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Hours of the day in Halacha

שו”תCategory: Meta HalachaHours of the day in Halacha
asked 2 years ago

Why do the hours of time-dependent mitzvot (Shabbat, Kash, Moedim, etc.) depend on sunset, sunrise, etc.? Is this explicit in the Torah, or was it determined because this was how things were done in the days of the Sages?
And is it possible today, due to changing realities, to determine this differently (for example, that Shabbat will begin at midnight)?


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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 2 years ago
This is of course not explicit in the Torah, but this is what we have received in tradition. Is there a Jewish law in this or is this a norm that was practiced back then before there were clocks? It seems to me that the second is correct. And yet this is what is halakhically established and I see no reason to deviate from it. Regarding midnight, I really don’t understand the logic. What has changed since then that moves us from sunset to midnight? This is a change in the law and not its adaptation to the reality of our lives. Is the Jewish calendar the one that is binding because it is customary to use it? At most, we can talk about the seven o’clock hour instead of the time that is defined by the priests who enter to eat their offerings.

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ומחליף את הזמנים replied 2 years ago

Perhaps Ibn Ezra, who was in London, the capital of the island, in Parashat Vayyachi discussed this very thing
and wanted to establish Shabbat from midnight until midnight of its departure?
An Israeli judge with a low reputation for labor law also wanted to establish this, but regarding the issue of additional payment for work that is permitted on Shabbat but is compensated with an additional % of salary, Nerli the court overturned her decision and it remained according to the halakhic entry and exit times of Shabbat?

מגיב מגניב replied 2 years ago

And see Rashbam, Genesis 1:1 (which has been censored in some editions)

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