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HALAKHA: A WEEKLY SHIUR IN HALAKHIC TOPICS
"Sefirat Ha-omer at Night"
by Rav Shlomo Brin
Translated and adapted by Rav Eliezer Kwass
Not only is it common knowledge that the omer should be
counted at night, but, it might even be explicitly mentioned
in the mishna. The text of the mishna in Megilla 20b,
according to the Rosh, Ritva, and others reads, "All night is
the proper time for the cutting of the [barley for the] omer
sacrifice and for counting the omer." Even though the
prevalent text of our editions does not include sefirat ha-
omer among the mitzvot to be performed at night, it is
universally accepted that it should be counted at night.
Two sources are quoted as the basis for this law:
1. "TEMIMOT" - that sefirat ha-omer must be "complete;" and
2. The CUTTING of the omer must be done at night and
therefore, by analogy, the COUNTING must too.
I. "TEMIMOT" - Completeness
The following beraita appears on Menachot 66a, as well as
in the Sifrei and Torat Kohanim: "Perhaps the omer should be
cut and counted during the day? We are taught [by the wording
of the Torah in Vayikra 23:15] 'They should be seven complete
("temimot") weeks.' When can one attain seven complete weeks?
When one starts to count at night."
Rabbeinu Tam (Tosafot Megilla 20b s.v. Kol) rules that
counting should be done at night even according to the opinion
that considers the omer sacrifice valid if cut during the day.
The Torah employs the seemingly redundant term "temimot" to
indicate the importance of counting at night.
This approach to the requirement of counting at night
views the nocturnal element as essential in that it alone can
endow the counting with "completeness." Sefirat ha-omer does
not just involve noting how many days have elapsed since the
beginning of the barley harvest, or how many are left till
Shavuot. Were that the case, counting any time during the day
would enable one to count complete days. One must not only
count each day; one must count each part of the day. A count
performed in the morning would not relate to the beginning of
the twenty-four-hour period - the nighttime. [An analogy for
the difference between these two types of counting: A teacher
counting textbooks differs from an office worker counting
files of the students, first checking that each includes
within it all of the proper forms. A count of a file is not
meaningful unless the file is complete.]
II. CUTTING AND COUNTING
Both Rabbeinu Yerucham (Netiv 5, part 4) and the Rosh
(Tosafot Ha-rosh, Megilla 20b s.v. Kol) explain that the
reason that we count the omer at night is that the grain for
the omer must be cut at night. "Just like 'If the omer was
not cut at night it is not valid', so too the blessing (i.e.,
counting) of the omer must be done at night," says the Rosh.
The source for doing sefirat ha-omer while standing is
also based on the connection between counting the omer and
cutting the grain for the omer. When the Torah indicates
(Devarim 16:9) that the omer should be brought at the
beginning of the harvest it uses the word "kama," standing
grain. The need to stand during the counting of the omer is
connected to these words. [The Rosh quotes this "derasha"
(teaching); the Sefer Yere'im (261) states that he does not
know its original source, but the Tosafot Re'em (note 9)
brings several sources.]
This derivation is connected to two assumptions:
a. that cutting the omer is a SEPARATE MITZVA, and not just a
preparation for the offering of the omer; and
b. that counting the omer is intimately related to cutting the
omer.
a. We may view cutting the omer as a separate mitzva, not just
as the preliminary action ("hekhsher mitzva") of obtaining the
barley that will be ground, sifted, and offered as a
sacrifice.
The Acharonim bring various sources which relate to this
issue either directly (See Korban Ha-eida, Shi'arei Korban,
and Mar'eh Ha-panim's comments on Reish Lakish's question in
Yerushalmi Rosh Hashana 1:8, the footnotes on the Shita
Mekubetzet Menachot 72a, and Mishnat Ya'avetz OC 25) or
tangentially (Even Ha-ezel Hilkhot Temidim U-musafim 7, Avnei
Nezer OC 385, and Oneg Yom Tov 43). Four of their major
proofs for our thesis are:
1. On the verse, "Rest from plowing and harvesting"
(Shemot 34:21), Rabbi Yishmael comments, "This excludes
cutting the omer, for it is a MITZVA." (Shevi'it 1:4, Rashi
Mo'ed Katan 4a, s.v. Ketzir Ha-omer)
2. The Rambam (Temidim U-musafim 7:13) rules that when
the omer is cut it becomes permissible to cut other grain in
the Land of Israel (according to the Mishkenot Yaakov YD 67 it
is also prohibited nowadays also to harvest before the time of
the cutting of the omer; the Reshash Menachot 70a disagrees).
