Q & A: Sefirat HaOmer In The Synagogue (Part I)

Question: I enjoy your weekly column. You not only give an answer, but also provide an in-depth discussion of the subject matter, including many different views. My question, which relates to the mitzvah of counting the Omer, is as follows: In my synagogue, and I assume in most others, we all stand at attention as the rabbi or chazzan recites the blessing of Sefirat HaOmer and then proceeds to count the Omer. How can we recite the blessing afterwards when we already clearly heard it before (and thus, presumably, were yotzei with it)?

M. Goldblum
Miami Beach, FL

Answer: Indeed, common practice as noted by Ba’er Heitev, Aruch HaShulchan and Mishna Berura (Orach Chayyim 489) is that after the Maariv amida, the chazzan recites the blessing of Sefirat HaOmer and afterwards he counts he appropriate number of Omer; thereafter, the congregation says the blessing and then they all count.

The source for this mitzvah is as stated in the Torah in Parashat Emor (Leviticus 23:15-16). Hashem commanded, “U’sefartem lachem mimachorat ha’Shabbat miyom ha’viachem et Omer ha’tenufah sheva shabatot temimot tihiyena” (“You shall count for yourselves from the morrow of the Sabbath [i.e., the Passover festival], from the day you bring the Omer wave offering, seven weeks, they shall be complete”). “Ad mimachorat ha’Shabbat hashevi’it tisperu chamishim yom v’hikravtem mincha chadasha la’Shem” (“Until the morrow of the seventh week shall you count 50 days and then shall you offer a new meal offering to Hashem”).

From the above two verses we derive this mitzvah and that it is comprised of two parts, namely to bring the Omer offering, as well as to count each and every one of the days leading from the second day of the Passover festival up until the Shavuot festival. The Gemara (Menachot 65b) derives from the specific wording “u’sefartem lachem…” (“You shall count for yourselves…”) that this is a unique counting where each and every individual is required to count. Tosafot (s.v. “U’sefartem lachem …”) cite the counting of the Jubilee (i.e., the years leading to the Jubilee) which is incumbent on the Bet Din (as representative of the people). Tosafot note that the counting there is for the entire community. In contrast, this counting of the Omer is a unique obligation that is incumbent on each and every individual.

Kaf HaChayyim (Orach Chayyim 489:sk13) sheds light on an obvious question: How do we see from the wording of the verse that the obligation is for each and every individual? He explains that the verse could have rather plainly stated “V’safarta” (“And you shall count”) in the singular, and we would have thought that only one individual is required to count on behalf of all others, but since it states “U’sefartem” – “And you shall count” in the plural – we deduce that all are required to count, and not merely the shaliach tzibbur (the chazzan or rabbi) on behalf of the congregation.

It would therefore seem that our current practice of having the chazzan or rabbi recite the blessing and then his subsequent counting aloud would be at odds with this requirement. The Rishon LeZion, Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, shlit’a, in his fine work Yalkut Yosef (Hilchot Sefirah, Ot 13) discusses this very matter and, citing his father, the late Gaon Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, zt”l (Responsa Yabia Omer Vol. 5, 17:4), states that the custom, simply put, is that first the shaliach tzibbur (the chazzan, or the rabbi) recites the blessing for the Omer, then he counts the Omer, and then, following him, all the congregation bless and count the Omer. Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef comments, “V’hu haminhag hanachon” (“And this is the proper custom”). He stresses that there is no question about the legality of this practice, because the congregation’s intention is not to be discharged of their obligation with the blessing of the chazzan or rabbi, but rather to bless on their own.

Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef then goes on (in his note 19) to discuss this matter at great length, and he explains citing Knesset Hagedolah that there are many different customs in this regard. Some congregations bless first, and in others, the chazzan does.

He now offers one of the most logical reasons for the practice his father advises. “The chazzan counts first in order that [some] individuals in the congregation not come to err in the proper count [for that evening].” From his wording we see that we are obviously not worried that the majority of the congregation will come to err; rather, this is a congregational benefit for the few who may need a reminder. The inference is that optimally each and every individual is duty-bound to count for himself.

Notwithstanding this requirement, we see that it is far better for every individual to join in a minyan for Maariv during Sefirah lest they come to err in the count of the Omer, or even worse, forget to count at all.

(To be continued)

To regenerate means to restore or renew something to its original or better state. It can refer to the process of growth, repair, or rejuvenation.

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