Reasons for the Customs - The Days of the Omer - Rabbi Shmuel Mekamel shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to Lema’an Yishme’u, a podcast of Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 We’ve now entered the days of Sefiras HaOmer, and today we’ll discuss the laws of counting the Omer and the laws that apply during these days. First, let’s begin with the mitzvah of counting the Omer. The Torah says: “You shall count for yourselves from the day after the day of rest, from the day you bring the Omer offering, seven complete weeks. Until the day after the seventh week, you shall count fifty days.” And another verse says, “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; from when the sickle is first put to the standing grain, you shall begin to count seven weeks.” We see that from the night of the Omer harvest, we must count forty-nine days, which are seven weeks, up to—actually, up to Shavuos, through the night before Shavuos. The night of the Omer harvest is the night after the first day of Pesach. They would go out then and harvest barley, bring it to the courtyard of the Beis Hamikdash after all the preparations, roast the kernels, grind them, and sift the flour thoroughly. Then they would mix it with a log of oil and place a handful of frankincense on it. On 16 Nissan, they would offer the Omer sacrifice on the altar. The kohen would wave the Omer, then take a handful and burn it on the altar. From then on, everyone was permitted to eat from the new grain. In fact, new grain is forbidden by Torah law: the newly grown barley cannot be eaten until the Omer sacrifice has been offered. Later, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai enacted that the entire day of the Omer offering would remain prohibited—meaning that throughout 16 Nissan, eating the new grain would be forbidden. But once that day has passed, since, because of our sins, we do not have the Beis Hamikdash, the new grain may be eaten. In practice, the prohibition on new grain applies to grain that has not yet passed through that day,

02:22 Speaker 2 16 Nissan. In fact, even before we received the commandment to count the Omer—the Torah commands us to count from the harvesting of the Omer, “from the day you bring the Omer offering,” when it commands us to offer the Omer sacrifice; it also commands us, “You shall count for yourselves”—the Jewish people were already counting the days for themselves while they were still in Egypt. Their longing was so great, and they so deeply wanted to receive the Torah, that they could not bear to wait. They began counting the days until they would finally merit to receive the Torah. So we see that the mitzvah of counting the Omer serves as preparation for receiving the Torah. As we know, the Alter Rebbe says that “you shall count” is related to the word sapphire, suggesting brightness. We need to shine, to illuminate the world and ourselves, and to prepare to receive the Torah. A number of details of the laws are learned from the verses about counting the Omer. For example, it says, “From when the sickle is first put to the standing grain, you shall begin to count.” From the word for “standing grain,” the Sages learned that the Omer must be counted while standing. We also know that the verse says “weeks,” so we understand that we must count not only the days: there is a mitzvah to count the days and a mitzvah to count the weeks. The obligation to count the Omer rests on each and every person, unlike the counting of the years of the Yovel, which the beis din would count and sanctify. Since each person has a mitzvah to count the Omer, and there is a halachic principle that hearing a recitation is equivalent to reciting it oneself, a person hearing someone else count must have in mind not to fulfill his obligation through him. Also, when he asks someone else

04:35 Speaker 2 what the count is today, the other person should answer only that yesterday the count was such-and-such, and not say today’s count. Otherwise, through the principle that hearing is equivalent to reciting, the person could fulfill his obligation. Of course, we’re speaking here about the time when the obligation applies, beginning at twilight. The time of Sefiras HaOmer is very special. These days are described as being like Chol Hamoed. The holy Zohar describes all the days of Sefiras HaOmer as being like Chol Hamoed. There is a question about the status of counting the Omer nowadays: is it still a Torah obligation, or, as some write, is it dependent on the offering of the Omer sacrifice? According to the latter view, since we have no Omer sacrifice today, the counting is a rabbinic obligation, only a remembrance of the Beis Hamikdash. That is why, after counting the Omer, we pray that Hashem rebuild the Beis Hamikdash and restore its service, so that we can fulfill the mitzvah completely. The Torah says, “Seven complete weeks there shall be.” Some explain that “complete” means all the days must form one whole, and if any part is missing, they are no longer complete. This raises a major question. Let’s start with a common case: someone forgot to count one day. Has he lost the completeness of the entire count, or is each day a mitzvah in its own right, so that he can recite the blessing each day? That is the big question. In practice, the accepted ruling is that he can still make up the count during the day. In other words, if he did not count at night, he can still count during the following day. But if that day, too, has passed and he did not count, from then on he counts without a blessing, because in cases of doubt concerning blessings, we rule leniently. There are opinions that say he cannot continue counting. So, to take into account the opinions that say he should

