Your No-Stress Guide to Counting the Omer

1. The mitzvah begins the night the Omer is harvested We count forty-nine days, which are seven weeks. The source is in the Torah: "You shall count for yourselves from the day after the Shabbat, from the day you bring the sheaf of waving: seven complete weeks shall there be. Until the day after the seventh week you shall count fifty days."

2. Bringing the Omer offering: The night of the Omer harvest is the night of the 16th of Nisan, which begins at the close of the first day of Pesach. That night they would go out and harvest barley, bring it to the Temple courtyard, thresh it, winnow it in the wind, sort it from chaff, roast the kernels over fire, and grind them well. From the flour they would take one-tenth of an eifah, sift it through thirteen sifters, mix it with a log of oil, and add a handful of frankincense. The next day, it would be offered on the altar: first the priest would wave it, and then take a handful to burn on the altar. After the handful was burned, everyone was permitted to eat from the new grain.

3. Before counting, we say the blessing: "Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer." Ideally, the blessing and count are said while standing; if one sat, they still fulfill their obligation (*Shulchan Aruch* 489:1).

Rabbi Zamir Cohen — Counting the Omer: Why does it matter to us?

4. The count has two parts: Days and weeks. Therefore, during counting you mention both the day count and the week count (*Menachot* 66a). For example, on day seven you say: "Today is seven days, which are one week." On day ten, for example, you say: "Today is ten days, which are one week and three days."

5. A few accepted formulas in Sefirat HaOmer: Some say "la’omer" and some say "ba’omer." Some have the custom to add the "Leshem Yichud" before counting and various prayers afterward, but none of that is required; the essential parts are the count itself and the blessing before it.

6. Ideally, know the day before you bless, meaning you should know which day you’re on. If, after beginning the blessing, you intend to finish the count based on what you will hear from a friend, you still fulfill your obligation.

7. Best time to count is right at the start of the night after tzeit hakochavim, so bless as soon as you remember and don’t delay. If needed, you may count with a blessing any time during the night until dawn.

8. You may count before Ma’ariv, as long as it’s after tzeit hakochavim. Some are careful to count after the prayer; if you’re worried you might forget, you may count beforehand.

9. Some count after Kaddish Titkabal that follows the Amidah of Ma’ariv, and the Jerusalem custom is to count after "Aleinu L’shabe’ach."

10. On motzaei Shabbat and Yom Tov, count the Omer before Havdalah, in order to slightly extend the sanctity of Shabbat.

11. Timing the blessing:Tzeit hakochavim is thirteen and a half minutes after sunset. It is praiseworthy to be stringent and count at definite night, which is about twenty-five minutes after sunset.

12. If you forgot to count: If you forgot all night, count during the day before sunset, without a blessing (even if you have already prayed Ma’ariv). On the following nights, you may resume with a blessing. But if you also forgot the entire next day, continue counting on subsequent nights without a blessing.

13. If you forgot at night you may count all day until sunset without a blessing; some say even until after bein hashmashot. The next night, you may count with a blessing.

14. Counting at Shacharit: The custom is to count during Shacharit without a blessing.

15. If you missed both at night and the following day, you no longer count with a blessing. You still must continue to count without a blessing. It’s best to hear the blessing from a friend or the prayer leader with intent to be included. If no one can include you, say the blessing omitting God’s Name and Kingship, and think them in your heart.

(צילום: shutterstock)

16. If you made a mistake and said the wrong number one night: If you remember during the night, count again correctly with a blessing. If you remember during the day, count correctly without a blessing, and the next night continue with a blessing. If you don’t realize until the following night, you can no longer bless, and your status is like one who missed a day.

17. If you erred in the week count but said the day number correctly, you may continue counting from then on with a blessing.

18. If you forgot to count on the night of Lag BaOmer, but in conversation said, "Today is Lag BaOmer," you may later count that day with a blessing based on that statement.

19. Some note the Omer in letters and write at the top, "Today is such-and-such to the Omer." Others write, "Day such-and-such of the forty-nine we count." If one wrote this in a letter and forgot to count that day, some say they may continue counting with a blessing.

