Siman 233

Regarding the matter of the end of the time for the mincha prayer, we learned at the beginning of the fourth chapter: "The mincha prayer is until the evening; Rabbi Yehuda says: until plag ha-mincha," which is an hour and a quarter before the night. For the time of mincha ketana is at nine and a half, two and a half hours before the night, and half of it is an hour and a quarter. According to the Rabbis, who hold that mincha is until the evening, the time for maariv begins in the evening and not before, and according to Rabbi Yehuda, the time for maariv begins from plag ha-mincha, an hour and a quarter before the night. For it is a simple matter that when the time for the mincha prayer ends, the time for the maariv prayer begins; thus agreed our teachers the Tosafot, the Rosh, the Rashba, and all the poskim.

The halacha was decided in the Gemara (27a) that there is no fixed ruling in this matter, and they may act as they wish: either according to the Rabbis or according to Rabbi Yehuda. Our teachers agreed that this is the explanation: the intention is not that one time he should act according to the Rabbis and another time according to Rabbi Yehuda, but rather he has the permission to always conduct himself either according to the Rabbis or according to Rabbi Yehuda. And if he wishes to conduct himself according to the Rabbis, he shall always pray mincha until evening and shall not pray arvit before nightfall; and if he wishes to conduct himself according to Rabbi Yehuda and pray arvit after plag hamincha, he must be careful not to pray mincha after plag hamincha.

And behold, in the times of the ancients, they were accustomed to act according to Rava and prayed Arvit before nightfall, as all this is explained in the Tosafot, the Rosh, the Rashba, and the students of our teacher Yonah at the beginning of Berakhot. However, now in most countries, they pray Mincha until evening, and consequently, they do not pray Arvit before nightfall. Nevertheless, post facto, if one prayed the Arvit prayer with the intention to fulfill the obligation from plag ha-mincha and onwards—he has fulfilled it, and we do not require him to return and pray (Students of our teacher Yonah). And so too on Shabbat, one may ab initio pray the Arvit prayer of Shabbat from plag ha-mincha and onwards because of the addition to Shabbat, for since he has accepted Shabbat upon himself, it is like actual night (Pnei Yehoshua, beginning of Berakhot, s.v. "al ken" and in chapter 4, page 27a, s.v. "ve-hashta," see there carefully).

However, one must contemplate this regarding the words of the Rambam in chapter 3, law 4, who wrote: "Thus you have learned that the time of mincha gedola is from six and a half hours until nine and a half hours, and the time of mincha ketana is from nine and a half hours until there remains an hour and a quarter of the day, and he may pray it until the sun sets." Thus far his words. Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, explained in his book Kesef Mishneh that this is what he meant: if he wishes, he may pray until an hour and a quarter like Rabbi Yehuda, and if he wishes, he may pray until sunset like the Rabbanan; see there. But it is impossible to say so, for if so, the primary point is missing from the text, and furthermore, he wrote afterward: "The evening prayer, its time is from the beginning of the night etc.," and if it is according to this explanation, behold, when he conducts himself like Rabbi Yehuda, its time is an hour and a quarter before the night.

It appears to me that for the Rambam, he had a different approach in this matter, and Mincha is not dependent upon Arvit to say that when the time for Mincha ends, the Arvit prayer begins. For indeed, there are puzzling matters in the Gemara regarding this, as it says there (27a): "Now that the halacha was stated neither like this Master nor like that Master, he who acts like this Master acts [correctly] and he who acts like that Master acts [correctly]." And it is a wonder: since the halacha was stated neither like this Master nor like that Master, we should return to the general rule: "An individual and the many—the halacha follows the many," as in the entire Torah, and there is nothing similar to this in the entire Shas. Furthermore, previously (26b) it brings a Baraita regarding this dispute of Rabbi Yehuda and the Rabbanan, and thus it is stated there: "And for what reason did they say the Mincha prayer is until the evening? For the afternoon Tamid was offered until the evening. Rabbi Yehuda says: until Pelag HaMincha, for the afternoon Tamid was offered until Pelag HaMincha," see there. And it is nothing but a wonder: did they then disagree as to when the offering was in the Mikdash? Furthermore, the language "for" implies a clear matter, yet they are two opposites.

