Question: I have been puzzled by the fact that we do not recite the Shehecheyanu blessing when we start the counting of Omer (Sefirat HaOmer). What is the reason?
M. Schwartz
Via E-mail
Synopsis: Last week we discussed the concept of the requirement to recite blessings, starting with the Biblical commandment to give thanks for the food that we have eaten and the land G-d has bestowed upon us (Deuteronomy 8:10), as explained by Rambam in Hilchot Berachot (chap. 1), based on the Talmud, Tractate Berachot. Rambam also notes that the Rabbis instituted additional blessings which can be classified in three categories: blessings recited for deriving enjoyment (hana’ah), blessings before the performance of mitzvot, and blessings of thanksgiving and praise (hoda’ah). The blessing of Shehecheyanu belongs to the last group. We find in Tractate Berachot (54a, Mishna) a list of occasions that require the recitation of the blessing of Shehecheyanu, to which Rambam adds a number of additional situations that fit the conditions, but Sefirat HaOmer is not found among them. This week we will investigate why.
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Answer: The matter has been discussed by numerous poskim who all rule that the blessing of Shehecheyanu is not to be recited when we start the counting of the Omer, but who offer different explanations of the reason for this practice. An overview of these opinions is to be found in Rav Zvi Cohen’s Sefirat HaOmer: Halachot U’Minhagim Hashalem. Rav Cohen culls the many reasons, accompanied by a detailed listing of sources, given by halachic decisors over the generations.
HaIttur, authored by R. Ze’ev Wolf Goldingen, the father of R. Yisrael of Salant, states at the end of Hilchot Matzah u’Maror that we usually recite Shehecheyanu on a mitzvah that causes pleasure because of the endearing quality of that mitzvah, and also one that is connected with an action (ma’aseh), such as lulav, sukkah, and shofar; or seeing a cherished friend after an absence of 30 days (this is one of the examples given in Tractate Berachot 58b and the commentary of Tosafot which we cited, where the action consists of seeing the friend). The counting of the Omer, however, involves neither pleasure nor action.
Manhig Olam, popularly known as Sefer HaManhig, written by Rabbeinu Avraham b. Natan HaYarhi of Lunel in the 12th century, reasons in Hilchot Pesach (64) that we recite that blessing only in situations that provide both hana’ah – pleasure, and simcha – joy, such as waving the lulav and reading the Megillah [specifically the Book of Esther], which are clear expressions of joy, or the redemption of the firstborn, which takes place when the baby is 30 days old and deemed viable. But in Sefirat HaOmer there is no trace of pleasure.
Commenting on the Rif (end of Tractate Pesachim), the author of HaMaor, Rabbeinu Zerahiah b. Isaac Gerondi of Lunel, also writing in the 12th century, offers a reason similar to the one noted above, adding that not only does the counting of the Omer not afford us any pleasure comparable to the aura of joy that permeates us when we wave the lulav, or when we read the Megillah in commemoration of the deliverance of the people of Israel by Divine mercy, or when we listen to the sound of the shofar which reminds us of our close relationship with Hashem, or when a father sees his baby son reach the milestone of 30 days after birth – but on the contrary, it brings to the fore the sorrow we feel because of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash.
He does not explain why the counting of the Omer is singled out as an occasion to feel anguish over the destruction of the Temple. Several halachic authorities quote the Ba’al HaMaor’s commentary, and some (e.g., the Kol Bo, the Akedah) suggest that the reason might be that the counting’s objective is arriving at the offering of the Omer, which we cannot bring today because we are bereft of the Beit HaMikdash.
This particular connection is apparent from the text of the Kabbalistic Leshem Yichud prayer preceding the counting, which makes it clear that the counting is all that we can still do today, when the Beit HaMikdash does not exist. Indeed we recite the HaRachaman prayer that immediately follows the Omer count, where we beseech Hashem to restore the service of the Temple.
