By Rabbi Chaim Chazzan
When and how do I make an eruv tavshilin?
It is forbidden to do melacha on yom tov for Shabbos. Therefore, anyone who will prepare for Shabbos on yom tov by cooking, baking or by doing anything else that may not be done on Shabbos itself—must make (or be included in) an eruv tavshilin.
While guests may rely on their host’s eruv; those who sleep at home may need to make one of their own, depending on the circumstances, and should ask a Rov.
On erev yom tov choose two cooked foods that will be eaten on Shabbos to serve as the eruv. Customarily we use a challah or matza (a baked food) and a significant cooked food, such as a piece of meat or fish. One then recites the nusach as printed in the siddur.
The eruv must be in existence when preparing for Shabbos, and we eat iton the shabbos following the yom tov. The minhag is to eat it during Shabbos’s final meal, and to also use the eruv challah or matza as the second of the lechem mishneh for each of the shabbos meals.
The eruv only permits food related preparations for Shabbos on the second day of yom tov, namely erev Shabbos.
All foods cooked for Shabbos on yom tov must be ready well before the onset of Shabbos (before candle lighting time at the very latest).
Reprinted with permission from Lmaan Yishmeu – a project of Mercaz Anash. To see more articles visit Mercazanash.com
