Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z/l:  Bamidbar – The Sound of Silence

Bamidbar is read on the Shabbat before Shavuot; the two events are connected by the giving of Torah.  Rabbi Sacks, z/l: writes that the Torah was given in desert so that it would not be “owned” by a specific place.   In addition, it would be shared in a place of silence; to hear God we must have silence in our soul.