Siman 267

And they enter the beit knesset and pray the mincha prayer as on weekdays, except that they do not perform nefilat apayim because of the honor of the Shabbat. And also those who pray half an hour after midday—they also shall not perform nefilat apayim (Pri Megadim). And not only on Shabbat, but on all days when tachanun is not said—they do not perform nefilat apayim during the preceding mincha. And know that for us, since we do not bring in the tosefet Shabbat as early as in former days—they should be careful to light candles in the beit knesset before mincha, for if they leave it until after mincha—they will come to desecrate Shabbat. And such is the simple custom, and one should not change even when they pray early. And there are those who say before mincha of Erev Shabbat the psalm of "four who must give thanks," and "Patach Eliyahu" from the Tikunim, and the poem "Yedid Nefesh," and the section of the Tamid, and the ketoret—before mincha, for this requires much time. They must be very, very careful to come to the beit knesset a long time before sunset, for if not—they will delay the time of the mincha prayer until evening, and all who fear G-d shall be careful in this.

And after Mincha, they say five psalms: "Lekhu Neranena," "Shiru l'Hashem Shir Chadash," "Hashem Malakh Tagel Ha'aretz," and "Mizmor Shiru l'Hashem Shir Chadash," and "Hashem Malakh Yirgezu Amim," because these psalms are about the future in the days of the Mashiach, and it is a day that is entirely Shabbat; therefore, they say them at the onset of Shabbat. And afterward they say "Mizmor l'David Havu l'Hashem Bnei Elim" because it contains seven "voices," corresponding to which are the seven blessings of the prayer on Shabbat (Berakhot 29a). And they are six psalms corresponding to the six days of the week. And afterward they say "Ana B'koach," which is the Name of forty-two, and it is the Name of the act of creation (Tosafot at the beginning of the second chapter of Chagigah, see there). And because Shabbat is a remembrance of the act of creation, therefore they say it before the reception of Shabbat. And afterward they say "Lekha Dodi... Pnei Shabbat Nekabelah," and they conclude with "Bo'i Khallah, Bo'i Khallah!" as they said in Shabbat (119a): Rabbi Chanina would wrap himself and stand at the eve of Shabbat at dusk. He said: "Come and let us go out to meet the Shabbat Queen." Rabbi Yannai would wear his garments and say: "Come, bride, come, bride!" And afterward they say "Mizmor Shir l'Yom HaShabbat," which alludes to the day that is entirely Shabbat, as we learned at the end of Tamid, see there. And with this, we have accepted the holy Shabbat upon ourselves. And afterward they say "Bameh Madlikin." And there are those who are accustomed to say a passage from the Zohar, "K'gavna" until "B'nehiro d'Anpin" (Zohar Terumah page 135a).

And afterward they pray Maariv. The Tur and the Shulchan Aruch wrote: that they prioritize praying Maariv earlier than on weekdays. And so wrote the Rambam in the third chapter of Laws of Prayer (Halacha 7): "And from Plag HaMincha one may light [candles], and accept Shabbat with the Maariv prayer," and this is an hour and a quarter before sunset. And even though on a weekday one prays Mincha at that time—nevertheless, on Erev Shabbat one may pray Maariv then. And this is not like contradictory actions, for due to the addition of Shabbat one may do so. And there is also a great reason for the matter to prioritize the Maariv of Shabbat, for behold, the Maariv prayer was established corresponding to the limbs and fats that were offered at night from the afternoon Tamid offering. And now it is certainly forbidden to offer them at night, as it is written: "The burnt offering of the Shabbat on its Shabbat"—and not the burnt offering of a weekday on Shabbat (Shabbat 114a). And if so, of necessity they offered the limbs and fats while it was still day, and therefore the prayer corresponding to them is also during the day (Magen Avraham, subsection 1). However, the Mincha of Erev Shabbat must of necessity be prayed before Plag HaMincha, for in one day it is impossible to do two contradictory things. And there is one who says that in a congregation even in such a case it is permitted (Derech HaChaim).

However, in any event, we see that our early teachers commanded us to bring forward the Maariv prayer while it is still day. And it is a great fence for the Sabbath for the masses, women, and the unlearned, whose eyes are only toward the time of the prayer in the synagogue; and if they delay praying in the synagogue significantly—there are many in every single city who will light candles after sunset. As our eyes see and our ears hear to our heart's sorrow, in several large and small cities: that they delay lighting candles, and come to the point of desecrating the Sabbath, may the Merciful One save us from this great punishment. And it is a holy obligation upon the Rabbi and the God-fearing people in the city to pray while it is still day, in order to prevent the desecration of the holy Sabbath. And there are those who exert themselves to pray Maariv at its time on the Sabbath, and they are destined to give an accounting, for it is known that on this depends that they shall not desecrate the Sabbath in the city. And one who is diligent in bringing forward the entry of the Sabbath—the merit of the holy Sabbath will protect him. And we have already elaborated on this in several places, because it is known to us that bringing forward the prayer establishes the Sabbath and its holiness upon its proper foundation.

