By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times
Yesterday, on the first day of Chol haMoed, Rav Binyomin Cohen, Rosh Kollel of the Gur Aryeh Kollel and Rav of Khal Talmidei Yeshivos, delivered a shiur at the Agudath Israel of Long Island. He was introduced by the Morah D’Asra Rav Yaakov Reisman. Rav Cohen is also the author of the highly acclaimed Chelkas Binyomin and is the son of Rav Feivel Cohen. The author takes full responsibility for any omissions and errors in conveying this shiur.
THE SOURCE
The Gemorah in Menachos 66a records a debate between Ameimar and Abaye about how the Omer is counted. Abaye states that the Mitzvah is to count both the number of weeks and the number of days. This was the practice of the Chachamim of the Beis ha’Midrash of Rav Ashi. Ameimar disagrees. He states that only the days are counted. Ameimar explains that since the counting of the Omer in the absence of the Beis ha’Mikdash is merely a remembrance for the Beis haMikdash, we count only the days.
A FASCINATING MISHNA BRURAH
The Shulchan Aruch (OC 489:4) states: One who asks his friend during Bain HaShmashos what day of sefirah it is that night, he should respond, “Yesterday was such and such.” For if he were to say, “Today is ____,” he would be unable to count it with afterward with a blessing.”
The Mishna Brurah explains: And the achronim have written that this halacha is discussing a case where they did not reach the weeks in the Sefira. For if they had reached the weeks, even if he said to him, “Today is such and such,” it would be considered as nothing – so long as he did not mention the weeks. And he must go back and count with a bracha.
ANALYSIS OF MISHNA BRURAH
There are two chiddushim in this Mishna Brurah. He writes that in a case where he counted only the yom, it is considered as nothing – lav klum – he goes back and counts with a bracha. How does the Mishna Brurah know this? Perhaps he got it from the The Pri Magadim. The Pri Magadim learns that it is a sfek sfaika. The first safaik is maybe Mitzvos require intent to perform them. He did not have intent. The second safaik is maybe the Mitzvah requires to count the weeks as well. Therefore, when one actually counts again – it would require a bracha.
The Pri Chadash also says explicitly that if he left out the weeks – he must go back and count with a bracha.
Rav Binyomin Cohen, however, delves further and stated that the language employed by the Mishna Brurah “lav klum hu” – is indicative that it is not solely on account of a sfek sfaikah – It seems that it is even lechatchila to count again again with a bracha. The language of “lav klum hu” is mashma that he is not yotzeh even the obligation to count days – the yamim. It is not on account of the Sfek Sfaikah.
The source for the Mishna Brurah appears to be in the Pri Chadash.
The Mechaber says that he shouldn’t say that today is ____ day in the Omer. The Pri Chadash says that according to what we are saying that it is necessary to say the days and weeks and that is l’ikuvah – the mechaber must be talking about when this case occurred in the first week.
The Mechaber should have given the aitzah of saying the days only – if it is after the week. Since he didn’t – it must be the first week.
Rav Binyomin Cohen said, if the Pri Chadash was learning sfek sfaikah so then the mechaber cannot give an itzah to answer with just the days, because there is a tzad that he could be yotzeh. So we see that the Pri Chadash learns it is aino klum.
RAMBAM’S VIEW
According to the Rambam – the Mitzvah of Sfiras HaOmer is one Mitzvah. According to the Rambam, the Mitzvah is to count the days and weeks and it is a Torah Mitzvah even nowadays.
RABBEINU YERUCHAM’S POSITION
Rabbeinu Yerucham (Nesiv 5 #4) writes that the Mitzvah of Sefiras ha’Omer today is mid’Oraisa, and that this is the view of all of the Amora’im in the Gemara. He explains that when Ameimar says that the Mitzvah is only a “remembrance” of the Beis ha’Mikdash, he means that when the Beis ha’Mikdash was standing, the Mitzvah d’Oraisa was to count the days and the weeks, and when the Beis ha’Mikdash is not standing, the Mitzvah d’Oraisa is to count only the days.
