We have seen that there is a requirement to add on to Shabbos and Yom Tov – both a few minutes before and a few minutes after. Can a person still daven Mincha after he was mekabel Shabbos? This question applies to both women who accept Shabbos at the time of the candle lighting, as well as to men who wish to accept Shabbos before shkia, as they are required.
The Shulchan Aruch (O”C 263:10) quotes the Bahag, who rules that the lighting of the candles is considered a kabalas Shabbos and after candle lighting melacha cannot be done. The Shulchan Aruch, however, continues that many Rishonim disagree and rule that the lighting of the candles is not considered a kabalas Shabbos and one can continue to do melacha even after candle lighting. The Rama writes that the minhag is for the women who light the candles, to follow the Bahag, and accept Shabbos at that time.
The Eliyahu Raba (263:17) writes that, since they are accepting Shabbos with the lighting, they should be sure to daven mincha before candle lighting. The Mishna Berura (263:43) adds that if she did not daven Mincha and already lit, since she was mekabel Shabbos, she can no longer daven Mincha and would have to daven Maariv twice. The Rivivos Ephraim points out that this is a problem, since women would like to daven after candle lighting.
How about if she makes a stipulation that she still wants to daven – will that help for a woman to daven after lighting?
This is based on the words of the Rama, who writes that since there is a difference of opinions if the lighting is considered a kabbalas Shabbos, a woman can stipulate that she does not wish to accept Shabbos. But this is not so simple. The Magen Avraham rules that this stipulation is only allowed in a situation of necessity. Is the fact that she wishes to daven Mincha qualify as a bona fide need?
Many poskim – including the Kaf Hachaim (263:35), Minchos Shlomo (2:35:8), Be’er Moshe (1:15), and the Divrei Yatziv (1:121) – allow a woman to stipulate that she is not accepting Shabbos, and then she can daven. The Divrei Yatziv adds that this is only if she is vigilant to daven Mincha every day, making it a bona fide necessity.
The Be’er Moshe and Divrei Yatziv take this a step further. They point out that if a woman davens Mincha every day, it is self understood that she is planning on davening Mincha, and it is an automatic stipulation.
The sefer Eishel Avraham adds that a woman can stipulate specifically that she wants to daven Mincha and not do melacha. This is because a stipulation for davening Mincha is much simpler than to allow doing melacha. He explains that davening a weekday tefilla is not a contradiction to Shabbos per se. He shows that we find this concept in regards to one who mistakenly started davening the weekday shmoneh esrei on Shabbos.
The Shulchan Aruch rules that if someone started davening a weekday shmoneh esrei on Shabbos, he should finish the brocha that he started and only then return to the Shabbos davening. As the poskim explain, the weekday davening is, in essence, appropriate on Shabbos as well, so it is not considered a brocha that is in inappropriate on Shabbos. Similarly, a woman can stipulate that she wants to daven Mincha, as that is not really a contradiction to Shabbos.
In conclusion
Women who accept Shabbos at the time of the candle lighting should definitely daven Mincha before. If they did not, many poskim allow her to daven Mincha after she lit candles, if she stipulated that she is not accepting Shabbos. Some allow this only for a woman who always davens.
Questions to Ponder:
What about a man who davens Mincha on Friday evening right before shkiah, or even after sunset – Is that a contradiction to turning Friday afternoon into Shabbos?
This will be discussed, b’ezras Hashem, in a future article.
Rabbi Scheiner
