Question: My son turns Bar Mitzva during the omer. Can he continue counting each night with a beracha?
Answer: The Shulchan Aruch (OC 489:8) writes that if one forgets to count the omer one day, they should resume counting without a beracha. The Minchas Chinuch raises the question of whether a boy who becomes bar mitzva during the omer should continue counting with a beracha, ultimately concluding that he should.
While his counting
before his bar mitzva was only miderabanan due to chinuch,
it still contributes to his new mitzva mideroaisa.
According to the Ben Ish Chai (Rav Berachos 2:5; Bereishis 2:14) it is preferable for a boy turning bar
mitzva on Friday night to delay reciting kiddush until nacht. R’ Ovadia Yosef (Yabia Omer OC 3:27; 28) extends this
principle even to mitzvos derabannan such as kiddush
levana. If a boy approaching bar mitzva can delay performing the mitzva
until he has become bar mitzva, he should do so. Moreover, any counting he did before reaching bar mitzva was merely for chinuch and does not fulfil the real mitzva
of counting once he reaches bar mitzva. Consequently, he should no longer
recite the beracha when counting (See Birkei Yosef 20). Similarly, the Avnei Nezer (539) argues that just
as one who performed a mitzva while mentally
incompetent hasn't fulfilled
their obligation, children are not considered to have fulfilled the mitzva.
Hence, he cannot continue counting with a beracha.
Nonetheless, the consensus of poskim is
that a boy continues counting with a beracha upon reaching bar mitzva.
The Ksav Sofer (OC 99) notes that there is a machlokes between Rashi and
Tosafos regarding whether the mitzva of chinuch lies on the
father or the child. We pasken like Tosafos that the mitzva is
the child’s obligation. Thus, his counting as a child counts towards his
counting post bar mitzva (See Maharam Schick OC 269).
Likewise,
the Aruch Hashulchan (OC 489:15), R’ Zvi Pesach Frank (Har Zvi OC 2:76), R’ Shlomo Zalman
Auerbach (Halichos Shlomo, Pesach 11:10), R’ Benzion Abba Shaul (Ohr Letzion
1:36) and R’ Menashe Klein (Mishne Halachos
11:397) write that a boy who has counted every night with a beracha
should continue doing so after his bar mitzva.
The Shaarei
Teshuva (489:20) and Kaf Hachaim (OC 489:94) emphasize that this
holds especially true for a boy about to turn bar mitzva as he is deemed ‘mufla
samuch laish’, approaching maturity (See Nidda 46b). Additionally, the Minchas Elazar (3:60) argues
that since the beracha itself is miderabanan, Chazal would
not penalise him for fulfilling a mitzva in his youth, especially one
that is also miderabbanan.
In conclusion, a boy who has diligently counted
the omer every night should continue counting with a beracha
after his bar mitzva.
