Sfeikah DeYoma of Sefirat Ha’Omer By Kivi Davis (‘23)
2022/5782
We are currently in the time period known as Sefirat Ha’Omer. During this time, we are commanded to count the days and weeks from the second day of Pesach, when the Korban Omer was brought in the Beit HaMikdash, all the way until Shavu’ot seven weeks later. Shavu’ot is not given a date in the Torah, rather it is the day after the 49th day of the Omer.
In Chutz La’Aretz, we have a Minhag to keep two days of every Yom Tov because we used to not be sure which day Yom Tov actually was. The second day of Yom Tov is a carbon copy of the first day in everything we do and say (for the most part). If that’s the case, why don’t we count two days of the Omer everyday? We are commanded to start counting on the second day of Pesach, but we don’t know when the second day is!! Maybe it's the second day that we keep as Yom Tov like we count now, but maybe it’s the day we keep as the first day of Chol HaMo’eid! Why don’t we count day two and day one on the third day of Pesach? We aren’t sure whether it is really the second day of the Omer, or if it’s the first! Furthermore, if Shavu’ot isn’t given a calendar date in the Torah just the day after the Omer, then why do we have two days in Chutz La’Aretz. Either we should be counting two days of the Omer everyday, and then the first day of Shavu’ot is either Shavu’ot or the 49th day of the Omer, or we only count one day of the Omer everyday, and the 50th day should the only day of Shavu’ot.
There are three answers to this question. The first answer is the Ran based on Shemini Atzeret. On Yom Tov Sheini Shel Gali’ot, we make a Berachah on all the Mitzvot HaYom so that people will treat the day with the same respect as real Yom Tov, even though usually when it comes to Berachot we do everything we can to not make a Berachah LeVatalah. Yet, on Shemini Atzeret, the Gemara tells us that we have to eat in the Sukkah because maybe it is still the seventh day of Sukkot, namely Hoshanah Rabbah, but we don’t make a Berachah of Leisheiv BaSukkah because maybe it really is Shemini Atzeret. Why is this so? The Ran answers that to make the Kiddush of Shemini Atzeret, and to Daven and act like the Yom Tov of Shemini Atzeret, it would be a Tarti DeSatri, conflicting, to then make a Leisheiv, a Berachah on being commanded to eat in the Sukkah on Sukkot (and not Shemini Atzeret). So too, by Shavu’ot, it would be a Tarti DeSatri to act and speak like Shavu’ot, but then also to count the 49th day of the Omer, which by definition is Erev Shavu’ot. Similarly, every day of the Omer, you can’t count one day as both the 3rd day and the 4th day. It’s not possible!
The second answer is offered by the Devar Avraham. The Devar Avraham says that the commandment to count (like by Ma’aser Beheimah, Shivah Neki’im, or Sefirat Ha’Omer) by definition has to be certain. If we are not sure which day of the Omer it is and we count two days, by definition we are not counting.
The third answer is presented by the Rav. The Rav explains that Sfeikah DeYoma only applies to things we do because of Kedushat HaYom, for example, making Kiddush or not doing Melacha. Counting the days of the Omer has nothing to do with the Kedushat HaYom, even though it happens to coincide with the holiday of Pesach. It is based on the Korban Omer that was brought on the 16th day of Nissan.