“Bamidbar is usually read on the Shabbat before Shavuot… Shavuot is the time of the giving of the Torah. Bamibar means, ‘In the desert.’ What then is the connection between the desert and the Torah, the wilderness and God’s word?

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The desert is a place of silence. There is nothing visually to distract you, and there is no ambient noise to muffle sound… In the silence of the midbar, the desert, you can hear the Medaber, the Speaker, and the medubar, that which is spoken. To hear the voice of God you need a listening silence in the soul.

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The silence that counts, in Judaism, is… a listening silence – and listening is the supreme religious art. Listening means making space for others to speak and be heard.

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From time to time we need to step back from the noise and hubbub of the social world and create in our hearts the stillness of the desert where, within the silence, we can hear the kol demamah dakah, the still, small voice of God, telling us we are loved, we are heard, we are embraced by God’s everlasting arms, we are not alone.”