25 Nisan 5772;10th Day of the Omer; 40 Days Until Kabolas HaTorah
April 17, 2012
Today's Halachos are dedicated by a daily reader, in honor of C.M. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Until 120 with health, happiness and closeness to Hashem
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CURRENT TOPIC:
HALACHOS OF SEFIRAS HA'OMER
1) There are varying opinions amongst the Poskim whether 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 time-bound Mitzvah".
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. There are two ways to interpret his reasoning:
a) The first interpretation is due to the fact that women will most likely forget to count at least one of the nights and thus are better off not even starting to count with a Bracha (as according to some Rishonim the 49 days are all one unit of Mitzvah.)
b) The second interpretation is that women who forget to count one night will not know that they can no longer count with a Bracha and thus end up reciting Brachos L'Vatalos. (The reason many men don't forget to count Sefirah is that they go to Shul for Ma'ariv. Thus, men who do not regularly attend Shul for Ma'ariv, according to the first interpretation, should probably also not count Sefirah with a Bracha, as they too will surely end up "messing up". A Rav should be consulted for Halacha L'Ma'aseh.)
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 the counting of Sefirah.
QUESTION & ANSWER CORNER
Reader Submitted Questions of interest on topics related to Halachos we covered, as well as other interesting topic and Answers.
These Q&A are 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@Gmail.com
Reader's Question:
If a person counted sefirah but he did not say the number of weeks (but only the days), can he continue counting with a bracha?
Answer:
The Mishna Berura Siman 489:7 rules that if the weeks were omitted, you may continue to count with a bracha on subsequent nights
CHIZUK CORNER
This section is dedicated L'Ilui Nishmos the Telzer Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Chaim Yaakov Stein Zatzal , the Mir Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Noson Tzvi Finkel Zatzal and the Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Ohr, the great Posek HaRav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg Zatzal.
May we all strive to follow in their ways and may they both be Melitzei Yosher for all of Klal 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.
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