MISC section - contents: Q If one missed a day of sefirat ha'omer and is now serving as the chazan for Ma'ariv in a place where it is customary that the chazan recites the sefira with a beracha out loud, may he do so? A This matter has been debated by the Acharonim, and it is worth- while to understand the various, logical arguments and their relative strength to help decide how to act. We will start with the assumption that once one misses a day of sefirat ha'omer he may not continue counting with a beracha, because the 49 days constitute one mitzva of counting (Shulchan Aruch, OC 489:8). The Pri Chadash (ad loc.:8) raises a suggestion that although the beracha is inappropriate personally, it is different if he is the congregation's representative for the public recital of sefirat ha'omer. Then the obligation and the ability to make a beracha may exist on the public level, as it does by Chazarat Hashatz, even if everyone present is capable of saying Shemoneh Esrei himself. Alternately, the Beit HaLevi reportedly (see Mikraei Kodesh (Frank) Pesach II, 66) suggested that someone in the minyan can be asked to refrain from making his own beracha and be yotzei with the person who forgot a day. That way, the beracha becomes appropriate based on the rule that one can make a beracha on someone else's behalf even if the person making the beracha is not doing the mitzva for himself at that time (Rosh Hashana 29a). The Pri Chadash (ibid.) rejects these possibilities because the person who forgot a day, assuming he is unable to fulfill the mitzva of sefirat ha'omer, is akin to one who is not obligated in the mitzva. Such a person is incapable of making the beracha to be motzi someone else (Rosh Hashana, ibid.). He reasons that although the person in question is generally obligated in sefirat ha'omer, the fact that he has no practical obliga- tion at this time, makes him equivalent to the following case. The Yerushalmi says that one whose obligation to read Megilat Esther is on 14 Adar cannot read on behalf of those who are obligated on 15 Adar. The Birkei Yosef (489:19) cites (but rejects) those who deny the Pri Chadash's comparison, as follows. In the case of megilla, the person in question has no obligation to read on that day. In contrast, our chazan is obligated today and it is just a technical (halachic) impediment that prevents him from fulfilling the mitzva. Rav Frank (ibid.) reasons that since the Talmud Bavli posits that the responsibility to help another Jew fulfill his mitzva (arvut) makes it considered as if he has a personal obligation, the Bavli must reject the aforementioned Yerushalmi. While there is not a clear conclusion on the matter, the
majority opinion seems to be like the Pri Chadash, that the person who missed a
day should not use the Beit HaLevi's trick to enable him to make the beracha
(see Sha'are Teshuva 489:20; Yabia Omer VIII, OC 46). To the contrary, he should
have in mind to be yotzei with one who has not yet missed a day. Ask the Rabbi Q&A is part of Hemdat Yamim, the weekly parsha
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version). Please leave the subject blank. Ask the Vebbe Rebbe is partially
funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel The Rabbis applied the concept of lashon hara not only to speaking evil of other people, but also to speaking evil about the Land of Israel - in particular to the spies who tried to dissuade the Israelites from entering the Land by saying that it was 'a land that devours its inhabitants.' The Rabbis explain that the reason that the story of the spies follows immediately upon the story of Miriam and her tzara'at is that just as Miriam spoke lashon hara about her brother, so the spies spoke lashon hara about the Land of Israel. We see then that we should not say bad things about the Land of Israel, especially if such talk will dissuade people from coming to the Land. It is easy to fall into the habit of complaining about Israel.
