Are We Really Counting the Omer?

I’m sure most of us were very proud of our accomplishment as we are attempting to complete another counting of the Omer with a Bracha, not missing one day.

We probably also said the L’shem Yichud before and all the Prayers afterward. We probably even knew if the day was “Chesed she b’Gvoorah” or “Malchus she b’Hod “. We are truly accomplished people.
But are we really counting the Omer?

For most of us the Omer will probably pass uneventfully. We may even be inconvenienced by some of the restrictions (i.e. not shaving, getting haircuts or going to celebrations). We may even know that the Jewish people in the Desert raised themselves up 50 levels until Shavuos when they received the Torah.

But that "raising up of levels" is so indefinable for us that it makes almost no impression on us. If we read the "Ribono Shel Olam" prayer that we say after the counting, we see mentioned that the Sefiras Ha’omer cleans us from our “Klipas”. But since a “Klipa” is such a vague Kabalistic thing, for most of us we are not too sure what gets cleaned.

Therefore when we mention which level we’re at, Chesed, Gvoorah, etc., we don’t think much into it since we figure those too are something vague and Kabalistic. Then we don't take advantage of these days to actually improve our character and morals step by step as we're meant to do.

However, the truth is that these levels are extremely real and uncomplicated. Each level and sub-level (or noun and adjective) is a real tangible and doable Middah (or character improvement) as we can see when we translate them in future posts. We can see exactly what’s expected of us and use these days to it's fullest to grow and improve.