10. On Friday, from nine seasonal hours (1) into the day and onwards,(2) it is a mitzvah (obligation) to refrain from eating a regular meal, (3) even if one is accustomed to eat such a meal on other weekdays. Furthermore, a meal that one is unaccustomed to eat on other weekdays, may not be eaten throughout the entire day, even during the morning. This restriction applies even to a meal associated with a mitzvah, if it could be held on another day. However, a meal associated with a mitzvah that has a set time, such as circumcision, the redemption of a firstborn, and the like, (4) may be held on Friday; nevertheless, one should hold it in the early morning, and not make it extravagant. It goes without saying that a person should not overeat at the meal, so that he will be able to eat the Sabbath meal on Friday night with a hearty appetite.

(1) These are not the standard 60 minute hours. Seasonal hours ("Shaos Zemanios") are calculated by dividing the length of the day (some say from sunrise to sunset; others, from daybreak to the appearance of 3 stars) into 12 equal parts; each part is referred to as one "hour." For example, if daylight lasts 18 regular hours, each seasonal hour would be 90 minutes long.

(2) On shorter Fridays, one should refrain from eating a meal even earlier, if it will spoil one's appetite (Mishna Berura).

(3) To show the importance of this Mitzvah, the Talmud (Tractate Gittin 38b) relates the following: "There were two families living in Jerusalem, one would regularly hold their meal on the Sabbath [while the Rabbi was giving his sermon in the study hall], the other would regularly have a meal on Friday (after the 9th hour); both families were destroyed."

(4) For example, a "Siyum," a meal celebrating the completion of a tractate of Talmud (Biur Halacha 249:2).

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