Mount Sinai and Mount Moriah

And from where did Sinai come? Rabbi Yose said: it was torn off from Mount Moriah, the place of the binding of Isaac, as one tears off ḥallah from dough. The Holy One, blessed be He, said "Since their father Isaac was bound on this spot, it is fitting that his sons receive Torah on the same spot. Midrash Tehilim 68:9

            Rabbi David Cohen, head of the Ḥevron Yeshiva, quotes the comment of the Gaon of Vilna that the full revelation of Torah is possible only within the Land of Israel, as our Sages taught: “the atmosphere of Israel enlightens,” and as the verse states: “her king and her princes are among the nations, instruction (Torah) is no more.” [Lamentations 2:9] Hence, we would expect the Torah to have been given to Israel within the Land. Indeed, the Gaon writes that “Mount Sinai is considered as the Land of Israel.”

            Rabbi Cohen explains that the connection between the Land and Torah forces the Gaon’s statement that Sinai is considered as the Land.

            In a similar vein, in light of our Sages’ teaching that the Shechina cannot be revealed outside the Land, Rabbi David Shlomo Eybschutz expresses astonishment that the greatest Divine revelation in history took place outside the Holy Land. Without quoting the abovementioned Midrash, Rabbi Eybschutz comments that since God chose to reveal His presence, the Land of Israel was uprooted from its rightful place and transported to the camp of Israel (at Sinai) and the clouds of glory which surrounded the camp, as it were, constituted the boundaries of the Land, the camp of Israel being considered as part of the Land, while beyond the clouds was outside the Land.

            Thus, the two advantages the Land has over all other lands, its connection to Torah and as the sole venue for Divine revelation, force our Sages to see Sinai as part of the Land.