done14:01bein hashmashot, okay? So that's the rule regarding14:04bein hashmashot. Bein hashmashot, everything becomes forbidden.14:07Once the sun sets, that's it.14:10Ladies, men, ladies, it doesn't make a difference who it is.14:11Once the sun sets, you have no way out of it.14:14You have accepted Shabbat,14:18but you haven't accepted Shabbat all the way.14:20You're still allowed to do14:23an issur d'rabbanan, something that's only forbidden14:25by chachamim, l'tzorech mitzvah.14:27Now, what's most practical of this14:31halacha is14:32amirah l'akum. There's a halacha that the chachamim made14:34that a person is not allowed to tell a goy14:37to do something forbidden for him on Shabbat.14:39That's called14:41amirah l'akum. That's only forbidden14:43mid'rabbanan. Even on Shabbat, you're not allowed to tell a goy,14:45even though you're not personally doing the14:46melacha, it doesn't make a difference.14:47You may not tell the goy.14:49That is the general rule.14:50Of course, there's exceptions to every rule,14:52as the Gemara itself says. But in general, you're not allowed to tell a14:54goy to do something that's forbidden for you on Shabbat.14:57During14:59bein hashmashot. If a person needs a goy to do something15:01for the sake of a mitzvah,15:02you're allowed to tell a goy.15:03For example, you realize you forgot to put on the lights15:07in the dining room.15:08Oh boy, it's going to be dark in the dining room.15:11It's not going to be15:12Shabbosdik. Besides Shabbosdik, you're not going to be able to see.15:14You're going to have guests.15:15Oh boy, my in-laws are coming.15:16They're going to think I'm cheap.15:18Forget it. You know what?15:20I need to put on the lights.15:21But you can't because it's already15:22shekiyah, it's already sunset.15:23What could you do?15:24And the answer is,15:26you could call a goy and tell him,15:27Put on the light.15:28You don't have to hint. You could put it.15:29You could tell him.15:30Since it's within the first thirteen and a half minutes,15:32which we call15:34bein hashmashot, you're doing a sudah d'Rabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah.15:37You're allowed to do it during that thirteen and a half minutes.15:40Good?15:40That is step number one in understanding15:43what is15:43bein hashmashot and what you could do at that time.15:47Now, what about if you do the following?15:49What if a person now,15:52okay,15:53bein hashmashot. Listen to the bein hashmashot now.15:54What happened?15:56What happens in the following case?15:57Let's say15:58you don't—16:00Wait till bein hashmashot. What do I mean by bein hashmashot? Let's say you want to accept Shabbat early.16:04There's a mitzvah that's brought down in the Gemara. According to a lot of opinions, it's a mitzvah16:10d'oraita. Even others explain that it's still a mitzvah16:13d'rabbanan. So let's say I want to accept Shabbat early. Shabbat comes in at16:18six o'clock. Sunset is at six o'clock. Now I want to accept Shabbat earlier. I want to accept Shabbat before16:24six o'clock. Am I allowed to? And the answer is yes, as long as it's after plag hamincha. I'm allowed to accept Shabbat.16:28So let's say Shabbat is coming in at six o'clock, sunset is16:32six o'clock. From 5:15 about, I can already accept Shabbat and become Shabbat for me. Okay?16:37Now remember, at sheki'ah already we told you, even though the sun set already,16:43which is technically, you know, you're in the boundaries of Shabbat, you're in the area, in the zone of Shabbat,16:48you don't become forbidden with everything. You're only forbidden with some things,16:53which is, I mean, actually you're permitted only with some things.16:56You're allowed to do16:59an issur d'rabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah. What about if I accept Shabbat? Shabbat didn't come in by itself. I accept personally Shabbat.17:05Do I have the rules of bein hashmashot? What's my din in that time?17:09So there's one, the great Rishonim, one of the great rabbis who lived about 800 years ago, his name is17:14Mordechi, and he writes, he brings the opinions of two great Rishonim.17:18One is called Rabbeinu Yoel and one is called Rabbeinu Shmarya. Listen to what they say.17:22According to Rabbeinu Yoel, he says like this: If a person accepted Shabbat early, okay, again, let's keep our mashal.17:30Six o'clock, sunset. I accepted Shabbat now at 5:15. I accepted it earlier.17:35According to Rabbeinu Yoel, it has the same law as17:40bein hashmashot. What does that mean, the same law as bein hashmashot? Which means I'm still permitted to do17:48an issur d'rabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah. He's not accepted Shabbat. It's not like the other case where Shabbat came in by itself.17:51Here, I invited Shabbat, and I said, I am here declaring that Shabbat, I'm accepting Shabbat earlier.17:575:15, I'm still permitted to do18:01an issur d'rabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah. The lights for me, I could go18:05miger, whatever, anything that's an issur d'rabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah, I'm permitted to do it.18:10That is the opinion of Rabbeinu18:11El. However, there's another great Rishon, his name is Rabbeinu18:14Shmarya, and he says, No. If you accepted Shabbat, it's more stringent.18:20It's not like the case where Shabbat came in by itself on sunset and you didn't accept it; Shabbat came in,18:25Shabbat came by itself.18:26In that