Question: As the shamash in a small community shul with an aging population, I am faced with numerous challenges. One of these is that during sefirah, different people daven for the amud for Ma’ariv. Once, a bar mitzvah boy was one of them. On another occasion, a very recent ger lead the service. Were these individuals allowed to lead the congregation in counting sefirah? I also wonder, in general, if everyone may be trusted to lead the counting. What if someone forgot to count on one of the previous nights but does not inform anyone of this?
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Synopsis: We reviewed the mitzvah of Sefirat haOmer (Vayikra 23:15). The Talmud tells us to start counting the Omer at night to allow for a count of the full 49 days. If someone misses even one day, he has not fulfilled the essence of the mitzvah. If one forgot to recite the blessing, he counts the subsequent days without a blessing.
We cited many poskim who teach that a minor who becomes a bar mitzvah during Sefirat haOmer continues to count with a blessing, provided he has done so from the beginning. Although he was not originally obligated to count with a blessing, he probably did so for chinuch purposes. Other poskim disagree and rule that a minor does not count with a blessing once he attains maturity in the middle of Sefirah because his prior counting is considered different from his present counting as an adult, which is Biblically mandated. Still others rule that even if the bar mitzvah had not counted the Omer while a minor, he may start to count with a blessing upon reaching maturity. They reason that the obligation to count applies only from the day the boy reaches bar mitzvah. Nevertheless, we follow the first rule mentioned above – that a new bar mitzvah may continue counting with a blessing if he has not missed a single day of counting while still a minor.
The Piskei Teshuvot adds that such a young man should not fulfill another adult’s obligation by counting the Omer before the congregation. In his view, counting the Omer is a Biblical obligation for an adult, whereas the obligation of a new bar mitzvah might only be rabbinic according to some poskim. We follow this opinion since today we view the obligation of counting the Omer as a rabbinic obligation.
Last week, we discussed whether one who missed counting the Omer a single day cancels the fulfillment of the mitzvah in totality. Perhaps the counting involves 49 separate mitzvot, and then one can continue to count even after missing a day. This latter opinion is supported by the fact that we recite a blessing for Sefirat haOmer each day.
A father is required to educate his son so that he will perform all the relevant mitzvot, including Sefirat haOmer. He can hardly do so with the knowledge that the son will be required to halt the counting in the middle. We concluded that our Sages permit a bar mitzvah to continue to count with a blessing for the purpose of chinuch.
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Answer: In the case of a ger who is a recent convert to Judaism, we are presented with a greater difficulty. It is obvious that in our case, the ger converted in the midst of Sefirat haOmer – otherwise it would not bear mentioning that he is a ger.
The case of the ger has many similarities to the bar mitzvah boy. Indeed, according to halacha, he should count Sefirah from the start. This takes into account that he is already in preparation for gerut, minimally, at the onset of Sefirah; thus this period would be reckoned for him as “chinuch.” The commentary Torah Temimah on Parashat Emor (Leviticus 23:15) states: “In the view of the poskim [i.e., the majority view], both a young man who has become a bar mitzvah and a ger should count [the Omer], but without a blessing, because they have not been able to fulfill the ‘sheva shabbatot temimot’ requirement [in their performance of the mitzvah] – even though, regarding a bar mitzvah, we might say that [the days] he has previously counted should connect to those he will count to constitute the full seven weeks [sufficient for him to recite a blessing].” Torah Temimah presents proof that should be applicable to both situations.
Tractate Yevamot (62a) teaches, “If [one] had children when he was a gentile and he subsequently converted, he is not required [further] in the mitzvah of p’ru u’revu (lit., be fruitful and multiply). Thus we now see that a previous action can connect to a later one, both in the case of a bar mitzvah as well as in the case of a ger.
We previously cited the view of Rabbi Nissan Alpert regarding the bar mitzvah, but as regarding the ger we might ask whether previous counting the Omer would count toward completeness of the Sefirat haOmer. Chiddushim u’Berurim on Shas (37) answers in the negative. He bases his decision on the Gemara (Yevamot 22a) that considers a convert similar to a child who has just been born. In effect, the convert is a new person, and previous actions are separate from subsequent ones. Regarding the Gemara (62a) quoted previously, where both the Rambam and the Tur rule accordingly, we might say that is a special case. As R’ Yochanan states, the ger has fulfilled p’ru u’revu because the children are here, an accomplished fact [because the mitzvah of p’ru u’revu that was given to Adam was simply to populate the world, so although the ger’s children remain gentile, and they are not looked upon as his patrilineal descent once he converted, they are the fulfillment of the mitzvah]. But as regards all other matters, the ger is considered a newborn child. Thus in our case, his previous action cannot count toward constituting temimut in counting.
In Responsa Chesed Le’Avraham (Vol. 2:56), we find a conclusion to the contrary. There we are told that the concern of a lack of “sheva shabbatot temimot” specifically in performing the mitzvah of Sefirat haOmer is only applicable when one did not count on those days on which he was obligated to do so. However, in the case of a ger, his obligation starts only at the point of the actual conversion, so surely there is no issue.
Nevertheless, we go according to the majority opinion (Birkei Yosef 120; Responsa Pri Haaretz Vol. 3:11; Shalmei Tzibbur p. 298; Aruch HaShulchan, Orach Chayyim 489:15), and in this situation, the ger begins counting Sefirah without a blessing.
Tractate Berachot (15a) teaches us that the mitzvah is considered accomplished regardless of the recitation of Birkat HaMitzvah (for example, in the case of terumot and tithes, where the requirement for the blessing is of rabbinic origin and the fulfillment of the mitzvah is not dependent on the recitation of the blessing).
Thus, even though one does not recite the blessing, he nevertheless fulfills the mitzvah of Sefirat haOmer. Obviously, when one is present in the synagogue when the Sefirah is being counted, he will hear the chazan or rav recite the blessing. By answering “Amen” and with the principle of “shome’a ke’oneh,” he will fulfill the rabbinical requirement of a blessing as well.
Now, all of the above applies to the individual himself and his personal mitzvah to count the Omer. However, as far as reciting the blessing and counting as one leading the services, since there might be individuals in the congregation who are in need of the chazan fulfilling their obligation, it would not be proper for that person to recite the blessing on their behalf.
As far as any other Jew, unless there is definite reason to suspect that he has not counted, he has a chezkat kashrut – a presumption of integrity regarding his mitzvah observance. (See Kiddushin 49b, and Rambam Hilchot Ishut 8:5.) As such, he may lead the congregation in the counting of the Omer with the blessing.
May it be His will in the merit of our counting the Sefirah, as we anticipate the festival of Shavuot and the redemption, that our dreams be fulfilled speedily in our days.