Rabbeinu Yerucham’s shita disagrees with other Rishonim. He says that during the time of bayis – we once recited two brachos. He says that it is like the case of Tefillin where there are two brachos. Regarding Sefirah, however, we only make one blessing nowadays. The Mitzvah of counting the days is not a zaicher lamikdash but a full Mitzvah. The Mitzvah of counting the weeks shavuos is a zaicher lamikdash.
The psukim indicate that shavuos is connected to the mikdash, but this is not the case regarding days. Why is there no bracha today on the weeks? Because on a zaicher lamikdash there is no inyan of a bracha.
THE BAIS HALEVI
Bais Halevi (Responsa vol. I # 39) says a chiddush. If a person forgot to count one day, he loses the counting if he forgot in the end of the week.
However, if he forgot in the middle of the week – he can still count the end of the week. He can do this with a bracha. The Bais HaLevi brings Rabbeinu Yerucham – but he holds there is no bracha at the end of the week for a different reason.
If you say like the other opinion that counting the weeks is also a Torah Mitzvah midoraisah, you can make a bracha alone.
But the Bais Halevi says that if one counted one without the other – you are yotzeh. [Tur]. Here too. Below is a translation of the Bais HaLevi.
The Bais HaLevi states as follows: In Shulchan Aruch it is explained that when one missed a day of the omer counting and did not count at all, he should count from that point onward without a blessing, because it is no longer Tmimos – perfectly complete.
I have questions on this. For it is established that it is a Mitzvah to count days and a Mitzvah to count weeks. And the Mitzvah to count the weeks is only on the days in which the week is completed – for him to count how many weeks it is of the Omer.
If so, if he missed a day in which the week was not completed, granted that he missed the counting of the days, nonetheless, he did not miss the counting of the weeks. And on each day in which the week is completed, he could still possibly recite the blessing.
And I found in the writings of Rabbeinu Yeruchan (Nesiv 4 Section 5) who asks, “Why don’t we recite two blessings like we do on the Tefillin of the shel yad and the shel rosh?” He answers that the pasuk states, “Seven weeks shall you count from the day that you bring the offering..” It is for this reason that it is only a Mitzvah from the Torah to count the weeks when there is a Bais HaMikdash. Nowadays,
the Mitzvah of counting the weeks is only a Zaicher LaMikdash.
However, counting the days is a Torah Mitzvah even nowadays. This is why we only recite one blessing on the days alone. Now according to him, we must push aside our previous words. However, according to the Poskim who hold that all of our counting nowadays is only Derabanan, and even still we recite a blessing – we should not distinguish between days versus weeks.
This is even according to the opinion of the Rif at the end of Psachim, which is also the opinion of the Rambam Hilchos Tmidim (chapter 7:23), it is explicit in their words that even counting the weeks is Deoraisah even nowadays. According to them one would be able to recite the blessing on the weeks alone. For even if we do not adopt the view of Rabbeinu Yerucham and we say that it is only one Mitzvah, as would appear since all those who list Mitzvos only count Sefirah as one Mitzvah, nonetheless it is clear in the Tur that if he counted the days without counting the weeks, or the weeks without counting the days, he has fulfilled the Mitzvah.
Our case is no worse than that. And, l’chorah, he should be able to recite the blessing. For even though according to Rabbeinu Yerucham’s opinion he may not make the blessing, most Poskim argue on him in that which he distinguishes between the weeks and the days in our times nowadays.
QUESTION ON THE BAIS HALEVI
But if you take out the Tur (489) it appears that he is not saying that. The Tur only says that you can count day eight as one week and a day. The Mogain Avrohom said that if you only count weeks you have fulfilled the Mitzvah as the Tur has written. But this may not be the case. We can read the Tur as saying that the counting of that week is a form of counting of days.
