MATAN TORAH

Although situated in a desert, Har Sinai was remarkably lush, adorned with abundant greenery and vegetation¹ and graced by a flowing river.² The summit of Har Sinai, significantly lower in elevation than the surrounding mountains,³ was enveloped in a cloud — which remained steadily in place until the day of Matan Torah.⁴

1. 1Thus, Hashem warned the people that their herds may not graze on or before the mountain (Shemos 34:3). See Mishnah Berurah 494:10 and Levush (Ha’chur) 494:1.
2. 2Shemos 32:20 and Devarim 9:21. This river may very well have originated from Miriam’s well, a rock from which a river flowed from Har Sinai all the way to Refidim (see Ramban on Shemos 17:5).
3. 3The Gemara (Sotah 5a) teaches that Hashem’s choice to reveal Himself on a lowly mountain (instead of the taller mountains of Tabor and Carmel that traveled there — Rashi, based on Megillah 29a) serves as a powerful lesson in humility for mankind.
4. 4Rashi on Shemos 24:16 (according to the first opinion — namely, Rabbi Akiva in Yoma 4a).