Question: As the shamash in a small community shul with an aging population, I am faced with numerous challenges. The following is only one of them. During sefirah, occasionally different people lead the Ma’ariv service. On occasion it has happened that a recent bar mitzvah boy was the one to do so. I’ve also had an occasion when a recent ger (convert) led the service. In both those events, how would they be allowed to lead in the counting of the sefirah if they did not start doing so at the outset? I also wonder if any individual can be truly trusted to lead the counting, since perhaps he forgot to count one night.
No Name
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Answer: Your question is a matter of great importance. We discussed this many years ago, so here we are adapting somewhat from that discussion. In the interim, I hope that the short note that I sent you directly aids you in dealing with your dilemma. I have shortened your letter for publication purposes; however, in your longer letter to me, you noted that you don’t wish to embarrass anyone by not letting them count the sefirah. A solution would be for you as the responsible individual (since there is no Rabbi) to assign the counting to one specific individual (perhaps yourself). This way, no one will be insulted.
First, let us view the mitzvah at hand and what it entails. It is written in Parashat Emor (Vayikra 23:15), “U’sefartem lachem mimochorat haShabbat miyom havi’achem et omer hatenufa, sheva Shabbatot temimot tih’yena” – You shall count from the morrow after the Sabbath [i.e., the morrow after the first day of Passover], from the day you bring the Omer of the wave offering, seven complete weeks shall there be. Commenting on this verse, the Talmud (Menachot 66a) discusses the appropriate time to cut the sheaves and start the counting of the Omer. The literal meaning of the verse, namely, “miyom havi’achem” – from the day the Omer is brought, indicates that the counting starts in the day. But how can we achieve a count of 49 full days, or seven complete weeks, if the count is started in the day? Therefore, in the Beit HaMikdash era, the sheaves were cut at night to enable the beginning of the counting, and the offering was brought to the Temple the next day.
This is where your question comes into play. The mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer consists of counting 49 full days, each “day” being a 24-hour period, or me’et le’et, in order to arrive at the 50th day after the Omer offering, Shavuot. Therefore, if someone misses even one day, he is not in accord with the essence of the mitzvah.
Now let us discuss the case of the bar mitzvah who seems to begin his count from the evening of his turning 13 years old, which falls during sefirah. This would seem to be a deficient count since he didn’t start counting as a bar mitzvah obligated in counting the Omer on the first night of sefirah, which should preclude him from further involvement in the mitzvah. Yet we find that the Mechaber (Orach Chayyim 489:8) seems to rule otherwise, as he states: “If one forgot to recite the blessing, whether on the first day or any of the other days, he counts the subsequent days without a bracha.” The Mishna Berurah ad loc. explains that the phrase “if one forgot to recite the blessing” means that he did not count at all, and did not remember until the following evening. Thus we see that if one misses the count even on one day, he forgoes the blessing but continues to count just the same.
The question is what is the reason for the ruling that he continues to count, albeit without a blessing? Did he not forgo the mitzvah by missing that one day?
Rabbi Simcha Ben Zion Isaac Rabinowitz discusses this question in his Piskei Teshuvot on the Codes (5:25). He states that according to a majority of the poskim (halachic decisors) among the Acharonim (Ktav Sofer, Maharam Shick, Minchat Eliezer, to name just a few), a minor who reaches maturity during Sefirat HaOmer continues to count with a bracha – provided he has counted the Omer with a bracha from the beginning, which he probably did anyway for chinuch purposes (see Mishna Yoma 82a, regarding mitzvat chinuch, the training of children in the fulfillment of commandments). Thus, according to the Gaon Rabbi Ben Zion Abba Shaul (Responsa Or LeTziyyon 1:95), a minor who reaches maturity may continue to count the Omer with a bracha so that we do not weaken the rabbinic mitzvah of chinuch. And just as the mitzvah of chinuch applies to a minor, so should it serve him as an adult now that he has attained maturity.
On the other hand, there are noted poskim (Chidushei HaRim, Avnei Nezer and Birkei Yosef, among others) who are in disagreement with this position. They rule that a minor – even if he counted with a bracha for purposes of chinuch – does not count with a blessing once he attains maturity in the middle of Sefirah because his prior counting cannot be combined with his counting in his new status, when counting the Omer has become a biblical obligation for him.
Still another school of opinion is represented in the responsa of the Chesed LeAvraham (56), the responsa of Maharash Engel (7:112), and Tzitz Eliezer (14:20) by Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, who all rule that even if the young man had not counted the Omer while a minor, he may start to count with a blessing upon reaching maturity. They reason that the incumbency of counting applies from the day the boy reaches the age of bar mitzvah, and therefore the concept of “sheva Shabbatot temimot” also starts for him on that day.
The Piskei Teshuvot nevertheless concludes that we follow the first (lenient) rule mentioned above – that a minor who has attained the age of bar mitzvah during Sefirat HaOmer may continue to recite the count with a bracha, but only if he has not missed a single day of the counting while still a minor. He adds that such a young man should not be put in a position to serve as a representative to fulfill another adult’s obligation to count the Omer “by counting the Omer before the congregation.” For an adult, in his view, counting the Omer is a biblical obligation, whereas the obligation of the recent bar mitzvah boy might only be a rabbinical obligation according to some poskim.
The discussion presented by Rabbi Rabinowitz is also found in Minchat Chinuch (Mitzvah 306). The author discusses the arguments of both sides and concludes that since the bar mitzvah boy has started the counting of the Omer – albeit as eino metzuveh, namely, a practice not actually required but done for the purpose of chinuch – he may complete the count, and the prior counting he has done is not canceled.
In his Teshuvot VeHanhagot (147, Orach Chayyim), Rav Moshe Shternbuch explains that we follow this opinion since we view the obligation of counting the Omer today as rabbinical (see Menachot 66a and Rashi ad loc., that it is only zecher le’Mikdash – a remembrance of the time of the Temple).
(To be continued)
