Safek if counted during the day.

If it were up to me, I’d say she’s okay. The reason a S’fek S’feka works for S’fira is not because it’s an actual S’fek S’feka. If it was, then we wouldn’t be able to use it because we don’t say a S”S by making Brachos. Instead, the only reason we’re Machmir if you miss a whole day is to respect the Shittah of the Bahag, even though he’s a Da’as Yachid in this. However, since he’s a Da’as Yachid we let you continue to count with a Bracha whenever there is any second Tzad to say you can continue counting. (And I would certainly say that if she does the Eitzah mentioned in a few Rishonim (well, maybe it’s only mentioned in the Chinuch) on the next night to have said “Yesterday was X and today s X+1”, then without any doubt at all she’s okay.

And about the women not counting, that depends on what the Minhag is where, especially because the reason given in the Mishnah B’rurah probably doesn’t apply to a lot of women nowadays.

That meant to say “if she had done”. Obviously it’s too late for that now.

PBA: I’m aware of that Sha’arei T’shuvah. I was always taught that we hold L’ma’aseh that a Kattan and a Ger count with a Bracha.

(I recently saw a T’shuvah, though I forget where, about someone who was going to cross the date line and would miss a day, what he should do. I didn’t get to the end though, because someone asked me an actual Shaila while I was in the middle of it.)

PBA: That’s the way I’ve always learned it. I can’t say you’re wrong if you’re Machmir on this because there are Tzdadim L’hachmir, but the Tzdadim L’hakel are pretty overwhelming.

And I see your point about feminists wanting to do something not making it a Minhag. But I feel like there were always some women who counted with a Bracha and that since the reason for the M”B’s Minhag doesn’t really apply to most women nowadays, it’s very hard to be Moche a woman who wants to do a Mitzvah (especially because of the strange Lashon in one Rishon-I think it might be the Rosh-that the Bracha of S’firah is actually part of the Mitzvah), and certainly one like S’firas Ha’omer where there’s nothing public and she’s not rubbing it in anyone’s face.

My mother and sisters count with a bracha. They are not feminists by any stretch of the imagination.

I’ll think about the shaila over Shabbos.

PBA: The Mishnah B’rurah clearly states a two-part reason. The second, which for sure doesn’t apply today, is that women don’t know how to count in Hebrew (although I’m not sure why they couldn’t count in the vernacular). The first reason is that there is a Vada’us that they will mess up, (at least partially) aided by this fact that they don’t know how to count in Hebrew. We see many, many women nowadays who make it through (with calendars, etc.) and many are even more Makpid than the men to remind them to count (if they Davened Ma’ariv early and such). If a woman wants to listen to that M”B, she has that R’shus, but the reasons pretty clearly don’t apply to most women.

PBA: There is no good reason to be Mechalek. I think, according to that, if a man knows he’ll mess up he shouldn’t count with a Bracha either. The Mishnah B’rurah just assumed that most men don’t mess up. Also, the number of women who knew Hebrew (or how to count) were very few and far between in that time. If I held like that Sha’arei T’shuvah we quoted above I would tell a man who knows he’ll mess up not to count with a B’racha.

PBA: According to that Mishnah B’rurah for sure. Why would it be any different than the mass of Halachic literature on the guy who will be in surgery/crossing the dateline/other Onsin etc.? Those are the cases where the Posek talks about a guy who will for sure miss. An absentminded person who misses Minyan sometimes and has never made it through Sfira in his life would be the exact same.

haifagirl: Why do you make a brocho?

PBA: It doesn’t make sense. S’fira is a Minhag where the SH”A B’feirush says that women have accepted upon themselves to do. The M”B quotes a Mechudash’dik Shittah (from one of his more obscure sources; he doesn’t quote that SHU”T very often on other things) that combines two reasons to say women shouldn’t make a Brachah. Not having one of them apply should be enough for a woman to count with a Bracha. Here, where often times neither will apply, how can you tell someone they can’t make a Brachah?

PBA: I don’t quite know how to explain this (in detail). It’s just something that you see from each individual case. This is clearly a case where the Posek saw a problem. Namely, that women, even though the SH”A says they count, often mess up and end up having Chashash Brachos Levatalos. Because normative Halachah in this case says that women can count with a Brachah. We found a reason why they shouldn’t because there is a concern. However, it took a combination of two reasons to justify them not making a Brachah for that concern. (And this concern is irrelevant anyway according to the many Poskim who hold not like that Sha’arei T’shuvah.) When one of those reasons goes away, it stands to reason that (in this case, at least) she can count with a Brachah. Obscurity of the source doesn’t matter in learning it, but it does make it easier to go against in regards to Stimas Divrei Sha’ar Haposkim. It’s very, very tough to go against, say, a Magen Avraham’s or a Taz’s Chumra even if the rest of the Achronim are Mashma from Stimas Divreihim Lehakel. It’s easier to say that against less often-quoted sources.

PBA: Of course not. I am self-aware enough to know what I know and there are very few cases where I am confident enough to argue on Poskim like that. I would almost never Pasken like this without running it by someone far more knowledgeable that myself to begin with. Here, I don’t have the burden of P’sak on me so I can learn how I think the Emes is without being scared of being wrong. I think my entire explanation here was Amittah Shel Torah. Would I be confident enough in that to Pasken like it if asked an actual Shaila? I can’t honestly say that until I’m asked L’ma’aseh, but this may be one of the very few (and honestly, there are very few) cases where I’m confident in what I know to Pasken like this. (Of course, I’m always more confident in my Shittos until I need to actually Pasken. Paskening is quite a scary thing, that’s for sure.)

PBA: Did my explanation make sense? I hope you don’t think that I routinely argue on earlier Poskim and T’shuvos and such based on S’varos or my own understand of Rishonim. I mean, I do, but only in learning. Almost never in L’ma’aseh P’sak.

Forgive me for saying this, but I’ve noticed Sam often takes issue with halachos or psaks that are less than egalitarian, and sometimes tries reinterpertating or adapting them for modern times.

PBA: As was I. A woman not making a Bracha is just as based on the Bahag as a man who missed/will miss not making a Bracha is.