הלכות שבת א' הקדמה - קבלת שבת - סימנים רמב, רס, רסא

here are three things a person must say in his home on Shabbat eve at nightfall and not before. The mishna elaborates: He should ask the members of his household, have you tithed the crop that required tithing? Have you placed the eiruv for joining the courtyards and joining the Shabbat borders? If you have done so, light the lamp in honor of Shabbat. The Sages stated a principle: If the time arrives on Friday when there is uncertainty whether it is nightfall and uncertainty whether it is not yet nightfall, one may not tithe the crop that has definitely not been tithed, and one may not immerse ritually impure vessels in a ritual bath to render them ritually pure, and one may not light the Shabbat lights. However, one may tithe demai, doubtfully tithed produce, which must be tithed due to mere suspicion. And one may place an eiruv and insulate the hot water to be used on Shabbat.

(1) Shabbat Times / The Mitzva of Tosefet Shabbat

(2) The inherent sanctity of Shabbat is present only from the beginning of the seventh day, when Shabbat starts. However, the Torah commands that we extend the sanctity of Shabbat into the mundane week. That is, we are meant to accept the holiness of Shabbat upon ourselves a bit before the start of the seventh day. The same applies to the end of Shabbat: it ends at the end of the seventh day, but we are commanded to extend this holiness a little longer after Shabbat (SA 261:2; Bi’ur Halakha states that most authorities consider this extension to be a Torah law).

(3) This extension of Shabbat, called tosefet Shabbat, demonstrates that Shabbat is very dear to us. We go out to greet it before its arrival, and we prolong its stay by accompanying it upon departure. It is like an honored guest whom we go out to greet and whom we escort when it is time to take leave.

(4) We have already learned that the status of the time between shki’a and tzeit is uncertain, and thus one must be stringent then. Therefore, in order to fulfill the mitzva of tosefet Shabbat we need to accept Shabbat a bit before shki’a. Women customarily accept Shabbat when they light the Shabbat candles. In Jerusalem the custom is to light candles forty minutes before shki’a, in Haifa thirty minutes before, and in Tel Aviv and most other Israeli cities twenty minutes before. Men who recite the Minḥa prayers close to shki’a are accustomed to accept Shabbat later, but they too must be careful to accept Shabbat a few minutes before shki’a in order to add to the holy from the mundane.

(5) One who wishes to accept Shabbat even earlier is commendable, as long as it is within a seasonal hour and a quarter before shki’a. According to many poskim, one may not accept Shabbat earlier than this (SA 263:4; MB ad loc. 18).

(6) Shabbat concludes with the appearance of three medium-sized stars, but the Sages were worried that people might make a mistake and think that three large stars were medium-sized. Therefore, to be on the safe side, they said that one should wait until the appearance of three small stars grouped together (SA 293:2). Nowadays we do not need to look at the stars. Rather we can rely on clocks and calendars, where the times listed for the end of Shabbat already incorporate tosefet Shabbat.

(7) This mitzva teaches us that there is a connection between the weekdays and Shabbat, which is why we can add from the mundane to the sacred. We can also see, based on this, the inner striving of the mundane to be connected to the sacred.

(1) Shabbat Times / How to Accept Tosefet Shabbat

(2) One can accept tosefet Shabbat verbally by saying “I hereby accept upon myself the sanctity of Shabbat.” Some maintain that one can even accept tosefet Shabbat mentally (MB 261:21). Once one has accepted Shabbat, he must be careful not to do any melakha (as will be explained in the next section).

(3) As mentioned, women customarily accept Shabbat when reciting the berakha over lighting Shabbat candles. Since they invoke Shabbat, they intend to accept it upon themselves, thus fulfilling the mitzva of tosefet Shabbat. According to most authorities, a woman may light candles conditionally, having in mind that she is not accepting Shabbat with the lighting. In such a case she may do melakha or drive to shul after lighting. Nevertheless, it is preferable that she accept Shabbat when she lights, since some maintain that one may not light conditionally, in which case once she lights Shabbat candles she has accepted Shabbat and may not do melakha. Furthermore, if she does not accept Shabbat when she lights candles, there is concern that she will forget tosefet Shabbat altogether (SA 263:10; SSK 43:24; Yalkut Yosef 263:44).

(4) At one time, men customarily accepted Shabbat during prayer with the recitation of “Bo’i kalla, Shabbat ha-malka” (“Enter O bride, O Shabbat queen”) in the liturgical poem Lekha Dodi. However, nowadays in many shuls they do not finish Lekha Dodi before shki’a. Accordingly, in order to fulfill the mitzva of tosefet Shabbat, the gabbai should announce after Minḥa: “Bo’i kalla, Shabbat ha-malka,” at which point everyone should accept Shabbat. If the gabbai does not make this announcement, then each individual should say to himself “Bo’i kalla, Shabbat ha-malka” or “Hineni mekabel al atzmi kedushat Shabbat” (“I hereby accept upon myself the sanctity of Shabbat”). Additionally, if one is afraid that the ḥazan will not complete the repetition of the Minḥa Amida before shki’a, he may whisper the declaration to himself during the repetition, to ensure that he not lose the opportunity to fulfill the mitzva of tosefet Shabbat.

