Laws of Counting the Omer - Rabbi Lior Rosenbaum shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the Lema’an Yishme’u podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Good evening. Today we’ll discuss Sefiras HaOmer, a very important and wide-ranging subject. The first topic we’ll address is the laws of Sefiras HaOmer. First, a little background. The Jewish people were told: “You shall count for yourselves from the day after the day of rest, from the day you bring the omer offering.” The Jewish people would bring the harvested omer to the courtyard of the Beis Hamikdash, and they would begin counting Sefiras HaOmer from the night of the harvest. In addition, the Ran in Pesachim says that when the Jewish people heard they were going to receive the Torah, their longing led them to start counting the days until they would receive it. So there are two aspects to Sefiras HaOmer. We begin counting after the first day of Pesach and continue until Shavuos. The counting is done standing, as the verse says, “When you first put the sickle to the standing grain.” Don’t read it as “standing grain,” but as “standing upright.” In other words, one should say it while standing. Someone who is elderly or ill, or who has difficulty standing on a particular day—perhaps because he is ill that day—may count Sefiras HaOmer while sitting. Before the blessing, one needs to know what one is going to say. Mitzvos require intent. One should intend not to fulfill one’s obligation through the blessing of the person leading the prayers, since hearing is considered like reciting. If I intend to fulfill my obligation through him, I do so. Therefore, one should intend not to. If someone heard the blessing and did not intend not to fulfill his obligation, then he has fulfilled it. The chazzan has a role here: when there are people who cannot count with a blessing—presumably because they forgot to count one day and can no longer count with a blessing, as we’ll see later—the chazzan should intend to include everyone who cannot recite the blessing. Another point concerns women. Women are exempt from Sefiras HaOmer; it is a positive mitzvah

02:01 Speaker 2 bound to a specific time. But in our community, the Chabad community, the custom is for women to recite the blessing over Sefiras HaOmer. It should be noted that someone on shlichus who encounters Sephardic women who follow Sephardic customs should know that, according to their practice, they do not recite the blessing over Sefiras HaOmer even if they count. As for a child, from the age of six or seven, the age of chinuch, we teach him to recite the blessing over Sefiras HaOmer. According to our approach, the Chabad approach, a child who reaches the age of mitzvos continues to count with a blessing when he becomes bar mitzvah. Why? He has already begun counting as part of his education, so it has the status of a vow for him. Because it has the status of a vow, he continues to count now that he is obligated in the mitzvah. That is the idea of a complete counting. The time for Sefiras HaOmer is after Maariv. If someone did not count then, he may count until dawn. Now, someone who regularly davens with a fixed minyan at a later hour may wait until that later Maariv to count Sefiras HaOmer. Sometimes we cannot daven with a minyan that follows our practice, the Chabad custom, and a person goes to another shul. In that shul, they say Aleinu and then count Sefiras HaOmer. What should he do? There is a tractate called Derech Eretz Zuta, which appears in the volume after Pirkei Avos. In chapter five it says that a person should not sit among those who are standing or stand among those who are sitting. In other words, a person should not deviate from the custom of the people around him. So if he is in a shul where they say Aleinu and then count Sefiras HaOmer, he should do the same. But according to our practice, we first count Sefiras HaOmer and then say Aleinu. That is the custom in Chabad communities.

03:50 Speaker 2 The reason is “seven complete weeks.” “Complete” means doing it as early as possible. As for doing work, our custom is not to do work until we have counted Sefiras HaOmer—starting from sunset, which according to some opinions is already a time for counting, until we actually count. There are several reasons for this. The first is that Rabbi Akiva’s students died around this time, close to sunset, and were buried after sunset. When a Torah scholar is being buried, people cease working; Rabbeinu Yerucham writes this, as cited in the Tur. Another point: Sefiras HaOmer is described as “seven weeks”—shabbasos. What does shabbasos mean? It is related to shevus, refraining from work. Of course, this doesn’t mean an activity like drinking a cup of coffee. But work that we do not do on Chol Hamoed—we also try not to do that kind of work between sunset and nightfall. Another reason, brought by the Mor Uketziah in his book, is to make it noticeable that we are now refraining from work. That reminder helps us remember to count Sefiras HaOmer. Also, as we said, the days of Sefiras HaOmer are somewhat like Chol Hamoed. Regarding eating, if someone wants a little something to eat, the rule is that one does not eat a meal from half an hour before sunset until counting Sefiras HaOmer. What is a meal? We are not talking about someone who wants coffee and cookies. A meal means fifty-six grams or more of bread, for which one washes one’s hands. But if he began eating before sunset, he need not stop. After sunset, he must stop, recite the appropriate blessing, of course, daven Maariv, and count Sefiras HaOmer with a blessing. A reminder: if someone appoints another person to remind him, saying, “Listen, make sure I don’t forget to count Sefiras HaOmer. I’ve come home and haven’t eaten all day,” then he may eat even if he will be davening later. With Hashem’s

