Siman 261

It is taught in the Mechilta: (Yitro, parashah 7) "'Remember' and 'Observe'—'Remember' before it and 'Observe' after it; from here they said: one adds from the profane onto the holy. A parable to a wolf that preys from before it and from behind it." Thus far his words. And this is its explanation: for it is the way of the wolf that it does not kill the animal in the middle of the body, but rather either from before it at its neck or from behind it. And just as the wolf kills the entire body by preying from before it or from behind it, so too if one does not add from the profane onto the holy from before it and from behind it—it is as if he profanes the entire Shabbat; therefore the Torah warned regarding this. And in this manner we say in Midrash Rabbah: (Bereishit, parashah 10) "Flesh and blood who knows neither its times nor its moments—he adds from the profane onto the holy," see there. And in Yoma (81b), regarding the matter of the addition to Yom Kippur we say: From where do we know that Shabbat and Yom Tov also require an addition from the profane onto the holy—the verse teaches "you shall rest on your Shabbat," thus you have learned that every place where "shevut" is mentioned, meaning resting—one adds from the profane onto the holy. (And that which we say in Moed Katan 4a, "he learns 'shabbaton' from the six days of creation, just as there it is forbidden and before it is permitted etc.," the Tosafot wrote there that it is because it is a small amount, see there. And according to the words of the Midrash it is not difficult at all, for it is a necessity to add, and there it refers to the thirty-day addition of Shevi'it. And so too that of the Yerushalmi at the beginning of Shevi'it, "just as on Shabbat of creation you are permitted to work until the sun sets etc."—its explanation is also thus, see there. But the Tosafot in Rosh Hashanah 9a, s.v. 'v'Rabbi Akiva' did not grasp it so, see there and examine closely.)

This is what our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in section 2: "There are those who say that one must add from the profane to the sacred," see there. And he wrote with the phrasing "there are those who say" because the Rambam and the Tur did not mention this except regarding the addition to Yom Kippur concerning the matter of affliction alone, as they wrote in the laws of Yom Kippur, and this depends on the sugya in Yoma there. However, most of our teachers: the Bahag, and the Rif, and the Rosh, and the Semag, and the Semak, and the Yereim, and the Ran, and the Maggid Mishneh, ruled that there is a Torah obligation for the addition to Shabbat and Yom Tov. Nevertheless, regarding the law, it seems to me that there is no practical difference, for it is obvious that one is forced to cease from melacha a little before sunset, as flesh and blood does not have the power to be exact, according to the statement of the Midrash that we brought. And after sunset, bein hashemashot begins, which is a doubt of skila, and one who performs melacha during both periods of bein hashemashot on Erev Shabbat and at the conclusion of Shabbat at one time—whichever way you look at it, he is liable for a chatat (Shabbat 35b), and so ruled the Rambam in chapter 5, see there. And if so, since he ceases from melacha before sunset—behold, there is an addition here as well, for there is no fixed measure for the addition.

However, regarding the actual time of bein hashemashot, there is a dispute among the poskim, for as is explained from the Gemara (ibid. 34b), the time of bein hashemashot is the duration of a walk of three-quarters of a mil after sunset, and afterwards it is night. And according to how they calculate the walk of a mil as eighteen parts of sixty in an hour, three parts are thirteen and a half parts. They further said in the Gemara (35b): "One star—day, two—bein hashemashot, three—night. And not large stars that are seen by day, nor small ones that are seen at night, but medium ones," see there. This is the wording of the Rambam in chapter 5, law 4: "From when the sun sets until three medium stars are seen—this is the time called bein hashemashot everywhere, and it is a doubt whether it is from the day or from the night, and we judge in it to be stringent… and these stars are not large, etc." Thus far his words.