However, according to my humble opinion, the matter is as follows: Behold, the mincha prayer corresponds to the daily afternoon offering, and because every day they offered it at nine and a half hours, as we learned at the beginning of the chapter "Tamid Nishchat," and as the Rambam wrote there previously, see there. And it is a known matter that its offering did not delay until the night, for they needed to burn the incense, and the meal offering, and the wine libation, and the song, and at most they did not delay its offering more than half of this time, which is an hour and a quarter. And for this, Rabbi Yehuda rightly said: "for it was offered until the plag hamincha," meaning that such was its constant offering. And the Rabbanan rightly said: "for it was offered until the evening," meaning that if it should happen that they did not offer it at nine and a half, is it not permitted to offer it until the evening? And according to this, the Gemara rightly said: "Now that the halacha was not stated etc.," meaning that in this it is not relevant to say "individual and many, the halacha is like the many," for certainly the Rabbanan also admit to Rabbi Yehuda that until plag hamincha is the primary time, since it was so every day, but they differ in that according to Rabbi Yehuda one should not pray after plag hamincha, because on most days its offering was not delayed past plag hamincha. But the Rabbanan hold that certainly initially it is better to pray until plag hamincha, but after the fact if he did not pray, he may pray until the evening (and so it appears explicitly from the Rambam chapter 3, halacha 7, and there is no need for the forced explanation of the Kesef Mishneh, see there and examine carefully).

And it is found according to this that in truth we hold like the Rabbis, but it is impossible to say so explicitly, for if so, it would imply that ab initio one may delay until the evening, and it is not so. For this reason it says: "One who acts like this master has acted, etc.", meaning that one should rule like both of them, that ab initio one should see to pray until plag hamincha, but if he did not do so, he prays until the evening. And these are the very words of the Rambam who wrote: "And the time of mincha ketana is from nine and a half hours until there remains an hour and a quarter," meaning that so he should strive to pray then. And afterward he says: "And he may pray it until the sun sets," meaning that if he did not precede to pray, he prays afterward like the Rabbis. And behold, according to this, the matter does not concern the tefillat arvit at all, and we who pray close to the setting of the sun, it is also not according to this view, and it is the clarified view. But what can we do, as it is difficult to gather ten before plag hamincha, and one who is able to do so or one who prays in private, it is a mitzvah and an obligation to pray before plag hamincha.

Aside from this, one must cry out against the custom of our region, for they delay the mincha prayer until the actual sunset. Behold, in the Gemara (29b) it is stated explicitly: In the West (the Land of Israel), they would curse one who prays mincha with the reddening of the sun. And that which is stated in the Yerushalmi at the beginning of the fourth chapter, that Rabbi Yochanan would pray with the reddening of the sun, refers to shacharit, as it concludes there: "so that the fear of Heaven shall be upon him all day" (and this requires great study regarding the Hagahot Maimoniyot there, see there and examine carefully). However, the justification for them is that our preoccupation with our livelihood is very great, may G-d have mercy, and therefore they delay. Nevertheless, one who fears the word of G-d shall exert himself to pray earlier, and especially according to the position of the Rambam that we explained, that its primary time ab initio is before plag hamincha, as has been written.