case, chachamim permitted the person to tell a goy or to do an issur d'rabbanan for18:34tzorech mitzvah. But not so if you personally accepted Shabbat. No, that becomes more stringent,18:38and then you have Shabbat all the way.18:43You cannot get away from it.18:45You have to keep all the laws of Shabbat, even l'tzorech mitzvah, you cannot do an18:50issur d'rabbanan. It's considered like Shabbat morning for you.18:52Everything, Shabbat is in full effect, and therefore you would be forbidden to do even an19:00issur d'rabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah during that time that you accepted Shabbat earlier.19:02So here we have a19:04machloket. If a person accepts Shabbat earlier than sunset, you have Rabbeinu El who says19:09that you have the same laws as bein hashmashot, which means19:13you're not allowed to do anything that you cannot do on Shabbat except for an19:18issur d'rabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah. And according to Rabbeinu Shmarya, it's more stringent than that.19:23You cannot keep anything.19:24You cannot—excuse me—you're not permitted to do anything.19:27You have Shabbat in effect.19:29You're more stringent than a regular guy during19:32bein hashmashot. Question is now, that's great for, you know, tomorrow, the Rishonim, but how does that apply to19:37halacha? So like usual, whenever we have this machloket between the Rishonim...19:42We open up and we see what the Shulchan Aruch has to say about it.19:45The problem is over here, the Shulchan Aruch in itself is a little confusing19:48because Maran in Shulchan Aruch writes, brings the two opinions in two separate places.19:55He doesn't bring it as a19:56machloket. In one place, in siman reish samech aleph, Maran writes19:59that if a person answers Bar'chu with the tzibur and he accepted Shabbat together with the kahal,20:04what happens? He already has become into full effect of Shabbat.20:13Shabbat has come upon him, and he's not allowed to do anything that he cannot do on Shabbat.20:17Even an issur d'rabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah, he can't do it once he accepted Shabbat.20:22That's what he writes in siman reish samech aleph.20:24You turn the pages in Shulchan Aruch to a few pages later, to siman shin20:28samech bet, and Maran writes that if a person accepted Shabbat already,20:33he's allowed to do an issur d'rabbanan of20:39eruv chatzeirot, just like it's mutar to do20:42ben hashmashot. And the question is, how could the same author, the same rabbi,20:45Shulchan Aruch, in one place rule two opposite things?20:49In one place he's going like Rabbeinu El, and one place he's going like Rabbeinu20:52Shmarya, and one place he's ruling that if you accept Shabbat,20:55you cannot do anything that's forbidden on Shabbat.20:57Even an issur d'rabbanan becomes asur,21:00and that's like Rabbeinu21:01Shmarya. In another place he's telling me, no, if you accepted Shabbat,21:04you're still allowed to do21:05an issur d'rabbanan. So what's going on?21:07So most Acharonim resolve the contradiction as follows.21:10The Mishnah Berurah brings this21:11in siman reish samech aleph.21:13The Chida says the same thing,21:14and the Yad Avraham believe.21:15Many, many Acharonim say the same thing,21:17and that is that Shulchan Aruch is not contradicting himself.21:20He saw the21:22machloket Rishonim, and therefore he divided up the halacha like this.21:25He makes a difference. Shulchan Aruch makes a difference21:28how you accept the Shabbat.21:29If you accepted Shabbat as a yachid by yourself,21:33and you said, I now accept my Shabbat upon myself,21:36so in that case—21:38You have the same laws as21:43bein hashmashot, which means you're allowed to do21:48an issur derabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah once you accepted Shabbat.21:49That's only if you accept by yourself.21:50However, if you accepted it together with a minyan,21:54with a group of ten people,21:55as a kahal, let's say you were in shul21:58and the whole shul together accepted Shabbat early,22:01then in that case,22:02you have the full effect of Shabbat.22:04You're in Shabbat all the way.22:07You're in Shabbat mode,22:08and you cannot even do22:10an issur derabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah. It's too late already.22:11And that's why if you pay attention to the words of Shulchan Aruch,22:14when he says that if a person answers22:17Bar'chu, he cannot even do22:21an issur derabbanan. When do you answer22:22Bar'chu? Bar'chu et Hashem22:24hamevorach. That's only when you have a minyan,22:25and that's exactly what the22:29Acharonim explain, and that is22:30the halacha, rabotai. If a person accepts Shabbat with22:32a tzibur, and it doesn't make a difference who that tzibur is,22:34it doesn't make a difference if you have a minyan in your house,22:36it doesn't make a difference if you're in the main city22:39and there's one big shul.22:40As long as you accepted Shabbat together with a minyan,22:43a group of ten people,22:45then that's it.22:47You're in Shabbat mode all the way.22:49You cannot do any22:51issur, not deraita, not22:53derabbanan. Even l'tzorech mitzvah, you cannot do anything.22:54However, if you were alone, accepted Shabbat earlier,22:58of course we're talking about earlier,22:59you accepted Shabbat earlier,23:00or even if you didn't accept Shabbat earlier,23:01but bein hashmashot, the sun set already23:04and it's before thirteen