Questions tagged [sefirat-ha-omer]
the mitzva (command) to count the forty-nine days from Pesach (Passover) to Shavuos (Pentecost)
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Sad music during Omer/3 Weeks
Thought of this question and apparently it was posed a few years ago on here but no answer was given so I’ll ask again- can you listen to sad or depressing music during the Omer or more importantly ...
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Shema or sefira which comes first
What if a person who strictly abides by Rabinu Tam when it come to Tzais Hakochavim (i.e. his kehilla and family follow this minhag strictly) davens maariv with a minyan slightly earlier during ...
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Why count the Omer?
The Torah enjoins us to count the Omer for agricultural reasons [Leviticus 23:15-17]. Later, the counting was reinterpreted as eager anticipation for the giving of the Torah on Shavuot.
(1) What is ...
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Why no (full) Hallel on the second day of Pesach?
On the last 6 days of Pesach, according to the Gemara, we don't say (full) Hallel because the korban is the same for all 7 days.
The second day of Pesach has a unique korban. So why don't we say ...
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Shaving hair off mole during the three weeks/sefira
In regards to shaving/haircutting prohibition during the three weeks and/or sefira does this include hair on a mole on the face?
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Where are resources about counting Omer Year round?
My rabbi mentioned there's a custom to count the omer year round. The idea is to travel through all the sefirot for 7 sets of 50 days.
I'm looking for shiurim, texts, etc. that teach on this practice.
...
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May one play music for a baby during the Omer?
2-year-olds love to listen to recorded nursery rhymes. Are there any sources discussing playing nursery rhymes that include background music during the omer?
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What does Rebbi Akiva's students not respecting each other mean?
The Gemara Yevamos (62b) records
שנים עשר אלף זוגים תלמידים היו לו לרבי עקיבא מגבת עד אנטיפרס וכולן מתו
בפרק אחד מפני שלא נהגו כבוד זה לזה - Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand
pairs of students in an ...
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What was unique about Gevas and Antifras that Rebbi Akiva singled them out?
The Gemara Yevamos (62b) and Midrash Koheles Rabbah (11:6) single out two specific students who died out of the 12,000:
וְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אֲלָפִים תַּלְמִידִים הָיוּ לִי ...
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What is the source of the prohibition to listen to music in the omer?
Where is the earliest source of the prohibition to listen to music in the omer?
I have had a look in shulchan oruch orach chaim simon תצ״ג, but it does not say there the prohibition to listen to music....
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Why dont we say the blessing of shehechayanu by the Omer counting? [duplicate]
If it's a new mitzvah of the season, why no shehecheyanu?
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Chasam Sofer on Sefiras HaOmer
I heard a mind-blowing idea a couple of years back in the name of the Chasam Sofer, and I would really love to know the source....
It says in Vayikra 23:15 -
וּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמָּחֳרַ֣ת ...
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Word count methods
I asked a question about the orthography of two words in the last chapter of the Shema, and I started to wonder, whether the presence of a maqaf mattered with respect to word count. And if you ...
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Can 'Omer' be translated as 'sheaf', or does it only refer to a measure of grain?
What is the translation of an omer? Do the sages or rabbis use, at least, two different translations? Does an "omer" ever mean a bundle of standing (or not standing) grain stalks?
Please note: I am ...
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Is typing or writing the same as "saying" for the sake of Sefirat Ha'Omer?
In an effort to ensure that we only count the Omer with a bracha properly, we are careful not to say what day it is until we have counted formally -- this is discussed and explored here.
But is ...
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Changing from Base-10 to Base-7 in sefiras haomer
I saw years ago a fascinating idea regarding the counting of sefiras haomer.
The source was discussing the change in counting between the days and the weeks.
We first start counting in base-10:
"...
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Menachot 65/66 why did the counting of the omer needed to start with a fixed time?
I was looking at all the arguments made (against the Boethians) in favor of counting the omer from 16th Nisan until Shavuot - Menachot 65/66.
Then I went looking at Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16.
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Should one who has become Bar Mitzvah during Sefirah count with a bracha? [duplicate]
My younger brother is turning 13 during Sefirah. I am going to ask my Rabbi, but I am curious about the various opinions of our Gedolim.
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May one shave/haircut on Friday, Rosh Chodesh Iyar
The Mishneh Berurah (493:5) rules that even those who have the custom not to cut hair or shave during the first half of the sefira are permitted to shave/have a haircut when Rosh Chodesh Iyar falls on ...
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Can one fix Tzitzis during the Omer?
Is it permissible to fix Tzitzis during the Omer, or would doing so make them "new garments"? Would one be allowed to fix them, then wait until after the Omer to wear them?
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Blessing or no blessing before counting the Omer?
When you count the Omer during Maariv, you can say the blessing that precedes the count only if you have not missed a day of counting. If you missed a day, you can say Amen to the blessing said by ...
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Origin of counting Omer according to the Sephirot?
What is the origin of the association of each day of the Omer with a particular pair of Sephirot (Hesed sh'b'Hesed, etc.)? I'm looking for the earliest textual mentions.
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What is the practical use of the words and letters corresponding to the omer count?
I understand the daily and weekly sefiros combinations that are mentioned in the Ribbono Shel Olam prayer and relate to the process of refinement on the way to Shavuos. To a large extent these are ...
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Did R' Akiva's students die in one year?
שנים עשר אלף זוגים תלמידים היו לו לרבי עקיבא מגבת עד אנטיפרס וכולן מתו בפרק אחד מפני שלא נהגו כבוד זה לזה
Rabbi Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of students in an area of land that stretched from Gevat ...
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Converting in the middle of the omer [duplicate]
If a non-Jew converts in the middle of the omer, would they count the omer that night with a bracha?
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Why must we stand when counting the Omer?
