“You should count for yourselves… seven weeks. These weeks must be complete.” (Vayikra 23:15)
In his sefer Iyun Tefillah, Rav Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg points out two cases of atypical wording employed by the Torah in conveying this mitzvah, which he suggests are intended to give us direction during this period.
The pasuk begins, “You should count for yourselves.” This expression is difficult to understand, as every mitzvah we do is for ourselves, yet the Torah doesn’t usually specify that it’s “for you.”
Rav Mecklenburg explains that the normal purpose of counting is to reach the end, to calculate the total number. Lest we think that all we’re doing during Sefiras Ha’omer is attempting to count from 1 to 49, the Torah hints that our counting shouldn’t merely reflect the passage of time, but should highlight our daily spiritual growth during this period as we get closer to Matan Torah. When the Torah instructs us “count for you,” it’s directing us not to merely tally the passing days, but to make them meaningful and count them in a way that’ll elicit spiritual growth and benefits. (Rabbi Ozer Alport, Parsha Potpourri)
“N
u, are you still counting? With a brachah? Without a brachah?”
It’s become the standard meet-and-greet during Sefirah. I’m not going to ask you the brachah drill. But, nu, are you counting?
We do a lot of counting. Minutes, hours, days, years. Birthdays, anniversaries, labor pains, kids’ heads in the park. You name it, we count it.
I have a relative who made a one-month birthday party for her oldest child. She even has a picture framed to commemorate it. The baby is sitting in his seat and on his tray is a cupcake with one (unlit) candle. Oh, and baby is howling his head off. Okay, we know that 30-day-celebration wasn’t for baby, but for proud mom.
