{"id":5820,"date":"2010-02-02T07:00:48","date_gmt":"2010-02-02T05:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=5820"},"modified":"2010-02-02T07:00:48","modified_gmt":"2010-02-02T05:00:48","slug":"05-02-07","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/05-02-07\/","title":{"rendered":"7 \u2013 One Who forgets to Count an Entire Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Rishonim<\/i> debate [the nature of] the Omer count.\u00a0 According to the Behag, it is one long mitzvah stretching from Pesach to Shavu\u2019ot, as it says, Seven weeks; they shall be complete<\/i> (VaYikra<\/i> 23:15).\u00a0 Therefore, one who forgets to count one day forfeits the mitzvah and may not count thereafter.\u00a0 However, most poskim<\/i> maintain that each night\u2019s count is a separate mitzvah.\u00a0 Hence, one who forgets to count one day loses that day\u2019s mitzvah alone, and he must continue counting the next day, with a blessing (Tosafot, Rosh, Ritva, and more).<\/p>\n
In practice, the halachic authorities have determined that even if one forgets to count an entire day, he must continue counting thereafter, in accordance with the majority opinion (that each day stands alone). \u00a0However, he counts without a blessing, in deference to the opinion that holds that the entire count is one mitzvah (and when he misses a day, he forfeits the mitzvah).\u00a0 Thus, in order not to, possibly, recite a blessing in vain, he counts each subsequent day without a blessing (Sh.A.<\/i> 489:8).<\/p>\n
And in order not to forfeit the blessing, one who misses a day must have in mind to fulfill his obligation by way of hearing the cantor\u2019s blessing.[6]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n This halachah<\/i> demonstrates the tension that accompanies the Omer count.\u00a0 After all, one who skips a day breaks, to a certain degree, the chain that connects the holiday of Pesach to that of Shavu\u2019ot, and forfeits the blessing.\u00a0 It is very important to connect Pesach, which represents holy Jewish nationalism, with Shavu\u2019ot, the day we received the Torah, for Torah cannot exist without the Jewish people and the Jewish people cannot exist without Torah.<\/p>\n