and a half minutes,23:06then you're permitted to do an23:11issur derabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah. Good?23:11So far, I hope you're still with me.23:15Now, the next step is as follows.23:17The next step that we have to understand,23:19and it's an important23:22halacha, that is something... That sometimes you must accept Shabbat23:28whether you like it or not.23:30Even if Shabbat comes in at sunset, right?23:33We said sunset already, it's23:35bein hashmashot. Sometimes a person has to accept Shabbat23:39even though he doesn't bring it upon himself;23:41he accepts it earlier.23:42When is that so?23:43I mean, read you the words of23:47Shulchan Aruch in siman gimel, halacha yud-bet. Listen to the words: Im rov hakahal kibbelu עליהם שבת, המיעוט נמשכים אחריהם על כורחם. If the majority of the congregation...24:00accepted Shabbat upon themselves, then the minority of the people who still haven't accepted Shabbat are pulled after them, and they must accept Shabbat whether they like it or not.24:13Let me explain to you what Maran is talking about.24:16Once upon a time, and that's the way I remember also the way it was in Syria,24:19once upon a time there used to be one shul for the whole city.24:22If you go to the old places, you see there was—most communities had one central shul.24:27I'm talking about little towns. Of course, if you went to the big city, then you'd have a couple of shuls because, Baruch Hashem, people lived throughout many areas.24:35But most towns had one shul, one central shul which everybody prayed in,24:40okay? Now, Maran is talking about that time when there was only one shul, and let's say the shul is able to house, I don't know, 2,000 people.24:50Now you have about 1,500 people that came to shul Friday, and Shabbat is coming in at 6 o'clock, but they're praying at24:565:15, and at 5:15 the kahal accepts Shabbat at25:015:15. Now even though you're at home and you haven't come to shul yet and you don't want to accept Shabbat,25:07it doesn't make a difference.25:095:15, even though it's 45 minutes before shekiah, since it's after25:14plag hamincha, and the majority of the town, which are all centralized in one shul, they all accepted Shabbat,25:21you're part of the minority. You must accept Shabbat with them.25:25You already become forbidden. You're considered like part of25:29the—it's considered like you already accepted Shabbat. You cannot put on lights. You cannot do any melachot that are assur on Shabbat.25:34That's a very important25:36halacha. Practically, it doesn't apply so much if you live in Brooklyn,25:39because the Graz, who is the first Chabad Rebbe, the25:46Baal HaTanya, Shulchan Aruch HaGraz, and a big talmid chacham—if you really are into the Bnei Yissachar, you should know most of the stuff the Bnei Yissachar brings comes from the Baal HaTanya, from the25:53Shulchan Aruch HaGraz. Yeah, it should make some people feel very happy.25:56But anyway, one of the biggest poskim—there's no sefer halacha that doesn't26:00quote the Graz—and he brings this, and he says that all—when are we talking about?26:04That's only if there's only one shul in town.26:07But if you have many shuls in town, even though you don't normally pray in those other shuls,26:14you don't have to follow the— even if it's a bigger shul, you don't have to follow them.26:18So let's say, for example, you're living in a city where there's four synagogues,26:22okay? One shul is accepting Shabbat at 5:15. That's the main synagogue.26:27There's 2,000 people in the city, and 1,500 people pray in that shul.26:31There's four other shuls, and each person— each one has 100 people.26:35You normally pray in the big shul of the city,26:38and that shul accepts Shabbat at 5:15. You don't have to accept Shabbat with them,26:42even though you normally don't pray with other shuls, since the other shuls are accepting Shabbat at its normal time at 626:47o'clock, you're not bound to that shul.26:51So obviously in our days, when you live in Brooklyn, it's almost impossible to keep because the shuls all over.26:57But that's only if you have those shuls in town.27:01It happened to me one time. There was a retreat, there was a kiruv retreat that I went to,27:05and the kiruv retreat was about— where was it? It was like in some place, I forgot where it is, very, very far.27:11You know, I think it's a four-, five-hour drive, and it was in the summer, and we were going there.27:15And that place, there was no other— there's no Jews.27:20That's it. They were the only place, the only Jews in that place, in that retreat.27:23It was like a sleepaway camp or something, but that's where they were.27:26That's where we were, and the closest Jews around us is about, I think, another 15, 20 minutes drive from there.27:32So in that case, I remember, I think Shabbat was coming in at 827:36o'clock. So if you pray that late, and by the time you start the meal, the meal usually takes very long,27:41it's too late for most people, or at least for the people participating.27:44So they had, in that time, they were praying Shabbat, they were accepting Shabbat earlier.27:49I think Shabbat was 8, they were accepting it already, they were praying Mincha at 7,27:52which means by 7:15 already there was Kabbalat Shabbat.27:55Could have been even earlier, I'm not sure.27:56So of course, you're invited, we don't have— you know, our watches work differently from28:01Ashkenazim, and by the time