The Torah has two distinct methods for denoting specific places. The fairly dominant form is to combine the word "זה", "this", with a common noun indicating what is being described. For example, God tells Moshe (Moses), (״עלה אל הר העברים הזה" (במדבר כז:יב, ascend to this mount of Abarim. Here the term "הר העברים" is combined with the denoting term "הזה" to indicate specifically one mountain.
Sometimes instead of a particular type of place a general term is used. For example, upon waking from the dream about the ladder Ya'akov (Jacob) says, ״מה נורא המקום הזה" (בראשית כח:יז), how awesome is this place. In this case the general term "מקום", place, is used. In a second denoting form the Torah uses only the word "זה" without an accompanying noun. The context of the sentence indicates that a specific place is being referenced and what that place is. There are only a handful of examples of this type:
When Yehuda (Judah)'s associate goes to search for the woman with whom Yehuda had an encounter the locals respond to his query saying: (לא היתה בזה קדשה" (בראשית לח:כא", there was not a harlot in this. In this case the place referenced using "״בזה needs to be reconstructed from an earlier part of the verse, pasuk. The original question was to identify the whereabouts of the harlot who was sitting בעינים על הדרך, the crossroads.
As Yosef (Joseph) sets out to meet his brothers in שכם a man informs him that (נסעו מזה" (בראשית לז:יז", they have departed from this, and have set out to דותן. Yosef describes his children to his father saying, (בני הם אשר נתן לי אלקים בזה" (בראשית מח:ט", they are my sons whom God has given me in this. The place referred to here is Egypt. There are several examples of Yosef referring to Egypt in this oblique way (see בראשית מ:טו, נ:כה). Bilam instructs Balak to build altars (בזה" (במדבר כג:א,כט", referring to the various vantage points from which they viewed the Jewish People in an attempt to curse them.
A pattern emerges from these examples. The second denoting form is used to describe a place whose relevance to the narrative is only that characters have passed through, but which has no real importance of its own. The particular crossroads where Tamar sat is unimportant, and all the more so to the locals who did not even know anyone to have waited there. שכם, Shechem, where Yosef searched for his brothers was also simply a way station for their travel to דותן where the critical parts of the story occurred.
In the case of Egypt it seems that Yosef was making a deliberate philosophical point. Even given the degree of his entrenchment there he did not view Egypt as a permanent home for himself and his family. It was a temporary stop which they and the rest of the Israelites, בני ישראל, were passing through. The example of Bilam may also follow this pattern, though it requires separate analysis.
The final example in this second for of denoting is quite jarring. In the company of points for debaucherous rendezvous, irrelevant pit stops, and the lookouts for idolaters and evildoers, stands the location of one the most impactful events in human history, Mt. Sinai. In this week's parsha God tells Moshe to take the Jewish People and leave Mt Sinai, (״לך עלה מזה אתה והעם אשר העלית מארץ מצדים" (שמות לג:א, go up from this, you and the nation which you took out from Egypt.
Later, as Moshe implores forgiveness for the sin of the golden calf we find the same language repeated, (אם אין פניך הלכים אל תעלנו מזה" (שם פסוק טו", if your countenance will not go [with us], do not take us out from this, (see במדבר כב:יט for another similar reference to the encampment at Sinai). Given the context we have established, this very rare use of language is striking. It is well known that our Sages, חז"ל, stated that Sinai was chosen for its humility. But surely there is a difference between humility and irrelevance. What message is the Torah imparting with this grammatical formulation?
The Rambam includes in his heading for the laws of Torah study that one the commandments discussed therein is "ללמוד תורה", to study Torah. However, in a cursory glance over the first few laws of the Rambam one does not encounter any reference to an obligation to learn Torah. Rather the commandment revolves around teaching others, one's children and students, and, if one's own education has lacked, then one is obligated "ללמד את עצמו", to teach oneself. The primary focus in these הלכות is the education of others with an ancillary inclusion of oneself as a potential disciple.
This perspective is underscored by the Talmudic formula used to determine who is obligated to learn Torah. In fact, the Talmud does not base itself on a verse which directly commands this. Rather, whoever others are commanded to teach is also commanded to teach themselves (Kiddushin 29a, cited as a source for the Rambam by כסף משנה to הלכות תלמוד תורה א:א). The fundamental requirement of תלמוד תורה, it appears, is not to engage in study with the aim of personal betterment. Rather it is to orient oneself within the context of a chain of transmission. By becoming part of this מסורה one shoulders the burden of receiving a tradition from all generations past and ensuring its accurate and thriving continuity. Of course, in order to succeed in this task one must become as extensively educated as possible, but this pursuit is only a corollary, as it were, to the core of torah study, תלמוד תורה.
חז" ל have associated this perspective and its characteristic traits with Mt. Sinai. The opening salvo of פרקי אבות describes a long chain of Torah transmission beginning with "משה קיבל תורה מסיני ומסרה ליהושע", Moshe received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshua. A great number of commentaries have noted the seemingly erroneous wording here. Moshe did not receive the Torah from Sinai. In fact, he received it from God on Sinai. One approach to this anomaly is that Moshe was indeed a student of Mt. Sinai, insofar as his conduct mirrored that of the mountain.
R' Chaim of Volozhin elaborates on the particular manifestation of humility which Moshe shared with Sinai (see רוח חיים לאבות א:א). Namely, that he was ready to forgo his own position as teacher, if only the Jewish People had some way to access the word of God without him. R' Chaim interprets Moshe's remarks during the episode of Eldad and Meidad in this vein. When told by Yehoshua (Joshua) that the pair were prophesying in the camp, a seeming affront to Moshe's position as supreme teacher and prophet, Moshe responds: (ומי יתן כל עם ה' נביאים כי יתן ה' את רוחו עליהם" (במדבר יא:כט", would that the entire nation of God could be prophets if God would place His spirit upon them. R' Chaim interprets the statement as not only factual, but also expressing an ardent hope, as if to say- "if only God would communicate with the people directly, they wouldn't need me [to teach them]." Moshe's commitment was foremost to the transmission of the Torah, and it is this quality which he "learned" from Sinai.
Given this background perhaps we can understand the Torah's use of the peculiar and rare second denotative form in relation to Mt. Sinai. The intent is not, God forbid, to compare Sinai with the lurking spots of harlots or with way stations which are only the prelude to something really important. Rather the Torah is communicating the greatness of Sinai and the lesson which we too are meant to learn and incorporate into our own efforts in תלמוד תורה. To understand that the maintenance of the passing down of tradition, מסורה, is primary and that one's personal efforts in learning are secondary to this cause. This shift in perspective brings with it heightened responsibility.
As a community and as individuals, we are bound to transmit the מסורה faithfully to future generations. There is certainly an important role for creativity, innovation, and personal striving in one's own learning. However these must be counter-balanced by seeking, as Moshe and Sinai sought, to limit our own voices and allow our children and students to hear the voice of God, if only He will choose to rest His spirit upon them.