Q&A from the Bais HaVaad Halacha Hotline

Out for the Count

May 1 , 2025

Q I will be undergoing surgery during Sfirah and will probably miss counting that day. Should I count even now without a bracha?

A The reason one counts without a bracha after missing a day is that some Rishonim, including the Bahag, hold that if one day’s counting is missed, the sfirah lacks the quality of temimos (completeness), so the mitzvah can no longer be fulfilled. Following this, the Chida (Moreh Be’etzba 217) writes that if a day is missed, the brachos recited previously were levatalah (in vain). Therefore, if you anticipate that you will miss a day, it stands to reason that you shouldn’t begin counting with a bracha, to avoid the possibility of bracha levatalah. But R’ Betzalel Stern (Betzeil Hachochmah 5:45) writes, based on Shu”t Yad Yitzchak, that a person whose doctor says he will not live to finish Sfirah may count with a bracha, because temimos is only lacking if someone is capable of counting but fails to do so. This svara can be applied to your case.

Some dispute this entire premise and say that even according to the Bahag, missing a day does not turn the earlier brachos into brachos levatalah. The Ben Ish Chai (Rav Pe’alim 3:32) says that although the complete mitzvah is not fulfilled, there is a partial mitzvah, so the brachos are not levatalah.

Others say that even the Bahag agrees that earlier counts are not retroactively pointless. Only future countings are invalid, so there is no issue with the past brachos (see Kovetz Halachos perek 4 footnote 15).

In practice, one may rely on those that permit the bracha, especially given that many Rishonim contend that missing a day does not impact temimos (see Kovetz Halachos 4:13 and Piskei Teshuvos 489:22).