I came to the place, I just parked my car. I see everyone going away to pray28:08Mincha, and I haven't showered yet, I haven't gotten ready yet. But you know what?28:11I had exactly 15 minutes, the time it takes for them to, you know, till they start Kabbalat Shabbat and accepting Shabbat.28:17That's how long I had to get ready,28:19even though it was still an hour. Before Shabbat, it doesn't make a difference.28:24Since they are accepting Shabbat and there's no other shul in the area, I'm bound to them.28:28I must accept Shabbat with them.28:31And therefore, we had to stop me and my family once those 15 minutes I timed, whatever it is,28:37I felt that they would accept Shabbat. Fifteen, twenty minutes already came.28:40We already were in the Shabbat mode, and even though we haven't really done our full preparations,28:45it doesn't make a difference.28:46You're in Shabbat mode. There's no other shul. You're bound to that one shul in the district.28:52But like I said, here in Brooklyn, you have many shuls in the area,28:55so it's not as difficult if you're here. But it's good to keep in mind when you go away.28:59If you go away to some getaway and the only shul around is in the hotel,29:04and they happen to pray earlier, even though it's not really convenient, it doesn't make a29:07difference. You're bound to the kahal, since you're there together as one kahal. You're bound to them,29:12and even though you personally didn't accept Shabbat, since they accept Shabbat,29:16you must follow them and be—you accept Shabbat with them.29:22Okay, now let's just summarize the halachot a little bit,29:27and then maybe we'll take a little bit of a break to allow the information to29:30digest. And meanwhile, in the break, if anybody wants to call in with questions, you could call in questions.29:37Okay, but first let's just review just a little bit of what we learned till now.29:41Okay, number one is we learned that when the sun sets, which is what we call29:47shekiah, bein hashmashot begins, and until the next 13 and a half minutes,29:51a person is forbidden to do everything that he's forbidden to do on Shabbat,29:55with the exception of an issur that's only rabbinical, that's29:59derabanan, and it's gotta be l'tzorech mitzvah on Shabbat.30:04Number two, we learned that if a person accepts Shabbat beyachid before sunset,30:08then even though sunset has not come yet, he also— For him, it becomes asur to do anything that he is not allowed to do on Shabbat.30:17But like the rules of bein hashmashot, which means he's allowed to still do an issur derabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah.30:23Number three, we learned also that if a person accepts Shabbat with a kahal, with a30:29tzibur, before sunset, even though it's before sunset, as long as it's after30:33plag hamincha, then he is in full Shabbat mode. Even issur derabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah becomes forbidden for him.30:40And number four is that if the kahal accepted Shabbat early, okay, if the kahal accepted Shabbat early,30:46and he's in the place where it's the only shul in town, he must accept Shabbat with them.30:53So practically speaking, for the first stuff to happen, which is30:57bein hashmashot, most people accept Shabbat already, the whole city accepts Shabbat, everybody.31:01For example, here in America, everybody accepts Shabbat by31:05bein hashmashot. So therefore, practically speaking, the only time that a person wants to do an issur derabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah31:10would be is if he accepted Shabbat—excuse me—if he is living in a place without any people around.31:20Let's say he's living in a place with no other people, there's no other Jews,31:23and in that area, then he'll be permitted to do an issur derabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah,31:28since he has no kahal to be bound to.31:30Okay, we're going to take a little bit of a break, and we're going to come back,31:33and we're going to talk about what, up to now, we spoke about what becomes forbidden,31:37but we haven't spoken about yet mincha, what happens regarding31:42tefilat mincha. If you have any questions, you can call right now during the break, or you can text it in.31:45The number again is 718-683-5858, and the text is 347-927-8398.32:35Okay, we are back to halacha hour. I just want to say the numbers again, and that is the studio number is 718-683-5888. If you have a question, you could call in. If I'm in the middle, I'm sorry, you might be holding on unless you want to write down your question. I see we have a few texts. I'm going to answer a little bit soon. To text in your question, which is the best way to get through, is 347-927-8398. Again, 347-927-8398. Everybody should save this on their phone, in heaven, in speed dial. Whenever you hear something on the radio that you're interested in, you're not interested in, whatever you like, just text it in, okay? 927-8398. Okay, we were told that we should announce on the radio to remind everybody about that petition, a very important petition. Be'ezrat Hashem, hopefully we all have to do our part. You should know, you know, when I first heard about the petition, when I first heard about the petition, I said, Oh, you know, it's going to be my vote. But you know what? That's not the right way. If everybody keeps on saying that, then we don't have—somebody mentioned something to me, and