Class 15: Times for Havdalah

I found the discussion interesting regarding which day of the week one keeps Shabbat if you don't know what day it is, ie. from the perspective of Hashem (the 7th day) or the perspective of man (the first day); also, the view of its being the middle of the week because the 3 days before Shabbat are considered before Shabbat and the 3 days after are after Shabbat but the middle day is Shabbat. From this, we have the idea that Havadalah can be made until we're no longer thinking of the previous Shabbat, which is until Tuesday night (because Wednesday, we're already thinking of the next Shabbat).

I also found it interesting regarding when or if to say Havdalah on Tisha B'Av that falls on Motzei Shabbat, as it does this year. For at least 2 reasons, we are not required to make Havdalah Sunday night after the fast, 1) because we only have one full day to do Havdalah, and 2) because Havdalah wasn't established when we were impoverished and Tisha B'Av is a day when we are spiritually impoverished. But should this be our actual practice--to omit Havdalah?

The question of what is the nature of the 3 days to make havdalah raised a lot of questions especially regarding what the 3-day chiyuv actually means ie. is it a chiyuv of Motzei Shabbat/Sunday with opportunity to make it up afterwards for 3 days or is it really a 3-day chiyuv? The implications of the answer to this question are quite interesting, particularly regarding someone who may be exempt from Havdalah (an onen) and whether or not it needs to be made up, depending on the day of the burial and what is the exact nature of the 3-day chiyuv (one day with make-up time or a full 3 days). How Rabbeinu Yehuda fits his answer into this (no Havdalah, even if buried on Sunday)was not yet elucidated.


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