Take a look at this picture:
This is a picture of a rally of about 500,000 (half a million) people.
Imagine yourself needing to address all of them.
You would probably need to stand on a high spot, a platform of some type, just to see them all and, of course, so that they could see you.
There's a story in the Talmud about during the time of the Temple, that there would be so many people filling the Temple square, and behind it, that when it came time for the blessings, men in front would wave flags on very long poles so that the people in the back, who couldn't hear a thing, would know when to shout, "Amen!"
This brings me to the first word of this weeks parashah: "Vayakhel" (ויקהל), or "And [Moses] gathered..."
Remember, there are 600,000 men of fighting age and an untold amount of youth, elderly, and women as well. So look again at the picture, and try to triple that amount in your mind.
Rashi, in commenting on this first word says that the apparent simple verb form should not be read as being in the Qal form, but in the causative hifil form, and the Targum Onkelos agrees, rendering it at "An [Moses caused there to be] an assembly of the ENTIRE congregation", meaning, nobody was left out, and that Moses simply sent the word out and let the leadership gather all of these people together in one spot.
Moses doesn't have a microphone, no large screens projecting his image for the people in the back, and no speakers in the back for anyone to hear.
And what he is about to do is, for the most part, repeat what was said in Parashah "Terumah", concerning the building of all of the ritual items and YHVH's ark, to the people, giving them details concerning the building of these items and, of course, asking for donations.
These details were very important, and they had to be done exactly as YHVH had demanded it of Moses, and so Moses told everyone himself, repeating the details (and adding a few of his own), that they had to stick to. But even more important is that he begins his litany with a single warning:
"Don't work on the seventh day, or you will be put to death!"
Is Moses relying on word of mouth for that warning to spread to the back rows?
The Sages of the Talmud also had such concerns, and so they declared that "Moses was 10 amos (cubits) tall", or about 15 feet tall. (Babylonian Talmud, Tractates Berachot 54b and Shabbat 92a)
OK, that might help...a bit
Now, what about the leadership?
After all, maybe the leaders got the front-row seats, and after Moses finished, they went back to their groups and repeated things exactly as they had heard them. After all, relaying something to a couple of million people by word of mouth will never go wrong, right?
The text doesn't say that such a thing happened, but maybe the leaders did just that.
In Numbers 30:2, "And Moses spoke to the chiefs of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, this is the thing that YHVH has commanded..."
So later on, he will certainly do that, but not in the Book of Exodus. In this story, what Moses is about to tell them is so important that they have to hear it themselves from his own mouth.
So, as to "how so many people could hear", well, that's a bit of a quandary...
...unless you believe that God can do anything, and in this case, God caused Moses to have a really big voice.
You don't believe that?
Well, prove that He didn't!
Update
It has brought to my attention that there is an apologist view that the word for "thousand" (אלף) could also be read as "contingents". It is an add view and explained in detail at this site.
The primary problem is treating the entire Tanach as though everyone used the words the same, as well as "well, the big numbers don't make any sense" argument, or an "argument of personal incredulity".
In the Torah, אלף is used in the singular form 79 times:
Genesis: 1
Exodus: 2
Numbers: 74
Deuteronomy: 2
Leviticus, being unconcerned with such things never references the word.
Let's look at Genesis and Deuteronomy, since they are both small, even though comparing the author's use from one collection may not be relevant to the author of the two verses in Exodus.
In Genesis 20:16, "I have given your brother אלף silver" obviously means "100 [measurement] of silver and not a "silver contingent".
In Deuteronomy 1:11 we have: "...may He increase you אלף times..." and Deut. 32:30 we have "How should one chase אלף?" The last one is possible, but it doesn't indicate how big the group is, and reduces the drama of the verse. But, it's possible.
I won't go through Numbers, since it's too lengthy, and it irrelevant. If you want to go through the exercise, feel free to do so.
Let's look at the two verses in Exodus, since that is pertinent to this text:
Exodus 12:37 - "And the Children of Israel journeyed from Ramses, by way of Succhot; Around six-hundred אלף brave-men on foot...".
About 600 of the "tough-guy group" were marching.
Exodus 38:26 - "...from 20 years old and upward, for six hundred אלף and three אלף and five-hundred and fifty men."
This one is difficult because, for some reason, the "550" at the end of the verse is not considered a group, using this apologetic, and just hangs there.
This is an obvious force from the point that "אלף" is inconsistently used in this verse.
In conclusion, I am not impressed by this particular apologetic, nor am I convinced that this is what the original authors of the story intended.
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