he said, How many votes do they need? I said, I don't know, I think 100,000. And what are they holding? At 70,000. They couldn't get 100,000 Jews to vote for something, and really, we have much more, and a lot more people are hearing about it. So spread the word. Go on jrootradio.com, and you have a very—not so easy, but easier than other places—just click over there to the link, and you'll be linked on, and you'll vote. And not vote, I think, you just sign the petition, and it's very, very important at least to give this child a chance, be'ezrat Hashem. Of course, with our davening and our prayers, we hope that he'll have a refuah sheleimah, but we got to do also our physical hishtadlut. So again, go to jrootradio.com, click on the link, and sign the petition to help, be'ezrat Hashem, in apiteba, to try to save the child's life. Okay, back to our halacha. So during32:38the break, we had a few questions, important questions. Some I can take, some I cannot take, because some are asking a little bit more complicated. If I answer you very quickly, I apologize from now, but just because I want to get to the subject before the time finishes. A very good question. Let's say you're in a hotel, you're on a getaway, and the question is, could the hotel have two minyanim if the first one holds the majority? Now, I think what the question means is as follows: that you're away, you went away for a weekend, and in the hotel, Baruch Hashem, there's a lot of Jews over there, and they want to make minyanim, and there's the early birds and the not-so-early birds. So could you have two minyanim? And the answer is, you can have two minyanim even if the first minyan is the majority, meaning to say, let's say you have 500 people at the hotel, okay, and the first minyan will have 400 people, and you have the latecomers, they want to make their own minyan, their own minyan, later on. A hundred percent they can make their own minyan. Now, I haven't discussed really the subject of tefillah; we're going to talk about it soon. Up till now, we discussed the accepting Shabbat with a kahal as far as melachah is concerned, which means which melachot do you accept upon yourself, which melachot become forbidden to you if you accept Shabbat either alone or together with the kahal. But regarding tefillot, there's absolutely no problem. The greatest proof is, look at the Kotel. You go to the Kotel Maaravi, and you see, Baruch Hashem, minyanim all over. Those pray early, those finish, and there's another minyan that comes right afterwards. That's the way the Ksot HaShulchan brings it down. And even in some bigger synagogues and shuls, you see in the same room where they prayed Minchah and Arvit, the second minyan comes in afterwards, and they also pray Minchah and Arvit. Now, usually we don't like to look at this one and they're doing it, and that's got to be a proof,32:41but that's brought down in halachah because they're not bound.40:00It's considered like two separate shuls. Each binyan is considered like its own kahal, and they're not bound to each other. They're not coming as one full town,40:07okay? I believe that's the question. That's what the person meant to ask. If it was not, then you could call or text in again your question.40:16Let me get back to over here. So, like we said, up to now we spoke about accepting Shabbat either alone, which means if you accept Shabbat alone, then, and you're not bound to anybody else,40:26in that case you have the same rule when the sun sets, which means you become forbidden in everything that you're not allowed to do on Shabbat except for an issur derabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah,40:36which means anything forbidden miderabbanan for the sake of a mitzvah, okay? If you accepted it together with a tzibur, however, it's more stringent.40:46You cannot do anything, even an issur, a light issur, an issur derabbanan, even for the sake of a mitzvah, becomes forbidden.40:55Now, what about praying Mincha? Can a person pray Mincha or not? So listen to the words of Shulchan Aruch in Halacha tet-vav. He says like this:41:03Mi sheshaha l'hitpalel Mincha b'erev Shabbat ad shekiblu hakahal Shabbat. If a person delayed praying Mincha on Friday afternoon, Friday evening, and he came to shul and he sees that already the kahal, let's say he only has one shul in town, and he walks into the shul, he sees everybody already accepted Shabbat,41:20lo yitpalel Mincha b'oto beit haknesset. He's not allowed to pray Mincha in that shul, ela yelech chutz l'oto beit haknesset v'yitpalel tefillah shel chol. He has to walk outside of the shul and he has to pray outside the shul his tefillah of Mincha in that shul,41:36okay? Says Shulchan Aruch, however, v'hu shelo kibel Shabbat imahem. That's as long as you didn't accept Shabbat together with them. Aval im kibel Shabbat imahem. But if he answered Barechu and he accepted Shabbat with them, eino yachol l'hitpalel tefillah shel chol. He can't pray tefillah anymore. He can't pray Mincha anymore,41:54ela yitpalel Arvit twice. He must pray the tefillah of Arvit twice, one for Arvit and the second one to make up for the tefillah of Mincha. From this Shulchan Aruch we learn three42:03halachot. Number one is if you enter a shul which already accepted Shabbat. You cannot pray Mincha in that room. You have to walk outside, and this happens so many times. Ladies, if your husbands are not listening, make sure you