The Rav on Three Issues Related to Sefirat HaOmer
May 13, 2008 This morning, we covered three topics on Sefirat HaOmer as discussed in R. Hershel Schachter’s Nefesh Harav (1994), his intellectual biography of R. Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (1903-1993).
I. Shaving (p. 191) By way of background, Rabbi Kermaier read the relevant section of the Shulchan Aruch. While the mechaber (1488-1575), defining Sephardic practice, says that one must wait till the morning of the 34th day of the Omer to get a haircut, the Rema (1520-72), defining Ashkenazic practice, says we may cut our hair on the 33rd day, Lag B’Omer. The Sephardim permit haircuts on the 33rd day in a year such as this, when Lag B’Omer falls on a Friday. Also, it is worth noting that Ashkenazim have differing customs, with some observing the restrictions of Sefirah from the start of the count till Lag B’Omer, and others from Rosh Chodesh Iyar till the Shloshet Yemei Hagbalah. Rav Soloveitchik believed that the customary periods of mourning on the Jewish calendar are modeled to comply with existing categories in halacha. Thus, he compared the Three Weeks to the twelve months of mourning after the passing of a parent, the Nine Days (or shavua shechal bo, depending on whether one follows Ashkenazic or Sephardic practice) to shloshim, and Tisha B’Av itself to shiva. He placed Sefirah in the same category as the Three Weeks, i.e., analogous to the twelve months. Accordingly, the Rav held that those who shave daily, such that they appear unkempt if they let a day or two go, may shave during Sefirah and during the Three Weeks, before the Nine Days. During the Nine Days, however, which are analogous to shloshim, one should not shave. II. When Sefirah Is Observed (p. 192) One of the Rav’s distinguished students got married in the last week of Nisan. The student observed the restrictions of Sefirah from Rosh Chodesh Iyar, but what should his colleagues who observed the first 33 days do? When they asked, the Rav immediately answered that they should attend the wedding, because they have a mitzvah to bring happiness to the bride and groom. (The second attachment to this summary is a teshuva from R. Moshe Feinstein’s (1895-1986) Igros Moshe cited by R. Schachter in connection with this issue.) III. Counting Sefirah When there Is Doubt on the Day (pp. 190-91) Many Rishonim asked why we don’t count Sefirah in the alternative each night, because of the doubt of which day it is. That is, we observe an extra day of Yom Tov because of this doubt, so why don’t we say: “Today is either the fourth or the fifth day of the Omer”? The Rav said that he had heard from the Rav of Kovno that one who counts in the alternative does not fulfill his obligation, because counting in doubt is not counting. The Rav was troubled by the issue, however. After Sanhedrin was no longer able to declare Rosh Chodesh (the New Moon), we did not have a fixed calendar until the days of Abaye and Rava. During that period, there truly was a doubt about the correct day, and yet the Gemara is silent on the question of what the Amora’im did. Is it possible that they simply did not count Sefirah?
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