(1) Shabbat Times / Laws Pertaining to One Who Accepts Shabbat upon Himself

(2) From the time one accepts tosefet Shabbat, he must refrain from all melakhot forbidden by Torah law. Rabbinically prohibited actions are also forbidden at this point, unless the melakha to be done is for a mitzva, for a Shabbat need, or for some other great need, because in such situations the Sages did not intend for their prohibitions to apply. For example, if one forgot to tithe produce and wishes to eat it on Shabbat, he may tithe it even if he has already accepted Shabbat, because tithing produce on Shabbat is only prohibited rabbinically.

(3) One who has already accepted tosefet Shabbat may ask a fellow Jew who has yet to accept Shabbat to do melakha on his behalf. Women generally light candles and accept Shabbat at the time listed on calendars. Men, in contrast, go to shul to pray the weekday Minḥa (which usually begins shortly after candle lighting), and only then accept Shabbat. In the intervening period, a woman may ask her husband to do melakhot such as turning on a light or adjusting the oven, even though she has already accepted Shabbat (SA 263:17; MB ad loc. 64). Similarly, on Saturday night one who has not yet made havdala may ask one who has to do melakha for him.

(1) Shabbat Times / May One Pray Minĥa after Accepting Shabbat?

(2) There are shuls where the weekday Minḥa on Friday is finished after shki’a, so that if the participants wait to accept Shabbat until after Minḥa, Shabbat in fact has already begun, and they are unable to fulfill the mitzva of tosefet Shabbat. Thus the question arises: may one accept Shabbat but then pray the weekday Minḥa?

(3) According to some authorities, one who has accepted Shabbat may no longer pray the weekday Minḥa, because one may not pray a weekday Minḥa after Shabbat has begun (and one may not pray Shabbat Minḥa, because that is to be said only on Saturday). Therefore, in their opinion, one who mistakenly accepted Shabbat before praying Minḥa has lost the opportunity to pray Minḥa, and during Ma’ariv he should pray the Amida twice. The first time serves as the regular Ma’ariv of Shabbat and the second time is to compensate for the Minḥa that he missed (SA 263:15; MB ad loc. 60). This applies to women as well, and thus a woman may not pray Minḥa after she has lit candles – how can she pray a weekday Minḥa after she has accepted Shabbat? If she wishes to compensate for missing Minḥa, she should pray the Amida twice at Ma’ariv (MB ad loc. 43). The only alternative is to pray Minḥa earlier, while it is still day, and to accept Shabbat afterward. Where Minḥa is prayed after shki’a, one must pray Minḥa earlier on his own so that he will be able to add tosefet Shabbat. For the mitzva of tosefet Shabbat is a Torah law, while praying with a minyan is a rabbinic requirement (SSK 46:5).

(4) Several authorities maintain, however, that even after one has accepted Shabbat, he may still pray the weekday Minḥa. They reason that tosefet Shabbat only requires that one not transgress any Torah prohibitions of Shabbat, but does not extend to the realm of prayer; thus, one may still pray the weekday Minḥa. Just as in the service of a mitzva one may do things that are rabbinically prohibited during tosefet Shabbat, so too he may pray the weekday Minḥa then. Only one who accepted Shabbat with the congregation may not pray the weekday Minḥa. Therefore, if one has still not prayed Minḥa and it is very close to shki’a, he should accept Shabbat verbally and then pray the weekday Minḥa (Tzitz Eliezer 13:42; Minḥat Yitzḥak 9:20). Still others maintain that in such a case one must be careful to accept Shabbat only mentally. On the one hand, one may accept Shabbat this way; on the other hand, since it was only in his head, he may still pray the weekday Minḥa (Yabi’a Omer 7:34).

(5) The widespread custom is that if shki’a is approaching and one has still not prayed Minḥa, he accepts tosefet Shabbat – whether verbally or mentally – and then prays the weekday Minḥa. Be-di’avad, women too may pray Minḥa after lighting candles. If one knows that the minyan is going to pray Minḥa late, he should preferably fulfill his obligation in conformity with all opinions by praying Minḥa on his own and accepting Shabbat before shki’a. If he is sure that he will be able to accept Shabbat during the repetition of the Amida, it is best that he pray with the minyan and accept tosefet Shabbat during the repetition.