Counting the Omer is one of those mitzvot that has a particular resonance for me. The mitzvah of counting is unique in a number of ways. We count both the days and the weeks, making certain to draw distinctions between them. We must count seven complete weeks of forty-nine days in total as we continue to climb towards Sinai and revelation. We make the same blessing each day because each day is part of a larger whole.
If we miss a day, the count continues albeit without a blessing. This might feel punitive at first. Our lives are busy and forgetting is inevitable, what with the myriad of things pulling at us these days.
Blessings are important in our tradition, for by making a blessing, we not only express our gratitude to the Divine but also connect ourselves to all the other Jews around the world engaging in the same religious act. We are, truly, part of something so much bigger and richer than ourselves.
Why, then, if the intention to count is present, can we not make the blessing if we’ve missed a day?
There is a beautiful and often puzzling juxtaposition in rabbinic thought between intention and action. The rabbi’s debate at length in the Talmud the kind of intention one needs to have before engaging in prayer and making blessings. We ought not make a blessing in vain, the rabbis teach us, as that is, in essence, stealing from God.
Intention is wonderful, in other words, but without follow through, it cannot manifest ritually. We are being pushed to carve out that time each day to connect ourselves to this sacred period. Ours is a tradition that can inform our lives from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to sleep.
This special time and this special mitzvah are presenting us with a beautiful opportunity to carve out time in our busy lives to connect to our people’s sacred journey through the wilderness, doing the inner work we need to do so we can arrive at Shavuot ready to receive Torah anew with an open heart and a yearning soul.
