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Have a question? Send it in! Questions are answered by Rabbi Bartfeld.
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#5880 Can this Also Count?
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Q. Dear Rabbeinu Shlit"a,
Would that be ok to tell someone, for example, that today is chessed shebechessed חסד שבחסד and from that he can understand that this is the first day of Sephirah without mentioning any particular number? Thanks!
A. In principle it is permitted, although one is actually describing the day of the counting, yet he is not using the counting expressions usually needed and used. In a way it is similar to the common answer given when someone wants to know what is the correct day to count and one answers to him, yesterday was so and so.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a
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Posted 4/24/2026 3:44 PM |
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#5879 – Count When You Can?
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- Q. Moreinu Horav Shlit’a.
Can I join during Sefira the Sheva Brochos of a great and close friend when it is during my permitted time, but not his. He isn’t very religious?
A. It may depend on other factors of when the wedding was, and also if you can with your friendship bring him close to doing Teshuva.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a
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Posted 4/24/2026 3:35 PM |
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#5878 – A Bed Cover?
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- Q. Dear Rabbi.
If one is already an elder, can he count Sefira with the bracha when already in bed, if he forgot to count before, and it is difficult for him now to get out of bed?
A. Indeed in such a situation he would still comply with the mitzva. However it is best to have a reminder installed in his phone or similar to count before at the beginning of the night, while standing and also reading the other prayers usually said when counting Sefira.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a
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Posted 4/24/2026 3:30 PM |
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#5877 – Coned by the Count?
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- Q. Kevod Horav.
Is it true that if the Rabbi of a Shul forgot due to the difficult travel circumstances of our times, to count one day of Sefira, and he still wants to continue for all in Shul as he always does and not be embarrassed, because of Kavod Habrios, can he do it?
A. To avoid embarrassment by implying that he forgot to count the Sefira and that is the reason he is not counting aloud for all now, the Rabbi can ask a friend present to avoid counting himself and instead comply with the public Rabbi’s blessing and counting, which is said also for him by the Rabbi.
See also Nitei Gavriel p. 131 – 30/17).
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a
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Posted 4/24/2026 3:22 PM |
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#5876 – Count When It Counts!
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- Q. Kvod Horav.
I often take part in a women's shiur on line and at the end of class they count Sefira. If I actually repeat the words said is that OK?
How about if my husband also takes part or my children over six?
A. Indeed if one says the actual counting, one indeed complies with the mitzva. The actual bracha should also be recited first.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a
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Posted 4/24/2026 3:11 PM |
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#5875 – Listen to Why Hearing is Not Really Listening!
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- Q. Rabbi Shlit”a.
Thanks for your constant help. If someone is listening to a daily Shiur online, and these days at the end of the shiur, they count the sefira of the day, does one comply by just listening? What if one just repeats the words also? Is that a better option since the mitzva is done by a greater group?
A. As we have mentioned on other Teshuvos, one can not comply with Sefirat Haomer by just listening as we do in other mitzvos, following the principle of “Shomea Keone,” or one that listens with the proper intention is considered as saying it himself. Some base this on the expression used by the Torah on this mitzva: “Usfartem Lochem,” you must count for yourself.
However, as in other mitzvos, it is indeed better to comply “Berov Am,” or with the presence of many together, as we say (Proverbs 14: 28) "In the multitude of people is the King's glory and honour”.
So that is an advantage to that kind of counting Sefira.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a
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Posted 4/24/2026 3:02 PM |
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#5874 Don't Spill the Spell!
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- - Q. Dear Rabbi.
I am looking for the correct spellings of a couple names for Sheryl’s Matzeva that I’m currently working on. Sheryl’s parents are Moshe Matis and Ita Rachel but apparently there are a couple spellings of each that keep showing up.
מתת / מתית / מטיס משה עטא רחל / איטה
I think these are the main options but I was also told that there are a multitude of alternates.
I sincerely thank you for all your help and support!
A. The most common used spelling for the above names also in other certificates such as a Ketuba is indeed:
רחל / איטה and מטיס משה.
