וְזֶׁהו עִּנְיָ ן "הַ ר סִינַ י " – ָדְרָ יֶׁ שה ש ִּנְאָ ה עַ ל מִּד וֹ ת הָרָ עוֹ ת,
And this is also the idea of the name of the mountain הַ ר סִינַ י"-Mount Sinai,” since the word "סִּינַי" is related to the word ש ִּנְאָ ה"-Hatred,” meaning that through the study of the Torah there comes down, from Hashem to the person, the power to hate the negative attributes of his animal soul.
Just like it says in the Gemara (Brachos 5a), “A person should always arouse his good inclination stemming from his G-dly soul to be angry at the evil inclination stemming from the animal soul.”
And this anger against his own animal soul is also an expression of the uplifted feeling and supremacy of the G-dly soul over the animal soul’s evil inclination. Thus, this anger is a “הר-mountain” of self-esteem and pride of the G-dly soul that is expressed in giving the person the strength to “סיני-hate” his evil inclination and overcome it.
However, specifically, this type of “pride” in serving Hashem and overcoming the evil inclination is the main selfless dedication to Hashem, that one pushes himself to do what Hashem wants, against his own animal soul’s nature.
We thus have another explanation of the idea of a “small mountain:” A mountain represents ego, and there are two types of ego: The ego of the G-dly soul, and that of the animal soul. The ego of the animal soul is called a “tall mountain,” since it wants everyone to look at it and only cares about itself. The ego of the G-dly soul is called a “small mountain,” since its whole ego is just that it wants to fulfill Hashem’s will and connect to Hashem. Thus, even its “pride” and “ego” are really selfless dedication to Hashem. In other words, it doesn’t take pride in itself, but in making Hashem happy. Since the whole Torah was given in order to reveal this strength and pride of the G-dly soul and give it the power to overcome the animal soul, the Torah was, therefore, given on a “small mountain.”