05:38 Speaker 2 help, I wish all of us that, through observing halacha and keeping the Torah according to its laws, we merit the true and complete Geulah immediately, right now. In the previous class we discussed how to count Sefiras HaOmer in the first instance. But we’re human, and sometimes we make mistakes. In this class we’ll address mistakes in counting. Before we get to the practical halacha, I want to mention two basic points about mistakes in counting. First, if someone says, “Today is such-and-such,” he has, in effect, counted. That is, to count Sefiras HaOmer properly, one needs to say “today.” Keep that point in mind; we’ll come back to it later in the class. Another thing to know is that the halachic authorities disagree about whether someone who forgot to count one day may continue to count with a blessing. Many of the Rishonim write that even someone who missed a day may continue, because each day’s counting is a separate mitzvah. So when there is an additional doubt—for example, someone is unsure whether he counted—the doubt about whether he counted can be combined with the question of whether each day’s counting stands on its own. Together, these allow him to continue counting even with a blessing. Now let’s turn to the practical halacha. Let’s begin. Someone asks a friend, “What’s the count today?” We all know the situation: a person comes to shul, doesn’t remember the count, and asks his friend. His friend answers, “Today is such-and-such.” If he said that before sunset—we said that when a person says “today,” it is like counting—he should count with a blessing, because it was before sunset, before the proper time for Sefiras HaOmer. If he said it after sunset, he should still count, but he should count without a blessing.

07:27 Speaker 2 Without a bracha, because there is a doubt whether he has already fulfilled his obligation. Now, suppose that while telling his friend the count, he remembers: Wait, I’m only saying it so he’ll understand. If I say something unclear, he might not understand. So I tell him, “Today is such-and-such,” but I specifically do not intend to fulfill my obligation. I’m saying that I don’t intend to fulfill it, or I remember that I don’t intend to fulfill it. In that situation, he can count afterward with a bracha. If he said, “Today is such-and-such,” we said that this is a valid way to count in the first place, so one must be very careful not to say it that way. He can tell his friend, “Yesterday was such-and-such,” or just say, “Five.” He should not say, “Today is such-and-such.” But if his friend asks him, “Is today the fifth day of the Omer?” that is not a count. When he says, “Today is such-and-such,” we said that it is a count. The Taz says this as well, and the Magen Avraham rules that when a person says “today” together with the number, that is a valid count in the first place. Now let’s say someone forgot. If he forgot to count at night, he still has the daytime. He says the count during the day, of course without a bracha, and from the following night onward he can continue counting with a bracha. Nothing has happened. A person forgot to count at night, but when does he remember? Not during the day; he remembers at bein hashmashos, twilight. Remember, bein hashmashos is a time when we are unsure whether it is already time for the new Omer count or whether it is still daytime, when he can at least say the previous day’s count. In this situation, as we said, there is a doubt within a doubt. What is the first doubt? Perhaps one can continue counting with a bracha even after missing an entire day. So in this situation, if

