(15) 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: (16) you must count until the day after the seventh week—fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to יהוה.
Maimonides (12th cent, Spain), Moreh Nevuchim 3:43
Shavuot is the time of the Giving of the Torah. In order to honor and elevate this day we count the days from the previous festival until it arrives, like someone who is waiting for a loved one to arrive, who counts the days by the hours. This is the reason for counting the Omer from that day that we left Egypt until the day of the Giving of the Torah, as this was the ultimate purpose of leaving Egypt: "And I will bring them to Me" (Ex. 19:4)
Sefer haChinuch (13th cent. Spain), Mitzvah #306
Since the acceptance of the Torah was the goal of our redemption and serves as the foundation of the Jewish people, and through it we achieved our greatness, we were commanded to count from the day after [the first day of] Pesach until the day that the Torah was given. This manifests our great desire for that awesome day which our hearts yearn for just as a servant yearns for shade. We count constantly - when will the day come that we yearn for, the day that we left slavery? Because of counting [towards a certain date] shows a person that all his desire and longing is to reach that time.
Carol Ochs, "Introduction to Counting the Omer"
Making each day count is a valuable lesson which adopting the practice of counting the Omer reinforces. Counting each of the days of the Omer reminds us that all of our days are numbered, and it is our responsibility to make each day count. The deliberate way in which the Torah numbers the days of Sarah’s life, "one hundred years and twenty years and seven years” signifies both the fullness of her days and the significance of each and every day. We count the Omer in a similarly careful and focused manner in order to help us recognize the completeness of these days and of each day. We also learn from the years of wandering in the desert and from the individual struggles represented in the stories of our heroes and heroines that waiting itself can be a sacred activity, an opportunity for reflection and trust. Although the goal of the count may be the encounter with God at Sinai, we take meaning from the journey each step of the way.
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath
To the common mind the essence of time is evanescence, temporality. The truth, however, is that the fact of evanescence flashes upon our minds when poring over things of space. It is the world of space that communicates to us the sense for temporality. Time, that which is beyond and independent of space, is ever lasting; it is the world of space which is perishing. Things perish within time; time itself does not change. We should not speak of the flow or passage of time but of the flow or passage of space through time. It is not time that dies; it is the human body which dies in time. Temporality is an attribute of the world of space, of things of space. Time, which is beyond space, is beyond the division in past, present and future.
1. According to these texts, what is a "Jewish" way of thinking about time?
2. When you have you been in a period of waiting, similar to our period of waiting for Shavuot? How does waiting for something specific change our experience of time?
3. We currently find ourselves on the 25th day of the Omer, exactly halfway through. How can you be more mindful of the passage of time over these next 25 days and how might that make your next few weeks more meaningful or even holy?