And just as one may pray while it is still day, so too one may perform kiddush while it is still day, as the Rambam wrote in chapter 29, law 11, and this is his wording: A person may perform kiddush over a cup on Friday afternoon while it is still day, even though the Shabbat has not yet entered. Thus far his words. And the Maggid Mishneh wrote: That even though he performed kiddush while it is still day—he is permitted to eat in the evening based on this kiddush..., thus far his words. And one must be uncertain regarding his intention: whether his intention is that to eat one must specifically do so at night, and therefore he says that the kiddush counts for him, and if it is because kiddush must be in the place of a meal—he may eat a kezayit of mezonot after the kiddush. Or whether his intention is that if he eats at night—he has fulfilled his obligation with this kiddush, but in truth he may eat while it is still day, and he fulfills the requirement of the Shabbat meal with this. And so it is explained from the words of our teacher, the Beit Yosef, who wrote: And at plag hamincha one may light, and accept Shabbat with the Arvit prayer, and eat immediately, thus far his words. And so wrote the author of the book Terumat HaDeshen (siman 1) that they would finish the Shabbat meal while it is still day. And also in the days of the Gemara it appears that it was so, for at the beginning of Berakhot we say: "From the time that people enter to eat their bread on Friday evenings," and the Tosafot wrote there at the beginning of Berakhot that it was while it is still day, see there. And therefore this is the primary ruling. And there are those who wrote in the name of Sefer Chasidim that one must eat a kezayit at night (see Magen Avraham there), and it is merely a stringency of pious conduct (and so it is proven in the Magen Avraham). And the reason: for anytime after plag hamincha, when he has accepted the tosefet Shabbat—it is like complete night (ibid.). And not only according to most poskim who hold that tosefet Shabbat is from the Torah, but even according to the Rambam who does not hold of tosefet as we wrote in siman 261, nevertheless since he accepts the tosefet upon himself—it is like actual night, regarding the fact that he fulfills his obligation with the kiddush he performed while it is still day for his obligation at night, since he will immediately come to the obligation. Therefore he can extend it even from beforehand with an addition of holiness, for the Torah gave him permission for this. (And this is the intention of the Mordechai in the second chapter of Megillah, which the Magen Avraham cited. And as for the difficulty he raised from siman 186 that a minor cannot fulfill the obligation for an adult, even though he will come to the obligation when he grows up, see there—according to what we explained it is not a comparison at all. Examine it and you will find it easy.)

And behold, our teacher, the Beit Yosef, in his great work, raised a difficulty: How could they eat while it was still day, for is it not forbidden to eat prior to the recitation of Shema? And he answered that since he recited it from plag hamincha, even according to the one who holds that he must return and recite it after nightfall—nevertheless, it is permitted for him to eat beforehand, see there. (And the Magen Avraham disputes this in subsection 2 based on the Rosh, and it is not understood at all. And in the Tosefet Shabbat he wrote that his intention was regarding before plag hamincha, see there. And if so, what did he dispute against the Beit Yosef? And the Pri Megadim also appears to have explained like the Tosefet Shabbat, see there. And the Machatzit HaShekel appears to have explained based on what the Rosh wrote at the beginning of Berakhot, that prayer is not related to the recitation of Shema, see there. But this is not relevant to Erev Shabbat, for due to the addition of Shabbat it is like night. However, I am accustomed to recite the Shema before kiddush, for our eating is always at night, because we do not begin so early, and certainly it is proper to do so. Examine carefully and you will find it simple.)

In the blessing of "Hashkivenu," one should not conclude with "Who guards His people Israel forever," for the Shabbat itself is a protection. Therefore, we say the verses of "Veshamru" because when we guard the Shabbat—then the Shabbat guards us. It is also a semblance of redemption, for if Israel were to guard two Shabbats according to their laws—they would be redeemed immediately (Tur). Rather, we conclude with "Who spreads the shelter of peace... and over Jerusalem," for the Shekhinah shelters us. Consequently, beforehand one must say "And spread over us the shelter of Your peace," so that there will be a semblance of the conclusion adjacent to the conclusion. In the Tur, there are those who hold that even in "And spread" one must mention Jerusalem, since we mention it in the conclusion, and one would have to say: "And spread over us and over Jerusalem the shelter of Your peace." But the custom is not so, and the reason is that it is all one: Israel and Jerusalem (Eliyahu Rabbah, subsection 6). And there is a proof for this from Berakhot (49a), see there.

And according to this, we should not say "For God is our guardian... and guard our going out..." on Shabbat, and such is the custom of the Sephardim. However, we are accustomed to saying it, and the reason is that Shabbat guards one who guards Shabbat properly, and we do not hold ourselves to be such (Taz, subsection 1). Furthermore, in the Zohar Vayakhel (page 204b) it distinguishes between the community and the individual, and an individual requires guarding even on Shabbat. Therefore, "Who guards His nation Israel," which refers to the collective of Israel—there is no need to say on Shabbat, but not before that, which refers to each and every individual (Magen Avraham, subsection 3). And if he concluded with "Who guards His nation Israel"—he has fulfilled his obligation, and we do not make him repeat it (Eliyahu Rabbah, subsection 7 in the name of the Kol Bo). And it seems to me the reason is: is it as if the Shabbat guards us? Behold, He who commanded regarding the Shabbat guards us, and if so, even "Who guards His nation Israel" is fine, for He guards us in the merit of the Shabbat. Rather, on Shabbat one must make a distinction from the weekdays with the phrasing of spreading the sukkah of peace. But post facto—he has fulfilled his obligation. And it seems to me that if he concluded with "and guard our going out," and when he said "Blessed are You, Hashem" he remembered—nevertheless, he should conclude "Who spreads the sukkah of peace" and not "Who guards His nation Israel." And even though there is no thematic connection immediately preceding the conclusion, one can say that this is also a thematic connection to the conclusion, for through the spreading of peace He guards us, and on the contrary, it is a superior guarding of a high level.