We must make all efforts to refrain from voicing negative comments. We should do
what the rabbis of the Talmud did (see end of massekhet Ketubot) - try to
improve conditions in Israel so as not to give people any reason to complain. TORAH THOUGHTS as contributed by Aloh Naaleh members for
publication in the Orthodox Union's 'Torah Insights', a weekly Torah publication
on Parshat Ha'Shavuah The correct answer can be found further on in this column. To
read it, you might want to turn the page upside down and read the words in a
mirror. Clarification: Counting the wrong night is equivalent to not
having counted. It logically follows that the one counting correctly later the
same night counts with a bracha, since he hasn't counted yet. One can correct
the mistaken count within 2-3 seconds, the time span known as TOCH K'DEI DIBUR. Dear Torah Tidbits Reader, Of course, you can show your gratitude to the Israel Center by attending our upcoming celebratory Yom Yerushalayim Dinner or by placing an ad in the Dinner Journal. Might we humbly suggest that shul members might like to get together to take out an ad in our Dinner Journal. As you have counted on us - week in and week out for the Torah Tidbits - we now turn to you for your commitment in participating in our once-a-year fund- raising drive. We look forward personally to greeting each one of you at the
Dinner. We know that we can count on you! Many years ago, people used to ask R' Moshe Feinstein k"mz
questions about Yom HaAtzmaut, he demurred and said "Ich reid nisht politik!"
[AG sent a subsequent email with the following clarification: Re what I wrote last night about Rav Moshe's p'sak, in the event that you might want to publish some of the things that I wrote (at your discretion), I have to make an important clarification. R' Moshe did NOT say that one should say Hallel on Yom HaAtzmaut. What he said was that if one follows the p'sak of the Chief Rabbinate regarding saying Hallel, then whatever day the Rabbinate says that one should say Hallel, that is the day one says Hallel. ] AG's first email continues... Anyway, there were Secular Zionist leaders who wanted to
schedule the signing of the Proclama- tion on Leil Shabbat at midnight. The
Religious Zionist as well as the Hareidi (Yes! Agudat Israel and Poalei Aguda
signed Megilat HaAtzmaut) leaders protested and the signing was rescheduled for
Friday at 4:00pm. There was no sha'on kayitz that year. It was the closest one
could have gotten to the hour of the termination of the Mandate. We also received a fax questioning our treatment of Yom HaAtzmaut as a religious holiday in the first place. That same message "pointed out" what seems to be an unbalanced presentation of Yom HaAtzmaut and Religious Zionism. As to not being balanced, I'd say that is an accurate description of the situation. The views expressed in Torah Tidbits concerning the State of Israel, Yom HaAtzmaut, Religious Zionism, and various and sundry other topics are mine (Phil) and not necessarily those of the Israel Center, the OU, or anyone involved in either organization. As to the fax-writer's first point, I repeat what I've said and written on many occasions, that the establishment of the State of Israel in Eretz Yisrael is a significant event in Jewish History and one for which all Jews should express their deep gratitude to HaKadosh Baruch Hu for restoring Eretz Yisrael into Jewish hands, for there being a place on Earth (specifically and especially for that place being Eretz Yisrael) where Jews can live without quota restrictions, where Shabbat is the national day of rest (even though not everyone keeps Shabbat the way it should be kept), where the Jewish Calendar is official... If the State of Israel is not all we'd like to see it be, then
we have to work harder to spread Torah ideals, values, learning, and mitzvot in
a pleasant way... thus hastening the Complete Redemption. bear two or three young, which are so fully developed they can
run and jump about an hour after birth... the hyrax is probably the SHAFAN
mentioned in Torah and Tanach. It has a complex digestive system and other
similarities to true cud-chewers, which might be why the Torah calls it a MAALEI
GEIRA. In a sense we are asked to consider what is the meaning and purpose of the new life that has been created. And by responding that the mother's Tum'ah reflects the removal of the new life from within her, we are also saying that this new human being has an elevated mission for which it was brought into the world. Abuse of this calling can create another form of Tum'ah known as Tsora'at, also discussed in our text. Tsora'at, a form of skin disease, is suffered by the Metzora which the rabbis tell us is an acronym of the term "Motzi Shem Ra", one who talks slanderously of others. The minute and multifarious variations of this ailment seem to
reflect the multiple ways in which speech - that faculty which distinguishes Man
from beast - can be abused in human relationships. No wonder the discussion of
Tum'ah in humans follows a description of what animals the Jew may or may not
eat. For surely we should be as careful about what goes out of our mouths as
what goes in to them. [The Parshat Tazri'a-M'tzora Homepage]
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