Which Shabbos?!?!

B"H

Vaikra (Leviticus) Ch. 23:15 reads:
וספרתם לכם ממחרת השׁבּת

Loosely translated:
And you shall count for yourself, on the day following the שׁבּת (Sabbath).

This verse refers to the mitzvah of counting the Omer. More specifically it instructs us when to start counting.

The tzdokim (Sadducees) have misinterpreted this verse to mean that the counting should start on the day following the Shabbos literally, that is on Motzei-Shabbos or Sunday. Rashi answers them by stating that if that was the case we would not know which specific shabbos in the year we should start from.

Side note: some further confuse matters by answering the above with: "שבת בראשית" referring to the Holy Shabbos -- the 7th day of creation. This answer also leads to yet another misunderstanding, because שבת בראשית can also mean the Shabbos on which we read the Torah portion of Bereshit.

Be it as it may, the halacha is that שׁבּת in the original verse's context means Pesach (Passover). It would seem that it has nothing to do with שבת בראשית (as the Sadducees claim) and certainly it has nothing to do with the Shabbos we read Bereshit on (which would place Shavuot something around Chanukah).

But there must still be a connection between שׁבּת literally and Pesach -- for otherwise the Torah should have chosen different wording. What's the connection?

Explanation:
Upon exiting Egypt, the Jewish people were confronted with a dilemma: one one hand they need to go and receive the Torah at Mt. Sinai, on the other hand they have sunk into the 49th portal of tumah (=spiritual impurity.) How can one receive the holiest of the holiest while being at the depths of impurity.

To help-out Hashem did a marvelous thing: Hashem in his infinite kindness has elevated the Jewish people by revealing himself in Egypt (אני ולא מלאך, אני ולא שרף) and at the Sea of Reeds (Red sea) whereby a lowly servant could phonetically see more than a bona fide Prophet.

Essentially the great giluy (=revelation) at Mitzrayim (=Egypt) was a gift bestowed upon the Jews, from above. The Jews did not have to work and toil for it at all, and in fact it was out of their control -- this giluy was a pure eetorerut (=awakening) from Above that temporarily removed the jews from the 49 portal of tumah. In fact, it was a model and prototype for all subsequent awakenings.

However, after that event Hashem concealed Himself again, causing the Jews to go back to tumah. At their very essence, the giluy did not change them -- this giluy was an external force that extracted them out of the tumah of Egypt. When external stimulus was gone the Jewish people descended back to their old self.

So Hashem, with His infinite mercy, gave them a recipe for successfully attaining Torah (viz. purity): for the following 49 days leading to the reception of the Torah on Shavuos, the Jewish people should work on their midos (character traits). Each day they shall remove themselves from one of the portals of Tumah, and place themselves into a portal of holiness. Then after the 49th day, they will be free of tumah and in the 49 portal of Holiness, ready to receive the Torah. Essentially where they were (spiritually) at the time of the exodus from Egypt.

However, unlike at the exodus where the giluy was an eetorerut from Above, at the time they arrive at Mt. Sinai to receive the Torah they have refined themselves with their own effort and hard-work. Their self refinement is an "eetorerut from below".

So, to summarize: the eetorerut from above brought upon by Hashem (without any impetus from the Jewish nation, and indeed out of their control) and then the return to normal-reality has brought upon a period in which the Jewish people can reach the the same level of holiness they experienced at the exodus, on their own, through their toil to refine their character traits (viz. eetorerut from below)

This is essentially the same idea as Shabbos, which is an eetorerut from above. We see this in the prayers: "מקדש השבת וישראל והזמנים" (="He who sanctifies the Shabbos, the Jewish nation and [through them] the holidays.") The text does not read: "מקדש ישראל והשבת והזמנים" (="He who sanctifies the Jewish nation, and [through them] the Shabbos and the holidays.") In other words, the sanctity of the Shabbat is something that's not in the hands of the Jewish nation. (Not so for the holidays which are subject to when Beit Din determines when months start and end.)

That's where the parallel between Shabbos and Pesach is seen. Both are outside the control of the Jewish nation. Both are awkaning from Above. Both are gifted to us by Hashem with no connection to our spiritual standing, out desire, or even our deeds.

So, now the original verse וספרתם לכם ממחרת השׁבּת can be understood to mean: and you shall count for yourselves from the day following the שׁבּת, the great proto-awakening from above -- Pesach.

Any cyber-Sadducees out there who are still unclear about this, should feel free to comment.

Good Shabbos with a lot of eetorerut.