Me'ah Berachos, Early Shabbos

QUESTION: If I accept an early Shabbos and daven ma’ariv before sunset, do the berachos of ma’ariv count towards my 100 berachos of Shabbos?

ANSWER: Rav Betzalel Stern writes in Sefer B’tzel Hachochma (4:155) that starting Shabbos early and davening ma’ariv does not change the day of the week. Although one may no longer do melacha, it is still Friday, and the 11 berachos recited during ma’ariv will not count towards the 100 berachos of Shabbos. As previously noted, we recite 13 less berachos on Shabbos than on a weekday, and the missing berachos are made up with additional food. In the summer months when sunset is late, many people make an “early Shabbos”. If one follows the ruling of B’tzel Hachochma and ma’ariv Friday night is not counted for Shabbos, a total of 24 berachos are missing (if Kiddush and hamotzi were said before sunset you will be missing even more), and it will be very difficult to reach the goal of reciting 100 berachos for Shabbos. 

Perhaps most people follow the opinion of Rav Ovadya Yosef zt”l (Yabia Omer OC 10:7) who disagrees with Rav Stern. He writes that once a person davens ma’ariv, it is considered nighttime for them, and all the berachos of ma’ariv can be counted towards the hundred berachos of the next day. He offers the following proof. Shulchan Aruch (OC 30:5) writes that if a person did not put on tefillin during the day and davened ma’ariv early before sunset, he may no longer put on tefillin. By davening ma’ariv, he turned it into night, and it is forbidden to wear tefillin at night—even though the sun is still shining. (In truth, Mishnah Berurah (30:17) points out that there are those who disagree with the Shulchan Aruch. Since tefillin is a mitzvah min ha’torah, and it is not actually night, the Mishnah Berurah recommends putting on tefillin, albeit without a beracha. Apparently, Rav Ovadya Yosef felt the position of the Shulchan Aruch is primary.)

Since reciting 100 berachos daily is a mitzvah d’rabbanan, it would appear that one may follow the lenient opinion of Rav Ovadya Yosef and count the berachos of an early Shabbos for the Shabbos calculation.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.