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.
Important Numbers
