The passage that instructs us to bring the Omer offering and count the Omer is in Parshat Emor, in the chapter that describes and defines all the festivals (Vayikra 23). But although Sefirat Ha’omer falls between the first day of Pesach and Shavuot, it is not a festival, so what is doing in that chapter?

Rabbi Dunner goes through the Netivot Shalom, who answers this question, and also addresses the weird requirement to wave the Omer offering and the Shavuot “Two Loaves” offering that concludes the Omer counting period.

As it turns out, Sefirat Ha’omer is emblematic of the process we all need to go through to get out of Egypt and receive the Torah at Mount Sinai.