Many people after a fast like to start off slowly with a bit of cake and only a while later have a proper meal, is it ok for one to do this on Friday night?
The Shulchan Aruch (273:1) rules: דאין קידוש אלא במקום סעודה – “One only fulfills kiddush if it follows on with a meal”. The question is, is one allowed to eat and drink things that one can’t fulfill the mitzvah of seudas Shabbos with, as perhaps kiddush only allows one to eat if he actually starts eating something he can fulfill seudas Shabbos with, especially as the Rema (sif 3) writes, that one needs to eat something immediately, and the Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 12) writes, one shouldn’t interrupt even for a short time. R’ Moshe Soloveitchik from Switzerland asked the Chazon Ish, and he was unhappy about the minhag to eat fish after kiddush before washing and having bread (Ma’aseh Ish, Vol. 5, pg. 91). R’ Moshe explained, the problem is that one is interrupting between kiddush and the seudah (VeHaish Moshe, Vol. 1, pg. 154). However, R’ Chaim Kanievsky brings the Biur Halachah (249:2, d.h. mutar) who says that one shouldn’t eat between kiddush and the meal, so that one eats with appetite. According to this, there would be no rayah from the pesak of the Chazon Ish to our case, as in our case one will have appetite and perhaps greater appetite as his stomach will be ready to eat after the fast.
R' Avrohom Ganchovsky (Bnei Re’em, pg. 207) cites many proofs that one can be lenient with eating after kiddush before starting the meal:
- The Mateh Ephraim (600:6) and Machetzis HaShekel (s.k. 1) write regarding the she’hechayanu fruit on Rosh Hashanah, that since one should eat it close to the berachah of she’hechayanu, one should eat it straight after kiddush, before washing for the meal. (See Shemiras Shabbos, Perek 54, he’orah 69, who also brings this proof.)
- On Seder night we eat karpas before the meal. Although we can refute this proof as some hold that one fulfills kiddush bemakom seudah by drinking a revi’is of kiddush wine – however, we can still bring a rayah, as the poskim don’t speak out that if one never drank a revi’is that he shouldn’t eat karpas, so we see it’s not fundamental.
- If one has less than a kezayis of matzah (or someone is ill and unable to eat more than a kezayis) the Mishnah Berurah (482:6) writes, that he should eat it by afikomen, and through this fulfill the mitzvah of matzah and afikomen at the same time, and he should eat the entire seudah beforehand, even though he want be anything made from the five grains after kiddush, before starting the seudah.
We see from the above three cases, that one is allowed to eat and drink after kiddush before eating pas haboh bekisnin to fulfill kiddush bemakom seudah.
