If someone davens Mincha before Plag and Maariv between Plag and Shkiya, can he then be counted towards a later Mincha minyan before Shkiya? Is there reason to be more stringent on Friday when he has also taken in Shabbos before the later Mincha?

R’ Shlomo Kluger[1] addresses a situation where a group of people convene a Mincha minyan after sunset. May one who already davened Maariv answer Amen to their brachos? He writes that he may answer Amen but he should not answer Kedusha. The reason for this is because it would be an internal contradiction to answer Kedusha, which is not said at night, after having already davened Maariv[2]. There would appear that there is precedent for the Psak, in the Terumas Hadeshen[3]. He writes that if one davened Maariv early and then realizes that he has yet to put on tefillin, he may no longer do so as it would be a תרתי דסתרי. The Shulchan Aruch[4] codifies this, indicating that an early weekday Maariv precludes daytime mitzvos.[5] R’ Ovadia Yosef[6] disagrees with this comparison. He argues that while a true daytime mitzvah such as tefillin cannot be done after an early Maariv, Kedusha, while not usually said at night, is in no way inherently a daytime mitzvah,[7] and thus one may answer Kedusha of Mincha after davening Maariv.

Would the acceptance of Shabbos preclude one from answering Amen of a Mincha minyan? The Mordechai,[8] as well as the Terumas Hadeshen,[9] write that after one answers Borchu on Friday evening he has effectively accepted Shabbos and is no longer able to daven Mincha; this is codified by the Shulchan Aruch.[10] Can we equate the inability to daven Mincha after Borchu to the question of answering Kedusha or joining a Mincha minyan after davening early Maariv? This issue was raised by the Teshuvos Yismach Lev,[11] who addressed this very question in the late 19^th century for a community in Eretz Yisrael that had the custom to daven Mincha early on Friday afternoon at the Kosel Hama’aravi and they then remained as others arrived to daven Mincha. May they answer Amen and Kedusha of the subsequent Mincha minyanim? In a lengthy teshuva surrounding many issues relating to תוספת שבת he concludes that it is entirely permissible. This is the Psak of the Ketzos Hashulchan[12] and the Shemiras Shabbos K’Hilchasa[13] as well. However, R’ Ovadia cites Teshuvos Simchas Kohein,[14] who suggested that one who has already accepted Shabbos may not help create a Mincha minyan on Friday afternoon and R’ Ovadia appears to accept this Psak.[15] In summation, while some Poskim are stringent, the accepted Psak is to allow one who davened early to answer Kedusha and help form a minyan on a weekday and even on Friday afternoon.

[1] Ha’Elef Lecha Shlomo O”C 94.

[2] He writes that if they are davening after צאת הכוכבים one may not answer at all. This is because these brachos are said contrary to the accepted halacha and it is prohibited to answer Amen to a an unwarranted bracha (Shulchan Aruch 215:4, see also Ha’Elef Lecha Shlomo 57). While the Rema (233:1) writes that one can daven Mincha until nightfall - צאת הכוכבים - the Mishnah Berurah (14) disagrees and requires one to finish Mincha before sunset, but all agree that after צאת הכוכבים one can no longer daven Mincha.

[3] 2:121.

[4] 30:5.

[5] See however, Mishna Berurah (17), who favors the view other Poskim, who allow one to put on tefillin without a bracha.

[6] Yabia Omer OC 6:21.

[7] See Rambam (Tefillah 9:9), Eishel Avraham (Butchatch 108 d.h. Mincha).

[8] Shabbos 2:196.

[9] 1:4.

[10] 263:15.

[11] O”C 16.

[12] Chapter 77 note 7.

[13] 46:5.

[14] 7:37.

[15] However, in the new editions of Yabia Omer (footnote 8), R’ Ovadia is cited as having a change of heart and allows one to help form a minyan even after accepting Shabbos.