Mincha - Earliest Time

QUESTION: What is the earliest time one should daven mincha?

ANSWER: The time for davening mincha corresponds to the time when the communal korban tamid was brought daily in the afternoon in the Bais Hamikdash. On a Biblical level, the korban may be brought immediately after midday, however Chazal required waiting half an hour to avoid mistakes in telling time. In practice, the afternoon korban tamid was almost never brought earlier than 3½ hours after midday. (This time is referred to as “mincha ketana.”) This was because the korban tamid had to be the last karbon of the day. In order to have adequate time to sacrifice other karbonos, the karbon tamid was delayed until mincha ketana. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 233:1) writes that that the optimal time to daven mincha is after mincha ketana, which is when the mincha was sacrificed. However, bidieved, if one davened mincha a half hour after midday he fulfilled the mitzvah, because on rare occasions, when erev Pesach fell on Friday, the karbon mincha was sacrificed a half hour after midday. (Unlike all other korbonos, the karbon Pesach is sacrificed after the karbon mincha. When Pesach was erev-Shabbos, the korban Pesach was slaughtered as early as possible to allow ample time for the many sacrifices of korban Pesach to be roasted before Shabbos.)

Magen Avrohom writes that if someone has a need to daven before mincha ketana, such as when they are travelling, davening at mincha gedola is considered lichatchila. This is possibly because the korban tamid was also brought earlier when Pesach was erev Shabbos. 

Although Shulchan Aruch writes that it is best not to daven mincha until 3½ hours after midday, not all Rishonim agree. The Rosh and Tur (OC 223) do not require waiting, and the Mishnah Berurah (Shaar Hatziyun 233:3) writes that this is also the opinion of the Vilna Gaon. The Aruch Hashulchan (233:12) points out that according to the Shulchan Aruch it is also not optimal to delay davening mincha until after plag hamincha (1¼ halachic hours before sunset), since the karbon tamid was not brought after plag. He concludes that since the custom in many places is to daven mincha after this time, it is obvious they are not following the opinion of Shulchan Aruch, and are relying instead on the Rosh and Tur. If so, one may daven at mincha gedola as well since there is no difference between davening before mincha ketana or after plag hamincha.

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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.