Question:
Is there any halachic violation for one to eat a meal on Friday or close to Shabbos coming in? On the other hand, is there any problem with fasting on a Friday?
Answer:
Strict halacha permits one to eat a normal meal all day on Friday, however, one should refrain from beginning a meal which is normal for a weekday meal from the beginning of the tenth hour -Shaos Zmanios – in the day. In the winter months when the Shaos Zmanios are short, it is preferable that one should refrain from having a meal too close to Shabbos. The reason behind this is that if one has a meal earlier in the day, he will still have an appetite going into Shabbos. This applies to normal meals that one is accustomed to having during the week. If the question is referring to a particularly large or festive meal which he normally wouldn’t have during the week, then he may not have it on Friday even if it is early in the day. It is completely permissible to have a snack throughout the entire day of Friday and there’s no preference not to eat that at any point throughout the day. This is not referring to drinks though. Past the 9th hour, one shouldn’t drink so much that one won’t be hungry for the Shabbos meal. It is permitted to have meat on Friday as long as it isn’t part of a festive or larger than usual meal at any time on Friday or it isn’t part of a normal meal after the tenth hour.
The above does not apply to a Seudas Mitzvah however. One may have the festive meal of a Bris Milah or Pidyon HaBen on Friday. However, it is preferable to make the meal in the morning before Chatzos – halachic midday. It is permitted to a bris milah and the seudah that follows on Friday even if the bris was delayed past the eighth day. It is permitted to do a pidyon haben and its meal on Friday too even if it is delayed. Some poskim, however, hold not this way and say that if it was delayed the meal shouldn’t take place on Friday. One can go to the festive meal of a Bris Milah on Friday even if it is meat and even there is a minyan of people there anyway.
Similarly, a wedding which took place on Friday may be accompanied by a feast. However, it is preferable to push off the feast until Shabbos or another day. One should not make a meal for an engagement party with a meal on Friday, however, Sephardim are lenient to allow a small meal for an engagement on Friday earlier in the day. Since engagements that we perform nowadays are not halachically binding as they were in the times of the gemara and so it’s not considered a seudas mitzvah which would permit a feast on Friday. Ashkenazim hold that it is permitted to do a siyum and the meal on Friday while Sephardim hold that the siyum and meal should be postponed by saving a little bit of the gemara until after Shabbos.
With regard to fasting on Friday, there have even been individuals who would fast each and every Friday in order to ensure that they would have an appetite for the Shabbos meal. While such a practice is simply not possible for the masses, it is recommended, however, that one not eat an actual meal (but rather a light meal or a snack) on Friday, especially during the winter months when Shabbos comes in early. If a person usually fasts on a parent’s Yehrzeit and it falls out on Friday, some poskim hold that one should fast until Tzeis HaKochavim, however, some hold that one should only fast until one leaves shul on Friday night even if he made early Shabbos. If one is in pain from fasting one may rely on the lenient opinion to eat after leaving shul. This is true if one previously fasted on a Yehrzeit during the week, however, if one never fasted during the week, according to Ashkenazim one should only fast until after one leaves shul. |