Because the Torah (Vayikra 23:10) calls the omer, "The first
of your harvest," nothing can be harvested before it. This
assigns an independent function to the cutting of the omer,
which signals the presence of a distinct mitzva.
3. In his Commentary on the Mishna (Menachot 10:1), the
Rambam writes that the omer is cut even on Shabbat because "It
is like all communal [sacrificial] obligations that are done
regardless of Shabbat or tum'a (impurity)." Equating cutting
the omer with sacrifices indicates that it has an independent
status. [This approach to the Rambam can help answer the
Shakh's (YD 262:3) and the Lechem Mishneh's (Temidim U-musafim
7:7) questions on the Rambam. See also the Chakham Tzvi 166
and the Even Ha-ezel and other Acharonim on the Rambam.]
4. According to the Avnei Nezer (OC 385:19), if one cut
grain for the omer sacrifice which then became tamei (impure),
one still offers that grain. Using grain that was cut as part
of the mitzva of "ketzirat ha-omer," even if it is tamei, is
preferable to grain that is tahor (pure) but was not cut for
the sake of the mitzva.
All of the above sources seem to regard cutting the omer
as a mitzva distinct from the offering of the omer sacrifice.
There is one source, though, which points in the opposite
direction, indicating that the cutting is only a preparation
for the sacrifice and not a separate mitzva. The gemara in
Shabbat 131a draws a parallel between cutting the omer and
PREPARATIONS for the "shtei ha-lechem" (two loaves of bread
brought on Shavuot). Just like the omer can be cut on
Shabbat, even though it involves harvesting which is normally
forbidden on Shabbat, so can the shtei ha-lechem be prepared
on Shabbat, despite the "melakhot" (39 types of work forbidden
on Shabbat) involved. Here, by analogy, cutting the omer is
viewed merely as a preparation for the omer sacrifice, not as
an independent mitzva. (This requires further examination,
but here is not the place for it.)
Our law that requires sefirat ha-omer, like ketzirat ha-
omer, to be done at night, assumes that cutting the omer is a
mitzva with independent importance. It is hard to imagine
that we would derive halakhot from an activity that is merely
a preparation for another mitzva.
b. Cutting and counting are essentially linked:
The Ramban, in his commentary to the Torah (Vayikra
23:15), ties counting the omer to CUTTING the omer. He
explains that the mitzva of sefirat ha-omer is to count from
the beginning of the barley harvest (whose first reapings are
brought as a sacrifice) until the beginning of the wheat
harvest. The count serves as a link between the two harvests.
The Rambam (Temidim U-musafim 7:22), on the other hand,
views counting the omer as related to the SACRIFICE of the
omer: "There is a positive commandment to count seven
complete weeks from the day the omer is BROUGHT."
The Keren Ora (Menachot 76a) believes that one who counts
the omer before it has been cut has not fulfilled the mitzva.
He finds the Rambam's position, that counting the omer
nowadays is a biblical mitzva very difficult. How can
counting the omer exist on a biblical level if the grain for
the omer sacrifice is not cut? [See the Griz on Menachot 76a,
who quotes R. Chayim's resolution of the Rambam's approach.]
He takes the position of the Ramban, that counting is
connected to cutting, to its logical conclusion: without
cutting the omer there is no mitzva of counting it.
The Tosafot (Menachot 72a s.v. Af) also assume a
connection between counting and cutting. They rule that the
omer cannot be cut BEFORE the night of the sixteenth because
the count has not yet begun.
"TEMIMOT" VS. CUTTING
The two possible sources for requiring sefirat ha-omer to
be at night ("temimot;" and the analogy between cutting and
counting) carry with them two different conceptual
understandings of this law. Practical halakhic differences
ensue.
IS COUNTING AT NIGHT ESSENTIAL?
As indicated above, if one must count at night in order
to count complete days - "temimot" - counting during the day
is not valid at all, as it is missing an essential ingredient.
