Also Visit:  MishnaBerurah.com  DailyGemara.com  LearnTorah.com  DailyTehillim.com

Sunday, August 1, 2010 /

Visit our new site: www.DAILYTEHILLIM.com

Select Halacha by date:

Or by subject:

Or by keyword:
Search titles and keywords only
Search All    

Weekly Perasha Insights
Shabbat Morning Derasha on the Parasha
Register To Receive The Daily Halacha By Email / Unsubscribe
Daily Parasha Insights via Live Teleconference
Download Special Tefilot
Subscribe To Receive Rabbi Mansour’s Weekly 75 Minute Lectures on CD or Casette By Mail
A Glossary Of Terms Frequently Referred To In The Daily Halachot
About The Sources Frequently Quoted In The Halachot
About Rabbi Eli Mansour
Purchase Passover Haggadah with In Depth Insights by Rabbi Eli Mansour and Rabbi David Sutton
About DailyHalacha.Com
Contact us
Useful Links
Seudat Shelishit Sponsorship
Back to Home Page

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

Subscribe to DailyHalacha podcast
  Clip Length: 4:57 (mm:ss)
      
(File size: 1.1 MB)
(File size:1.68 MB)
Lag Ba'omer: Haircuts, Reciting She'hecheyanu, Weddings, and Listening to Music

We find different practices among the Sepharadiim with regard to the custom to refrain from haircutting (and, for many, shaving) during the Omer period to commemorate the tragic death of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students.   One practice follows the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch which permits haircutting from the 34th day of the Omer, meaning, the day following Lag Ba'omer.  There is some discussion as to whether this position would allow haircutting already during the night after Lag Ba'omer, since in Halacha the new day begins at night, or if the prohibition continues until the morning of the 34th day of the Omer.  The rationale underlying the second possibility is that the principle of "Miktzat Ha'yom Ke'kulo," which allows us to consider part of a day equivalent to a complete day, applies only in the daytime hours.  Indeed, Halacha generally follows this second view, and thus those who observe the Shulchan Aruch's ruling may take haircuts (and shave, for those who refrain from shaving during the Omer) only from the morning of the 34th day of the Omer.  (See Hazon Ovadya, Yom Tob, page 261.)

(The Halacha above pertains to most years when the 33rd of the Omer does not fall out on a Friday.  For year's when the the 33rd does fall out on a Friday, please see the Halacha entitled "Lag BaOmer- Taking Hair Cuts On 33rd of Omer when the 34th Falls Out on Shabbat" dated May 23, 2008.) 

Children, however, may take haircuts already on the day of Lag Ba'omer.  Many follow the custom – which is indeed a proper custom to observe – to cut a boy's hair for the first time on the third Lag Ba'omer after his birth.  Those who follow this custom may cut the child's hair on the third Lag Ba'omer, and need not wait until the next day.

With regard to haircutting for women, the practice among the Sepharadim is to allow women to have their hair cut throughout the Omer period, even before Lag Ba'omer.

The Arizal (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, Israel, 1534-1572) advanced a much different approach, viewing the entire Omer period as a period of judgment and as a type of "Chol Ha'mo'ed" between the festivals of Pesach and Shavuot.  He therefore held that one may not cut his hair or shave throughout the entire Omer period, until Erev Shavuot.  Everyone should follow the practice he is accustomed to observing.  (See Hazon Ovadya, Yom Tob, page 264.)

We observe the practice to refrain from reciting the Beracha of She'hecheyanu – such as over a new suit – during the period of the Omer, until Lag Ba'omer.  One may recite She'hecheyanu on Lag Ba'omer and thereafter.  Furthermore, for a Bat or Bar Mitzvah, one may make a She’hecheyanu on that day.

From which point may a wedding be held during the Omer period?

Chacham Ovadia Yosef rules that under extenuating circumstances, such as when the wedding cannot be held on a different day, one may get married on the night after Lag Ba'omer (the night of the 34th day of the Omer).  Preferably, however, one should not get married until the night after the 34th of the Omer.  This is indeed the Minhag. (See Hazon Ovadya, Yom Tob, page 254.)

Lag Ba'omer is observed as a festive day to celebrate the great contribution of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in authoring the Zohar and thereby making a profound impact upon the world.  As such, even though we refrain from haircutting until after Lag Ba'omer, it is permissible to listen to music on Lag Ba'omer (assuming, of course, that the music is appropriate) only in order to celebrate the occasion.  Otherwise, music is forbidden until the 34th day.

Summary: Some Sephardim have the practice to refrain from haircutting and shaving throughout the Omer, until Erev Shavuot, while others permit haircutting and shaving on the day following Lag Ba'omer.  Women may cut their hair even before Lag Ba'omer, and three-year-old boys may have their first haircut on Lag Ba'omer itself.  One may not recite She'hecheyanu during the Omer until Lag Ba'omer.  Weddings should not be held until the day following Lag Ba'omer, though under extenuating circumstances one may get married on the night after Lag Ba'omer.  One may listen to music already on Lag Ba'omer only as part of the celebration of this festive day.

 

Click photo for larger view Weekly Parasha Insight Shabbat Morning Derasha on the Parasha What's this?

Recent Daily Halachot...
The Prohibition Against Writing on Shabbat
Placing a Raw Food Next to a Hot Food on a Plate on Shabbat
The Mukse Status of Nut Shells and Olive Pits
The Proper Way to Discard Nutshells and Eggshells on Shabbat
Is a Wife Bound by Her Husband’s Early Acceptance of Shabbat?
Savings Accounts That Pay Interest on a Per-Day Basis
If One Did Not Recite Kiddush on Friday Night
Smelling and Distributing Snuff in the Synagogue
Halachot Pertaining to Lel Shabbat: Covering the Table, Reciting Shalom Alechem, and Covering the Bread
Spraying Perfume or Deodorant on Shabbat
Inviting a Non-Observant Jew to a Simha or to One’s Home on Shabbat
Placing Cold Liquid Near the Stove on Shabbat
Reciting the Beracha of “Boreh Me’oreh Ha’esh” During Habdala
Pouring Into a Sink With a Strainer on Shabbat
Reading by an Electric Light on Shabbat

Page of 113
  1682 Halachot found