06:36 Speaker 2 count, he does count, but without a blessing, because in cases of doubt concerning blessings, we rule leniently. Another question arises about someone who becomes bar mitzvah during Sefiras HaOmer. Until his bar mitzvah, he is not yet obligated as an adult. Now, during the count, he reaches the age of mitzvah obligation and enters a different level of obligation. Perhaps, then, his count lacks completeness. This raises the question of whether he can continue counting with a blessing. In practice, the Rebbe rules that his earlier counting counts, as long as he did count, because he had a mitzvah to count the Omer, and that mitzvah has significance in its own right even before his bar mitzvah. He therefore continues counting with a blessing. Similarly, when Moshiach comes speedily in our days, even if that happens during Sefiras HaOmer, we will enter a different level of obligation. Until then, our counting of the Omer belongs to the time of exile; but once there is an Omer sacrifice, we attain completeness and fulfill the mitzvah “according to Your will,” in a fuller way. So again the question arises: can we continue counting with a blessing? The Rebbe rules that we indeed can. Now let’s turn to the laws that apply during these days. We know that the days of Sefiras HaOmer are days of joy and spiritual growth, days of uplift and preparation to receive the Torah. But over time, sorrow became associated with them. We know what our Sages say: Rabbi Akiva had twenty-four thousand students, and because they did not treat one another with respect, they all died during one period, between Pesach and Shavuos. In a very short time, thousands of students died, may Hashem spare us. Since then, these days have been observed as days of mourning. At the same time, they are days when we work to improve and increase Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity, especially since we know that the days of Sefiras HaOmer also

08:57 Speaker 2 Many, many years after the passing of Rabbi Akiva’s students came the Crusades in the year 4856, known as the Persecutions of 4856, when Christians in Ashkenaz murdered Jews and spilled much Jewish blood, may Hashem protect us. About five hundred years later, in the years 5408 and 5409, massacres also took place in Eastern Europe, known as the Persecutions of 5408–5409. All of this happened during the days of the Counting of the Omer. Of course, the violence continued into the month of Sivan. A fast day was even established on 20 Sivan, because during both the Persecutions of 4856 and those of 5408–5409, there was a terrible massacre on that day. In their wake, the prayer Av Harachamim was also instituted. That is why it says to recite Av Harachamim during the days of the Counting of the Omer. In practice, on the Shabbos when we bless the month of Iyar, it is still Nissan, so we do not yet say Av Harachamim. But on the Shabbos when we bless the month of Sivan, we always say Av Harachamim. Although we generally do not say it on a Shabbos when we bless the new month, this prayer was instituted because of the persecutions and massacres that took place at this time. So we say Av Harachamim and remember the souls of those holy Jews who gave their lives for the sanctification of Hashem’s name. We know that this is also a time of judgment. The days of the Counting of the Omer are days of judgment. It says, “The judgment of the wicked in Gehinnom is from Pesach until Shavuos,” as the Mishnah in Tractate Eduyos states. It is also known that these days are a time of judgment for the grain crop. The attribute of judgment is therefore especially active during these days, and we try to improve our relationships with one another, so as not to arouse it excessively. As for the mourning customs, there are differing customs about exactly how to count the days. Some observe them from the beginning of the counting until Lag

11:18 Speaker 2 BaOmer. Others count from Rosh Chodesh Iyar until the Three Days of Preparation before Shavuos. No one disputes that it was thirty-three days; the question is only how to count those thirty-three days. But according to all opinions, Rabbi Akiva’s students did not die on Lag BaOmer. It says that they “ceased dying,” and so Lag BaOmer was established as a day of joy. Regarding the mourning practices observed during the days of the Omer, the Alter Rebbe mentions three prohibitions: marrying, cutting one’s hair, and holding dances. Later halachic authorities added several things that we refrain from, including listening to musical instruments. Playing musical instruments had, in fact, already been prohibited since the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash, but this takes on added significance during the days of the Counting of the Omer. In addition, we know that the halachic authorities write not to wear a new garment or recite Shehecheyanu during these days. Nevertheless, our custom is to recite Shehecheyanu on the Shabbosos of the Counting of the Omer. The Torah relates that, a year after the Exodus from Egypt, the Jewish people observed Pesach in the desert and brought the Pesach offering at its appointed time. Afterward, a group of people who were ritually impure through contact with a dead person came and asked, “Why should we be left out, unable to bring Hashem’s offering at its appointed time?” Moshe Rabbeinu told them, “Stand by, and I will hear what Hashem commands concerning you.” He brought the question before Hashem, and Hashem commanded him to tell them that they could bring the Pesach offering on 14 Iyar and eat it on the night of 15 Iyar. The same applied to anyone who was ritually impure through contact with a dead person or was on a distant road. And we know what the baraisa says: even someone who was

