)
While the Israelites were enslaved, they internalized some of the impurity of the Egyptian culture. Therefore, God waited seven weeks after the Exodus before giving them the Torah, to give them time to purify themselves. (The 49 days corresponded to the 49 levels of impurity from which they needed to be purified.) The number seven indicates completeness, as the world was created in seven days. Furthermore, everything physical has six sides – four sides, a top, and a bottom – as well as a seventh aspect, its essence. This is why it takes seven days to go from impure to pure. The Sages tell us that when the Torah was given, the Jewish people approached God in a manner similar to a wife approaching her husband. Just as a nidda counts seven days and then purifies herself (see Chapter 9), so too the Jews needed to count seven weeks and then purify themselves for the upcoming revelation.
Counting the omer links Passover, the holiday of political freedom when God saved us from slavery and turned us into a nation, with Shavuot, the holiday of spiritual freedom when God gave us the Torah. On Passover, we began the process of freeing ourselves from the yoke of Egyptian slavery. On Shavuot, we completed the process of freeing ourselves from the yoke of our desires and the limits of human understanding. We then had the privilege of receiving the heavenly Torah.
By counting the omer every year, we connect these two values – nationalism and the Torah. Traditional Jewish nationalism includes faith in God and in our ability to improve the world (30:2 above). The Torah expresses the spiritual world, including in-depth Torah study with all its complexity. The Torah’s guidance allows us to become close to God and improve the world. Since these two values are interdependent, it is a mitzva to connect them by counting the omer.
In recent history, major events took place during the omer period, connecting our national and spiritual values. Israel’s national holidays commemorate these experiences, as we will now see.
