And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the waving; seven weeks shall there be complete; 23:15

The Torah gives us the mitzva to count the days from the second day of Passover until the holiday of Shavuot. Our sages explains the root of this Mitzva. The whole reason the entire world and the children of Israel were created was for the Torah.
The children of Israel were taken out of Egypt in order to accept the Torah at Mount Sinai and fulfill it. The counting of the days from Egypt until giving of the Torah is an expression of the importance of the Torah for the children of Israel.

Many of our Sages ask, Why is it that when we count 49 days until Shavuot, we count beginning with 1 day up to 49, “Today is the 1st day, today is the 2nd day,” etc.? Normally, when a person is anticipating a special event he counts downwards, “30 days left, 29 days left,” etc.!

Perhaps we can answer that the days of the counting are not merely the counting until a certain event. These 49 days are a period of growth in which each person is preparing himself to attain the level of acceptance of the Torah.

When a person counts, he is saying, “this is my first day of preparation and working on the qualities which will make me worthy of receiving the Torah, this is the 2nd day”; until a person has built a 49 day structure of spiritual gain and is prepared for the momentous event of receiving the Torah.

With this we can explain why the verse -uses the expression:seven complete weeks (of counting). Usually the word Sh’leimos is used for complete. Why the word Temimos?
The answer is that Temimos implies perfection. We are not merely counting 7 complete weeks, rather we are counting 7 weeks of perfecting ourselves!

(See Pirkei Avos Perek 6 which lists the 48 qualities which allow a person to aquire Torah).

By Rabbi Sharaga Thav
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