And his words are not understood, for in the Gemara they said that one star is day, and perforce it is not from the stars seen by day, for it explains afterward: "and not large stars that are seen by day." And perforce it refers to medium ones, which are seen after the sunset and it is still day, and how did he rule that from the sunset it is bein hashemashot, and they have already wondered about him regarding this. (Ralbach in the commentary to Hilchot Kiddush HaChodesh chapter 2, see there) And furthermore, why did he omit that of three-quarters of a mil? And one cannot say that they disagree, for the Rif brought both statements, see there; learn from this that they do not disagree. And perhaps the Rambam intentionally wrote thus, because since this matter was handed over to the masses and to women and the common people, and who is he who knows how to calculate the measurements of three-quarters of a mil, or to distinguish between large, small, and medium stars? Therefore he took a definitive matter, which is that the sunset of the sun is recognized by everyone, and therefore immediately with the sunset—it is bein hashemashot, and they are forbidden from melacha, and three stars—is certainly night. And the practical difference is for one who wishes to recite Keriat Shema at night, or Kiddush and the like. And even though not everyone is expert in the stars—nevertheless there is no stumbling block in this. However, on the conclusion of Shabbat it is necessary to know the medium stars so as not to err with the large ones, and in the Yerushalmi, first chapter of Berachot, it is stated: that the three stars must be clustered, not scattered. This is the wording of the Yerushalmi: "provided that three stars are seen that appear as one star" see there, and therefore on the conclusion of Shabbat one must be careful with this sign. (This version was brought by the Ran, see there)

And behold, according to the opinion of the Rambam, immediately after sunset bein hashemashot begins, and this is the opinion of the Rif and the Gaonim. However, our teachers the authors of the Tosafot wrote in the name of Rabbeinu Tam another opinion regarding this, and to this the Ramban, the Rashba, and the Rosh in Taanit (chapter 1, siman 12) and the Ran at the end of the second chapter of Shabbat also agreed, because it was difficult for these teachers of ours how it is possible to say that from sunset until night is only three-quarters of a mil, for in Pesachim (94a) we say that from sunset until night is four milin. Therefore, Rabbeinu Tam explained that there are two sunsets: the first is the beginning of the sunset, and from it there are four milin until night. And in Shabbat we are dealing with the second sunset, which is when the sun is already sunken in the firmament, but it has not yet passed behind the dome, and the sign for this is that the face of the firmament reddens opposite its place. Therefore, from the beginning of the sunset until three and a quarter milin—it is still day, and it is for the addition to Shabbat, and from then bein hashemashot begins, and in three-quarters of a mil afterward—it is night.

And there is a system of the Rishonim (the Ra'avan and the Re'ah of Metz in the Yere'im) who, because of this difficulty, said that the measure of three-quarters of a mil of bein hashemashot is before the sunset, while the sun is still upon the earth. And according to this opinion, even before the sunset it is a doubt of night. And according to them, one must separate from labor and kindle the candles a long time before the sunset, but this system was not accepted. (And the Bach wrote that one should be concerned for it.) And in truth, in previous generations they would precede to accept Shabbat nearly two hours before the night, (Bach) and fortunate is their portion. And we have already spoken of this in siman 242 section 5 and in siman 256 section 3, see there. (And so wrote the Magen Avraham, subsection 9.)

Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, in section 2 brought only the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam and took it as the primary view, and this is his wording: "There are those who say that one must add from the profane onto the sacred, and the time of this addition is from the beginning of the sunset when the sun is no longer seen upon the earth, until the time of bein hashemashot. And this time, which is three mil and a quarter—if one wishes to make all of it an addition, he may do so; if he wishes to make a portion of it, he may do so, provided that he adds some amount of time that is certainly day from the profane onto the sacred. And the duration of the time of bein hashemashot is three-quarters of a mil, which is the travel of one thousand and five hundred cubits before nightfall." Thus far his words, and this is the opinion of Rabbeinu Tam. (And perhaps he holds that since in the Rif and the Rambam it is the language of the Gemara, if so, whatever we interpret in the Gemara will be interpreted in their words. However, this is a great difficulty, and so wrote the Ralbach in his commentary to the Laws of Sanctification of the New Moon chapter 2, that the Rambam does not hold like Rabbeinu Tam, but rather immediately after the sunset it is bein hashemashot, and so wrote the Maggid Mishneh in chapter 5.)

