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D'var Avraham: Sefirat Haomer |
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Written by Rabbi Yisroel Langer
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 If one is uncertain as to which night of the Omer it is – i.e., he isn’t sure if it’s the fourth day or the fifth day – can he fulfill his obligation by counting both days? The Magen Avraham
(Orach Chaim 589:2) says that one must count sefiras ha’omer in a language that he understands. If one counts in lashon hakodesh and doesn’t understand what he is saying, he has not fulfilled his obligation.
Rav Yaakov Emden (Sheilos Ya’avetz, Responsa 139) argues and holds that just like it is with Kiddush and Hallel where one has fulfilled his obligation by reciting it in lashon hakodesh, even if he doesn’t understand what he is saying, so too, this applies to sefiras ha’omer.
The Dvar Avraham (Volume I, Chapter 34) explains that the essence of the argument is about what kind of mitzvah sefiras ha’omer is. Rav Yaakov Emden holds that the mitzvah is the mere “reciting” of the omer, and as long as you recite the proper number, you are yotzei and fulfill your obligation. Therefore, even if you don’t understand what you saying, it’s okay. The Magen Avraham, on the other other hand, holds that the mitzvah is “counting” which entails a conscious awareness of which day one is counting, and not a simple recitation of words.
The answer to our original questions, maintains the Dvar Avraham, would depend on whether the mitzvah is to recite or to count. If one is uncertain if it is the fourth day of the omer or the fifth day, according to Rav Yaakov Emden, he can recite both days and fulfill his obligation since he recited the correct day. But according to the Magen Avraham, one must count, and it is not considered counting if one is unsure as to which day it is, even if one recites both possibilities.
According to the Dvar Avraham, logic dictates that the mitzvah is to count and therefore one must be certain of what day of the omer it is.
However, he brings a proof from an early authority, Rabbeinu Zerachia HaLevi (Ba’al Hamoar), also quoted by the Ran, that seems to hold otherwise. The Ba’al Hamoar asks that just like we keep two days of Yom Tov outside of Eretz
Yisrael (because during the times of the Bais HaMikdash they were unsure as to which day was Yom Tov), so too with sefiras ha’omer, we should count two numbers every night. This very question seems to offer strong support for Rav Yaakov Emden’s position. If the Ba’al Hamoar held that you must be positive as to which number of the omer it is, how could he suggest that we should count two numbers every night? Clearly, he holds that the mitzva is only to recite the omer. Therefore, says the Dvar Avraham, if one was unsure as to which day of the omer it is, he can say both days and fulfill his obligation.
However, many Acharonim (Avnei Nezer, Yorah Deah 248; Sha’arei Yosher, sha’ar ha’spheikus, chap. 5) agree with the opinion that one must be sure of what day it is in order to be called “counting.”
The Taz (Orach Chaim 589:8) holds that one must know what night he is counting even before making the bracha. L’hatchila, one should conduct himself in accordance with this view.
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