Sefirah Archives | Rosh Yeshiva Responds

26 04, 2026

Counting the Omer Early

April 26th, 2026|Moadim, Orach Chayim, Sefirah, Tefillah|

QUESTION

Do you have any guidance on counting sefirat ha’omer at shul on erev Shabbat or erev yom tov when we daven early?

ANSWER

It depends on how early you are planning to count.

If you will be counting after shekiyah, then I think that, given how easy and common it is for people to forget and miss counting, one should definitely count with a berakhah, and say: “If you remember, please count again after X:XX.” This is not to suggest that there is any problem if they do not count again.

This is

19 04, 2026

When the Rabbi Forgets to Count the Omer

April 19th, 2026|Orach Chayim, Pesach, Sefirah, Tefillah|

QUESTION

If a rabbi forgets to count Sefirat HaOmer for an entire day, may he continue counting with a berakhah?

ANSWER

This question arises more often than one might expect. At times, even rabbis forget and miss a day. The standard halakhah is that one who misses a full day of counting the Omer continues counting without a berakhah (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 489:8;

6 04, 2026

Counting the Omer with a Berakhah During the Day with Students

April 6th, 2026|Berakhot, Chinukh - Education, Moadim, Orach Chayim, Sefirah|

QUESTION

Can I have my students count the Omer with a berakhah during the daytime, each day of class during the Omer?

One potentially complicating factor is that they will have already heard the count earlier in the day during loudspeaker morning announcements without a berakhah. However, most students talk over those loudspeaker announcements or are otherwise not paying attention then.

My thought is that this is a valuable chinukh moment because the students, by and large, don’t even know yet what Sefirat HaOmer is, nor what it looks like to do it, and/or have

20 04, 2021

Does Someone Who Becomes Bar Mitzvah During Sefirat HaOmer Count With a Berakhah?

April 20th, 2021|Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Berakhot, Orach Chayim, Sefirah|

QUESTION

Baltimore, MD

Assuming counting the omer is one mitzvah for the entire period, if you turn 13 in the middle of the counting, are you allowed to say the blessing since there was no obligation to count prior to turning 13? What if you know ahead of time that you will miss a day of counting in the future (could be because you are flying across the world which will make you miss a day), should you be saying the blessings prior to missing a day knowing you will not perform the mitzvah in its entirety?

ANSWER

If you think about it, it comes

31 03, 2021

Shome’a Ke’oneh for Sefirat HaOmer

March 31st, 2021|Moadim, Orach Chayim, Sefirah|

QUESTION

New York, NY

Does shome’a ke’oneh work for sefirat HaOmer? In other words, if a woman listened to her husband saying the berakhah and counting the omer for the 1st two nights, and he had in mind to motzei her and she had in mind to be yotzei through him, can she herself continue to count with a berakhah on night 3?

ANSWER

It is directly discussed in Mishnah Berurah 489:5,

ה) לספור לעצמו – דכתיב וספרתם לכם משמע שהמצוה חל על כל יחיד ויחיד והנה משמע מזה דבספירה אינו כמו בשאר מצות התלוי באמירה לענין קידוש והבדלה וכיו”ב דאם שמע לחבירו ונתכוין לצאת דיוצא בזה משום

Sefirat Ha’Omer: Whose Minhag Counts?

7 05, 2020

Sefirat Ha’Omer: Whose Minhag Counts?

May 7th, 2020|Lifecycles, Marriage and Family, Sefirah|

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (1920-2013), born in Iraq and Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, was the preeminent Sephardi posek of the previous generation. His responsa are collected in two multi-volume works: Yabia Omer (11 volumes), which contain his lengthy responsa, and Yachaveh Da’at (6 volumes), which contain his short-form responsa based on a weekly radio show of his where he answered listeners’ questions. Rav Ovadia Yosef is known for his encyclopedic knowledge of the entirety of Rabbinic literature, from the Talmud through all later-day halakhic authorities. In his responsa, he presents in a highly organized, clear and

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