Q. During shaleshudes (whenTisha Beav falls on Shabbos), in our shul we stop eating five minutes before the shkia, but we continue with zemiros and divrei Torah. Do we better bench immediately using a kos, or do we wait until later before maariv and we bench without a kos? If the second option is correct, do we have to remove all food and drinks from the table, least someone will eat? Do we leave some bread?
A. Some Poskim maintain that if one recites Birkas Hamazon after the shkiah, when one in not allowed to eat anymore, one may still bentch on a kos of wine, but not drink it. (Meshiv Halocho 2: 95).
However, Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that it is better to recite Birkas Hamazon before sunset and to remove all food.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a.
Important Numbers
