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Why is this counting not a mitzvah?
We are required to count the omer because the pasuk states וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם
so Mitzvah #127 here mandates that counting.
There is also an obligation (#221 on the list) to count the years towards Shmita as it is written וְסָפַרְתָּ֣ לְךָ֗ (pasuk here)
But for some reason, when counting towards purity (as a zav) (15:13), the pasuk reads וְסָפַר לוֹ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים לְטָהֳרָתוֹ
that injunction does not turn into a listed mitzvah!
Why would the other two countings be a mitzvah but this counting, called forth by similar text, is not a mitzvah.
Why not?
1 answer
Many Rishonim give reasons why a blessing is not said by women monthly when counting clean days (eg. she may bleed again and break the count (Tosafot Menachot 65b) or because nowadays we only keep clean days because of doubts how to correctly count Nidda vs Zava (Raavyah 526)) which only apply to the blessing but seem to assume the count itself is/was still actually a mitzva. Sefer Aguda even quotes Ri explicitly that women should count orally. Those that don't include it in their list of 613 commandments may have included it in the general mitzva of זב/זבה or as a detail in the commandment to immerse in the mikva.
Radvaz (Responsum #1102) says in this case, since one could choose to remain impure, the verse can't be referring to an obligation and we must thus understand it refers to general calculation without all the details of counting the Omer.
Another option is that וספרתם לכם by Omer doesn't alone imply oral counting, and it's only from the repetition תספרו חמשים יום and/or שבעה שבועות תספר לך that we derive the additional oral obligation (see for example Netziv). Accordingly, "counting" clean days remains a calculation alone.
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