The Mordechai (Megilla 803) cites a question received by
Rav Yaakov ben Yakar whether someone who did not count at
night should count during the day with a berakha. His answer:
"He is awarded merit for counting, but not for counting at the
proper time." The simplest reading of the Mordechai is that
night is not an essential element of the counting, but is
simply the proper time in which to count. Such a position is
much more plausible if the law of counting at night is related
to the nocturnal cutting of the omer. [Otherwise we must
explain that the whole issue of "temimot" is only an ideal,
the highest level of counting, but the basic level of the
mitzva can be fulfilled during the day.]
However, according to the opinion that counting the omer
at night is derived from cutting it at night, the question of
how essential it is to count at night is dependent on how
essential it is to cut the omer at night. There are two
contradictory mishnayot (see Menachot 72a) whose respective
positions correspond to the disagreement between Rebbi and R.
Shimon ben Elazar in the Tosefta in the third chapter of Yoma.
The mishna in Menachot (71a) states: "It is preferable to cut
the omer at night, but if it was cut during the day it is
valid." The mishna in Megilla mentioned above, on the other
hand, states: "All night is proper for cutting the omer...
The rule is: Any mitzva which must be done at night may be
done all night." The gemara takes this mishna at face value
as implying that cutting is invalid during the day.
Rabbeinu Tam (Tosafot Megilla 20b Tosafot s.v. Kol; see
also Tosafot Menachot 66a s.v. Zekher)and the Tosafot Ha-rosh
rule like the mishna in Megilla, that cutting during the day
is invalid. Therefore, if one forgot to count during the
night and counted during the day he has not fulfilled his
obligation.
The Ba'al Halakhot Gedolot (quoted in Tosafot 66a and in
other Rishonim) rules like the mishna in Menachot, that "if it
was cut during the day it is valid," and therefore rules that
one who counted during the day fulfills his obligation. The
Halakhot Gedolot goes along with the Rosh and Rabbeinu
Yerucham that the source for counting at night is cutting at
night. The Rambam, who rules that counting during the day is
valid but not ideal, might also follow this opinion. This
would fit well with his opinion that if one cut during the
day, the cutting is valid (Temidim U-musafim 7:7).
[A short summary of the opinions of the Rishonim on this
issue can be found in the Tur OC 489. The Shulchan Arukh (OC
489:7) rules that if one forgot to count at night one should
count during the day without a berakha, and on the following
nights he may resume making a berakha.]
It is possible that the reason for the requirement to
count at night changes during different times of the omer.
There are two ways this possibility may manifest itself:
1. THE FIRST NIGHT vs. the rest of the omer.
It is possible to understand the requirement of "temimot"
as referring to the period of sefira as a whole, rather than
to each day of sefira. Only on the first night, then, would
"temimot" determine when to count. The analogy to cutting the
omer would still apply, though, to all the nights of counting,
for each of the forty nine days hark back to the cutting of
the omer done on the first night.
Rav Yehudai Gaon (in his Hilkhot Menachot quoted in the
Rosh Megilla) apparently holds that "temimot" is a requirement
on the first night alone. He writes: "If one did not count on
the first night of the sefira he should not count on the rest
of the nights at all. Why? Because it says, 'temimot,' and
since he forgot to count [on the first day] it is no longer
complete."
This approach probably has its roots in a close reading
of the beraita (Menachot 66a) quoted above. The language of
the beraita, "One STARTS ("matchil") to count at night"
indicates that only on the first day of sefira must one count
at night. [The Shita Mekubetzet's text, however, reads, "When
one counts at night," and leaves out the word "starts."]
2. DAYS VS. WEEKS
The gemara (Menachot 66a) reads: "Abbaye said: 'There is
a mitzva to count days and a mitzva to count weeks... Ameimar
counted days and not weeks, saying, that [counting nowadays]
is a remembrance to the days of the Temple ("zekher la-
mikdash")."
Rabbeinu Yerucham's well-known and unique approach is
that there are two separate mitzvot involved in sefirat ha-
omer, counting the days and counting the weeks. Each of these
is a separate mitzva requiring its own berakha. Counting the
weeks is tied to the mitzva and cutting of the omer, as it is
written (Devarim 16:9), "Count seven weeks from the beginning
of the harvest of the standing grain." Counting the days, on
the other hand, is not dependent on the omer and the Temple.
Today, when because of our sins we do not have a mikdash and
do not bring the omer, we are left with a biblical ("de-
oraita") mitzva of counting days and a rabbinic mitzva to
count weeks. [The Sefat Emet arrived at a conclusion opposite
to that of Rabbeinu Yerucham and believes that days are
connected to the omer and weeks are tied to the holidays of
Pesach and Shavuot.] This is why Ameimar only counted days,
not weeks.
Based on Rabbeinu Yerucham's distinction (though he does
not say this explicitly), it follows that counting weeks, not
days, is tied to the cutting of the omer. If cutting during
the day invalidates the omer, counting the weeks would be
invalid during the day also. Counting the days, though, is
independent of the cutting of the omer, and could be done
during the day. [One could deduce the exact opposite from the
Sefat Emet, and arrive at the conclusion that only the days
need be counted at night.]
It is possible to say, conversely, that "temimot" applies
to weeks, not days, based on the verse: "They should be seven
complete ("temimot") weeks." Perhaps the requirement of
counting the weeks at night is based on "temimot," while the
requirement of counting the days at night is learned from the
cutting of the omer. The Rambam (Temidim U-musafim 7:22)
might be alluding to this when he writes: "It is a mitzva to
count seven complete weeks ("temimot") from the day of the
bringing of the omer,... and it is a mitzva to count the days
WITH the weeks." "Temimot" refers to weeks and not days. If
we understand, like Rabbeinu Tam, that "temimot" is an
essential element of sefira but the analogy to cutting the
omer at night is only ideal, not essential (because the omer
is valid if cut during the day), we arrive at an innovative
ruling: If at night one forgets to count the day of the omer,
it can be said during the following day, but if the week was
not mentioned at night, there is no remedy.
THE BEGINNING OF THE NIGHT
The Tur (OC 489) writes: "The time for sefira is the
beginning of the night. If one forgot to count at the
beginning of the night, one can count all night." The
Shulchan Arukh (OC 489:1) rules that way also [see Tosafot
Menachot 66a s.v. Zekher, and the Rishonim's reaction,
specifically the Ran's comments on the Rif at the end of
Pesachim]. The Rambam (Commentary on the Mishna Menachot
10:1) also writes that it is not considered "temimot" unless
one counts at the beginning of the night. The beraita quoted
above seems to point in that direction as well: "When you
count in the evening ('mi-ba'erev')." This is an expression
that usually refers to the beginning of the night.
However, in the Mishneh Torah (Temidim U-musafim 7:22)
the Rambam leaves out the need for counting at the beginning
of the night: "One should count at the beginning of the day,
and therefore should count at night." He does not mention
that it must be done at the beginning of the night. [See, in
contrast, the Rambam in Hilkhot Chametz U-matza 2:3: "It is a
rabbinic law to check and get rid of the chametz at the
beginning of the night of the fourteenth by the light of a
candle."]
Based on the above, it seems clear that if the need for
counting at night is based on "temimot" it must be done at the
beginning of the night. This is what the Rambam in his
commentary on the Mishna says, and it fits with a careful
reading of the beraita. However, if the need to count at
night is based on cutting of the omer at night, it need not be
done specifically at the beginning of the night. It is
possible that the Rambam is consistent with what we wrote
earlier, that the time of sefirat ha-omer is dependent on the
time of the cutting of the omer.
If what we said above, contrasting the first night of the
omer with the others, is correct, we could conclude that on
the first night of the omer, when there is a requirement for
"temimot," one must count at the beginning of the night. On
the rest of the nights, when only the analogy to cutting the
omer applies, it could be done any time of the night. [See
Rabbi Y. M. Tukatzinski zt"l's Luach Eretz Yisrael, and the
Birkei Yosef 489:5] Similarly, if "temimot" applies only to
weeks, not days, then only weeks would have to be counted at
the beginning of the night, but days would not.
POSTSCRIPT
Rabbeinu Yerucham writes that sefira is to be done at
night because "it is the harvest time and people are busy, but
at night they are at home." Accordingly, he rules that one
can certainly count in the day if he forgot at night. This
reason is very puzzling, especially relating to a law that is
biblical in origin. Perhaps, biblically, counting may be done
during the day, but the Sages mandated counting at night to
make the mitzva easier to fulfill (but tzarikh iyun - further
study is required).
("Sefirat Ha-omer at Night" - the original article appeared in
Daf Kesher #183, vol. 2, pp. 268-272.)
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