09:03 Speaker 2 he remembers at bein hashmashos and says the count, of course without a bracha, he can continue counting with a bracha from that night onward. Now there is another case. A person is unsure whether he counted the previous night. Or perhaps he is certain that he did not count at night, but does not remember whether he counted during the day. So let’s start with the first case: if he is unsure whether he counted at night, he continues counting with a bracha. But if he knows he did not count at night and does not remember whether he said, “Today is such-and-such,” during the day, which would have preserved his ability to count with a bracha, there is a dispute among the halachic authorities. He can continue counting with a bracha because of the doubts we mentioned: first, whether each day’s count is an obligation in its own right; and second, whether he might in fact have counted. In any case, some are stringent about this. Now, if instead of saying, “Today is the fourth day of the Omer,” a person said, “Today is the fifth day of the Omer,” he should count the correct number, without a bracha. If he got mixed up in what he was saying and stopped partway through, he needs to count with a bracha, because he did not fulfill his obligation. If he intended to count a particular number—say, five days of the Omer—and then remembered that it was actually the sixth day, if he said “six,” he fulfilled his obligation. We said to note that if he did not say the word “today,” he did not fulfill his obligation. What does he do? He repeats the count itself without a bracha. If he counted the days but not the weeks, according to some authorities he fulfilled his obligation, since the main point is to count the days. But the straightforward course is to say the count again without a bracha; that completes the correction. If he counted the weeks but not the days—saying, “Today is two weeks,” instead of “Today is fourteen days, which are two weeks of the Omer”—he did not mention the days.

10:57 Speaker 2 In that situation, according to most authorities—according to all opinions, sorry—he did not fulfill his obligation, and he should count without a bracha. He discovers—and this is the last case—that he counted the wrong number the previous night and did not repeat the count during the day. If he is certain that this is what happened, he did not count correctly for that entire night, nor did he repeat the count during the day because he was sure he had counted correctly. Again, he did not actually say the correct count, and he did not repeat it during the day. In that situation, he continues counting without a bracha. With Hashem’s help, I wish all of us that through observing halacha and keeping the Torah according to its laws, we merit the true and complete Geulah immediately. In the previous lessons, we discussed Sefiras HaOmer. In this lesson, we will address not the laws of counting but the mourning customs observed during the period of Sefiras HaOmer. If Sefiras HaOmer is a count expressing our longing to receive the Torah, and the harvesting of the Omer symbolizes positive things, why are there mourning customs? During the days of Sefiras HaOmer, Rabbi Akiva’s students died, and the days became days of sorrow. Beyond that, tens of thousands of Jews died in Ashkenaz during this period, and later too, many Jews were murdered at this time. That is why mourning customs were introduced. Since these customs were instituted later, there are several different practices. Anyone who wants to look into all of them can find an extensive discussion in the Biur Halacha on section 493 of Orach Chaim. There, the Biur Halacha lays out the various opinions, laws and distinctions in great detail. The Alter Rebbe divides them into four customs. The first is from Pesach until Lag BaOmer, once the day has begun. The second is from Pesach until the night of Lag BaOmer.

12:59 Speaker 2 The third custom is from 2 Iyar until erev Shavuos, and the fourth is from the first day of Rosh Chodesh Iyar until the first of the three days of preparation for Shavuos. In practice, we observe the mourning customs from the day after the second Yom Tov of Pesach—the seventh day of Pesach—until erev Shavuos. Which practices are prohibited? There are four main ones: weddings, haircuts, dancing, and saying the Shehecheyanu bracha, though Shehecheyanu may be said on Shabbos. Let’s start with haircuts. We do not get haircuts until erev Shavuos. Someone who needs to trim his mustache because it interferes with eating may do so. A woman whose hair makes it difficult to wear her head covering, or creates a chatzitzah, may cut her hair. Children who turn three by Lag BaOmer can have their haircut on Lag BaOmer—their chalakah. If they turn three after Lag BaOmer, they have their haircut on erev Shavuos. By the letter of the law, when there is a bris, the baby’s father, the sandek and the mohel may get haircuts. According to the custom of the Arizal, we do not get haircuts. As for nails, one may cut one’s nails during the days of the Omer. Now let’s move on to weddings. In principle, weddings are not held throughout Sefiras HaOmer, except during the three days of preparation for Shavuos and on Lag BaOmer. A bris, a pidyon haben, a bar mitzvah—all events that cannot be postponed because they fall on a particular date—may be held, but only quiet music is played, without dancing. Someone who needs clothes during this period may buy them if they are not especially joyous clothes—that is, they are not the sort of clothes for which one would say Shehecheyanu. He is not buying a new sirtuk, and she is not buying a beautiful dress for a wedding. In that situation, it is permitted, because the clothes are needed and one does not say Shehecheyanu over them. It is permitted.

