Parasha Thoughts
By Rabbi Michael Segankohanim
During these days between Pesach and Shavuot, we count the Omer everyday. We all know that the reason is we are looking forward and counting to Shavuot, the day of receiving the Torah. The question however is asked: if we are looking forward to the festival of receiving the Torah, one would expect to count down and say there is fifty days left, forty nine days left, forty eight days, etc… But why is the Mitzvah the opposite? We actually count up!!!! One day passed, two days passed etc…
In a truly insightful exposition, R. Pincus gives the following analogy. Imagine if a wealthy person promises someone, “In fifty days I will gift you my 10 million dollar business.” Surely the person can’t wait for the fiftieth day and will constantly focus on the days left. Fifty days left, forty nine etc. But what if the wealthy person promises, “For the next fifty days I would like you to come and I will give you different tasks to show me whether you could run the business. Any day you complete the task, I will give you two percent of the business.” What would the person feel after every day? Upon finishing the task of the first day he will say, “Wow! One day completed; now I got a $200,000 stake in the company. The second day, two days completed; now I got $400,000†and so on… The business is still being gifted to him, but because he had to put in effort he’s focused on what he’s accomplished already. This is the lesson of counting the Omer; we have to make these days count. We have to make sure that every day we grow and accomplish. In this way we can count up!!!!