by Yeruchem Eilfort

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From the second night of Passover until the day before the holiday of Shavuot, the Jewish people engage in a unique mitzvah called Sefirat haOmer – The Counting of the Omer.

Lev 23:9-16

9          And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

10       "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the

              land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf

              of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

11        'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on

             the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.

12        'And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of

             the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the LORD.

13        'Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with

             oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink

             offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.

14        'You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the

             same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a

            statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

15       'And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from

            the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths

            shall be completed.

16       'Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a

            new grain offering to the LORD.

The Torah commands us during this time each year to count seven complete weeks for a total of 49 days. At the end of the seven-week period we celebrate Chag HaShavuot – the Festival of Weeks.

This is considered a mitzvah and so, the count which takes place each night, is preceded by a blessing. However, we may only recite the blessing if we have not missed a single night of counting. If we have omitted the counting even one night during that stretch, we may no longer recite the blessing, but instead must listen as our friend says the blessing and then do the counting.

During the times of the Holy Temple, at the end of counting a special grain offering was brought. This offering was waved in different directions, similar to how the lulav is waved during the holiday of Sukkot, to demonstrate G-d Almighty's all-encompassing presence. Why do we count these days?

Well, there are several reasons foremost of which is that the counting of the 49 days  demonstrates how excited we are at the impending occasion of receiving on the Torah, celebrated on Shavuot. Just as a child often counts the days until the end of school, or for an upcoming family vacation, we count the days to show our excitement at again receiving the Torah (as we do in fact receive the Torah in a renewed sense every year).

We also learn that this period is meant to spiritually prepare and refine ourselves. When the Jewish people were in Egypt nearly 3,400 years ago, they had assimilated many of the immoral ways of the Egyptian people. The Jews had sunk to an unprecedented level of spiritual defilement and were on the brink of destruction.

At the last possible moment, they were miraculously redeemed by the mighty hand and outstretched arm of their G-d. They underwent a spiritual rebirth and quickly ascended to the holiest collective state they had ever reached when they camped at the foot of the mountain of revelation to receive Torah. They were so holy, in fact, that they were compared to angels. It was during that 49-day period that they underwent such a radical transformation.

From the lowest lows (in Egypt) to the highest heights (at the foot of Mount Sinai) in just seven weeks!

The commandments of the Torah are not meant merely as our history, but instead represent on ongoing life-lesson for every Jew. We view the Torah as freshly received every day of our lives and approach it and its commandments with appropriate vigor.

So too must we digest the lesson of the counting of omer.

It is specifically during this time that we strive to grow and mature in our spiritual state. Obviously, this is our heart’s desire. To draw closer to the Lord for are we not instructed in 2 Peter 3:18  ‘to grow in the grace and the knowledge of the Lord”?

This ought to be our daily focus and desire but in great wisdom, HaShem has set aside a period in time each year where we can focus on this noble endeavour!

The Torah does not allow us to become satisfied with our current level of spirituality. Instead it tells us to set high goals for ourselves and then methodically strive to reach that goal. Once a year – between Pesach and Shavuoth – we strive in the Spirit to attain this goal.

The growth that occurs during this time is akin to a marathon. We pace ourselves and seek to improve day by day until we reach the day that we again receive the Torah. In this process we look deep within ourselves and work on all of our negative attributes. If we are challenged in the realm of acts of kindness, we go out of our way to do more charitable works. If we are lacking in the area of justice, we hold ourselves to the highest possible standards and are exacting and demanding in our personal behavior and habits. And so it goes for all of our traits.