However, there are other ways how to spell those names, and they appear in the Sefarim dedicated to the spelling of names in Ketuvot ans Gittin, and should be consulted, as they can vary from place to place and from time to time.
A proper Rabbinical authority should be consulted
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Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a
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Posted 4/24/2026 3:00 PM |
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#5873 - Q.Getting in Somebody's Hair
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- Q. Dear Rov Shlit'a.
I wasn't able to take a haircut before Pesach as the barbers were closed. My long hair is bothering me and my family too; it also may be an issue with the tefilin. Can I take one now before Lag Baomer?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit'a opinion is that, although not taking a haircut now, may involve some strain and distress, we find longer periods of hair growth that are acceptable in Halacha. Therefore one should wait until Lag Baomer.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a
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Posted 4/24/2026 2:32 PM |
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#5872 A REAL ENDING?
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Rav, Can one make a siyum after ending a complete tractate of the Talmud on the Ein Yaakov version, which only has the more interesting and attractive Hagadot parts?
A. Since it is an established version of the Talmud which many learn constantly, likely it is correct to do so, to support, encourage and honour the ones who always engage in it.
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Posted 4/17/2026 4:05 PM |
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#5871 - A Woman’s Omer Opinion
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- Q. See question above.
Rabbi, Is it Commendable for Women to Count the Omer? What do learned women opine?
A. I found the following commendable article from Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum | Director, Midreshet B’erot Bat Ayin | www.berotbatayin.org, on Parashat Emor:
“Focused Self Refinement for Men and Women Alike”
Throughout all my forty years of being Torah observant, I have never counted the Omer from beginning to end. Truthfully, I haven’t even tried. I feel ambiguous about the many young women who ardently count the Omer with or without an app. On the one hand, I admire these devout women who want to take on this timebound, positive mitzvah, which is more than what the Torah mandates for women. On the other hand, I’m not an advocate of women taking on men’s mitzvot, which at times comes at the expense of keeping the many obligatory mitzvot for women.
Yet, it is not a black and white issue. As women’s roles evolve, the boundaries between men’s and women’s mitzvot become increasingly blurred.
During the period of counting the Omer, both men and women need to work on character refinement, in order to be worthy to receive the Torah.
The seven emotional sefirot (Divine emanations) that we go through, with their sub-sefirot, during each of the 49 days of the Omer, from Chesed (loving/kindness) to Malchut (royalty) teach us the spiritual and emotional focus of each day. No matter whether a woman counts the Omer or not, it is highly beneficial to meditate on the sefirah of the day and work on integrating it into our lives.”
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Hirshman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
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Posted 4/17/2026 3:01 PM |
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#5870 - The Blessing Blessed Women!
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Q. As we asked on the Rabbi’s well and very popular shiur on line, Is it better for women to count the Omer without a Beracha, since they may forget?
A. The main Halachic question is whether a woman who takes upon herself to count the Omer may recite a bracha. According to the Shulchan Aruch, a woman may not make blessings over any mitzvah from which she is exempt. If she does, she is reciting a blessing in vain. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 589:6).
This is the prevalent custom among most Sefardic women. (Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l) However, the Ashkenazi custom follows the Rama’s opinion, that women who perform time-bound mitzvot are permitted to recite the blessing. Likewise, the nineteenth
century Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein holds that although women are exempt from counting the Omer, because it is a positive time-bound commandment, if they take upon themselves to count, they should recite a bracha like any positive time-bound commandment that women practice. (Aruch Ha-shulchan, Orach Chaim 489:3)
Similarly, any woman who chooses to count the Omer may say a blessing prior to saying it [if they have not missed any previous days, as is the law].
Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that women should follow their family tradition.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Hirshman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
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Posted 4/17/2026 2:57 PM |
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#5869 - Remembering the Remembrance Day?
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- Rabbenu Shlit’a.
As I asked the Rov in Shul, should I, and can I attend, to comply with the mitzva of Kibud Av Vaem, a Yom Hashoa Remembrance Act, even in Nissan, since my parents are strongly asking me to also follow my survival grandfather and attend?
