Commentaire de citation sur L’Exode 33:22

Blessed is the "Place;" Blessed is He: The Holy One is called Ha-Makom because God is the place of the world but the world is not God's place. Similarly, we interpret the verse, "See there is a place near Me; station yourself on the rock…" (Ex 33:22) The verse does not say "I am in the place," but "The place is near me." It is a Dwelling Place, and the Place is without a place. Further, you will find that the word Makom has the same numerical value of God's name if one squares each of the letters of the divine name: yud (10) times yud (100), hay (5) times hay (25), vav (6) times vav 36), and hay (5) times hay (25) is 186, the same as Makom.

ואבן משכית (a kind of mosaic pavement) — The word משכית is an expression denoting “covering”, similar to the verb in (Exodus 33:22) “I will cover thee (ושכותי) with my hand”. Such a mosaic is so called because people cover the ground with a pavement of stones

you were dug Heb. נֻקַּרְתֶּם, an expression similar to (Ex. 33.22) “The cleft (נִקְרַת) of the rock”; (Prov. 30:17) “The ravens of the brook shall pick it (יִקְּרוּהָ).” And who is the rock? He is Abraham your forefather. And who is the hole? She is Sarah who bore you. [תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶם means] ‘who bore you,’ an expression similar to (infra 66: 8) “For Zion experienced pangs (חָלָה) and also bore.”

Nekarta: A cave. It is [related to] the expression, nikrat hatzur (the cleft of the rock, Exodus 33:22).

ותמנת ה' יביט AND THE SIMILITUDE OF THE LORD DID HE BEHOLD — This refers to beholding the after-effects of God’s Providence, just as it is stated, (Exodus 33:22 Exodus 33:23) “[And it shall be when My glory passeth by] thou shalt see what is behind Me” (Sifrei Bamidbar 103).

To the cave. That is the cleft of the rock where Moshe stood.³Shemos 33:22. The cave that Eliyahu entered is “the cleft of the rock” in which Moshe stood while God’s Divine Presence passed.⁴See Maseches Megillah 19b and Rashi there.

golden apples Like knobs depicted on silverplated vessels. silverplated vessels Heb. משכיות כסף, vessels plated with silver, as in (Ex. 33:22): “and I will cover (ושכתי) you with My hand.”

in his paved chambers Heb. מַשְּׂכִּיתוֹ. Covered with a floor of marble. An expression related to (Exod. 32:22): “and I will cover (וְשֲּׂכֹּתִי) you with My hand.”