Question:
Hi,
If I generally eat seudah shlishis within about 30 min before shekiah, then go daven maariv less than an hour later, it’s likely that I’m not at all hungry when I come home to make havdallah. I remember learning that one should not do any melacha after havdallah before eating a melaveh malka. Am I required to eat right after havdallah even if I am not at all hungry? I want to do melaveh malka properly (i.e. right away) but it feels like achilah gassa (eating when I am full).
Thank you.
Answer:
It is preferable to eat right after havdallah, however if you are full and you can’t wash you can eat a k’zayis of cake etc., and wash later when you can eat. If it will actually be achila gassa, then you are not allowed to eat anything now, and you’ll have to wait for later.
For the future it would be advisable not to eat so much at shalosh seudos so you won’t have this issue.
Sources:
M”B 300-1,2
A person can fulfill melava malka even with fruits, if he is not able to eat baked foods or bread.
Achila gasa means that a person is repulsed by food/eating, not merely that he is eating when he is full.
From the standpoint of halacha, there is no obligation to minimize how much one eats on Shabbos for the sake of being able to eat pas for melava malka [Eishel Avraham], as eating pas for melava malka is not a chiyuv gomur (according to some opinions, although the Vilna Goan holds that it is a chiyuv gomur).
It may not be an obligation, however you do want to be practical and have the foresight to be able to be mekayem the next mitzvah
Leave a comment