One Who Heard Someone Else Say the Beracha Before He Counted

One Who Heard Someone Else Say the Beracha Before He Counted Day: Wednesday Date: April 15, 2015 Parshat: Shemini Yalkut Yosef: 489 Ideally the beracha on Sefirat haomer should be said while standing. Nevertheless one who sat while saying the beracha does not need to count again. It is best for one to say the beracha himself and to count himself. However if a person had in mind to fulfuill his oblgation by listening to another person count and the other person had in mind to count for him he has fulfilled his requirement and does not count again. Some poskim hold that in order for a person to be counted as having done a mitzvah he had to have in mind at the time he did it that he wanted to do the mitzvah. Other poskim hold that even if he didn't have in mind that he is doing the mitzvah, as long as he did the act he has fulfilled his requirement. According to those poskim a person who heard the Shliah Tzibur or another person saying the beracha and counting the Omer has fulfilled his oblgation and may not count with a beracha afterward. Therefore, in order to remove ones self from any doubt, everyone at the beginning of the days of Sefirat Haomer should say explicitly that he does not want to fulfill his obligation by hearing another person say the beracha, only by saying it himself. The DSH is brought to you in memory of Rabbi Mordechai ben Daniel. Please visit us online at sephardichalacha.org