Yesterday, we discussed somebody doing Arvit (evening prayer) early. Somebody who answers Barechu (Bless!) said there is a difference between answering Barechu on Friday night and answering Barechu on a regular day. If it is Barechu on Friday night, even if he did not intend to receive Shabbat, as soon as he answers Barechu, Shabbat enters for him. He will be mekabel kedushat Shabbat (receive Shabbat). If he did not pray Mincha (afternoon prayer) beforehand, he cannot pray Mincha. He is going to have to say two Arvit. But we said that this is only for Shabbat. When it comes to chol (weekday), if he entered Barechu on chol, he still could do the Arvit.
The truth of the matter is that even in chol, there is some very interesting stuff going on here. It is a fascinating sugya (Talmudic discussion). We cannot go through everything. When a person prays Arvit early, what cannot he do afterward? Meaning, did he already accept the night upon himself or not? There is a Shulchan Aruch at the end of Siman Lamed (section thirty). The Shulchan Aruch says the following: Some say that if you prayed Arvit early on any day and did not wear Tefillin (phylacteries) that day, and then you remember, “Oh my God, I didn’t wear Tefillin,” and it is still before night, before Shekia (sunset), you cannot wear the Tefillin afterward. So when it’s unbelievable, he doesn’t bring another opinion. It holds that once you do Arvit, that’s it for you: it’s night, that’s it, you can’t wear the Tefillin. And that’s the Shulchan Aruch. The Mishnah Berurah says that many poskim (halachic authorities) would disagree with that, so wear Tefillin without a Beracha (blessing). We just said that you see that the Shulchan Aruch all day becomes night.
The question was: yesterday we said, what about entering Kedushah (sanctification prayer)? Let’s say somebody prayed Arvit and hears the Kedushah from the earlier minyan (prayer quorum), from a late Mincha. Can he answer the Kedushah? What about Friday night? Now, combining everything together: Friday night, they prayed the early minyan and he was mekabel Shabbat. He answers Barechu, he prayed the prayer of Arvit, everything, that’s his Shabbat family, and here’s the minyan of Mincha. Can he answer the Kedushah?
The answer is yes, you could answer the Kedushah, because the Kedushah was originally written as reshut, which means that during the day, by Shacharit (morning prayer) and Mincha, you have to answer the Kedushah when there’s a minyan. On Arvit, because it’s tefillat reshut, they didn’t impose a chazarah. It’s like entering Kedushah at night is elective. If you would find a way to do it, you don’t find a way to do it because there’s no way to do it. However, if you find a way because you prayed Arvit early and there’s a minyan of Mincha that is later, you could answer the Kedushah. Why not? You would be able to answer Kedushah on Arvit also. It’s not a minyan of Mincha thing; it’s an anytime thing. The Kedushah, if you could do it at night, you could do it at night. There’s just no way to do it at night. The only way is the case we’re saying. So even if it’s Shabbat, combining everything, because the model is on your chol. If it’s Shabbat, combining everything, can you answer the Kedushah of Mincha? Yes, no problem, because it’s not a daytime activity; it’s an anytime activity. And therefore, somebody who prayed Arvit early, at any point, is allowed to answer—he should answer—the Kedushah of Mincha, and he’s allowed to answer the Kedushah of Mincha, the Kedushah of another minyan of Mincha.