One of my favorite ideas I have heard from my Mora Diasra Rav Hershel Welcher. Explaining why they were misakein an aveilus for the talmidim of Rabbi Akiva a thousand years after their deaths, and what they wanted us to learn from it.
This is my brief synopsis of his shiur, you can Rav Welcher's more detailed versions here: The Aveilut of Sefirah | TorahAnytime.com or here The Essence of Sefirah HaOmer | TorahAnytime.com.
Hope you find as inspiring as I do.
