havdalah before shabbat ends

If I am not ganna be home when shabbat ends am I allowed to say havdalah before it’s over? and also do I have to change anything from the original havdalah?

Great question.
You can actually say Havdala as early as Plag Hamincha, which you can find plag hamincha times on Myzmanim.com. It’s often an hour or two before sunset. For instance, today in New York City sunset is 5:39 and plag hamincha is 4:30.

Very few people know this.
You certainly cannot light a fire at that point, because it is still Shabbat. The blessing of Besamim is not a required part of the Havdalah, it’s more of a custom. If you have besamim readily available, you can make that beracha.

The main part of havdala would be the boreh peri hagefen and the following beracha of hamavdil Ben kodesh lechol. Say that and you’re good.

Shabbat is not over till three stars are showing as normal, so you can’t do any melachot until then. But similar to making kiddush early on Friday, you are making Havdalah early on Shabbat.

If you want to light a fire later after dark and say boreh me’orai ha’esh, you can do that too.

1 Like

I was taught to not eat until after Havdala. Is this required?

Yes. Within reason.