Purchases during Sefirat Ha-Omer
21
אפר
2010
Q: Is it permissible to receive something I ordered for my house during Sefirat Ha-Omer?
A: The issue during Sefirat Ha-Omer is not buying new items, but reciting the blessing of "Shehechiyanu." This is not a good time of the year (since 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's students died during this period), how then can one say "Blessed is Hashem…Who has granted us life, sustains us and has brought us to this time"? Who is happy during this time? The Shulchan Aruch does not mention the practice of not reciting "Shehechiyanu" during Sefirat Ha-Omer, but mentions not reciting it during the period of "Bein Ha-Mitzarim" (the Three Weeks before Tisha Be-Av) (Shulchan Aruch, Aruch Chaim 551:17). Righteous people have the custom not to recite "Shehechiyanu" during the Three Weeks, but this practice did not transfer to the period of Sefirat Ha-Omer. We therefore have a double stricture: 1. During the Three Weeks, this practice is not obligatory, but an act of piety. 2. It is mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch during the Three Weeks, but not during Sefirat Ha-Omer. It was only mentioned by later authorities. Nonetheless, it is not even a question in our case, since you are buying items for your home. When you buy items for a group – such as for you, your husband and your children – you do not recite the blessing of "Shehechiyanu," but the blessing of "Ha-Tov Ve-Ha-Meitiv" (Hashem is good to me and does good for others). This means that it is not that there is a question and this is the answer, but there is no question at all.
A: The issue during Sefirat Ha-Omer is not buying new items, but reciting the blessing of "Shehechiyanu." This is not a good time of the year (since 24,000 of Rabbi Akiva's students died during this period), how then can one say "Blessed is Hashem…Who has granted us life, sustains us and has brought us to this time"? Who is happy during this time? The Shulchan Aruch does not mention the practice of not reciting "Shehechiyanu" during Sefirat Ha-Omer, but mentions not reciting it during the period of "Bein Ha-Mitzarim" (the Three Weeks before Tisha Be-Av) (Shulchan Aruch, Aruch Chaim 551:17). Righteous people have the custom not to recite "Shehechiyanu" during the Three Weeks, but this practice did not transfer to the period of Sefirat Ha-Omer. We therefore have a double stricture: 1. During the Three Weeks, this practice is not obligatory, but an act of piety. 2. It is mentioned in the Shulchan Aruch during the Three Weeks, but not during Sefirat Ha-Omer. It was only mentioned by later authorities. Nonetheless, it is not even a question in our case, since you are buying items for your home. When you buy items for a group – such as for you, your husband and your children – you do not recite the blessing of "Shehechiyanu," but the blessing of "Ha-Tov Ve-Ha-Meitiv" (Hashem is good to me and does good for others). This means that it is not that there is a question and this is the answer, but there is no question at all.
Torat HaRav Aviner: Purchases during Sefirat Ha-Omer
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