Why Do We Count the Omer? Three Explanations You (Probably) Haven't Heard (YBT Sunday Shiur)

This morning (5/8/22), in my last YBT Sunday Shiur of the season, I shared three "new" (to me) explanations for why the Torah commands us to count the omer. I found all three explanations in a commentary which is not widely learned, which is why I'm fairly confident that these ideas will be new to others as well. In addition to understanding these taamei ha'mitzvos on a theoretical level, we will also attempt to find ways to make the ideas real to our minds, so as to maximize their impact on our development.
----------
מקורות:
רש"י - דברים ו:ו; יא:יג
Boyd Varty, The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life
רמב"ן - דברים ו:כ
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר עבודה, הלכות מעילה ח:ח
רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:כו, מג
ספירת העומר - נוסח אשכנז
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: הקדמה, חלוקת הספרים
ויקרא כג:ט-כב
דברים טז:ט-יב
ספר החינוך מצוה שו
ספר אבודרהם תפלות הפסח
ספר שבלי הלקט סדר עצרת סימן רלו
רמב"ן – שמות כ:ז
ר' שכטר – מפניני הרב (דף קב)
בכור שור – ויקרא כג:טז
שמות רבה – שמות כה:ב
רלב"ג – שמות ו:ו-ח (תועלות)
רמב"ם - פירוש המשניות ראש השנה א:ב
תלמוד בבלי – ראש השנה דף טז עמוד א
מאירי – בית הבחירה ראשה השנה א:ב
בשמים ראש (סידור אוצר התפלות)
The Guardian, Fri 8 Apr 2022 08.40 EDT
----------
The Torah content from now through Lag ba'Omer has been sponsored by Adam and Estee Goldberg in honor of Savta Shoshana Sham'eh bat Menachem. May her memory be a blessing.
----------
If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.

If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.
----------
Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com
"The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Guide to the Torah Content of Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/2021/04/links-to-torah-content-of-rabbi-matt.html
Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz