We leave Egypt and are immediately placed on the 49-day plan: we have seven weeks to rid ourselves of the filth of Egypt and arrive at the heights of Sinai—literally and spiritually.

Chassidic philosophy explains that these seven weeks are a metaphor for the personal journey we each make as we build our own relationship with G‑d. G‑d does not leave us to find our own way. He provides a systematic process – the process of counting the Omer – and we are off and running, shedding 200 years of Egyptian decadence on the way to Sinai purity.

Are you a Republican or a Democrat? Paper or plastic?There seems to be a contradiction, though. There is nothing more personal than an individual's relationship with G‑d; that is the message of Divine Providence: G‑d customizes your world for you. On the other hand, there is nothing more absolute than numbers; two is two—no "kinda, sorta, two-ish" about it.

So how can inflexible digits chart the person-to-G‑d relationship? And how can any method be standardized for all people?

Let's say, for example, that today is the 9th day of the Omer. One week and two days. Today we all are nine days along on the road to spiritual refinement. All of us?! What if the first week's focus (chesed, loving-kindness) was easier for me and I'm at step 14, while others' strength won't be reached until week five? Can't they be allotted more time now and do some makeup work in a month?

And then there is this: all this counting begins on Passover, named for the time when G‑d "skipped over," when G‑d shows us that we are not restricted by natural processes, and we move by leaps and bounds, going out of order. So how does this work: G‑d shows us that we are not restricted by process, that we can "skip to the head of the line"—and then He compels us to follow a firm "color by number" pattern?

Here's what I've come up with. This is the whole point of creation: merging apparent opposites and illustrating the singularity of G‑d in the apparent diversity of all the stuff He made. When we can bring the spiritual and undefined – personal growth – into the mundane – numbers – we have demonstrated the true infinity of G‑d. He is not limited to the heavens nor bogged down by Earth, and neither are we.

Society bombards us with its mutually exclusive choices: do you send your child to a school that encourages dog-eat-dog competition for academic success or one that focuses on win-win character development? Are you a Republican or a Democrat? Paper or plastic? Choosing any option means another is rejected.

We have been transformed from stiff slaves of routine into graceful spiritual long jumpersBut having experienced Passover, the skipping out of Egypt – ready or not, deserving or not – we have been transformed from stiff slaves of routine into graceful spiritual long jumpers, and we can channel that boundless energy right into the rigors of the ordinary. We all can do it – we all must do it – and as Torah tells us, despite some bumps and bruises – we all did it. We got to Sinai, and we accepted the Torah, demonstrating that the seemingly irreconcilable forces of boundless spirituality and bounded nature both emanate from the same Single G‑d.

We don't have to compromise, forego quality for quantity. The counting of the Omer compels us from the perch of spiritual indulgence into the grind of the measurable, while uplifting the despair of "the same old same old" into inspiring sanctity – all at G‑d's pace.

Like the child on the swing set we need a push to get started (we're given that on Passover) and then it's up to us to keep pumping to lift us beyond the drab, without leaving the everyday behind.