Does the first meal on Shabbos day have to be eaten before midday (or mincha)?

It doesn’t seem like chassidim worry at all about not making Kiddush until much later, but from the Shulchan Aruch, it seems like the Zman Shachris for the seudah is very important.

Answer:

The reason for eating before midday is so that it shouldn’t be considered as we are fasting on Shabbos, since we are not eating at the regular meal time (which is before 6 hours of the day).

Therefore, some Poskim say that one should drink on Shabbos morning.

Many Chassidim are also particular to eat before Shacharis in those cases where there is a concern that not eating would disturb one’s kavanah in davening.

Note that some say that the time for one’s meal is counted from when a person wakes up (i.e., 6 hours after waking).

If one is learning or davening, one may eat after midday.

Sources:

שוע”ר סימן רפח סעיף א. ערוך השולחן שם. מגן אברהם סי’ קנז סק”א. משנה ברורה סימן רפח סק”ב וראה בשוע”ר כאן שזהו דוקא אם הוא מתענג בקריאה ותפילה יותר מבאכילה.

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