A. We had a similar question:
– #2165 No Partisan to the Simcha of Nisan?
Q. I’m a yeshiva bochur and my parents asked me and my siblings to attend with them and my Holocaust surviving grandmother a Yom Hashoah act, which takes place in Chodesh Nisan. I know it is very important to them. Should I go?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that if your brief attendance is indeed of great importance to your parents and they will be pained if you don’t attend, it is permitted, even during the joyful month of Nisan, when Halacha dictates that avelus, acts of grief and mourning should be avoided.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit’a December 20, 2019
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Posted 4/17/2026 2:50 PM |
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#5868 - Is this the Counting of the Rabbis?
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See question above-
Q. Kevod Horav Shlit’a . Many Poskim maintain that after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, Sefirat HaOmer changed and is only a Rabbinic obligation. Is that the reason for women to be exempt?
A. Indeed, many Poskim maintain that after the destruction of the Beis HaMikdosh, Sefirat HaOmer became only a Rabbinic obligation. For this reason, the Mishna Berura (489: 15) writes that many people count sefira during bein hashmashot. (twilight, between sunset and nightfall) In Halacha, this period is considered a “safek yom safek laila” (uncertain time, possibly day or possibly night). Therefore, one can be lenient.
That said, the Mishna Berura (489:14) writes that in any event, it is best to count after nightfall when we are certain it is night. Furthermore, if one counted during Bein Hashmashot, (time of uncertainty if day or night) the Mishna Berura (489:15) recommends repeating the counting without a bracha after nightfall.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Hirshman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
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Posted 4/17/2026 2:42 PM |
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#5867 Women Also Count!
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See question above-
Q. Honorable Rov. I have another question. Why do we assume in principle that the counting of the Omer is a positive time bound mitzvah from which women are exempt, more than the lighting candles, resting, eating and honouring Shabbat, that women do comply with?
A. The Ramban, (Chidushim to Kiddushin 33b) lists Sefirat HaOmer among the positive mitzvot that are not timebound, yet he doesn’t address the issue of whether women are obligated to count the Omer.
Ramban’s deviation from the mainstream view that counting the Omer is a timebound mitzvah puzzles most commentaries. Perhaps Ramban holds that Sefirat HaOmer is a rabbinic mitzva, instituted during post and pre-Temple times, therefore making it clearly not time-bound: “…you shall not turn aside from that matter that [the sages] tell you” (Devarim 17:11), explains Ramban’s position on Sefirat HaOmer.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Hirshman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
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Posted 4/17/2026 2:38 PM |
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#5866 Be In for the Count?
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Q. Rabbi. Is it commendable for women to count the Omer?
What is Horav Miller’s opinion? Does it make a difference in our days when we can wear an actual electronic reminder with the date to count?
A. HoRav Asher Weiss Shlit”a, holds that since women today are wise, enlightened, know to read from the siddur. and also have access to calendars and newspapers in which the day of the count is written daily, our wives and daughters act correctly to recite a beracha over the counting.
Still, in my humble opinion, a woman who knows that she likely will not complete the count correctly, should not begin reciting a beracha over the count at all, since there are later authorities who maintain that if one skips a day, the earlier berachot were retroactively said in vain. The numerous apps, emails, and reminders today only strengthen Rav Weiss’s position… but even in this case, one who is lenient has not lost anything.
Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that the women should follow the tradition of their family.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Hirshman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
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Posted 4/17/2026 2:34 PM |
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#5865 - Who is Counting?
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– See question above -
Q. I have some more questions. Is it true that the Ramban maintains that women have to count the omer? Should one try to also follow his opinion?
A. Indeed the Ramban (Kiddushin 34a) rules that women are obligated to count Sefirat Ha’Omer. The Avnei Nezer (OH 384) explains the Ramban’s justification for his position is that the Torah writes that Sefira begins mi’mocharas HaShabbos, the second day of Pesach. Since Sefira is connected and linked to Pesach and women are obligated in many of those mitzvos, they are obligated in Sefira as well.