And behold, many of the world's giants rejected the method of Rabbeinu Tam entirely (the Gra and the Graz in his prayer book and other giants) and decided that immediately after sunset—it is bein hashemashot, and after three-quarters of a mil—it is night. And that which is mentioned in Pesachim is not the emergence of the stars mentioned in the entire Shas of three stars, but rather that the entire sky is filled with stars. And so it is implied in the Yerushalmi which says there: Just as you say regarding the evening, once three stars have appeared, even though the sun is placed in the middle of the sky—it is night, and one might say even in the morning so. That is to say, why do we count day from the dawn, see there; it follows that it is called night at the time the sun stands in the middle of the sky, meaning that it has not yet passed the entire thickness of the sky, and so all of Israel practiced. And on the conclusion of Shabbat, they practice according to the words of Rabbeinu Tam. (And in our book Or Liyesharim siman 181 we justified the method of Rabbeinu Tam with the help of Heaven). And know that all the measurements that our sages, of blessed memory, measured are according to the manner of the Land of Israel and Babylon, and for the seasons of Nisan and Tishrei, which are the equal days and nights. And automatically, in our northern countries in the winter days—it is night immediately after sunset. Therefore, in the winter one must warn the people that they should be very early while the sun is still upon the earth, and now the time of sunset for all days of the year has been printed in the calendars, and one should light candles at least no later than half an hour before the time written in the calendar, and whoever is careful and zealous in the early arrival of the holy Shabbat—blessings from Heaven are brought early for him.

And one who is not expert in these measurements—he should light while the sun is at the tops of the trees. And if it is a cloudy day—he should light when the roosters sit on the beam while it is yet day. And if he is in a field where there are no roosters—he should light when the crows sit while it is yet day. And so too there is a herb called 'adani' in the language of the Gemara (35b), and it is a type of rose whose leaves lean toward the sun, and in the morning they lean to the east, and at midday they are upright, and in the evening they are very bent toward the west. (Rashi ibid.) And in our large cities where they are not accustomed to raising roosters, and the day is a cloudy day, certainly he or his neighbor has a watch, which is very common in these days, and also the calendars are common in everyone's hand, and they should see that the watch is not delayed, and a half hour before the time of the calendar he should light candles, no later.

Our teacher, the Rema, wrote in section 2: "And if he wished to proceed early and accept the Shabbat upon himself from plag hamincha and onwards - he has the permission to do so." Thus far his words. And they explained that he adds to our teacher, the Beit Yosef, three parts of an hour out of sixty in an hour, for according to our teacher, the Beit Yosef, four mil are seventy-two minutes, and plag hamincha is an hour and a quarter before night, which are seventy-five minutes. (Magen Avraham, subsection 10) And these are puzzling words, that he added three minutes, and besides this, what did he add to the words of our teacher, the Beit Yosef, who wrote this very law in siman 267, section 2, see there. However, in truth, the intention of our teacher, the Rema, is that many think the calculation of plag hamincha is an hour and a quarter before sunset, and in truth this is the clarified system as the Levush wrote in siman 267, see there, (and the Gra in siman 459) that all the calculations of the day are not from dawn until the emergence of the stars, but rather from sunrise until sunset. And if so, there is an addition to the words of our teacher, the Beit Yosef, of an hour and a quarter, and such is the primary law. (And even according to the Magen Avraham that the calculation is from dawn until the emergence of the stars - it also works out well, for the Beit Yosef follows the system of Rabbeinu Tam. But according to the Rambam that it is three-quarters of a mil after sunset - plag hamincha is a mil and a half before sunset, and if so, there is also much addition, and delve into this)