The Rambam (Hilchos Temidim U'Mussafin, 7:23) says that we must stand when counting the Omer.
The כסף משנה (s.v. "ואין מונין אלא מעומד וכו") writes that the reason we must stand is based on ...
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Connection between Yovel and Shavuos?
Both Yovel and Shavuos are the fiftieth after a cycle of 7 sets of 7 (7 Shmittas, each 7 years/ 7 weeks each 7 days) and both are after “Shabbos” - we start counting the Omer “after Shabbos”, so ...
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Why couldn't the Sefira have been corrected?
I read the discussion to Counting the omer with doubt before the fixed calendar. A comment by user ID "Shmuel" says:
"Rav Soloveitchik said this is a very nice reason, but he disagreed
with it. ...
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Are computer-generated vocals permissible during Sefirah and the Three Weeks?
According to those traditions which prohibit music during the Three Weeks and parts of Sefirah, but permit a capella, would listening to computer-generated vocals be permissible during Sefirah? Is the ...
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What is halachically considered an instrument for the purposes of Sefirah and the Three Weeks?
It's commonly practiced to avoid music during at least part of Sefirah and the entirety of the Three Weeks. Many of those who hold of this stringency also hold that certain types of a capella are ...
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Why are the days of sefiras haomer counted at the beginning but the weeks at the end?
When counting sefiras haomer, we count the number of the day we are about to start but the number of the week we have most recently completed. For example, on the first day we say "today is one day" ...
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Saying the blessing before counting the Omer
If you have counted the Omer every night but did not say the blessing can you start to say the blessing now?
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Saying the right thing then saying the wrong thing toch kedai dibur
Someone counts the correct day of Sefiras HaOmer but then thinks he made a mistake, so he immediately "corrects" himself and counts the wrong day. Does his second (incorrect) counting, which was made ...
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What's preferable: to count Sefiras Haomer right at nightfall by oneself OR to count later with a minyan?
I've heard opinions (including The Shulchan Aruch Harav- see footnote #12) that one should always try to count the Sefira within the first half hour of the night, and the earlier the better.
BUT if ...
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Breaking an Omer restriction
In a hypothetical case, I have chosen to observe the restrictions of the Omer during the "first half."
But then, I am placed in a situation at which happy live music is being played. Does my presence ...
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Are there any halakhic issues with watching television or youtube videos during sefiras haomer?
I am aware that the minhag is often to abstain from going to the cinema, but does this have any halakhic basis. If so, does the prohibition extend to other video forms
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Why do we count Sefirah cardinally rather than ordinally?
The Shulchan Aruch (OC 489:1) rules as follows:
כיצד ביום הראשון אומר היום יום אחד (בעומר) עד שמגיע לשבעה ימים ואז יאמר היום שבעה ימים שהם שבוע אחד (בעומר) וביום שמיני אומר היום שמונה ימים שהם שבוע ...
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How do we know that ממחרת השבת means from the first day of Pesach and not the seventh?
How do we know that ממחרת השבת means from the first day of Pesach and not the seventh?
Don't they both deserve to be called שבת?
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Would one fulfill Sefiras HaOmer by counting downwards (49-1)?
(following up from a previous question)
If one counted Sefiras Haomer downwards, for example:
Today is 49 days, which is 7 weeks to the Omer...
Today is 48 days, which is 6 weeks and 6 days to the ...
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Why do we count up (1-49) instead of counting down (49-1)? [duplicate]
I've heard an answer that makes a comparison to the reasoning for why we light Channukah candles upwards (1-8) from Shabbat 21b:
מעלין בקדש ואין מורידין
"we go up in holiness and don't decrease&...
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Why is counting the omer not in all haggadot?
We count the first day of the omer on the night of the second seder, yet some prominent, traditional haggadot do not include the bracha for counting (e.g., ArtScroll, Koren, Steinsaltz). Why not?
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Music during sefirah and "exemptions" [duplicate]
There's a common custom that people do not listen to music during 33 days of the Omer. There are also two customs as to when these days begin:
From the 2nd day of Pesach until Lag Ba'omer
or
From ...
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Sefardi Keeping Second half of Sefirah
The Shulchan Aruch writes that one should not get married between Pesach and Shavuos until Lag B’Omer; likewise regarding haircuts, since then the Talmidim of Rabbi Akiva stopped dying. Therefore, one ...
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Sfirat haomer - Days or weeks
Is there a separate mitzvah aside from counting the days to count the weeks of sfirah as well?
If there is a mitzvah to count the weeks - if a person skipped a day and was thus unable to continue ...
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Rashbi's generation was completely righteous, so why were they killed?
In the midrash Rabbah for Bereishis 35:2, as well as other tradition, it is noted that there were no rainbows in the generation of Rashbi because the generation was completely righteous.
However, I ...
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Are you allowed to buy clothing, electronics and personal things during Sefira for Sephardim?
Are you allowed to buy clothing, electronics and personal things during Sefira for Sephardim?
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Sefira - plural or singular
Why when we count the Omer, according to the ArtScroll Siddur, for days 2 - 10, we use the plural ימים, however, from day 11 and on, we switch to the singular and say יום - for example: היום שלשה עשר ...
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Sefirah prohibitions
When did the Jews first observe laws of mourning over the death of Rabbi Akiva's students? Did it commence the first year after the death of the students or was it instituted at a later period in ...
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Shaving during Sefirah
I am very confused about the prohibition of shaving. The Shulchan Aruch uses the term "L'histaper" which means cutting hair. There is no term "giluach", or shaving, used by either the Shulchan Aruch ...
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why no sfeika deyoma for sfiras haomer? [duplicate]
Most or all Jewish holidays have an extra day in the Diaspora, to accomodate for sfeike deyoma, so why do we not count two numbers each day of sfira?
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