14:56 Speaker 2 To go on outings, and it is permitted to renovate the house. As for moving into a new apartment, there is a disagreement among the halachic authorities, and there are several suggestions. The first is to move some of your belongings in before Pesach. Another suggestion is to bring a siddur, Chumash, Tehillim, and Tanya into the home; then you can move in during Sefiras HaOmer as well. Many people ask about bringing in a Sefer Torah. In my opinion, that is something planned in advance, something a person can schedule. It is preferable not to schedule it for Sefiras HaOmer; we have enough other days in the year to do it. If circumstances force someone to do it specifically during Sefiras HaOmer, for whatever reason, they should ask a rabbi qualified to rule on the matter. As for listening to music, there is a fundamental disagreement about whether recorded music—what we hear on the radio, a cassette player, or an MP3 player—is included in the prohibition on celebratory music, or whether that prohibition applies specifically to musical instruments. In practice, we are stringent about not listening to joyous music on an MP3 player or cassette player either. Now, what music may one listen to? Music that does not make you want to dance and rejoice—such as niggunim that stir the soul—may be listened to, but not at high volume. Likewise, music whose purpose is to ease loneliness—and here each person has their mashpia and should “make for yourself a rav”—or music that someone needs to hear while traveling because they feel tired and want it to help them stay alert: that is permitted too. Someone listening to the radio, say to a current-affairs program, who suddenly hears music does not have to turn it down, because they did not intend to listen to the music. Someone who earns a living by playing music may teach. If a music student takes a break from lessons, it is preferable to take that break during this period. If they do not take a break, each person should ask their rabbi what to do.

16:59 Speaker 2 Some are lenient and some are stringent. As for the sea and swimming pools, one may swim during the days of Sefiras HaOmer; there is no problem with that. There are three more customs we should mention. Our custom is to begin saying Pirkei Avos on every Shabbos of the summer. From Pesach until Shavuos, it is customary to study tractate Sotah during the days of Sefiras HaOmer, one daf a day. Pirkei Avos is excellent preparation for the giving of the Torah: it is a tractate about the character traits and conduct taught by our Sages, and that makes it excellent preparation for Shavuos. I assume many of us have heard of the International Date Line. What is the Date Line? What does the term mean? So let’s begin. If you open an atlas, you can see a dotted line marked on the right-hand side of the map, more than 180 degrees from the Greenwich meridian. That dotted line is called the Date Line. Let’s understand what it is. First, let’s start with what the nations of the world have worked out. In principle, there is a line that takes you into a different day when you cross it. Let’s explain why. Starting from the Greenwich meridian, every 15 degrees eastward on the map adds an hour. When I say east, I mean the right-hand side. Every 15 degrees on the map adds an hour. Say it is now six in the morning in Greenwich, on June 24 by their calendar. If I move 15 degrees across the map, it will be seven in the morning there. Okay, if I move 30 degrees across the map, it will be eight in the morning. After moving twelve hours eastward from the Greenwich meridian, it will be six in the evening on the same date, June 24. What happens when I move from east to west? Starting at the Greenwich meridian, every 15 degrees works the same way, but the hour goes backward. In other words, if it is now six in the morning in Greenwich, then after

19:02 Speaker 2 15 degrees there is an hour’s difference; at the next point on the map it will be seven, after two hours eight, and after twelve hours it will be six in the morning. That is—sorry—six in the evening on the previous day, June 23. What happens? We remember that the globe is round. The earth is round. What happens at that same moment? Suddenly there is a line where, on the eastern side, it is six in the evening on June 24, and on the western side, it is six in the evening on June 23. In other words, there is a line where crossing it makes a difference of one day between one place and another. The scholars of the nations said, rightly, that this cannot be. How can people on the same continent have different dates? That cannot work. A line must be established so that the difference in days occurs only at the Date Line. Therefore, for a country to function conveniently, we have to make sure that line does not cross through a country and create confusion. At first glance, this seems like a matter for scientists and historians. What does it have to do with us? But Rabbi Shlomo Zevin discusses the subject in his book Le’or HaHalachah and brings out its implications. He says it has great significance for Jews who observe Torah and mitzvos too. Imagine a country where, at one point on the map, it is now six in the evening on June 24, while on the other side of the same country it is six in the evening on June 23—a day earlier. Moishe meets Zalman and says, “Good Shabbos.” “What do you mean, Good Shabbos? Have you gone crazy? It’s Friday! Look at all the cooking I’m doing.” You cannot function that way. It is a serious problem. This issue sparked a debate.