tell them the halacha. I see it happening time and time again.42:17The shul already accepted Shabbat. They're already said, Boi kala, boi kala, and the man walks into the shul. He says, Rabbi, do I have time to pray? You have time, but you can't pray in that room where we accepted Shabbat. We already are in Shabbat mode. How could you pray now in this room tefillah of42:32Mincha? But you can still pray Mincha. Where? Outside. You have to pray in that room. You can walk in the hallway. You go to a separate room and pray Mincha. Number two is, the other halacha that we learned from this Shulchan Aruch is that if a person accepted Shabbat with the tzibbur, that means he walked in, he didn't pray Mincha yet, and the tzibbur and the chazzan is getting up to Bar'chu, Hashem hamevorach, and he answers with them, which we will learn means that you accepted Shabbat already. That's it. You lost out on the time Mincha, and you can't even make a condition.43:01You cannot make a condition when you said, I'm going to say Bar'chu and I don't want to accept Shabbat. Once you accept Shabbat with the tzibbur, you already are in complete Shabbat mode. Even for tefillah, you may not pray Mincha anymore. You have to pray Arvit twice, the second time to make up for the Mincha that you43:19missed. The last halacha that we learned from this is that even though a person had to accept Shabbat with the kahal, he can still pray Mincha. What do I mean? We learned beforehand—imagine, now think about the halacha the Shulchan Aruch just said. We learned already that if the majority of the town accepts Shabbat because they're all praying in one single synagogue, the minority, our force, are bound to follow them.43:46So that means, in the case of the Shulchan Aruch, he's talking about there's only one shul. The guy walks in, following, he knows he's the only one who's late, and everybody already prayed. Or they're not praying Arvit, but everybody accepted Shabbat. When did they accept Shabbat? Let's say 20 minutes ago. That means already he had to accept Shabbat already 20 minutes ago.44:05So if he accepted Shabbat 20 minutes ago, how in the world is he praying Mincha now? He already is in Shabbat mode. Didn't we say that if the tzibur accepts Shabbat, he also must accept Shabbat with them? You see from here in the point of halacha, and that's what the Biur Halacha brings down in siman reish samech gimmel, and he explains: when we said that a person is bound to accept Shabbat together with the tzibur, that's only for44:33melachot. That means just like the tzibur accepted Shabbat earlier, and you, even though you don't want to accept, but you had to accept it with them, so then you're bound to them. You cannot do any melacha. You can't put on lights, you can't shave, you can't cut your hair, you can't cut your nails, you can't do anything that you cannot do on Shabbat.44:48But not so when it comes to tefillah. You're not bound for tefillah. You can still pray the tefillah of Chol even though you're in Shabbat mode. It's a very important halacha. You're bound to the tzibur as far as melachot are concerned. You may not do any melacha because you have to follow the tzibur that you're bound to. But not so when it comes to tefillah,45:15okay? But that's again with the important condition that you yourself, some himself, did not accept Shabbat together with the tzibur. They accepted it and they pulled you in as well, but you cannot have accepted Shabbat. If you accepted with them, that's too late already. You're in complete Shabbat mode even for tefillah, and you lost Mincha, and then you have to go to the makeup of45:35Mincha. Good? So now, so we explained basically, so we come out from here that if you accept Shabbat with the tzibur... You cannot pray Mincha. If the tzibur accepts Shabbat and they pull you in with them, you cannot pray Mincha. I just realized I made a mistake. Let's repeat it again.45:50It comes out from here as follows: if you accepted Shabbat together with the tzibur, even though you accepted it earlier, since you accepted it with the tzibur, you may not pray Mincha anymore.46:03Okay? If you did not accept Shabbat with the tzibur, but you were bound to the tzibur because that was the only kahal, that was the only congregation in where you live, and they accepted Shabbat earlier and they pulled you in, and you must accept Shabbat earlier with them, but since you did not pray Mincha, you still have the chance to pray Mincha as well.46:26The question is, and that's how we started really originally, is what if a person accepted Shabbat on his own? It's not that he was pulled in by a tzibur. It's not that he accepted Shabbat together with the46:39tzibur. He accepted b'yechid. We saw beforehand that there's a difference, as far as melachah is concerned, when a person accepts Shabbat by himself, as opposed to accepting Shabbat with the tzibur. When a person accepts Shabbat by himself, he's an individual, alone. He says, I'm now accepting Shabbat. If that's the case, he's still permitted to do an46:59issur d'rabbanan, l'tzorech mitzvah. But when he accepts Shabbat together with the tzibur, it becomes forbidden. So what about tefillah? Is there a difference? Would a person who accepts Shabbat by himself, not with the tzibur, would he be permitted to do Mincha, just like he's allowed to do an issur d'rabbanan l'tzorech mitzvah? Or do we say no, since he accepted Shabbat, it's not