[Avodah] Sefiroh

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, April 4, 2007 10:42 pm, RallisW at aol.com wrote:
: Were the restrictions of Sefiroh instituted, because the talmidim of Rabi
: Akiva died or because of the Crusades? Are there many minhogim, in regard to
: when one should observe the restrictions of sefiroh?

The first two se'ifim of the Arukh haShulchan on omer seem to say that omer
practices were instituted in two stages: After the death of R' Aqiva's
talmidim,
people stopped making weddings during this time. After the Crusades, this was
escalated to more complete aveilus.

At the time of Tach veTat people didn't play instruments from one Lag baOmer
to the next, or wear finery for the first three years -- also from one Lag
baOmer to another. So, there seems to be a Tach veTat connection to omer as
well.

Last, in previous discussions I floated the idea that omer is unique in that
it was a period of simchah in the BHMQ that isn't mandated lehalakhah.
Therefore, it's a time when the loss of avodas BHMQ could be felt without
"vesamachta bechagekha" prohibiting mourning. IIRC, someone found a maqor for
the thought.

Pashtus in the gemara is that R' Aqiva's talmidim died in the first 32 days of
omer. Emico y"sh's Crusaders went on their rampage in late Iyyar/Iyar. This
means that the AhS's rationales for the aveilus of Omer recommend different
date ranges. I think this sufficiently explains the number of minhagim.

R' Akiva Miller posted to mail-jewish a list of various opinions about Omer
<http://www.ottmall.com/mj_ht_arch/v19/mj_v19i39.html>.
I went through his meqoros and came out with a modified version of the chart
here on Avodah <http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol03/v03n043.shtml#15> (11
shitos!).

Tir'u baTov!
-mi

-- 
Micha Berger             Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
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Fax: (270) 514-1507                            - Rav Yisrael Salanter