21:08 Speaker 2 By the way, we should first mention that Rabbi David Gans, in section 161 of his book Nechmad VeNa’im, was the first to raise this possibility and dilemma. But the debate really flared up when, during the war in Europe, Jews fled to the city of Kobe in Japan—Kobe, not Cuba, Kobe in Japan—and had to observe Yom Kippur there in 5702. In that location, Yom Kippur fell on Wednesday, so they wanted to ask the rabbis what to do: When should we observe Yom Kippur? Japan is on the eastern side, but does the Date Line cross it, and what would that mean? Let me explain again. If the Date Line crosses Japan and Japan lies beyond it, Japan belongs to the following day. If Japan lies within the Date Line, then it belongs to the day—the day of the twenty-fourth, say—the day that applies to the western side. In other words, the day observed here is one day, and beyond the Date Line it is another. They asked the question, and Rabbi Yitzchak Herzog, who was the Chief Rabbi of Israel, discussed it together with Rabbi Tukachinsky. They held that the Date Line is 180 degrees from Greenwich. In other words, everything within those 180 degrees belongs to the western side; beyond that is the eastern side. Therefore, they should observe Yom Kippur on Wednesday. The Chazon Ish held that Japan actually lies beyond the Date Line. In other words, it has—if we use the example of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth—it is already June 24 there when it is June 23 in the rest of the world. That means Yom Kippur would be a day after everyone in Jerusalem observes it. And so he answered them: “Dear brothers, eat on Wednesday.” Why should they eat

23:07 Speaker 2 On Wednesday? As is known, on Erev Yom Kippur they should eat and drink, and they should fast on Yom Kippur, on Thursday, without worrying about anything. Don’t be afraid that you’re not observing Yom Kippur. Why? Let’s clarify this again: someone traveling from west to east gains a day, and the fast falls on Wednesday. Therefore, according to his view, one must take into account the possibility that Thursday is the day on which they need to fast. Here we need to clarify that there are actually three views. The Chazon Ish’s view is based on a line ninety degrees east of Jerusalem. He follows the calculation in the Kuzari and calculates that ninety degrees from Jerusalem is on the eastern side of the map, and one hundred and ninety. Of course, as we said, the line cannot split a country in two, so it goes around the country. If it falls in China, it goes around all of China, and that entire area belongs to the eastern side. And any countries the line crosses belong to the eastern side—sorry—and on the eastern side, the day is actually a day later. Incidentally, what do Rabbi Tukachinsky and Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Herzog hold? Jerusalem is the center of the world. One hundred and eighty degrees east of Jerusalem is the date line; one hundred and eighty degrees from Jerusalem in the other direction belongs to the west. So everything within that 180-degree span belongs to Jerusalem. Anything beyond 180 degrees is across the date line, and a person who crosses it gains an additional day. Rabbi [unclear] and Rabbi Frank ruled that what matters is where the person is, and that is how he should observe his practices. The Rebbe cites three views. He cites the Chazon Ish’s view—that the line is ninety degrees east of Jerusalem—and considers it a minority opinion. The second view he cites places it 145 degrees from Jerusalem, or, in Hebrew letters, kuf-mem-hei.

25:08 Speaker 2 The additional view he cites is that of Rabbi Y.M. Tukachinsky: as we said, the date line is 180 degrees away. In practice, according to the Rebbe’s view, one should avoid crossing the date line during the days of the Omer count. If a person needs to travel to the area of the date line, he should travel from the western side, and then he will not run into the issue of gaining a day. If someone has already crossed the date line, he should continue counting as he has until now, as the verse says, “You shall count,” “You shall count for yourselves.” He neither skips a day nor counts one twice. But he should not recite the blessing himself; instead, he should hear it from someone else. Someone who crosses the date line will celebrate the counting of the Omer—I assume that’s no surprise—rather, he will celebrate Shavuos on the fiftieth day of his count. This is not the place to go into all the calculations of how he handles Shavuos and what he says in davening. But one should know that if he travels across the date line, he should remember that halachic difficulties await him, so it is best to avoid doing so. May it be Hashem’s will that, through our careful observance of the mitzvos, we all merit the true and complete Geulah, immediately, right now.