20. Women: By the well-known rule that women are exempt from positive, time-bound commandments, women are exempt from the mitzvah of counting the Omer, since it is time-dependent.

However, a woman who wishes may perform time-bound positive mitzvot, and she receives reward for doing so. Indeed, we see women customarily hear the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, take the lulav, and sit in the sukkah. As for the blessing: according to the author of the *Shulchan Aruch* (Orach Chaim 589:6), women do not recite a blessing, and this is the prevalent custom among most Sephardic communities.

According to the *Rema*, a woman who performs a time-bound positive mitzvah may recite a blessing, and this is the Ashkenazic custom (see Tefillat Nashim 2:8). However, some Ashkenazic authorities advised that it is preferable for women not to bless over the count, since they are often not in synagogue and there is a greater concern they might miss a day and not realize it, and then continue blessing afterward. As noted, one who misses a day may not continue with a blessing (*Mishnah Berurah* 489:3). Some say that according to kabbalah, women should not count the Omer (*Rav Pe’alim*, vol. 1, end of 12). Others maintain that the Ashkenazic custom is that women do count (*Magen Avraham* 489:1).

Therefore, a woman who knows she can complete the entire count, and if she forgets one day will continue without a blessing, may, according to Ashkenazic custom, count with a blessing. This is especially true if she regularly prays Ma’ariv daily or if family members remind her to count; the concern she will miss a day is smaller, and if she wishes, she may bless in keeping with Ashkenazic custom.

21. Children: It’s a mitzvah to educate young children to count the Omer, and they should count with a blessing. If they forget one day, they continue without a blessing like adults (Acharonim).

22. A minor who becomes bar mitzvah during the count and was careful to count every single day beforehand should continue to count with a blessing after becoming bar mitzvah.

23. The purpose of the mitzvah: The author of *Sefer HaChinuch* explains that the goal of counting is to strengthen our anticipation for Shavuot, the day of receiving the Torah. In his words: "On the simple level: since the essence of Israel is nothing but the Torah, and for the sake of the Torah the heavens and earth were created, as it is written (Jeremiah 33:25), 'If not for My covenant day and night,' and it is the essence and reason they were redeemed and left Egypt—so that they would receive the Torah at Sinai and fulfill it—as Hashem said to Moshe (Exodus 3:12), 'And this shall be the sign for you that I have sent you: when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.' And the meaning of the verse is: their exodus from Egypt will be a sign that you will serve God on this mountain, meaning that you will receive the Torah, which is the great essence for which they were redeemed and is their ultimate good. It is a matter greater for them than freedom from slavery; therefore Hashem gave Moshe a sign from their leaving slavery to receiving the Torah, for what is secondary is always made a sign for what is primary."

24. What the count is about: strengthening our longing for Matan Torah The *Sefer HaChinuch* continues: "Since [the Torah] is the entire essence of Israel, and for it they were redeemed and rose to all the greatness they achieved, we were commanded to count from the day after the first Yom Tov of Pesach until the day the Torah was given, to show in our souls the great desire for the honored day that our hearts yearn for—like a servant who longs for shade and constantly counts when the yearned-for time will come for him to go free. For counting shows a person that all his salvation and all his desire is to reach that time."

25. Why start counting from the night after the first day of Pesach? The *Sefer HaChinuch* explains why we count from the night after the first Yom Tov of Pesach, and not from the first day itself: "If you ask, 'If so, why do we begin from the morrow of the Shabbat and not from the first day?' The answer: the first day is wholly designated to recalling the great miracle of the Exodus from Egypt, which is a sign and proof of the world’s creation and of Hashem’s providence over humankind, and we should not mix into its joy any other matter. Therefore, the count was instituted from the second day immediately. And we do not say 'today is such-and-such to the second day of Pesach,' since that would not be a fitting way to mark the count by reference to the 'second day.' Instead, the count is tied to what was done then, namely the Omer offering, which is a significant offering that recalls our belief that Hashem, in His providence over humankind, desires to give them life and renews for them each year the grain to sustain them."

Rabbi Zamir Cohen with a special class on the laws of Sefirat HaOmer and the mourning practices observed in these days: