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Focused Self Refinement for Men and
Women Alike
Throughout all my forty years of being Torah
observant, I have never counted the Omer from beginning to end. Truthfully, I
haven’t even tried. I feel ambiguous about the many young women who ardently
count the Omer with or without an app. On the one hand, I admire these devout
women who want to take on this timebound, positive mitzvah, which is more than
what the Torah mandates for women. On the other hand, I’m not an advocate of
women taking on men’s mitzvot, which at times comes at the expense of keeping
the many obligatory mitzvot for women. Yet, it is not a black and white issue.
As women’s role evolves, the boundaries between men’s and women’s mitzvot
become increasingly blurred. During the
period of counting the Omer, both men and women need to work on character
refinement, in order to be worthy to receive the Torah. The seven
emotional sefirot (Divine emanations) that we go through, with their
sub-sefirot, during each of the 49 days of the Omer, from Chesed
(loving/kindness) of Chesed to Malchut (royalty) of Malchut teach us the
spiritual and emotional focus of each day. No matter whether a woman counts the
Omer or not, it is highly beneficial to meditate on the sefirah of the day and
work on integrating it into our lives.
Is Counting the Omer a Positive
Timebound Mitzvah?
Most halachic authorities hold that counting the
Omer is a positive timebound mitzvah from which women are exempt (Rambam, Hilchot
Temidin U’mussafin 7:20; Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah 306). However,
Ramban, (Novellae to Kiddushin 33b) lists Sefirat HaOmer among the
positive mitzvot that are not timebound, yet he doesn’t address the issue of
whether women are obligated to count the Omer. Ramban’s deviation from the
mainstream view that counting the Omer is a timebound mitzvah puzzles most
commentaries. Perhaps Ramban holds that Sefirat HaOmer is rabbinic, instituted
during post and pre-Temple times. The fact that the source for the binding
nature of keeping the rabbinic mitzvot is clearly not timebound: “…you shall
not turn aside from that matter that [the sages] tell you” (Devarim
17:11), explains Ramban’s position on Sefirat haOmer.
Does Halacha Permit Women to Count
the Omer?
The answer to this question is equivocal. According
to the mainstream Rabbinical view, that women are exempt from counting the
Omer, they are nevertheless permitted to perform this mitzvah voluntarily. This
is similar to the way women may perform other positive timebound mitzvot such
as sitting in the Sukkah and shaking the lulav. Magen Avraham (Rabbi Abraham
Abele Gombiner, a prominent seventeenth century Polish Talmudist) goes as
far as to claim that women have taken this mitzvah upon themselves:
ספר מגן אברהם על או"ח סימן תפט:
נשים פטורות מספירה דהוי מ"ע
שהז"ג (רמב"ם וכ"כ בזוהר תצוה עמוד שי"ט) ומיהו כבר שווי'
עלייהו חובה:
Women are exempt from counting [the omer]
because it is a positive timebound mitzvah. Nevertheless, they have already
accepted it upon themselves as an obligation (Magen Avraham, Orach Chayim 489).
Many halachic authorities disagree with the Magen
Avraham and state that there is no source for saying that women accepted this
mitzvah upon themselves as an obligation (Minchat Chinuch Mitzvah 306; Sha’ar
Hatziyun quoting the Pri Chadash, who makes no mention of women
having accepted Sefirat Ha’Omer upon themselves). Likewise, the Chafetz Chaim
holds that women aren’t accustomed to count the Omer:
משנה ברורה סימן תפט מתחילין לספור וכו' - ונשים ועבדים (א) פטורות
ממצוה זו דהוי מ"ע שהזמן גרמא וכתב המ"א מיהו כבר שויא עלייהו חובה (ב)
וכמדומה דבמדינותינו לא נהגי נשי כלל לספור וכתב בספר שולחן שלמה דעכ"פ לא
יברכו דהא בודאי יטעו ביום אחד וגם ע"פ רוב אינם יודעים פירוש המלות:
In our countries, women did not count at all. It is
written in Shulchan Shlomo that at the very least women should not recite the beracha
[before counting the Omer] for certainly they will err on one of the days, and
furthermore, women generally do not know the meaning of the words (Mishna
Berura, 489:1-2).
According to Shulchan
Aruch HaRav, women are exempt from the Mitzvah of Sefirat HaOmer
because based on Kabbalah, they are unable to fulfill this mitzvah. However, in
those certain provinces where women have accepted this
mitzvah upon themselves, they are obligated to count due to this custom.
Practically, the Chabad custom is for women to recite Sefirat HaOmer. The
husbands should remind their wives to recite the sefira each night (Rabbi
Yaakov Goldstein, The Laws and Customs of Counting the Omer…).
Modern Halachic Rulings on Women and
Sefirat HaOmer
According to Kabbalah, it is preferable for women
not to count the Omer at all, even without reciting a blessing, as there is a
Kabbalistic reason for them to abstain from doing so. Therefore, our custom is
that women do not count the Omer at all (Maran Rabbeinu
Ovadia Yosef zt”l).
