How do people greet each other on Lag B’omer? For example, on a festival, one would say חג שמח. Is there an improper way (according to Halacha) to do so?
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11Lag sameach? :) – Joel K May 03 '18 at 11:02
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@JoelK I suppose we should vote for the best comments in a quarter as well! :-D – Kazi bácsi May 03 '18 at 13:21
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1@JoelK *L'ag (לעג שמח) ;) – Oliver May 03 '18 at 13:38
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@Oliver ;) (Apologies for the lag in my response time...) – Joel K May 03 '18 at 15:41
1 Answers
The traditional formula for the day is "Today is thirty-three days, which is four weeks and five days, of the omer."
This is not actually a greeting, but the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 489:4) specifically recommends not saying "today is x days" before counting the omer with a blessing, because by doing that you fulfill your obligation and can no longer say a blessing before counting it. It would follow that using "today is thirty-three days" could potentially be an improper way to greet someone.
Obviously this doesn't mean that you can't use "today is thirty-three days" as a greeting, but that if you do so for the first time that day, you should say it with a blessing, with the intent to fulfill the commandment, and with the number of weeks in order to fulfill the commandment in the best possible way.
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1I think the OP may be looking for an equivalent of something like ‘Good Yom Tov’ – Dr. Shmuel May 03 '18 at 12:27
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@Shmuel I understood that, but he also asked if there is an improper way to do so – b a May 03 '18 at 12:31
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3Saying "You remember our ex-coworker Fred? He was arrested yesterday on fraud charges" is also an improper way. So are lots of other things. – msh210 May 03 '18 at 12:56