וסופר הימים והשבועות. כיצד? ביום הראשון עומד ומברך “על ספירת העומר”, “היום יום אחד”, עד שמגיע לשבעה ימים ואז יאמר: “היום שבעה ימים שהם שבוע אחד”. וביום שמונה יאמר: “היום שמונה ימים שהם שבוע אחד ויום אחד”, עד שיגיע לי”ד, יאמר: “היום ארבעה עשר ימים שהם ב’ שבועות”, וכן לעולם.
וכתב אבי העזרי: יש אומרים שאין צריך למנות הימים, רק עד שיגיע לשבוע, כגון: “היום יום אחד” עד שיגיע לשבעה ימים, ואז יאמר: “היום שבעה ימים שהם שבוע אחד”, אבל מכאן ואילך אין צריך למנות ימים של שבוע שעברה עם השבוע הבא, אלא ביום שמונה יאמר: “היום שבוע אחד ויום אחד” ואין צריך לומר “היום שמונה ימים”, שכבר מנאם בשבוע שעבר, וכן ביום ט’, עד שיגיע לי”ד יאמר: “היום ארבעה עשר ימים שהם שני שבועות”, וביום ט”ו יאמר: “היום ב’ שבועות ויום אחד”, וכן לעולם. ויש אומרים שאין להזכיר השבועות אלא בסוף השבוע, כגון ביום ז’ יאמר: “היום ז’ ימים שהן שבוע אחד”, וביום ח’ אינו אומר אלא “היום ח’ ימים” עד שיגיע לי”ד, וכן לעולם. וכאשר כתבתי כן נהגו וכן עיקר:
QUESTION ON RABBEINU YERUCHAM
We can also ask on the general shita of Rabbeinu Yerucham that a Zaicher laMikdashreceives no bracha. Where does Rabbeinu Yerucham get this from? He gets it from korech! It is a zaicher lachurban and therefore, there is no bracha that is recited on it.
But this is somewhat problematic too. On Korech, the person has already made the brachos on Matzah and on Marror! Rav Perle on his hagaos on Rav Saadya Gaon (Assei #51) asks this question on Rabbeinu Yerucham.
A SUGGESTED ANSWER
The Brisker Rav says that zaicher l’mikdash is a mitzvah bifnei atzmo. We can kler a Chakira:
A] Do we do the Mitzvah in its original form, and that it is that Mitzvah, but we do it zaicher lamikdash.
B] The second tzad is that we do a special Mitzvah in and of itself, called zaicher lamikdash. According to the second view, we do not require all of the conditions of the Mitzvah per se. The Mitzvah of counting the days is already enough for the zaicher lamikdash.
This is a proof to the second way of looking at it. The Ran also says that there is no din of reciting a shehecheyanu regarding the Mitzvah of Sfiras haOmer – because there is tzaar by the sfiras HaOmer, because we no longer have the Bais HaMikdash. It is thus more plausible like the second
It is possible that the same is true for korech. It could be a Mitzvah in and of itself, and not the Mitzvah of Matzah and Marror. Rabbeinu yerucham says there is no takana of a bracha in such a case.
PROOF TO THIS FROM MAHARAL
The Maharal in Gvuras Hashem learns the Gemorah in Menachos like Rabbeinu Yerucham. He writes that the words in the Gemorah “V’ochal belo bracha” on korech is because it is permitted to make a hefsek – d’aino rak l’zaicher. Because if the Gemorah is talking that one must eat the Korech without a hefsek – then it is patently obvious not to make a bracha – pshita shelo yevarech. The Gemorah is thus saying that its muttar lehafsik.
The piskah says it doesn’t need charoses – d’kol kach ain tzarah
ZAICHER LAMIKDASH K’HILLEL
In regard to Korech, the Mechaber (OC 475:1) says that you take the matzah marror and charoses, say zaicher lamikdash k’Hillel and then you eat.
The Biur Halacha asks that we do not find the language of the mechaber that we should say it first in the poskim [parenthetically, the darchei moshe does cite it from the maharil.]
And then the Biur Halacha goes so far as to say lulei demistapiknah not to say it beforehand– but it’s possible that if the Mitzvah of Korech is zaicher lamikdash.. – part of it – that it should be spoken out.
