Faking it on Shabbos Erev Pesach

My friend Joe is a good man. A thoughtful man. A man who is knowledgeable and kind. Yet, he is also deeply superstitious, and the magical nature of his thinking is made manifest when shabbos and erev Pesach coincide.

The problem is familiar. Orthodox Jews have accepted upon themselves the obligation to eat three meals during the 24+ hours of shabbos, and, in Orthodoxy, a meal is not a meal unless it begins with a blessing over bread. When erev Pesach falls on Shabbos eating three traditional meals is no easy trick because between the hours of about 11 am and nightfall both bread and matzo are forbidden.

Men like Joe solve the problem by perpetrating a legal fiction. The second meal of Shabbos is usually a feast of several courses. On shabbos erev Pesach, Joe splits the meal: He says grace after the first course, and, after a brief intermission, he initiates a "new" meal with a new blessing over bread.

Joe believes it is beneficial, and perhaps even required, to fake the third meal in this manner because he's accepted the following irrational beliefs:

(1) That some mystical advantage or benefit is acquired from eating three meals on Shabbos.
(2) That the mystical advantage can only be acquired if the meal begins with a blessing on bread
(3) That the mystical advantage can be acquired via deceit. In his value system, a fake third meal works as well as a legitimate third meal.

Such fakery, though, is completely unnecessary, and Joe's superstition is not supported by older Jewish practices and teachings. For example, many great Rabbis do not accept the mystical significance of the third meal and agree that, anyway, snacking on cake or fruit would suffice. Others point out, that the third meal belongs to the afternoon, and on erev pesach beginning this afternoon meal with bread is simply impossible. Yom Kippur creates the same difficulty: We're forbidden to eat, so when it falls on shabbos all three meals are cancled. On the afternoon of Shabbos erev Pesach we're likewise forbidden to eat bread, so why shouldn't the third shabbos meal likewise be canceled?