During the last century, women’s Torah learning has
greatly intensified and Mishna Berura’s two concerns no longer apply to
most women who decide to take upon themselves the counting of the Omer.
Therefore, a woman who knows that she can make it through the entire count, and
even if she misses a day, she knows to continue counting without a blessing,
may count with a blessing, according to Ashkenazi practice. This is especially
true regarding a woman who prays ma’ariv every evening or whose family members
are in the habit of reminding her to count. She may count with a blessing, if
she is Ashkenazi and so desires, because the chances of her forgetting to count
are relatively small (Rabbi
Eliezer Melamed, Peninei Halacha, Women and the Omer Count).
Nevertheless, since in this case the mitzvah of counting as well as the
blessing are not obligatory, in the case where a wife’s family has a minhag
that differs from her husband’s, a women should follow her husband’s minhag
(Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe, Yoreh Deah vol. 4:3)
May Women Recite a Beracha
When Counting the Omer?
The main halachic question is whether a woman who
takes upon herself to count the Omer may recite a beracha. According to
the Shulchan Aruch, a woman may not make blessings over any mitzvah from
which she is exempt. If she does, she is reciting a blessing in vain (Shulchan
Aruch, Orach Chaim 589:6). This is the prevalent custom among most Sefardic
women (Maran
Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l). However, the Ashkenazi custom follows the
Rama’s opinion, that women who perform time-bound mitzvot are permitted to
recite the blessing. Likewise, the nineteenth century Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein holds that although
women are exempt from counting the Omer, because it is a positive time-bound commandment,
if they take upon themselves to count, they should recite a beracha like
any positive time-bound commandment that women practice. (Aruch Ha-shulchan,
Orach Chaim 489:3). Similarly, any woman who chooses to count the Omer may
say a blessing prior to saying it [if they have not missed any previous days,
as is the law by men] (Shulchan
Aruch HaRav). However, some Ashkenazi poskim rule that women should not
recite a blessing over the Omer count because they do not pray [Ma’ariv] in the
synagogue and are therefore more likely to miss a day. If anyone misses a day
of counting the Omer, that person continues to count the Omer without a bracha.
Thus, there is a concern that a woman may not realize that she forgot to count
and will continue counting with a blessing (Mishna Berura 489:3).
One of the most renowned and respected halachic
authorities of our time, Rav Asher Weiss Shlit”a, holds that women today are
wise and know to read from the siddur. They also have access to calendars and
newspapers, in which the day of the count is written daily. For this reason,
our wives and daughters act correctly to recite a beracha over
the count. Still, in my humble opinion, a woman who knows that she likely will
not complete the count correctly, should not begin reciting a beracha over
the count at all, since there are later authorities who maintain that if one
skips a day, the earlier berachot were retroactively said in
vain… but even in this case one who is
lenient has not lost anything… (Women in the Mitzvah of Sefirat Ha-Omer).
The numerous apps email and what’s app reminders today only strengthen Rav
Weiss’s position.
The Kabbalistic Perspective
Although certainly permitted, the reason I
personally do not count the Omer is based on the following Zohar: “Since
these days [of Sefirah] are days from the realm of the masculine this
count [of the Omer] was given over exclusively to the men alone” (Zohar,
Part 3,98b). I connect deeply to the Kabbalistic perspective and act according
to it, as long as it doesn’t contradict the Ashkenazi halacha. While I was
doing research on the topic of Women and Counting the Omer, I came across a
scholarly article by Israel
Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash, Sefirat Ha-Omer. It includes sources from
early Rabbis such as Rambam, Ramban, Rabbeinu Tam, Tosafot etc. Among these
classical commentaries, I surprisingly found the following unexpected paraphrase
quote : Uniquely, Rebbetzin Chana Bracha
Siegelbaum, of Bat Ayin, who has personally relinquished fulfilling this
mitzvah for Kabbalistic reasons, expresses the power she sees in the count, and
in the Omer period, even when
not counting:[13]
Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, The
Controversy of Women and Counting the Omer
Counting the Omer teaches us the
concept of the ascending pattern, where one day builds upon the next. In
effect, the whole point of the ritual is to collect days. By using a simple and
short act of consciousness, we prevent our days from blurring into each other.
We can make every day count... Each day of counting the Omer, from Pesach to
Shavuot, we have the opportunity to add a new layer of refinement to our
character. Counting the Omer is an elevating ripening process that culminates
on Shavuot in our ability to receive the Torah and become complete. This
time-period reflects the process of the building and flowering of the
surrounding nature. Here in Israel, where we, like the fruits, are gradually
ripening to become the perfect crop, ready to be picked on Shavuot as Hashem's
holy bride…I believe that the feminine focus during the Omer season is to
meditate on the daily sefirah combinations and internalize their messages…
For further explanation on the
kabbalistic perspective of counting the Omer see the full article http://rebbetzinchanabracha.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-controversy-of-women-and-counting.html
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