Question: What if someone counted the Omer but forgot to utter the blessing – has he fulfilled his obligation? Also, why is a blessing necessary altogether? There is no blessing for the counting of the zayin nekiyim.
M. Goldman
Miami Beach, FL
Last week, we noted the rule of “ein beracha me’akevet – that the proper performance of mitzvot is not dependent on whether one recites a blessing or not. Citing Pnei Yehoshua, we noted that this rule is true even of biblical mitzvot. We also noted that although should not count the Omer until tzeit hakochavim, if one counts after shekiah, one has fulfilled one’s obligation.
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The mitzvah to count the Omer is incumbent upon all men (women are exempt since it is a mitzvat aseh she’hazeman gerama, a time-dependent positive precept). We are commanded (Leviticus 23:15), “U’sefartem lachem mi’mochorat hashabbat miyom havi’achem et omer hatenufa, sheva shabbatot temimot tih’yena – You shall count for yourselves from the morrow after the Sabbath [i.e., the first day of Passover], from the day when you bring the omer of the wave offering; seven complete weeks shall there be.”
The Mechaber states (Orach Chayim 489:1) that everyone must count for himself, while standing, with a blessing, both the days and the weeks. The Taz adds that counting the Omer is different from counting toward the Jubilee Year, which we read about in Parshat Behar (Leviticus 25:8), “Ve’sofarta lecha sheva shabtot shanim, sheva shanim sheva pe’amim – You shall count [for yourself] seven cycles of sabbatical years, seven years seven times.” It is also different from counting the days until purification, which we read about in Parshat Metzora (ibid. 15:13), “Vechi yit’har hazav mizovo vesafar lo shiv’at yamim letohorato – When the person…ceases his discharge, he shall count seven days from his cessation.” These latter two countings are utilitarian in nature. They are a means to an end. Sefirat HaOmer, in contrast, is a mitzvah in and of itself. That’s why a berachah is required.
The Magen Avraham notes that we know that counting the Omer is an obligation incumbent upon individuals because the Torah says (Leviticus 23:15) “u’sefartem lachem,” which is similar to the language used for the commandment of taking the Four Species on Sukkot (Leviticus 23:40), “u’lekachtem lachem.”
The Talmud (Menachot 65b) discusses the two verses in Parshat Emor that concern counting the Omer: “U’sefartem lachem mi’mocorat ha Shabbat mi’yom haviachem et omer ha’tenufah sheva shabatot temimot tih’yena – You shall count for yourselves from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day when bring the omer of the waving; seven complete weeks shall there be” (Leviticus 23:15) and “Ad mi’mochorat ha’shabat ha’shevi’it tisperu chamishim yom v’hikravtem minchah chadasha laShem – Until the morrow of the seventh week shall you count fifty days, and you shall offer a new meal-offering to Hashem” (ibid. 23:16). The Gemara concludes that the first verse, which uses the phrase “seven complete weeks,” refers to years when the first day of Passover happens to fall on Shabbos, with the result that the weeks counted are seven full weeks like sheshet yemei Bereishit – the seven days of creation – each starting on a Sunday, whereas the second verse refers to other types of years and teaches us that the counting starts on the second day of Passover, no matter what day it is, and the Festival of Shavuot occurs 50 days later.
The Talmud also cites Deuteronomy 16:9 – “Shiv’a shavuot tispor lach, me’hachel chermesh bakama tachel lispor shiv’a shavuot – Seven weeks shall you count; from such time that the sickle is put to the standing crop shall you begin counting seven weeks” – and notes that this verse teaches us that the counting depends on the decision of bet din. Rashi explains that bet din determines when the holiday occurs (since it establishes when the month starts), and thus also determines when we start counting the Omer.