Rav Avraham Yosef issued a strong warning against participating in a Mincha minyan held after the time of Tzeis Hakochavim according to the Geonim, ruling that the time is already definitively considered nighttime and that one should not remain in the area while such a minyan is taking place.

The issue arose during Rav Yosef’s “Shamor V’Zachor” program on Israeli radio, when a listener presented a situation that can occur during the winter months. The listener said he learns in a beis medrash where Mincha is sometimes held according to Rabbeinu Tam’s later calculation, after Tzeis Hakochavim according to the Geonim, and asked what he should do if he is present when the minyan begins.

Rav Yosef responded unequivocally: “Get out of there. It is forbidden to answer Amen after them.”

Rav Yosef explained that once Tzeis Hakochavim according to the Geonim has arrived, halachah considers it fully nighttime. To illustrate the significance of that determination, he cited the halachos governing a bris milah.

“A baby who is born tonight, at eight o’clock, we perform his bris on Shabbos,” Rav Yosef said.

“The halachah is definitively in accordance with the Geonim,” he added, explaining that Mincha therefore may not be davened after that point.

Addressing a situation in which someone is either in the street or inside a beis medrash and is asked to join a Mincha minyan at such a late hour, Rav Yosef again gave an emphatic response.

“They want to daven Mincha? Get out of there,” he said.

Rav Yosef stressed that once Tzeis Hakochavim according to the Geonim has passed, a person should not participate in such a Mincha minyan.

The listener subsequently asked whether Rav Yosef’s warning applied only to answering Amen to brachos recited during the minyan, or whether one should also refrain from responding to Kedushah.

“No, leave there. I said to leave; don’t get involved,” Rav Yosef replied.

Rav Yosef compared the situation to encountering a minyan at the Kosel that is davening Shacharis after the proper time, saying that in such circumstances as well, a person should avoid joining the tefillah.

{Matzav.com}