There is another puzzling matter in this subject, for behold the Rambam wrote that the end of the time is until sunset, so why did our teacher, the Beit Yosef, write in section 1 that the primary time is from nine and a half hours until night, thus far his words, and behold night is the emergence of the stars, which is much after sunset. And like the words of the Rambam it is explicitly stated in Zevachim (56a) that the blood of the Tamid becomes disqualified at sunset, see there, and since the prayer corresponds to the Tamid, it follows that one should not pray after sunset. And behold the Tur also wrote: "until night," but the language of the Gemara and the poskim is: "until evening," and the term evening includes everything, of course. And perhaps the Tur and Shulchan Aruch hold that since bein hashemashot is a doubt of day or night, therefore regarding prayer, which is rabbinic, they were lenient; and regarding that which is in Zevachim, one could say that the time of prayer corresponds to the burning of the fats, and the burning was also afterward, or they interpret the end of sunset as being the time of the emergence of the stars (see Tosafot Menachot 20b, s.v. "nifsal"). Nevertheless, it requires further study why they did not cite the words of the Rambam, and therefore one should certainly be concerned for his words and be careful not to pray Mincha after sunset.

This is the wording of our teachers, the authors of the Shulchan Aruch: "And we conclude that one who acts like this master has acted... provided that he always acts according to one of them, for if he acts according to the Rabbis and prays Mincha until night, he can no longer pray Maariv from the plag... and if he acts according to Rabbi Yehuda and prays Maariv from the plag... he must be careful not to pray Mincha at that hour. And now that it is the custom to pray Mincha until night—one should not pray Maariv before sunset, and if post facto he prayed Maariv from the plag... he has fulfilled his obligation, and in a time of pressing need he may pray Maariv from plag ha-mincha and onwards. And for us, who are accustomed to pray Maariv from plag ha-mincha, he should not pray Mincha afterwards, and post facto or in a time of pressing need he has fulfilled his obligation if he prays Mincha until night, which is the emergence of the stars" thus far their words, and these matters have already been explained. However, it appears that if on one day he prays Mincha and Maariv at plag ha-mincha—he has not fulfilled his obligation, for it is two contradictory positions on one day. However, some are accustomed even in this, because it is difficult to gather the congregation a second time (Magen Avraham, subsection 7), and it will be explained in siman 235. And it is possible to say the reason is since the Maariv prayer was established corresponding to the burning of the limbs, and they are valid by day and by night, and there it will be explained with the help of Heaven.

And behold, there is mincha gedola and mincha ketana as the Rambam explained there, and this is his wording: "And because the tamid was offered every day at nine and a half hours, they established its time at nine and a half, and this is called mincha ketana. And because on the eve of Pesach that falls on the eve of Shabbat they would slaughter the tamid at six and a half hours, they said that one who prays after six and a half hours has fulfilled his obligation. And once this time has arrived, the time of obligation has arrived, and this is called mincha gedola" thus far his words. And it is clear from his words that the primary time is mincha ketana, because most of the year the tamid was offered at this time, and post facto if he prayed mincha gedola – he has fulfilled his obligation. And that which he says that once this time has arrived, the time of obligation has arrived, his intention is not that it is obligatory to pray, but rather his intention is that it is forbidden to engage in eating, a haircut, the bathhouse, a tannery, or a legal case until he prays, for such is his view as I wrote in the previous siman.

And according to this, even le-khatchilah one may pray Mincha Gedolah when he needs to, such as when he wishes to eat and the like. And this is not like the le-khatchilah and b'dieved of all other matters where le-khatchilah it is forbidden; here it is not so, but rather it means that if he does not have some reason that Mincha Gedolah is better for him, it is better that he pray Mincha Ketanah. But if he has any slight reason—he may pray Mincha Gedolah le-khatchilah. Therefore, our custom during the days of Selichot is that there are those who fast until midday and pray Mincha Gedolah; furthermore, from the language of the Rosh and the Tur it is implied that the primary le-khatchilah is Mincha Gedolah (Beit Yosef). And I saw one of the early authorities who warned to pray specifically Mincha Gedolah. (R. Sh. Parchon in the root M-N-Ch or P-L-L who wrote: that therefore poverty is common in the land of Edom because they do not pray Mincha Gedolah, see there; and especially for us, who pray close to sunset and are not careful to pray before Plag HaMincha, which was when the Tamid was always offered as I wrote, but rather follow the time that it is permitted to offer the Tamid, if so, it is certainly possible to pray Mincha Gedolah as is understood, and delve into this.)

