Lag B'omer - Acronym Acknowledgement

QUESTION: If someone asked (before you counted sefiras ha'omer), “What night of sefira is tonight?” and you responded, “Today is Lag B’Omer”, was the mitzva of sefira inadvertently fulfilled, and as such, you cannot count sefira with a beracha?

ANSWER: There are three issues that must be considered in this situation:

Lag B’omer is an acronym for “33 days in the omer”. The Shaarei Teshuva (489:6) quotes differing opinions whether one can fulfill the mitzvah by counting with an acronym.

You did not intend to fulfill the mitzvah, and the Talmud states mitzvos tzirichos kavanah (one needs intent to fulfill a mitzvah)? However, the Shulchan Aruch (OC 489:4) rules that if a person was asked, “What day of the sefira is it today?” and the person responds with the correct sefira, he can no longer count with a beracha. The Mishnah Berurah (489:22) explains that according to Shulchan Aruch, kavanah is not essential for a mitzvah d'rabbanan, and Shulchan Aruch concurs with those who maintain that after the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, sefiras ha’omer is a mitzvah d'rabbanan (Rabbinic mitzvah).

You only said that it is the thirty-third day of sefira but did not count the number of weeks. The Mishnah Berurah (489:22) rules that if one did not have intent to count, one does not fulfill the mitzvah unless both days and weeks were mentioned.

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt”l is quoted as maintaining in this situation that one should count again but it is best to hear the beracha from someone else (Ashrei Haish Moadim, p. 426). If there is no one else available to recite the beracha, Mishnah Berurah (489:22) allows one to recite the beracha, since the person did not have intent to perform the mitzvah and both days and weeks were not counted. Conversely, Yalkut Yosef (Sefiras Ha'omer 27) writes that if one forgot to count sefira on the night of Lag B'omer, but during the day he stated, "Today is Lag B'Omer", he may continue counting the next evening with a beracha.

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