DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 546 KB)
If One is Unsure Whether or Not He Counted the Omer

If a person is unsure whether or not he counted a day of the Omer, and cannot determine conclusively if he had counted or if he had missed that day, he continues counting the Omer each night with a Beracha. This is the explicit ruling of the Shulhan Aruch.

However, this Halacha applies only in cases of general uncertainty whether or not a day of counting was missed. But if a person knows for certain that he did not count one night, and is unsure whether or not he counted during the next day, then he continues counting without a Beracha. This is the ruling of the Erech Ha’shulhan (Rabbi Yishak Taib, Tunisia, 1786-1828). Since he knows with certainty that he had not counted at night, he may not count with a Beracha unless he knows for certain that he counted during the next day.

If a person knows for certain that he counted, but is unsure whether he counted the correct number, as he suspects that he might have counted incorrectly, he may continue counting with a Beracha. This is the ruling of Hacham Ovadia Yosef in Hazon Ovadia – Hilchot Yom Tob (p. 238).

If one did not count the Omer until the end of the night, and he is unsure whether he counted while it was still nighttime or whether it was already the beginning of the next day, he continues counting with a Beracha. This is the ruling of the Maharash Engel (5:48).

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
Lag Ba’omer – The Reasons for Celebrating; Reciting Yehi Shem, Visiting Meron, and Other Customs
The Custom of Giving a Boy His First Haircut at Age Three
Visiting Meron on Lag Ba’omer
Lag Ba’omer – Shaving on Friday When Lag Ba’omer Falls on Sunday; The Reason for Celebrating; Fasts, Eulogies and Tahanunim on Lag Ba’omer
Shaving and Haircutting on Lag Ba'omer That Occurs on Friday
Is It Permissible for Sephardim To Take A Hair Cut On The 33rd Day Of The Omer When The 34th Day Falls Out On Shabbat
Sefirat Ha'omer – A Person Who is Unsure Whether He Counted
May Women and Children Take Haircuts During the Omer Period?
Sefirat Ha'omer – May Women Count the Omer?
If a Person Reads a Text Message Informing Him of the Omer Counting, May He Still Count with a Beracha?
Sefirat Ha’omer – The Proper Way to Respond if Somebody Asks Which Day to Count
Guidelines for One Who Forgets to Count the Omer or Cannot Remember if He Counted
Sefirat HaOmer: If One Counted the Days but Not the Weeks
Sefirat Ha’omer – If a Person Counted Either the Days or Weeks Incorrectly
If One Forgets or Doesn't Remember If He Counted The Omer
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found