Behold, the time of mincha gedola begins from six and a half [hours], and even though the time actually begins immediately after six, for then "between the evenings" begins and the sun starts to incline toward the west, and so it is explicitly explained in the Mishnah where we learned: "The morning prayer is until midday... the mincha prayer is until the evening," and perforce its meaning is from midday until the evening, for if it were not so, it should have said "the mincha prayer is from six and a half until the evening." However, in truth it is so, and at the beginning of the third chapter of Yoma they explained this matter in the Gemara, that because it is difficult to determine the exact midpoint of the day, they distanced it by half an hour, and therefore even the tamid was not offered before six and a half even in a time of pressing need. And a proof for this is that they said in Pesachim (94a): "The half of the sixth [hour] and the half of the seventh [hour], the sun stands over the head of every person." And seemingly this is not understood, for in the half of the sixth the sun is still in the east and in the half of the seventh it is in the west, but rather because then its movement is very slow until there is almost no recognition between the half of the sixth and the half of the seventh except for one who is very precise in this, and to the appearance of the eyes there is almost no recognition. Therefore it says there that the half of the sixth and the half of the seventh the sun stands over the head of every person, meaning to the appearance of the eyes, and therefore in the Gemara and the poskim the time of mincha is from the half of the seventh. And there is one who says that if he prayed before the half of the seventh he did not fulfill his obligation (Magen Avraham, subsection 1), and it is difficult to say so, for since this is only because of a concern of error and prayer is rabbinic, why would he not fulfill his obligation. And so wrote one of the great ones with simplicity, that he fulfilled his obligation (Pri Chadash on this siman), and he brought several proofs for this, see there, and from the Mishnah of the morning prayer there is a clear proof as I have written.

Our teacher, the Rema, wrote: That we calculate these hours according to the matter of the day, and even if the day is long, we calculate it as twelve hours, and they are called seasonal hours. And so too in every place where the sages calculated by hours, we calculate by these hours. Thus far his words. That is to say, since the day is always twelve hours, if so, in the winter when the day is short and when you divide it into twelve hours, perforce the hours are small, and conversely in the summer when the day is large, the hours are large. Therefore, at the time of mincha ketana, which is nine and a half, in the winter it will be before the accustomed three and a half hours, and in the summer it will be after the accustomed three and a half, and the accustomed ones are only in the days of Nisan and Tishrei, for then the days and nights are almost equal. And know that midday is always equal in summer and winter; when the clock strikes twelve, then it is midday, and so too at night, for the hours that were added or shortened, half of them are from before midday and half of them are from after midday. If so, it follows that midday always stands equally, and the calculation of the twelve hours begins from the sunrise until the sunset (Levush and Magen Avraham, subsection 3).

Our teachers, the authors of the Shulchan Aruch, wrote in section 2: "If he has water—he must wash his hands in order to pray, even though he does not know of any filth upon them, and he shall not recite a blessing. And even if he rises from his study, he washes his hands for prayer; but if he does not have water prepared—he does not need to wash." Thus far their words. And it has already been explained in siman 192 that every prayer requires washing of the hands, and if he does not have water, he should clean them with dust, or pebbles, or other things. And the measure of "not having water" was explained there: that ahead of him is up to four mil, and behind him is a mil, see there; but here they did not explain anything. And it is possible that regarding Mincha they were lenient in all cases when he does not have water prepared before him, and so it is implied from their wording where they wrote: "And if he does not have water prepared etc.", and in the Tur he brought a dispute regarding this, see there. And likewise, if he rose from his meal—he must wash his hands; but one who washes his hands for prayer, even though he studied before the prayer—he does not need to wash his hands afterward. And likewise, one who comes to the beit knesset to pray and washed his hands, even though he delayed a long time in the beit knesset, since he did not leave the beit knesset—he does not need washing (Eliyah Rabbah and see Magen Avraham subsection 8).