Count Me In: Counting Women and the Omer

Counting the Omer

Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim (Guide for the Perplexed) 3:43

Shavuot is the time of the Giving of the Torah. In order to honor and elevate this day we count the days from the previous festival until it [arrives], like someone who is waiting for a loved one to arrive, who counts the days by the hours. This is the reason for counting the Omer from the day that we left Egypt until the day of the Giving of the Torah, as this was the ultimate purpose of leaving Egypt: “And I will bring them to Me” (Shemot 19:4).

Sefer HaChinuch, Mitzvah #306

The reason that we count from the [bringing of the] Omer “So many days have passed in our counting,” rather than counting how many days remain, shows our great desire to reach the time [of Shavuot]. Therefore, we do not want to mention at the beginning of our counting such a large number of days that remain until we reach the offering of the Two Loaves on Atzeret (Shavuot). We should not find it difficult [to understand] that once we have passed halfway through the seven weeks we do not count down the few days remaining, as one should not change the nature of the counting in the middle.

Why do we begin counting from the day after [Pesach] and not from the first day? The answer is that the first day is entirely dedicated to remembering the great miracle of the Exodus from Egypt, which is a sign and evidence of [the fact that God] created the world, and of the existence of Divine Providence. We may not mix [something else into] that happiness and mention a different idea with it. As such, the counting begins from the second day.

Wikipedia: Jewish Prayer

Orthodox Judaism regards halakha as requiring Jewish men to pray three times daily... Orthodox Jewish women are required to pray at least daily, with no specific time requirement, but the system of multiple daily prayer services is regarded as optional. (Footnote: This view is based on Maimonides' view.) Conservative Judaism also regards the halakhic system of multiple daily services as mandatory. Since 2002, Conservative Jewish women have been regarded as having undertaken a communal obligation to pray the same prayers at the same times as men, with traditionalist communities and individual women permitted to opt out. Reform and Reconstructionist congregations do not regard halakha as binding and hence regard appropriate prayer times as matters of personal spiritual decision rather than a matter of religious requirement.

According to the Talmud women are generally exempted from obligations that have to be performed at a certain time...

Orthodox authorities have been careful to note that although women have been exempted from praying at specific fixed times, they are not exempted from the obligation of prayer itself... Many Jews rely on the ruling of the (Ashkenazi) Rabbi Avraham Gombiner in his Magen Avraham commentary on the Shulkhan Arukh, ... that women are only required to pray once a day, in any form they choose, so long as the prayer contains praise of (brakhot), requests to (bakashot), and thanks of (hodot) God.

Counting Women in a Minyan

May women count in the minyan and serve as prayer leaders?

Conservative Respona: Since most Conservative congregations count women in the minyan, the answer to the question must by necessity turn to analysis of the proposed halakhaic bases for why women may count in the minyan and serve as prayer leaders, as well as address the question of whether women have an equal obligation to prayer with men.

Following the analysis, a new proposal is offered. The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards permitted women to count in the minyan, and, by extension, to serve as prayer leaders in 1973. However, the issue has continued to engender debate and halakhic positions have continued to crystallize since then as the Conservative movement has become more and more egalitarian in its profile. A brief overview of the various stages and positions in the halakhic discussion of women and minyan within the Conservative movement is necessary before an evaluation and new position can be proposed.