like when he was pulled together with the47:20tzibur? And this, rabotai, is a machloket. It's a machloket, not Sefardim and Ashkenazim. It's a machloket within the poskim, of Sefardim and Ashkenazim alike.47:29The people who say that's asur are the Mishnah Berurah. That's the, you know, everybody looks at Mishnah Berurah. Mishnah Berurah, Chacham Ben Zion, even there's a great book in Hilchot Shabbat. If you're learning Hilchot Shabbat, you want to learn it properly, you must look at this book, and that book is called Menuchat Ahava by the great Rav Moshe Levi, zichrono tzaddik47:50livrachah. Very clear, clear writing when it comes to Hilchot Shabbat. A very, very important book for Hilchot Shabbat. So you have Menuchat Ahava.48:05All l’tziyon chelek bet, Mishnah Berurah, and the Ben Ish Chai, like we just saw over here, all of them saying that if a person accepted Shabbat, it doesn’t make a difference how they accepted Shabbat, if they accepted by candle lighting or any other time, if they accepted Shabbat before the time and they didn’t pray Mincha yet, too late.48:17It’s not like the case of the tzibur pulled you in. You accepted Shabbat; it’s too late now. Once you accepted Shabbat, you’re in Shabbat mode. You cannot pray Mincha anymore.48:24However, on the other hand, you have Chacham Ovadia. He brings from Zera Emet, and he brings a few other48:33poskim, although I didn’t see it so clearly, but this is what he says. He says he brings from the Shut Lev Chayim, as well as the Shut Be’er Moshe, who say that if a person accepted Shabbat early and did not pray Mincha yet, he could still pray48:51Mincha. Now, what’s the reason behind each of the opinions? And the answer is as follows. According to Minchat HaBa, he brings down, why is it that if I accepted Shabbat earlier, I cannot pray Mincha anymore?49:03Then why do we say that you accepted for melacha but not for tefillah? And he explains that once you personally accepted Shabbat, by praying Mincha, you’re showing a contradiction with your actions.49:15You’re claiming that it’s Shabbat, and all of a sudden now you’re praying Mincha shel chol. Some people say you’re sketching yourself;49:24you’re fooling yourself. That’s called tartei d’sasrei. You’re doing two actions which contradict each other. On one hand, you’re claiming it’s Shabbat, and on the other hand, you’re praying tefillah of Mincha of weekday Shabbat, which is tefillah49:38shel chol. Therefore, it’s a contradiction; it’s forbidden. That’s the Minchat HaBa’s explanation of why if a person accepted Shabbat, he cannot pray Mincha anymore.49:47Chacham Ovadia brings from the Zera Emet. It brings a great proof why you should be able to do it. And he says, first of all, Mincha should not be more stringent than49:58issur derabanan. We told you that if you accepted Shabbat beyachid, you’re still allowed to do an issur derabanan l’tzorech mitzvah. So, when minhagim be more stringent than not, why should we be more stringent?50:10Not even know minhag about answers that, but that's one idea. But then he brings a great proof, two great proofs. Number one is, listen to this halacha.50:19Let's say a person is praying Amidah on Shabbat. I don't know if we discussed this or not. Let's say you're praying on Shabbat. You're praying your Amidah on Friday night or Shabbat morning. It doesn't make a difference, but you're praying Tefillah shel Shabbat,50:30and you come, you say, Baruch Atah Hashem, HaKel HaKadosh, and now you're about to begin the continuation of the Amidah, the fourth berachah, which is really Shabbat.50:39By mistake, instead of saying Atah chonen l'adam da'at, or saying whatever the part, by mistake, by let's say a arbit, you began saying Atah50:50chonen l'adam da'at. You started already praying the Tefillat Chol. What's the halacha? The halacha is that you continue the berachah that you started, and you finish it,50:59and you say Baruch Atah Hashem, chonen ha-da'at, and then you come back and you continue on Shabbat.51:04Even if you remembered by Shema Koleinu. Imagine, a person is praying Amidah, he was really spaced out, and he's wondering, why is my Tefillah taking so long on Shabbat? Why is everybody done?51:14I'm still in the middle. And he's up to Shema Koleinu, and then he realizes, uh-oh, it's Shabbos. I'm wearing my suit. I'm supposed to be here. Where am I? Where's my head?51:23So then you finish Baruch Shema Koleinu, and then you continue afterwards with the Tefillah of Shabbat from the middle. You don't stop. You continue in the middle, and then you continue to51:34the end. What do you see from this halacha? You see from this halacha that you're allowed to pray the Tefillah of Chol during Shabbat. That's what the Gemara says.51:43Why is it if a person makes a mistake on Shabbat, he prays the Tefillat Chol, he's allowed to continue? And the answer is because really, we were supposed to pray the Tefillah shel Chol even on Shabbat.51:51Hachamim, however, felt, you know what? It's Shabbat. Let them enjoy themselves a little bit more. Let them relax. Let them have more time for seudah. So they cut down. Instead of saying 18 blessings in Amidah, which is 19 really, we're going to give them only seven blessings.52:03Instead of the 12, 13 in the middle, we're going to switch it to only one berachah in the middle,52:08okay? But technically... The amidah should have been the amidah of the weekday of 18 blessings.52:15This, achamim made