Cutting Fingernails, Moving Into a New Home and Hosting a Hanukat Ha’bayit During the Omer
Some authorities were of the opinion that cutting nails is permissible during the period of Sefirat Ha’omer only on Friday in preparation for Shabbat. Others, however, ruled that it is permissible to cut one’s nails during the Omer without any restriction, and Halacha follows this lenient position. This is the ruling of Rav Haim Palachi (Turkey, 1788-1869), in his work Mo’ed Le’chol Hai (6).
The Halachic authorities also disputed the question of whether one may move into a new residence during the Omer period. Some authorities allowed moving only on Rosh Hodesh Iyar and on Lag Ba’omer, but Hacham Ovadia Yosef, in his Hazon Ovadia – Hilchot Yom Tob (p. 270), followed the lenient position, that one may move into a new residence at any time during the Omer. It is also permissible to host the traditional Hanukat Ha’bayit celebration for a new home, as long as no music is played at the event (Hazon Ovadia, ibid., p. 271).
