Sefiras HaOmer Utilizing Isolation for Contemplation

Seven weeks, the pasuk says, and then it says it again. The counting of the Omer is stated twice, and it starts "from the morrow after the Shabbos," though Chazal tell us this means the day after the first day of Pesach. Why the repeat, and why the word Shabbos?A Zohar on Parshas Yisro about how Bnei Yisrael climbed out of Mitzrayim, one level at a time, answers both. Each day of Sefiras HaOmer gets a purpose. A mashal about a very frugal businessman who wanders from the back of a plane toward business class asks where we belong, and what we are doing to get there.