וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם כִּֽי־תָבֹ֣אוּ אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אֲנִי֙ נֹתֵ֣ן לָכֶ֔ם וּקְצַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־קְצִירָ֑הּ וַהֲבֵאתֶ֥ם אֶת־עֹ֛מֶר רֵאשִׁ֥ית קְצִירְכֶ֖ם אֶל־הַכֹּהֵֽן׃ וְהֵנִ֧יף אֶת־הָעֹ֛מֶר לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָ֖ה לִֽרְצֹנְכֶ֑ם מִֽמָּחֳרַת֙ הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת יְנִיפֶ֖נּוּ הַכֹּהֵֽן׃ וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֕ם בְּי֥וֹם הֲנִֽיפְכֶ֖ם אֶת־הָעֹ֑מֶר כֶּ֣בֶשׂ תָּמִ֧ים בֶּן־שְׁנָת֛וֹ לְעֹלָ֖ה לַיהוָֽה׃ וּמִנְחָתוֹ֩ שְׁנֵ֨י עֶשְׂרֹנִ֜ים סֹ֣לֶת בְּלוּלָ֥ה בַשֶּׁ֛מֶן אִשֶּׁ֥ה לַיהוָ֖ה רֵ֣יחַ נִיחֹ֑חַ וְנִסְכֹּ֥ה יַ֖יִן רְבִיעִ֥ת הַהִֽין׃ וְלֶחֶם֩ וְקָלִ֨י וְכַרְמֶ֜ל לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֗וּ עַד־עֶ֙צֶם֙ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה עַ֚ד הֲבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם אֶת־קָרְבַּ֖ן אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם חֻקַּ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם בְּכֹ֖ל מֹשְׁבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם׃ (ס) וּסְפַרְתֶּ֤ם לָכֶם֙ מִמָּחֳרַ֣ת הַשַּׁבָּ֔ת מִיּוֹם֙ הֲבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם אֶת־עֹ֖מֶר הַתְּנוּפָ֑ה שֶׁ֥בַע שַׁבָּת֖וֹת תְּמִימֹ֥ת תִּהְיֶֽינָה׃ עַ֣ד מִֽמָּחֳרַ֤ת הַשַּׁבָּת֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔ת תִּסְפְּר֖וּ חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים י֑וֹם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֛ם מִנְחָ֥ה חֲדָשָׁ֖ה לַיהוָֽה׃
The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving to you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest. You shall elevate the sheaf before the Eternal for acceptance in your behalf; the priest shall elevate it on the day after the sabbath. On the day that you elevate the sheaf, you shall offer as a burnt offering to the Eternal a lamb of the first year without blemish. The meal offering with it shall be two-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in, an offering by fire of pleasing odour to the Eternal; and the libation with it shall be of wine, a quarter of a hin. Until that very day, until you have brought the offering of your God, you shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears; it is a law for all time throughout the ages in all your settlements. And from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering—the day after the sabbath—you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to the Eternal.
(8) After eating unleavened bread six days, you shall hold a solemn gathering for the Eternal your God on the seventh day: you shall do no work. (9) You shall count off seven weeks; start to count the seven weeks when the sickle is first put to the standing grain. (10) Then you shall observe the Feast of Weeks for the Eternal your God, offering your freewill contribution according as the Eternal your God has blessed you.
And because of this - that it is [the] essence of Israel, and because of it were they redeemed and went up to all of the greatness to which they rose - we were commanded to tally from the morrow of the holiday of Pesach until the day of the giving of the Torah; to show about ourselves the great desire [we have] for the the honored day, which our hearts yearn [for] like 'a slave seeks shade' and always tallies when will come the yearned time that he goes out to freedom. As the tally shows about a man that all of his deliverance and all of his desire is to reach that time. And that which we count to the omer, meaning, "Such and such days have passed from the tally," and we do not tally "Such and such days do we have to the time," is because all of this shows us the great desire to reach the time [of Shavuot]. Therefore, we do not want to mention at the beginning of our counting the large number of days that we have to reach the offering of the two breads of [Shavuot]. And let it not be difficult for you, to say, "If so, after most of the days of these seven weeks have passed, why do we not mention the minority of the remaining days?" [It is] as one should not change the nature of the counting in the middle. And if you shall ask, "If so, why do we begin counting from the day after [Pesach] and not from the first day?" The answer [is that] it is because the first day is entirely dedicated to remembering the great miracle, which is the exodus from Egypt, that is a sign and a proof of the world having been created and of God's providence over people. And we may not mix [something else into] its joy and mention anything else with it. And as such, the counting begins immediately from the second day. And we should not say, "Today is such and such days from the second day of Pesach" - as the count would not be fitting to say, "From the second day." And therefore it was ordained to count the tally from that which is done on it - and this is the omer offering, which is a significant sacrifice. As through it is the remembrance that we believe that God wants - through Divine providence over people - to sustain them and [so] renews for them the seed of the grains in each and every year, to live through them.
by Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, 2013
There is a theory (offered first by author William Bridges) that transitions happen in three stages: ending, the neutral zone and beginning. In order to effectively weather any important transition in our lives — whether in relationships, in the transition into our out of a major academic endeavor, in work, in geography — we cannot move forward until we have let go of who we have been, and what has been, in the past. Then, there’s a limnal space when we are no longer who we have been, but not yet who we will be next. Only after some time in the neutral zone will the beginning of our new selves, our new way of being in the world emerge in earnest...
The neutral zone is a time of quietness, of seeking out silence in order to allow the internal waves to fold over themselves, to allow things to simmer. It’s exactly a time of wilderness, desert, midbar — a time to explore the vast, rocky expanse between the Red Sea and Sinai.
The wilderness is a difficult place. It feels like there is no end, no limit to it. It’s a place of danger. Or uncertainty. Of silence. Self-care becomes a bigger priority than its ever been — your utter surivial is at stake. The sun is unrelenting — there’s nowhere to hide, no way to hide ourselves. We feel exposed, vulnerable. It’s no coincidence that everything imporant in the Bible — prophecies, kingships, Torah — came out in the wilderness. The wilderness pushes us to confront reality: What do I want? How hungry am I? What will satisfy me?
It’s not comfortable. Of course we count the days: How long have we been holding ourselves in this in-between space? How much longer before we get to move forward confidently into the new chapter?
Soon. But it’s not time yet. This is the time to sit with the anxiety, the ambiguity and the unknowability of our lives. This is the time to go down deep in to the deepest recesses of who we are, to find resources and riches we didn’t know were there. And in that limnality, in the quiet — we make ourselves ready to hear the voice of God.