[Avodah] kabbalat shabbat

[Eli Turkel]

<<In L k"sh is said at that minyan's announced time for maariv.  It's
simply treated as the beginning of maariv for Shabbos.  E.g. when I was
in yeshivah, in winter we would have seder after mincha on Erev Shabbos
until IIRC 7:00 (or perhaps it was 7:30), and then we would start Lechu
Neranena; it's not that we "didn't make it" before shkia, because we all
had to be there on time for mincha, it just never occurred to anyone,
including the hanhala, that we should.>>

R. Chaim Dovid Halevi Zt"l sefardi chief rabbi of Tel Aviv for many years
strongly believed that kabbalat HAD to be said before shekia. In
Lecha Dodi we greet the shabbat bride and it makes no sense if it
is already shabbat.
His practice was to go to different shuls on friday evening and to
give them a derasha on the importance of davening kabbalat shabbat
early.

However, in many shuls they begin mincha 10 minutes before shekia
which barely gives time to finish mincha before shabbat begins which
has its own additional problems.

This problem is most acute in the winter especially outside of EY
where people work on friday and are coming home early from work
and so walk in the door of their home a few minutes before candle
lighting, shower, dress and run to shul.
In theory it should be better in EY where most people don't work
on fridays but it doesn't seem to help
For the summers the general rule is that one finishes getting
ready for shabbat at the last minute independent of when shabbat begins

-- 
Eli Turkel