Question:
Hello,
I was in the hospital and was not careful about reviewing laws of the Omer. I watched an online tape of a friend performing in a dance competition to music. I watched it multiple times. was this terrible?
Answer:
Thank you for your question.
What you did was incorrect, and you should know for the future not to do this. Listening to such music is in violation of the minhag not to listen to music during this period. Be careful to be more careful about it for the future, but don’t let the yetzer hora get you down, by telling you that what you did is terrible, and that you it is a tremendous sin. Such thoughts are not productive, and in your case not a what Hashem wants you do to. Therefore, be careful about it in the future and more on.
Best wishes
Hello Rabbi. I have OCD and am beating myself up terribly about this mistake. I watched the dance video multiple times and thought it was funny and showed it to a few people as well. I was in the hospital for months and was not paying attention to the laws as I should have and forgot this one–I feel so guilty. I want to get rid of the phone and computer on which I watched it, the clothes I was wering, etc. I feel terribly guilty and do not know how to move past. I should have known better and now that I do, are these objects off limits? Am I terrible?
You are not terrible, but terrific! You want to get rid of any remnant of any wrongdoing that you may have. The fact that you so terribly regret what you did, is essentially part of doing teshuva. After you have done teshuva, Hashem moves past it, so you definitely should do the same. Having said that, being OCD about it and overreacting to what happened, by wanting to get rid of the clothing you were wearing at the time, is yetzer hora. Don’t let yourself fall into the trap that the yetzer hora is setting up for you to make you think that you are no good. Hashem thinks your great, your yetzer hora say your not, who should you listen to…
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