We’re holding in the midst of the days of ספירת העומר. Sefer החינוך explains the idea behind the counting of days from Pesach to Shavous:
להראות בנפשינו החפץ הגדול אל היום הנכבד הנכסף ללבנו כעבד ישאף צל וימנה תמיד מתי יבא העת הנכסף אליו שיצא לחירות.
We show our great yearning to the great day of קבלת התורה. Like a slave who counts the days till his release to freedom.
We need to understand: if this is counting towards the great day of Shavous, why then do we count up day after day, instead of counting down, showing how many days are left?
The Ramban writes that the days of ספירת העומר are like days of חול המועד. Just like there’s חול המועד סוכות which is followed by שמיני עצרת, so too, the 49 days of the עומר are like חול המועד, followed by שבועות.
We see that there’s a direct connection between פסח and שבועות. Through ספירת העומר we build ourselves up each day as we get closer to קבלת התורה.
We can now understand why we count up and not down during ספירה. If someone is told that in 50 days he’ll be getting a million dollars, he certainly will count down the days till he gets the money. But if he’s told that the million dollars will be earned, bit by bit, with each day accumulating more and more, he certainly will count up, as each and every day he becomes richer and richer, till he finally reaches his goal of a million dollars. So too, during these days of ספירה, we’re meant to build ourselves up and each and every day as we approach שבועות. And every day us another step in reaching קבלת התורה. And so we count up for 49 days.
We’ll conclude with a story that illustrates this point, told over in the recent biography on Harav Elya Meir Sororzkin זצ”ל. Rav Sororzkin once returned home looking very pained. When his Rebetzin inquired to the reason for it, he replied that he had me an old friend he hadn’t seen in many years, and he was exactly the same way he was years earlier. He hadn’t changed at all. To to this Rav Sororzkin added” My greatest fear is that I should be today as I was yesterday and tomorrow like I am today!”
May these days of ספירה be days of עליה and real preparation for קבלת התורה.
Weekly Parsha Shiur 