Question
This year with Purim falling on Friday, should you have meat at the seudah?
Many thanks,
-Avi Schreiber
Answer
ב"ה
Shalom,
Your question is twofold.:
1. Are we obligated to eat meat at the Purim Se'uda?
2. What do we about our Purim se'uda so at to enter Shabbat and still enjoy our Shabbat meal?
1. Some are of the opinion, that we are not obligated in particular to have meat. (מגן אברהם סי' תרצ"ו, ס"ק ט"ו). However, many poskim say you should have meat just as you would on Yom tov unless a person dislikes meat or it is unhealthy for him. (פסקי תשובות סי' תרצ"ה)This then would apply to this Friday as well which is Purim.
2. Since this year Purim is on Friday, we want to ensure that we still have an appetite to eat the Shabbat meal and honor Shabbat. Therefore, the Rema says to do the s'euda in the morning. The Mishna Berura says that his means it should be eaten before midday, (according to Sha'ot zmaniot= when dividing the hours of sunlight) each location to be calculated accordingly. The Yad Efraim says in the name of the Maharil that it should be eaten before the 10th hour of the day (according to Sha'ot zmaniot) .
There are other options, however, the main is that the s'euda for Purim should not infringe the preparations for Shabbat, nor should it take away from your appetite for the Shabbat meal.
Therefore, knowing what your ingesting capabilities are , you should plan the time accordingly.
All the best
Happy Purim