13:29 Speaker 2 so far removed from bringing the offering, even if that distance was of his own choosing, is still given the opportunity by the Torah to bring Hashem’s offering, draw close to Hashem again, and do all these things. It is never too late; there is always the possibility of making up for what was missed and setting things right. This day has significance today as well. We know that we do not say Tachanun on it, and there is a custom to eat matzah on Pesach Sheini. But omitting Tachanun begins only on the morning of 14 Iyar. That means we do say Tachanun on 13 Iyar, even though, ordinarily, on days when Tachanun is not said, such as Rosh Chodesh, we already omit it at Minchah the day before. But the whole observance of Pesach Sheini applied only to the 14th: the offering was brought on 14 Iyar and eaten on the night of 15 Iyar. So there is no reason to omit Tachanun already at Minchah on the eve of the 14th, and we do say it on 13 Iyar. At night, on the night of the 14th, we already omit the confession from the bedtime Shema. And, of course, throughout the 14th we do not say the confession or Tachanun. There is something unusual here: ordinarily, on the night after Rosh Chodesh, or after any day when Tachanun is not said, we do say the confession in the bedtime Shema. Motzaei Shabbos is an exception: because of Melaveh Malkah, we do not say the confession in the bedtime Shema until midnight. But after an ordinary day on which Tachanun is omitted, we do say the confession in the bedtime Shema. Motzaei Pesach Sheini is different: the straightforward custom is not to say the confession, because the Pesach offering was eaten that night, the night of 15 Iyar.

15:25 Speaker 2 Although the days of the Omer were established as days of mourning for the passing of Rabbi Akiva’s students, we find in the halachic authorities that we increase in joy on Lag BaOmer and do not say Tachanun on that day or at Minchah the day before. The reason is that Rabbi Akiva’s students ceased dying on that day. Some maintain that students continued to die after Lag BaOmer, but on Lag BaOmer itself they ceased dying, and so it is a day of joy. As we said, it is a day we mark and celebrate, and on which we do not say Tachanun. In recent generations, another reason for the joy has become known. We know that this is the day of the hilula of the holy Tanna Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. He was one of Rabbi Akiva’s surviving students, who illuminated the world. Hilula means joy in Aramaic—joy like that of a wedding—so there is a great hilula on this day. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai instructed people to rejoice on this, his day of joy, and wanted to share his joy with all the Jewish people. Many have the custom of visiting his holy resting place in Meron for the hilula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and the custom of lighting a bonfire there has become widespread. Many also light a candle or bonfires on Lag BaOmer. There is another custom observed on Lag BaOmer. We know that we do not cut our hair during the days of the Omer. When children turn three and it is time for their first haircut—as we are careful not to cut their hair until they reach the age of three—if that birthday falls during the days of the Omer, when haircuts are not taken, we postpone the haircut until Lag BaOmer. But we do not bring forward the haircut of children born after Lag BaOmer. Only those whose third birthday falls on Lag BaOmer or in the preceding days, from the beginning of the Counting of the Omer,

17:38 Speaker 2 The first haircut, the upsherin, is done on Lag BaOmer, and it is customary to do it in Meron, at the holy resting place of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. This day has a special connection to Jewish children. Teachers would take the children out to the fields, and regular classes were not held. There was a custom to play with the children using bows and arrows. The Rebbe explains in several places the deeper reasons for this custom. The day was also especially connected with the blessing of sons. We know that the Mitteler Rebbe’s students and chassidim would wait for this day, because it was particularly auspicious for having sons. He would say l’chaim, even though his health did not permit him to do so during the rest of the year, and people would see miracles, especially concerning children. We know that the Rebbe renewed the practice of bringing children together, saying verses of Torah with them, and singing songs with them about Torah, yiras Shamayim, and strengthening their commitment to Torah and mitzvos. The Rebbe used a very special expression, saying that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai dances with the children during the celebration. The Rebbe’s sichos about the Lag BaOmer parades are very well known. We also know that great Jewish leaders, including the Baal Shem Tov, devoted special attention to Jewish children on this day. These are days when we increase our activities with children. We give tzedakah on this day. It is customary to eat carobs on Lag BaOmer. The Rebbe also encouraged saying chapter 33 of Tehillim on Lag BaOmer, and increasing our study of Torah and its inner dimension. In fact, Lag BaOmer is the giving of the Torah’s inner dimension, associated, of course, with the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Of his book it is written, “Through it they will emerge from exile in mercy,” and the entire Jewish people will merit a complete Geulah

19:52 Speaker 2 through the merit of the Zohar, through the merit of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.