As human beings, we’re always counting, putting a number on the day, our age, another person’s age, the amount of money we have, another person has, how many friends we have, how many Facebook friends, how many degrees we have, how much we have accomplished, etc.

In the Jewish tradition, we are always counting too. Yet, we are taught to count in a very different way than we often count in the secular world.

A few weeks ago, Jews celebrated Passover. But contrary to popular belief, Passover is not yet over! Passover is intrinsically connected to Shavuot, the Jewish holiday of receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai, which is celebrated 7 weeks after Passover. For 49 days, Jews count each day leading up to Shavuot. Today is the 21st day between Passover and Shavuot.

Why are we counting these days and what is the significance of this counting?