SIMILAR IDEA
As an example of this idea, we can see the view of the Bach. He says that after he lights the first ner on Chanukah he recites the “haneiros halalu.”
It is possible that haneiros halalu is a part of the pirsumei nissah – maybe we can say that the zaicher lamikdash is a chailek of the mitzvah
TWO UNDERSTANDINGS OF SHeHAIM SHAVUAH ACHAS
The Gemorah in Menachos 66a – Is the din of Sfiras HaOmer, yamim and shavuos. Is it one halacha or two halachos. Even if it is one halacha it can be explained in two ways.
When we count, we can render it in two ways. Every seven days – that are one week. The shavuos is a sikum of the yamim.
However, it is shayach to say that the yesodos of sfiras haOmer is only the shavuos and the yamim are to be understood as fractions of a shavuah.
MANY RISHONIM UNDERSTAND IT IS JUST WEEKS
From many rishonim it is muchrach like this. Rav Saadya Gaon writes that the mitzvah of sfiras is shavuos – not like the bahag. In the Rambam, beginning of tmidim umusaffim he lists the mitzvos within that inyan so sfiras haOmer he writes lispor kol ish vaIsh hashavuos. In the halachos where he spells it out – uMitzvah limnos hayamim im hashavuahh
In the sheiltos it also says such a lashon as well as the SMaG.
According to this, the ikkar would be to count the weeks. If so, let’s go back to the tur and Avi Ezri – it is clear that that’s what he is saying – he is saying that the Mitzvah of sfira is to count the week.
The din of yamim is merely to keep cheshbon of the weeks.
According to this, the machatzis hashekel is good. On day seven, he says, “hayom shavuah echas and no yamim – the yamim are included in the shavuah. The lashon of sheHaim – the lashon of sheHaim is the pshat the other way. The Rambam says in the sefer hamitzvos that if there would be two mitzvos it would only be the sof hashavuah.
With this, we can answer the bais halevi, taking his idea from the Tur. What is the reason of the avi ezri? It is like the second reading that we explained. The yesod of the sfirah is counting just the weeks.
YESOD FROM RA’AH ANSWERS MISHNA BRURAH’S POSITION
There is a chidush in the Ra’ah in his bedek habayis.
The Rashba says in Toras HaBayis (Bayis 7 Shaar 5) regarding a Zav or Zavah that the Bedikah must be done during all seven days, but Bdieved, one bedikah is enough. It can be in the beginning – on day one. It can be at the end – on day seven. And it can also be in the middle as well.
Rashba adds this as a svarah – the middle must also be good because the end shows that it can be as late as you want and the beginning can be as early as you want.
The RA’AH
The Ra’ah argues and says that the Rashba’s words are tmuhim – that the middle is certainly worse. There is a notion of greirah – if you have the beginning – you can shlep the rest. If you have the end – you can assume you had the beginning. However, just having the middle doesn’t work.
PROOF FROM SEFER CHINUCH
The Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 207) also learns like the Raah, that it is either the beginning or the end. The reason is that the bedikah is considered as a maaseh sfirah.
The yesod is that it is a sfirah of weeks – shavuos. Regarding zayin nekiim, the yesod is either betchilah or basof but not the middle.
BACK TO THE MISHNA BRURAH
The Mishna Brurah says this chiddush that sfiras yom is lav klum.. the translation of this term is that there is no halacha of, “today is seven days.” It is only that there is a week – shehaim shavuah echad. The seven days is just to keep tabs on the week – how we get to the shavuah.
The shiur was followed by words of machshava and insight into Sfiras HaOmer.
The transcriber can be reached at [email protected]
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One Response
I believe the Mishna Berurah simply means to say that regardless of what the actual chiyuv might be – the metzious is that once we reach weeks we all count shavuous too when we intend to fulfill the mitzvah. As such, if a person answers his friend what day it is and does NOT mention weeks, it clearly indicates he intend to not fulfill his obligation to count (kavana hamisnagedes) and l’kula alma he is not yotze and can count with a bracha.