| A. There is a dispute in the Gemara (Brochos 27a) about the status of the time period between plag ha'mincha (1¼ halachic hours before sunset) and sunset. Rabbanan say it is treated as day, and one can daven mincha during this window of time, while Rebbi Yehudah maintains it is night and it is suitable for davening ma'ariv. The Gemara concludes that this issue remains unresolved, and one may follow either opinion. The Shulchan Aruch codifies this in OC 233:1 but adds one caveat. One cannot burn the candle at both ends and daven both mincha and maariv in this time frame as that would be tarti di'sasri (mutually contradictory) because it cannot be both day and night simultaneously. The Derech Hachaim (66:1) writes that erev Shabbos is different, and a congregation may daven mincha after plag and ma'ariv immediately afterwards. Even though there is a halachic contradiction in doing so, we allow it so as not to inconvenience a tzibur. Although the Mishnah Berurah (267:3) is uncomfortable with this leniency, the widespread custom is to allow it to be done. This is the case when davening with a minyan, but there is no allowance for an individual to daven mincha and ma'ariv between plag and sunset, even erev Shabbos. In response to our original question, as long as we are quarantined because of the Coronavirus, we may start Shabbos early Friday evening and daven ma'ariv after plag, but we can only do so if we daven mincha before plag. |
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