The Ba’al HaMaor is cited as the source for those who follow the prevailing custom (in most communities of Bnei Ashkenaz) for the infant’s father not to recite the Shehecheyanu blessing at the brit milah. They explain that since the performance of the circumcision entails pain for the baby – tza’ara d’yenuka – it would not be proper to recite the Shehecheyanu blessing. On the other hand, the Beit Yosef to the Tur (Yoreh De’ah 265, Hilchot Milah s.v. Shadar Rav Zemach Gaon) quotes the Rambam (end of Hilchot Milah) who states that the father does recite the Shehecheyanu at the circumcision, as well as the Hagahot Maimoniyot (ad loc.), who does not agree with the Rambam because of the aforementioned “tza’ara d’yenuka.” The Beit Yosef notes that in Eretz Yisrael and in Syria and environs, the custom follows the Rambam, and the father does indeed recite the Shehecheyanu at the brit milah. This is the custom among most Sephardic communities,
Another reason for not reciting the Shehecheyanu in our days is that the counting of the Omer is in commemoration of the Beit HaMikdash, and we do not usually recite this beracha for a remembrance – a zecher – but rather for an action – an asi’ah.
Shibbolei Haleket Hashalem offers a different reason: that in fact one will fulfill the obligation to recite Shehecheyanu in a different way. He states in the name of his brother Rabbi Binyamin [son of Rabbi Avraham Harofeh] that the counting of the Omer depends on the Festival of Passover, since it is stated (Leviticus 23:15), “U’sefartem lachem mimochorat haShabbat” – You shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Sabbath [i.e., the day of rest that is the first day of Pesach]…fifty days. Thus, one fulfills the Shehecheyanu requirement [of the Omer] by reciting the Shehecheyanu on the first night of Pesach.
Similarly, the Meiri (Pesachim 7a s.v. sha’alu) finds that one fulfills the Shehecheyanu requirement for counting the Omer with the Shehecheyanu recited during the Yom Tov kiddush of Pesach – provided he has the intention, when reciting the kiddush, that the blessing of Shehecheyanu applies to the counting of the Omer as well.
Mishnat Yaavetz, authored by Rabbi Bezalel Zolti, the late chief rabbi of Jerusalem, quotes this opinion of the Meiri but finds great difficulty with it since the Shehecheyanu for Pesach is recited when the obligation for counting the Omer does not yet exist (op. cit. Orach Chayyim 25:5). (Note: This holds true for the Diaspora as well, for although we recite the Shehecheyanu during kiddush on the second night also – when we subsequently start the counting of the Omer – it is highly unlikely that the Sages intended that only those residing outside the Land of Israel should have the opportunity to recite the Shehecheyanu for the Omer.)
Rav Zolti notes that the Meiri follows the opinion of the Ba’al Halachot Gedolot who is quoted by the Rosh (Sukkah 4:2) that the Shehecheyanu recited [on the first night] for the commandment to sit in the sukkah (“Leishev baSukkah”) also fulfills the requirement of that same blessing for the waving of the lulav, although the mitzvah of lulav can only be fulfilled the next morning.
Indeed, the Meiri parts ways with the other Rishonim. He is of the opinion that the Omer, the wave offering, is part of the Festival sacrifices, and therefore the Shehecheyanu of (the Passover) Yom Tov may be applied also to the counting of the Omer, whereas those who dispute him do not consider the Omer offering to be part of the Festival sacrifices, and thus the Shehecheyanu of Yom Tov cannot be construed to include the counting of the Omer.
We will conclude by quoting still another reason – although there are many others – for not reciting the Shehecheyanu when we start the counting of the Omer. The Orchot Chayyim, written by Rabbeinu Aharon HaKohen of Lunel (13th-14th century) remarks that Shavuot depends on Sefirat HaOmer, since it is celebrated on the 50th day, at the conclusion of the counting. We usually recite the Shehecheyanu blessing when the mitzvah we intend to fulfill is to be immediately accomplished, and in this case we attain our goal much later, when the counting is completed on Shavuot, and the Shehecheyanu we recite for that Festival therefore applies to the counting of the Omer as well; thus Shehecheyanu does apply to the counting of the Omer but only upon its completion at the very end.
May this discussion be a preliminary to the fulfillment, in the near future, of the mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer with great joy, when we will again be able to bring the wave offering – Hava’at HaOmer – in our restored Holy Temple.