The sages taught in the Mishnah (34a): If it is a doubt whether it is dark or not dark—which is to say, bein hashemashot—one may not tithe that which is certainly tevel, meaning produce that is certainly tevel, because he is fixing it on Shabbat. And even though it is a mere shevut, he holds that they decreed against a shevut during bein hashemashot (Rashi). And even according to that which we maintain, that "anything which is a matter of shevut—they did not decree against it during bein hashemashot," as written in siman 307—this is for a matter of a mitzvah or where there is a great need. Therefore, if he truly has nothing to eat on Shabbat, it is permitted to separate during bein hashemashot, as written there. But otherwise, it is forbidden even for tithing produce that is derabbanan. And the same law applies that it is forbidden to separate challah during bein hashemashot, and in this one should not permit even if he needs to eat, because we maintain regarding challah of the diaspora that he may continue to eat and afterward separate, and in Eretz Yisrael it is permitted. And similarly, on a Shabbat that falls on the eve of Pesach and he forgot to separate, he separates during bein hashemashot, for it is impossible to leave a portion until after Shabbat because of chametz.

And likewise, one may not immerse vessels, whether to raise them from impurity to purity—which is not practiced nowadays—or whether the immersion of new vessels, for all of them constitute fixing. And if he has no vessels with which to eat on Shabbat, it is permitted to immerse them during bein hashemashot, for they did not decree against a shevut during bein hashemashot in a case of great need, as has been written. And there is one who says they did not permit it, because he can give them as a gift to a non-Jew who does not require immersion. (Taz, subsection 1) And I wonder at this, for is a gift on Shabbat permitted when it is not for the sake of a mitzvah? It is certainly forbidden, (Magen Avraham, siman 306, subsection 15) and if so, what is the difference between this and that? Furthermore, in siman 323 this enactment is explained regarding Shabbat itself, but during bein hashemashot, it is better to immerse it himself and recite the blessing. And there is also one who wishes to say that metal vessels, which require immersion from the Torah, are forbidden to be immersed during bein hashemashot, (Sha'agat Aryeh, siman 56) but the poskim did not make this distinction, and there is no reason for this if he only needs the vessel to use on Shabbat.

And it is a fortiori that to light the lamps during bein hashemashot is forbidden in every case, for it is a doubt of sekilah. However, when he has no lamp, it is permitted to tell a non-Jew to light a lamp for him during bein hashemashot for the reason that has been explained; and similarly, it is permitted to tell him to perform any melakhah that is for the sake of a mitzvah or if he is preoccupied and hurried for it, for anything that is a great need or a substantial loss, the shevut of telling a non-Jew is permitted. And similarly, to light a yahrtzeit lamp, it is permitted to tell a non-Jew during bein hashemashot to light it, since the world considers this a mitzvah; but a complete business matter for a weekday need is forbidden even if he is distressed by it, unless there is a substantial loss involved. (Magen Avraham, subsection 6, in the name of the Rashal)

But it is permitted during bein hashemashot to tithe demai, because this is not a complete rectification, as most amei ha'aretz tithe, and for several matters they permitted demai without separation. And one may establish eruvei chatzerot during bein hashemashot, for there is no matter of prohibition in this and it is a matter of a mitzvah, but not eruvei techumin, for this is like the acquisition of a domain and is prohibited. Nevertheless, if he established the eruv—his eruv is an eruv, as I wrote later in siman 415. And one may insulate hot food during bein hashemashot with a substance that does not add heat, and this is post facto. But initially, he should warn the members of his household to insulate beforehand, during bein hashemashot, as I wrote in the previous siman. And know, that everything that is prohibited during bein hashemashot is also prohibited during a doubt of bein hashemashot (ibid. subsection 1). And this is not like a sefek sefeika for several reasons: first, that a doubt resulting from a lack of knowledge does not enter into the category of doubts; furthermore, that it is all one doubt—a doubt of day or a doubt of night; and there are further reasons. And everything that is prohibited on Friday evening during bein hashemashot is prohibited on Saturday night during bein hashemashot. (And some say that this is "doubt of darkness, doubt of not darkness" mentioned in the Mishnah—doubt of darkness on Friday evening, doubt of not darkness on Saturday night, and examine this carefully.)

