Erev Shabbos Kodesh Parshas Kedoshim; Mevorchim Chodesh Iyar (Rosh Chodesh will be on Wednesday and Thursday)
25 Nisan 5771; 10th Day of the Omer
April 29, 2011
1) There are varying opinions amongst the Poskim regarding if women should/may count the Sefirah with a Bracha.
Women are not obligated in Sefiras HaOmer, as it is a "Mitzvas Asei SheHazman Gerama, a Mitzvah that is bound to a certain time-period".
The Mogen Avraham maintains that women have accepted this Mitzvah upon themselves as if it was an "obligation" and thus they must indeed count with a Bracha. (Quoted in Mishna Berura Siman 489:3)
The custom of women in Europe in the time and place of the Chofetz Chaim was not to count Sefirah. (Mishna Berura ibid.)
The Shulchan Shlomo (quoted in Mishna Berura ibid.) maintains that women should count the days, but should not recite the Bracha before the counting. His reasoning is that women will most probably forget to count at least one of the nights (as the reason many men don't forget is that they go to Shul for Maariv. Men who do not attend Shul for Maariv, according to this opinion, should probably also not count Sefirah with a Bracha, as they too will surely end up "messing up")
Nowadays, many women do indeed have the custom to count Sefirah with a Bracha, as today we have Sefirah calendars and other reminders (including many email, and text message reminders) that make it more likely that they will indeed complete the entire 49 day count. (See Aruch HaShulchan Siman 489:4 where he rules that women should count with a Bracha as they do other Mitzvos Asei Shehazman Gerama.)
2) If a woman indeed wants to count, it is important that she at least know the basic meaning of the words being said (i.e. how the days and weeks being said in Hebrew translate into the appropriate day of the counting.) (See Mishna Berura 489:5, Shu"t MaHaril Diskin Kunteres Achron Siman 5 Os 55)
Women who follow the Sephardic traditions do not recite blessings on any Mitzvos Asei SheHazman Gerama, and thus should not recite the Bracha on Sefirah.
Halachos for Shabbos Kodesh
1) During The days of Sefira, it is customary to exhibit some signs of mourning, as in this time period the 24,000 disciples of the holy Tana Rabbi Akiva perished. (See Talmud Yevamos 62b and Tur and Shulchan Aruch Siman 493)
It is customary not to get married during Sefirah. Getting engaged is permissible.
It is customary not to take haircuts or shave facial hair during Sefirah.
It is customary not to listen to music or dance during Sefirah (We will elaborate on these halachos in more detail B'Ezras Hashem in the coming days)
2) Though the time of Sefirah is from Pesach until Shavuos, it is customary to only exhibit the signs of mourning for 33 of the 49 days.
Some people start from Pesach and cease the mourning on Lag B'Omer, while others only begin exhibiting the signs of mourning from the first day of Rosh Chodesh Iyar until three days before Shavuos (Sh'loshes Yemei HaGbalah)(See Shu"t Chasam Sofer Orach Chaim Siman 142 and Igros Moshe Orach Chaim Vol. 1 Siman 159 regarding if nowadays there exists any problems of "Lo TisGodedu" with people who observe different times of Sefirah)
Some Poskim, including HaRav Moshe Feinstein Zatzal, maintain that one may switch his/her "33 days" from year to year (Hataras Nedarim may be necessary in order to do this), while others are stringent and maintain that one must continually follow the same minhag each year (See Michtavim U'Ma'amarim from HaRav Eliezer Menachem Mann Shach Zatzal Vol. 6 page 71 for the reasoning why changing would not be permitted.)
QUESTION & ANSWER CORNER
Reader Submitted Questions of interest on topics related to Halachos we covered, as well as other interesting topic and Answers. Taken from the Q & A pages on the Halacha For Today website.
Although the answers I give to questions are taken directly from the Sifrei HaPoskim, and aren't my own, they are still for study purposes only, NOT for Psak Halacha.
Questions can be emailed to HalachaForToday@Yahoo.com
Reader's Question:
Is the sign "KD" [on a food product acceptable as] kosher?
Answer:
"K" on its own is not an acceptable kosher symbol. all it means is that the company is saying that it is kosher, but there is no rabbi or agency supporting that claim. "D" just means that it has dairy ingredients in it. So, "KD" just means that the company is saying that it's kosher and dairy. You may not eat a product with "K" or "KD" on it unless you have information from a reliable kashrus agency that the product in question is kosher despite it not having a valid kosher symbol.
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CLARIFICATION:
A few days ago I posted a Q&A about hearing aids on Shabbos.
A reader emailed me the following comments, which I am posting for the benefit of anyone who this concerns. Of course, as with everything, a Rav must be consulted for Halacha L'Ma'aseh.
"The information in your email about hearing aids is not complete and therefore misleading.
My husband is hearing impaired and therefore we are both well versed in the subject.
A few comments:
Hearing aids are muktzah if they are turned off and out of the ear. If they somehow get turned off while in the ear, they may be removed from the ear. One may also walk to find a goy to turn on the hearing aid back on.
Regarding hearing aid volume -- the poskim that rule that you may change the volume on Shabbos are discussing analog hearing aids. The same ruling may not apply to digital hearing aids.
We were told that the hearing aids are muktzah for everyone except the person using them.
I would also add that a person in this situation should be careful to consult a Rav who is a "mumchah/expert" on the topic. Many rabbanim do not know the intricacies of how the hearing aids work, and their rulings are based on poskim such as R' Shlomo Zalman who only ruled for analog hearing aids and not digital ones.
Thank you for your wonderful publication!
Sincerely,
[ Signature ] "
CHIZUK CORNER
As a Zechus for the Refuah Shelaima of one of the Gedolei HaDor, the Telzer Rosh Yeshiva , HaRav Chaim Stein Shlita, R' Chaim Yaakov ben Chasya Miriam, B'soch Sha'ar Cholei Yisroel, we will B'Ezras Hashem post here each day a short inspirational thought to help us all improve our lives and grow in our service of our Father in heaven, HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL FOR THIS SECTION, PLEASE EMAIL IT TO ME.
THANK YOU AND תזכו למצות!
אל תתיאש מן הרחמים
Chizuk Corner
" If a person is Ma'avir Al Midosav and controls the natural instinct to react with anger, he/she may be able to change the "R" in "Anger" into an "L" to become "Angel" instead."
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