Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Late Bli(n)tz

May 21, 2026

Q May I fry fresh cheese blintzes on Shavuos for our ne’ilas hachag, which will extend beyond shkiah?

A With regard to eating before havdalah: Though one may not eat after shkiah before havdalah, he may continue eating if he is in middle of a seudah, as we do every Shabbos at seudah shlishis.

With regard to cooking on Yom Tov: Although melechess ochel nefesh like frying is permitted on Yom Tov, cooking on Yom Tov in order to eat after Yom Tov is forbidden (O.C. 503:1). Because bain hashmashos (the period of uncertain status between shkiah and tzeis hakochavim) might already be night, you can’t cook on Yom Tov to eat during bain hashmashos (Biur Halacha ibid. s.v. Bey”t). If you cooked the blintzes to be served before shkiah but the service was delayed past shkiah, they may still be eaten.

The poskim discuss whether one may cook during bain hashmashos to eat during bain hashmashos. R’ Akiva Eiger (Nedarim 69b) writes that it should be forbidden, because any moment of bain hashmashos might be the last moment of the day, in which case you would be cooking on Yom Tov for consumption after Yom Tov. He says that it is difficult to understand why earlier poskim do not cite this concern.

Some recent poskim note that this stringency has not become universally accepted, and they offer various justifications. R’ Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvos Vehanhagos 2:325) writes that it is certainly commendable to be machmir, but he explains the reasoning of those who are lenient: The possibility that it might still be Yom Tov at serving time makes the cooking a tzorech Yom Tov, even if it is not Yom Tov.

R’ Nosson Gestetner (Lehoros Nasan 7:35) offers a similar rationale. He additionally offers a creative explanation based on the fact that there are several views about the timing of bain hashmashos, and there is only a short span of time that is bain hashmashos according to all shitos. At any given point during the broader period referred to as bain hashmashos, one may rely on those that regard that moment as either definitely day or definitely night, thereby avoiding concern.

In practice, you have upon whom to rely if you cook during bain hashmashos. And there is no need to be machmir after 18 minutes beyond shkiah in any case, because by then the Geonim’s zman shkiah has passed (Piskei Teshuvos ibid. 3).