As we begin this next book of the Torah the question gets asked: Why did Hashem give the Torah in the wilderness. There certainly seem more impressive sites to choose. What about the Red Sea? But when Hashem approached, it fled, for at its edge were deified idols. How about the mountains? But they too skipped away like rams, feeling unworthy as on top of them were idolatrous statues. But the desert did not retreat. No shame or guilt. It suggests openness, freedom, humility, unencumbered by possessions, expansive.