Question: As the shamash in a small community shul with an aging population, I am faced with numerous challenges. One of them is this: 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 should 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: Last week, we reviewed the mitzvah of Sefirat ha’Omer (Vayikra 23:15). The Talmud (Menachot 66a) 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. The Mechaber (Orach Chayim 489:8) states that 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 ha’Omer continues to count with a blessing, provided he has done so from the beginning. Although he was not 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 boy 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 boy 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 be put in a position to serve as a representative to 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.
The Teshuvot VeHanhagot (Orach Chayim 147) explains that we follow this opinion since today we view the obligation of counting the Omer as a rabbinic obligation.
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Answer: Rabbi Nissan Alpert ob”m, in Limudei Nissan, deliberates about the following: According to those who say that the full seven weeks are required to fulfill the obligation of Sefirat ha’Omer, one who skipped even one day cannot continue to count with a blessing because the commandment requires counting 49 days, therefore one who missed a single day cancels the fulfillment of the mitzvah in totality. But perhaps we can argue that the counting involves 49 separate mitzvot, and then such a person can continue to count. This latter opinion is supported by the fact that we recite a blessing for Sefirat HaOmer each day. Rabbi Alpert injects another concept in the discussion by suggesting that since the majority of poskim rule that today the obligation of Sefirah is considered rabbinical, the bar mitzvah boy can merge the counting before and after his bar mitzvah, since both while he was counting as a minor “in training” and now that he is counting as an adult, the mitzvah is a rabbinical obligation. That would also satisfy the poskim who rule that the counting of all 49 days is a single, continuous mitzvah.
He further notes Rashi’s opinion that, from a rabbinic point of view, a minor is not required to observe commandments, but it is the father’s responsibility to educate him about the obligation of prayer (Rashi, Berachot 20b, s.v. Vechayavin bi’tefillah). If that is the case, how can a son (see ibid.) fulfill his father’s obligation in Birkat haMazon (Grace After Meals) when the father ate a quantity equivalent to a rabbinical measure that would require the parent to say Birkat haMazon? Rabbi Alpert answers that while the requirement proper (the chiyyuv) is not applicable, its outcome – the performance of the commandment, that is, the kiyyum hamitzvah – remains. Since we do not exclude a minor from the performance of mitzvot, we allow him to fulfill his father’s obligation if the need arises.
He concludes with the argument that since the father is required to educate his son so that he will perform all the relevant mitzvot, which obviously include Sefirat ha’Omer, he can hardly do so with the knowledge that the son will be required to halt the counting in the middle. We are now faced with two choices: not to allow a boy who will reach the age of bar mitzvah during Sefirat HaOmer to count at all, or to conclude that our Sages ordained that he continue to count with a blessing for the purpose of chinuch. This option would reflect the reasoning of Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul cited last week – namely, so as not to weaken the mitzvah of chinuch.
The numerous reasons mentioned above seem to indicate that it would be correct for a bar mitzvah who comes of age in the midst of Sefirat ha’Omer to count with a blessing – and we do assume that he prays with a minyan every day and has been counting the Omer from the beginning as well. (See also Piskei Teshuva (20) quoting the Shevet HaLevi, who ruled in a particular case that we rely on the fact that each day is considered a separate mitzvah.)
(To be continued)
