When Does Shabbat End?: Difference between revisions

The Talmud has several different statements about when the nighttime begins for all purposes including when Shabbat ends. The clearest  statement on the matter is that of Shmuel in Gemara Shabbat 35b; once three medium stars are visible in the sky it is considered night. The Gemara also records the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda that night only begins after a period of twilight which elapses from ''shekiya'' (sunset) for another two thirds of a mil or three quarters of a mil. Additionally, Rabbi Yosi disagrees and thinks twilight is minimal, literally "the length of time it takes to bat an eyelash", though not precisely that amount of time. Finally, the Gemara Pesachim 94a indicates that nightfall doesn't begin until 4 mil after ''shekiya''. There are three main approaches in the rishonim and achronim as how to resolve these statements of the Talmud in a cohesive manner.

 

Rabbenu Tam held that there are two ''shekiya's''; the first is astronomical sunset and afterwards it is nighttime for korbanot purposes, but otherwise it is still day until the second ''shekiya'', which occurs three and a quarter mil after sunset. Then there is a duration of twilight of Rabbi Yehuda that is at most three quarters of a mil. For all purposes besides korbanot nighttime begins four mil after shekiya. This is also the understanding of most rishonim and Shulchan Aruch. This method would not allow relying on the emergence of stars method because the stars under discussion are subject to interpretation.<ref>The Bei'ur Halacha (293:1 s.v. ad cites the Minchat Cohen who is of the opinion that even Rabbeinu Tam, who holds that Shabbat should end 72 minutes after sunset (the time it takes to walk 4 mil), would concede that if three small stars in close proximity to each other are visible, Shabbat is over even if 72 minutes have not yet elapsed. This is in contrast to Rav Ovadia Yosef (Shu"t Yabia Omer 2:21) and the Orot HaChaim's opinion that Rabbeinu Tam and Shulchan Aruch are really stating the same position. The Orot HaChaim explains that the stars being mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch are ones that are closer to the western horizon where the sun sets, which apparently take longer to become visible.</ref> Those who rely upon that are described below. Rabbenu Tam's approach is subject to further debate as how to understand the time of four mil, whether it is measured in fixed minutes,<ref>Biur Halacha 261:2 s.v. sh'hu citing the Pri Megadim</ref> seasonal minutes (shaot zmaniyot),<ref>Biur Halacha 261:2 s.v. sh'hu citing Minchat Cohen and Biur Halacha concurs.</ref> or astronomical degrees.

 

The Vilna Goan (Gra)<ref>Biur HaGra OC 261:12</ref> explained that the Gemara Pesachim 94a was merely describing a time of night for when travelers could no longer travel. However, for halachic purposes nightfall begins after the twilight, which is three quarters mil. Similarly, this interpretation is subject to further debate as how to understand the time of four mil, whether it is measured in seasonal minutes (shaot zmaniyot) or astronomical degrees. No one who accepts the opinion of the Gra assumes that it is fixed minutes.<ref>Gra 261:12 at the beginning notes that all of the times in the Gemara are all according to the sun appears on the horizon in Bavel and it would need to be extrapolated to the rest of the world. Biur Halacha 261:2 s.v. sh'hu in citing the Gra, Magen Avraham, and Minchat Cohen clearly and explicitly interprets that the Gra would voche for shaot zmaniyot, seasonal minutes. However, based on Rabbi Belsky [https://www.myzmanim.com/read/degrees.aspx myzmanim.com ("Degrees" accessed August 5 2020)] there is another approach that calculates the times for the Vilna Goan based on degrees below horizon. As opposed to shaot zmaniyot which takes into account the season or the year, degrees below horizon takes into account the latitude of location in question, though not the longitude or season of the year. This is also the view of Rabbi Levy in Zmanim Bhalacha. </ref>

 

Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky<ref>[https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=6656&pgnum=30 Ben Hashemashot 2:8 p. 29] disagreed with the earlier approaches that used either time based methods of four mil or three quarter mil. With respect to the Gemara Pesachim he accepted the Vilna Goan's argument that it wasn't relevant to the determination of halachic night. Also, he understood that really Rabbi Yosi's twilight starts slightly later than that of Rabbi Yehuda's twilight. The only method that a person could use to calculate when night begins is the emergence of three stars.<ref>Tosfot Shabbat 35b s.v. elah’s asks why Shmuel needed to state that the halacha follows Rabbi Yosi with respect to the kohanim not being able to eat trumah if the only discrepancy between Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosi is minimal, the bat of an eye. Tosfot answers that in fact Rabbi Yosi’s Ben Hashemashot doesn’t begin immediately after Rabbi Yehuda’s, it only begins a little bit or much later. Gra OC 261:12 at the end argues that the Gemara Shabbat 35a is pretty clear that in fact Rabbi Yosi’s Ben Hashemashot starts immediately after that of Rabbi Yehuda’s. Rather the answer to Tosfot’s question is that kohanim can eat Trumah during Ben Hashemashot, however, since we follow Rabbi Yosi they can’t eat until after Rabbi Yehuda’s Ben Hashemashot. Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky in Sefer Ben Hashemashot 2:8 notes that the Gra’s opinion is against almost all the rishonim and our text of the Gemara, which the Gra needed to emend. Accordingly he rejects the conclusion of the Gra and sides with Tosfot and others that the Ben Hashemashot of Rabbi Yosi is not immediately after that of Rabbi Yehuda’s. In fact it starts a while later. Therefore, he holds that nighttime begins with the emergence of three stars and is irrelevant to the Ben Hashemashot of 3/4 mil elapsing.</ref> To literally look up at the stars and decide when Shabbat is over could only be applied practically by someone who is an expert in this area as there are many preconditions to using this method and their determinations are complex.<ref>Biur Halacha 293:2 s.v. shiyru concludes that someone who isn't an expert in the matter of determining when the sky is equally dark on the Western side and that it isn't a cloudy day in order to then check when three stars emerge should not rely on this method. Furthermore, in Biur Halacha 261:2 s.v. sh'hu writes that only on the days when it is very long to follow the 4 mil of Rabbenu Tam according to shaot zmaniyot then one can rely upon the method looking at the stars with all of its conditions. Nonetheless, in Biur Halacha 293:2 s.v. ad he directly asks the question as to why Shulchan Aruch cites both the opinion of Rabbenu Tam that one must wait four mil and also the emergence of the stars method from the gemara. He first answers that if someone doesn't know when four mil elapses such as if he doesn't have a watch then he can use the stars method, however, if he knows he must wait four mil even after the stars emerged. Alternatively, he cites the Minchat Cohen who says that even Rabbenu Tam  would allow breaking Shabbat after the emergence of stars if that were to happen before four mil. Biur Halacha ends by saying that even the Minchat Cohen would concede that it is proper to wait for the Gra's condition that the Western part of the sky be darkened equally since it is within 4 mil. Besides this statement he does not give any statement whether one should rely on the Minchat Cohen. (See Dirshu 293:9 who quotes the Biur Halacha 261:2 s.v. sh'hu to be suggesting always to wait for four mil initially and not rely on the stars method. However, from seeing the language of that Biur Halacha as well as the one in 293:2 s.v. ad their interpretation seems questionable.)</ref> These include: the stars need to be in close proximity and not spread out,<ref>Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 293:2 based on Ran and Yerushalmi</ref> they need to be small stars,<ref>Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 293:2. Mishna Brurah 293:3 explains that although in theory three medium stars suffices but since no one today is enough of an expert to make such a determination we need to use three small stars. Mishna Brurah 293:4 cites the Tiferet Yisrael Shabbat ch. 2 that in addition to three small stars one needs to see three medium stars, however the Mishna Brurah proceeds to challenges this. He concludes that if one follows the Gra in Likutim that the sky needs to be dark to the point that the entire Western side is equally dark and not red at all then one need not be concerned for the Tiferet Yisrael.</ref> the three stars can only be relied upon if the Western part of the sky has darkened to the point that the area right above the horizon is as dark as the area far above the horizon.<ref>Mishna Brurah 293:4 citing the Gra in Likutim, Biur Halacha 293:2 s.v. ad, Biur Halacha 261:2 s.v. sh'hu </ref> Nonetheless, only an The best way to apply this opinion is to take the determination of when stars are visible by an expert and then extrapolate based on degrees below horizon to the rest of the world.