it easier for us. But if a person on his own started already, so then he can finish it.52:22You see from here, proof number one, that a person is allowed to pray tefillah shel chol even on Shabbat. That's proof number one.52:27Proof number two is that if, in the case where it's very, very necessary, and I'll tell you soon when it is, a person may pray on Shabbat afternoon the tefillah of Arvit, shel motzaei Shabbat.52:42You could pray the Saturday night Arvit on Shabbat itself before sunset.52:47As a rule, we know that Arvit could technically be prayed after52:52plag hamincha. A lot of Ashkenazim are more stringent, they wait till shkiah, but the rule is you are allowed to pray,52:56like we do all the Sefardim do in the summer, they pray Arvit before sunset, after53:02plag hamincha. This rule should also apply by Shabbat. This doesn't mean that you could end off Shabbat earlier.53:07You're still bound to the halachot of Shabbat, but as far as tefillah, you're allowed to pray in53:11plag hamincha. Now this is very, very not common. The reason is because you're only allowed to do this if it's very, very necessary.53:16For example, lo aleinu, an onen. An onen is a person who has a close relative that passed away and they haven't been buried yet.53:27According to halacha, you're not allowed to do any mitzvah, but that's only during the weekday.53:31On Shabbat, the onen keeps Shabbat, of course; he prays, he makes berachot, everything is normal.53:37Only when Shabbat is over, then the onen is back into the onen rules, which means he's not allowed to say berachot,53:42he's not allowed to pray, he's not allowed to even answer amen, because he's supposed to take care of the53:48met. Now, this happened a few times,53:52lo aleinu. I remember one time I was in the shul, and his sister passed away about an hour before Shabbat,53:58literally an hour before Shabbat, maybe even less. And obviously he knew,54:02so when Shabbat came in, so he has to pray regular, Arvit and everything.54:05But the second Shabbat is over, he's already back into the onen mode, he's not allowed to say, he's not allowed to pray.54:12So therefore, what we told him to do is that on Shabbat afternoon, he should go home.54:19Right after he should pray Mincha early, and he should go home when it's still daylight on Shabbat before sunset,54:23and he should pray the tefillah of Arvit, because once Shabbat is over, he's not allowed to pray anything.54:28So you see certain times when a person is allowed to pray the Arvit of Motzaei Shabbat, which is a tefillah shel chol, even on Shabbat.54:35And that's a second proof why it would not be forbidden, even if a person accepted Shabbat54:43beyachid, to be able to pray Mincha on Shabbat.54:46That's the proofs of54:48Hacham Ovadia. So therefore, you have the two opinions.54:50You have the Mishnah Berurah, the Ohr Letzion on one hand, and you have54:55Hacham Ovadia in Zera Emet, and he even quotes Rav Chaim Palagi in Beir Moshe on the other hand.54:58And we will summarize it as following.55:01In conclusion, we'll say like this: when it comes to candle lighting,55:05if a person accepts Shabbat by candle lighting, make sure to pray Mincha beforehand.55:09Men or women, make sure you pray Mincha beforehand.55:12Now, if you see the time is running late and for some reason you have to light the candles first,55:17then light the candles and have in mind that you don't want to accept Shabbat.55:20Don't put yourself in a machloket to accept Shabbat by candle lighting and then decide if you should pray Mincha or not.55:24Don't accept Shabbat, even according to55:27the Ashkenazim, don't accept Shabbat and then pray55:31Mincha. If, however, for some reason you had to, or maybe you forgot,55:36if you lit the candles and you forgot to make this condition,55:40you can still pray Mincha afterwards, because we could assume that you don't want to accept Shabbat;55:44you still probably wanted to pray55:46Mincha. But if you clearly said, I want to accept Shabbat upon myself by lighting the55:51candles, in that case you put yourself in a very big dilemma.55:55There's a big, big machloket over here.55:57You ask me personally, I would tell you probably you could still pray Mincha.56:02And, but it's a machloket, you should ask your rabbi because Mishnah Berurah and all the56:06poskim are oser, and you have a Chacham Ovadia who is matir. So, like we said, try to avoid it.56:10If a person accepted it, only when he accepted it clearly, and he says, I want to accept Shabbat,56:16and now he wants to know if he could pray Mincha or not,56:19then in that case, that's what we tell you, that you're in56:23the machloket, okay? If anybody has questions, text or call. I'll be here in the station for another five minutes.56:30Best to call right now; we'll take all your questions.56:32Until then, b'ezrat Hashem, we'll see you next week.56:33We haven't had the chance to talk about Shovavim, so next week,56:36b'ezrat Hashem, when we come to the beginning of the class, I'll mention, we'll talk about56:39Shovavim, the importance, significance of Shovavim, and the practical things that we could do56:43during these special, special weeks.56:45And you should have a wonderful week. Join us next week here on J Radio for56:49Halacha Hour on Wednesday, live from two to56:52three. And if you want to hear the show again on Tuesday evenings from ten to56:57eleven. Until then, Shavua tov and Shabbat shalom.