However most poskim do not accept the position of the Ramban and they rule that women are not obligated in this mitzvah. Yet the Magen Avrohom (O.H. 489:1) writes that women have accepted this mitzvah upon themselves, and it now has the status of an obligation. However, not all Acharonim accept this ruling, and indeed the Mishnah Berurah (489:3) writes that in his community it was not the custom for women to count Sefira.
Practically speaking, there is a wide range of customs. Some women count Sefiras Ha’Omer with a bracha, others count without a bracha or have someone else recite the bracha for them, and some do not count at all.
The dispute over whether Sefirat HaOmer today is a Biblical or rabbinic obligation has various ramifications, most importantly as we mentioned: What is the Halacha if there is a safek (uncertainty) if one counted? If this mitzvah is Biblical, we follow the rule that safek dioraisa lichumra (we are stringent), while if it is only Rabbinic, we are lenient since safek derabbanan likulah prevails.
See next question
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Hirshman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
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Posted 4/17/2026 2:29 PM |
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#5864 - A Counting for Women?
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- #5864 – Q. Hon. Rav Shlit’a.
Some of my friends in our Bais Yaakov type of school for Frum girls, also count like me Sefirat Haomer every night. I know that some avoid counting Sefira least they forget. What is the correct Minhag and what is Horav Miller’s Shlit’a opinion?
A. In principle women are broadly exempt from counting Sefirat HaOmer since it is a positive time-bound Mitzva or namely, a mitzvah Aseh She'hazman Grama. ( Rambam Hil. Temidim 7:24). The above is also the opinion of many Rishonim and Acharonim.
However some Poskim allow women to count with a Bracha. Most Sephardic and some Ashkenazic opinions advise against women counting, or recommend doing so without a blessing.
See next question
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Posted 4/15/2026 12:22 PM |
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#5863 - The Best Shemini Time
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Q. When is the best and most meaningful time to read Parshas Shemini?
A. Parshas Shemini is often read after Pesach or sometimes after Purim, times when wine and drinks are common. During our difficult times, it is essential to understand what and where is the real source of joy and happiness.
The Talmud (Megilah 10b) states that since the day of Creation there was not another day so full of Simcha and joy as the Yom Hashmini, the day of the inauguration of the Mishkan.
The laws of Kashrus teach that; “we are what we eat,” If we consume non-kosher animals we assume their nature and incorporate their instincts. (Ramban) If the animal is impure, we will take up its tainted character, as we ingest it.
By the same token, the juxtaposition of these two chapters demonstrates that equally “we are what we do and what we think.”
The greatest of human accomplishments has to be the building of the Mishkan, as after all it became the abode of the Creator of the universe Himself. It thus concentrated all and everything in its midst.
A story is told that when the train was first invented, the world was flabbergasted. It was simply revolutionary and would change everything. Until this invention came along, the world traveled by carriages and wagons either pulled by horses and donkeys or pushed by people. The idea that a row of cars can move on their own accord was bewildering for most people.
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Posted 4/10/2026 5:37 PM |
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#5862 - The Key to the Kinds of Kitniyos
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- Q. Rabeinu Shlit"a.
Does one have to actually wait until one gets sick in order to consume medicine made of Kitniyos, or can one take it as a preventive means to avoid getting ill.
A. It would depend in the severity and other conditions of the illness, therefore a proper medical authority should be first consulted.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
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Posted 3/29/2026 6:08 PM |
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#5861 – Shure Shemira for Shemura?
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- Q. Hon. Rabbi Shlit”a.
We baked our Shemura Matza for Pesach this year a few months ago. In order to keep it fresh we froze the matza inside a Pesach freezer. Is there a problem to use it now?
A. Horav Shlomo Miller’s Shlit’a opinion is that if one was careful that the matzos were well protected and did not get wet specially when taken out of the freezer.
(They should be placed in a container where the can defrost slowly and don’t become moist).
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit’a.
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Posted 3/29/2026 6:03 PM |
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Important Numbers