Our teacher, the Rema, wrote in section 1: "And so too one who accepted Shabbat upon himself an hour or two before darkness—he may tell [a gentile] to light the candle and other things that are necessary." Thus far his words. And even though before plag ha-mincha acceptance is not effective, as I wrote further on, nevertheless, two hours before nightfall falls within the calculation of plag ha-mincha according to the view we brought that plag ha-mincha is an hour and a quarter before sunset and an hour after sunset, and behold these are two full hours, and as I wrote there that in previous generations they would accept Shabbat approximately two hours before night. And the reason he may tell [a gentile] to light the candle is as I wrote at the end of siman 263, that since if he desired—he would not yet have accepted Shabbat. And the general rule is, that anything for which there is a permit—it is permitted through telling [a gentile], as I wrote in siman 307. And if the majority of the city accepted Shabbat upon themselves—then the individual becomes subordinate to them, even if he himself has not yet accepted Shabbat. And nevertheless, they are permitted in telling a gentile, since there are places that have not yet accepted Shabbat—it is sufficient for us that we do not do [the labor] ourselves, and in such cases the sages did not decree against telling a gentile. Therefore, approximately half an hour before sunset, when certainly Shabbat has been accepted in every place—then even telling a gentile is forbidden. However, for the sake of a mitzvah—it is permitted. And in siman 263 it will be explained, that one who comes to a city and the people of the city have accepted Shabbat upon themselves—he too is forbidden from labor on Erev Shabbat. (All this I learned from the words of the Magen Avraham, subsection 7, see there.)

Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in section 4: "After the answering of Barechu, even though it is still day—one may not set an eruv and one may not insulate, because they have accepted the Shabbat upon themselves. And for us, the saying of 'Mizmor Shir L'Yom HaShabbat' is like the answering of Barechu for them." Thus far his words. And according to this, for us who say 'Lecha Dodi'—this constitutes the acceptance of Shabbat. And even though later in siman 393, section 2, our teacher, the Beit Yosef, brought two opinions whether it is permitted to set an eruv during bein hashemashot when one has accepted upon himself the addition to Shabbat, see there, and why did he rule here anonymously for a prohibition? For it can be said that there it deals with an individual who accepted upon himself the addition to Shabbat, but here it deals with the community, and therefore it is more stringent even than bein hashemashot. And there is one who answered that there it deals with one who accepted it as an addition to Shabbat, but here he accepted the actual sanctity of Shabbat. (Dagul Mervavah) And I do not know the reason for this, for perforce before night it is an addition, and therefore it seems to me the primary point is as I wrote. However, regarding speaking to a non-Jew for the sake of a mitzvah—it is permitted just as during bein hashemashot. (Magen Avraham subsection 7, and see what I wrote in subsection 13, and for us it is an acceptance, and delve into this)

Rashi, of blessed memory, wrote in Shabbat (34b, s.v. 'lemai') that one who performs melacha during bein hashemashot is liable for an asham talui, see there. And at the beginning of the chapter 'Safek Akhal' we learned in a Mishnah: "Shabbat and a weekday, and he performed melacha on one of them but does not know on which of them—he brings an asham talui," see there, and it can be said that bein hashemashot is also like this. And the Tosafot wrote there that on Saturday night during bein hashemashot, one is liable for an asham talui even according to the one who requires a piece from two pieces and that the prohibition must be established, for here the prohibition was established throughout the entire day of Shabbat, see there; however, on Friday afternoon during bein hashemashot, it is not called an established prohibition.