On Friday, is it OK to daven Mincha/ Maariv back-to-back after Plag HaMincha but before shkia (if this is the minhag in shul)?
If this is not OK, would it be better to daven Mincha alone at home before Plag?
Answer:
It is permitted to daven in shul if this is the custom of the place.
Some prefer to daven Maariv later (after nightfall), at home, or to daven Minchah at home before pelag – but the common custom is to daven with the congregation and according to the local custom.
Please see sources below for further details.
Best wishes.
Sources:
The Magen Avraham (233:7) implies that one should daven in this case with the congregation, and not wait to daven Maariv alone after nightfall.
This is the ruling given by the Aruch Ha-Shulchan (235), and by others (see Shut Me’at Mayim no. 67), the Aruch Ha-Shulchan explaining that the great virtue of tefillah be-tzibbur is not deferred even under these circumstances.
However, there is room to defer the proof from his statement, and several poskim write that under circumstances where both Mincha and Maariv are davened after pelag ha-mincha, one should not daven Maariv with the congregation, but rather wait to daven later, alone.
This is the ruling given by Zichron Yehudah (p. 25, in the name of Maharam Ash), and this is clearly implied by he Mishnah Berurah (see Shaar Ha-Tzion 235:16).
Therefore, both options are valid, and a person has the right to choose between them.
In places where the custom is to daven Mincha and Maariv together, there might be an issue of yuhara in showing that one does not daven with them, and one should be careful of this (see the above-mentioned Shut Me’at Mayim, who writes that somebody in a shul who plans to daven later (with a minyan) should pretend that he is davening with them).
Although the discussion above refers to the option of davening Maariv later, the same reasoning will apply to the option of davening Mincha earlier; this option is perhaps preferable in that it avoids the issue of yuhara, but less attractive in that it remains better to daven Maariv after nightfall.
Why is it better to daven Maariv after nightfall?
There is a mitzvah to accept Shabbos early – which is done by davening Maariv BEFORE nightfall!
Although some Rishonim write that this is the way to accept Shabbos early, the common custom and the opinion of many is that Shabbos can be accepted early by desisting from melachah, by saying that one accepts the Keduashah of Shabbos upon himself (as the Mishnah Berurah rules), or by reciting Mizmor Shir Le-Yom Ha-Shabbos.
According to this common custom, it remains preferable to daven Maariv after nightfall, which is the proper time for Maariv according to the Vilna Gaon and some others.
Best wishes.
Though according to the Vilna Goan, Maariv must be recited only after nightfall.
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