Bamidbar

On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the Exodus from the land of Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying: Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses…

1:1-2

Scripture mentions here “in the wilderness of Sinai” in order to tell us that they did not travel away from there until they were counted (the first time, as described here)…but the actual communication was in the Tent of Meeting.

Ramban (13^th Century)

Awareness of the imperative to count and of the value of counting remains essential to an understanding of Judaism. Why is our tradition so concerned with counting?...First, we count in order to evaluate: What have we experienced up to this point? How long have we been on this journey? What have we learned?...Second, we count in order to celebrate: Having come this far, having overcome obstacles and persevered…we thank God for having “kept us alive…sustaining us to reach this time. Third, we count in order to anticipate: How long will it take to get there? Have we left ourselves enough time to complete the trip…The Book of Numbers serves as the bridge between the Exodus from Egypt and the imminent entry into the Land of Israel…

Richard Hirsch (Contemporary)

The wilderness is not a mere description of the geographic location where the word of the Lord came to Moses. The wilderness represents an important, perhaps inevitable, stage in the long journey of the people of Israel from slavery to the Promised Land. The wilderness, far beyond its geographic or historic reality, enters the Jewish experience as an edifying phenomenon and spiritual symbol. The special relationship, with all its ups and downs, that develops between God and Israel, during the 40 years in the wilderness, sinks deep down and becomes embedded in the Jewish consciousness forever…it is not only the place of revelation…it also stands out as an “observation point” outside of civilization’s space and time, from which we might gain a proper perspective on life and society

Pinchas Peli (20^th Century)

The years in the wilderness were extraordinarily hazardous. Nature and man conspired so severely against the recently liberated slaves that they often wished they were back in Egypt. There was hunger and thirst, there were marauding desert tribes who lived by plunder and yet our book begins with the simple but startling statement: “And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai.” There in that wasteland, there in the midst of the most perilous terrain and circumstances, God speaks…Is there not something profoundly instructive in this phenomenon?...Yes, God is in every wilderness but not all people who are in the desert of tribulation hear Him speak…It is one of life’s astonishing paradoxes that we often see more clearly when our eyes are dimmed by tears…

Sidney Greenberg (Contemporary)

One fifth of the Torah is given over to the desert experience; it is not a momentary sidebar to Israel’s history. Our people could not enter the Promised Land until they had traveled across the desert sands and stars. Only in the desert can things be seen in all their clarity…Only in the desert can you start all over again. There is nothing in the way. Everything you have constructed as your life’s daily routine disappears…But there is this paradox: Aware as never before of your own mortality, you simultaneously see the word as God does – for there is nothing left but the raw endlessness of all the universe, just sand and stars and you…

Lawrence Hoffman (Contemporary)