Q&A: Melaveh Malkah Meal on the Night After a Festival and Yom Kippur
Melaveh Malkah Meal on the Night After a Festival and Yom Kippur
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I wanted to ask a few halakhic questions:
1. Is there an obligation to eat a fourth meal on the night after a Jewish holiday? And if so, must it be with bread?
2. Is Yom Kippur considered a holiday for the purpose of the obligation of a fourth meal on the night after it? Or is it considered like the Sabbath? And is there an obligation to eat a meal on the night after Yom Kippur?
Answer
1. Before you ask about a fourth meal, where did the third one disappear to? On a holiday there is no obligation of three meals, so it seems obvious that there is no obligation of a fourth meal. True, one can infer from Maimonides that there is an obligation of a third meal on a holiday (Laws of Sabbath 30:9), but the Beit Yosef rejected this, and that is the accepted ruling.
2. There is no obligation, just as there was no obligation of three meals during the day. I saw a short responsum about the obligation to eat after Yom Kippur when it falls on the Sabbath: http://www.ykr.org.il/modules/Ask/answer/2778