Articles

Rabbi Yisroel Langer, cRc Dayan

Recital of Weekday Shemoneh Esrei on an Ordinary Yom Tov or Shabbos

As a general rule, if one is davening on an ordinary Shabbos or Yom Tov, and  accidentally begins a bracha from the weekday Shemoneh Esrei, he should conclude that bracha and then switch to the Shabbos or Yom Tov Shemoneh Esrei. (The halacha differs if the Tefilah in question is mussaf, in which case one should stop and return to the mussaf Shemoneh Esrei immediately). The reason why this is permitted is that really one should daven the entire weekday Shemoneh Esrei on Shabbos and add a bracha discussing the day of Shabbos. In practice, however, Chazal didn’t want to trouble us with a very lengthy shmoneh esrei (O.C. 268:2) because of Kovod Shabbos. In fact, if one davened the entire weekday Shemoneh Esrei and included a mention of Shabbos, he need not repeat  Shemoneh Esrei.

Shabbos During Chol Hamoed

When Shabbos is during Chol Hamoed, at Shachris, one is supposed to say a regular Shabbos Shemoneh Esrei with Ya’aleh V’yova. According to Hagaon R’ Moshe Feinstein zt”l (Igros Moshe O.C. V.4 Siman 21:3), if one errs and davens the Yom Tov Shemoneh Esrei, even with the addition of “Shabbos inserts,” the Shemoneh Esrei must be repeated. R’ Moshe explains that unlike a weekday Shemoneh Esrei which is davened on Shabbos, the Yom Tov Shemoneh Esrei has no relevance to the day of Shabbos. Accordingly, one cannot fulfill his obligation of Shmoneh Esrei with its recital. It must be noted that there are sources (Elya Rabba 490:8, see Ishei Yisroel Ch. 37:13) that do not concur with R’ Moshe’s p’sak. One should ask a sheilah as to how to handle one’s self, should such a situation arise.

Switching Mussaf with Shachris

If one is supposed to daven shacharis, and  recites the mussaf  Shemoneh Esrei instead, he still needs to recite the shacharis Shemoneh Esrei. However, he isn’t required to daven mussaf again (M.B. 268 SK 17). If one davened the Shmoneh Esrei of shacharis in place of mussaf, he has not fulfilled his mussaf obligation unless he made some mention of the requirement to bring korbonos on that day. If he concluded the bracha before Retzei, he can just recite the words “v’na’aseh lefanecha korbon mussaf” to fulfill his mussaf obligation (M.B. 268 S.K 16).

Coinciding of Shabbos and Yom Tov

When Shabbos and Yom Tov coincide with each other, the Yom Tov Shemoneh Esrei is recited with special Shabbos inserts. The middle beracha ends with “Mekadeish HaShabbos V’yisroel V’hazmanim”. If one concludes the bracha by saying  “Mekadeish HaShabbos” and omits the Yom Tov part (“Yisroel V’hazmanim”), he has still fulfilled his obligation. However, if one fails to say “HaShabbos” at the conclusion of the bracha (even if he mentioned Shabbos earlier, during the beracha), the Mishnah Berura is uncertain how one should conduct oneself (487, Biur Halacha- “Mekadeish HaShabbos”). If the tefilah is followed by chazaras hashatz, one should have in mind to be yotzei with the Baal Tefillah (Ishei Yisroel 42:15). If one correctly concluded “Mekadeish HaShabbos V’yisroel V’hazmanim,” but did not otherwise refer to Shabbos throughout the bracha, one would need to repeat Shemoneh Esrei (Igros Moshe, ibid., see also Ishei Yisroel 42:16).

During Mussaf we first mention our obligation to bring the special korbonos of the day when we say “V’es mussaf yom chag…na’aseh v’nakriv etc.” If Shabbos coincides with Yom Tov we substitute “mussaf” for the plural “musfei”.

Published in Parsha Encounters, Nitzavim 5769