If a husband goes to the synagogue for Minha on the eve of Yom Tob when an Erub Tabshilin is required, and during Minha he remembers that he had not prepared an Erub Tabshilin, what options are available for him to be allowed to make preparations on Yom Tob for Shabbat?

The best option in this case is for the man to call his wife from the synagogue and ask her to prepare the Erub Tabshilin, and she does so in the usual manner, by taking some bread and a cooked item, and reciting the Beracha and Erub Tabshilin text. If, however, for whatever reason, this is not possible, the Halachic authorities allow the person to set aside the Erub Tabshilin in the synagogue. He does this by designating a certain piece of bread and a certain cooked food as the Erub, and reciting the text there in the synagogue with these food products in mind. As long as he knows about these food items and knows where they are located, he can make the Erub Tabshilin in the synagogue.

This solution is not the ideal option because some Poskim, including the Hida (Rav Haim Yosef David Azulai, 1724-1806), in Haim Sha’al (1:29), and the Kaf Ha’haim (Rav Yaakob Haim Sofer, Baghdad-Israel, 1870-1939), require that the food must be present when a person makes the Erub Tabshilin. When necessary, one may rely on the lenient position and prepare the Erub Tabshilin from the synagogue, though when doing so one should not recite the Beracha, given the uncertainty involved. As mentioned, however, it is preferable in such a situation to call one’s wife and have her prepare the Erub.

Summary: If a person remembers during Minha on Ereb Yom Tob that he forgot to prepare the Erub Tabshilin, he should call his wife and ask her to prepare the Erub. If this is not possible, then he can make the Erub in the synagogue, having in mind a baked product and a cooked product which he has in the home and which he is aware of, but in such a case the Beracha over the Erub should be omitted.