Sefiras Haomer: Where It All Begins - Rabbi Moshe Schochet

then tauran parsha's emor instructs us commands us in the mitzvah of omar the torah states us to mimos and you should begin to count on the day after the first day of pesach when you bring the omer waving seven weeks shall be complete we're commanded we're obligated to begin counting on the second night of pesach seven weeks 49 days that culminate with the yamchav of chivois when we celebrate receiving the torah the current stone of arabah the noah in his commentary on the haggadah asks why the torah doesn't just say that we should begin counting on the 16th of nisan why did the taureans then instruct us with a much more ambiguous statement that we are to begin counting the day after the first day of pesach and islam rabbi explains that the torah is teaching us that we are to take all of the inspiration all of that passion and enthusiasm that we experienced at the pesach seder and use it as the foundation the platform for what we hope to accomplish during omar in preparing to accept the torah on chavuz in fact even though we only count 49 days the torah actually instructs us to count 50 days because we are to use the spirituality that was unlocked at the pesach seder as a springboard for the subsequent 49-day count it was for this reason that when we are commanded to count sphero omer the torah tells us to count the day after the first day of pesach so that we use the stator to begin that spiritual account hopefully we all experienced in incredible spiritual heights at the seder if we take the inspiration and use it to jump start our efforts then we can ensure that we are successful in building ourselves up in order to be the appropriate receptacle to receive the torah let us use the passion the excitement that we felt at the seder to rejuvenate us and to continue to liberate us from our personal slavery so that we can intensify our relationship with hashem over these next seven weeks [Music]