You shall take a count of the Congregation of Israel (Num. 1:2)
When a count is taken, no distinctions are made between what is being counted. The great and the small are both equal, each having the value of one. The Torah portion of Bamidbar is always read on the Shabbat before Shavuot, the holiday on which the Torah was actually given on Mount Sinai, for all Jews stand equal on that day. Our Sages said that if even one Jew had been missing, the Torah would never have been given! (The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
Mount Sinai
Why wasn’t the Torah given to the Jewish people in Israel, their final destination after having left the land of Egypt?
If G-d had chosen one location in Israel to give His Torah, it would have caused bad feelings and contention among the twelve tribes, for each would have wanted the Torah to be given in their portion of the land. G-d therefore chose a wilderness, belonging to no one, as the site at which to give His Torah. (Midrash Lekach Tov)
And Israel encamped there opposite the mountain (Ex. 19:2)
Why was the Torah given on a mountain? The difference between level ground and a mountain is not qualitative; both are made of dust and earth. A mountain is just more of that earth collected and heaped up into a larger mass.
The fact that the Torah was given on a mountain teaches us that a Jew’s purpose in life is to take that earth-- physical matter and corporeality-- elevate it, and transform it into holiness. (Lubavitcher Rebbe)
The world was still
When G-d gave the Torah on Mount Sinai, no bird chirped, no fowl flew, no ox lowed. The heavenly angels were silent, the sea ceased to roil, and not a creature on earth uttered a sound. The entire world was silent as G-d said, “I am the L-rd your G-d.” (Midrash)
