פירוש על שמות 33:21

הנה מקום אתי BEHOLD, THERE IS A PLACE BY ME — On the mountain where I am continually speaking with you there is a place prepared by Me for your sake where I will hide you that you may not be hurt by the vision. From there you will see what you will be permitted to see. A Midrashic explanation is that by the word מקום Scripture is speaking of the place where the Shechinah is and that He therefore said, “The place is by Me” and He did not say, “I am in the place”, because the Holy One, blessed be He, is the “place” of the Universe (comprises the Universe) but His Universe is not His place (does not encompass Him) (Genesis Rabbah 68:8).

BEHOLD, THERE IS A PLACE BY ME — on this mountain, where My Glory resides.

הנה מקום אתי, there does exist a place from which visions of G’d can be obtained, the place where both Moses and the prophet Elijah stood in a cave or beside a cave as described in Pessachim 54 as one the 10 items G’d created at dusk on the sixth day of creation.

In the mountain, where I constantly speak with you. . . Rashi is telling us that the verse is elliptic, and Scripture should have written, “In the mountain.” Rashi says, “In the mountain, where I constantly speak with you,” because the missing part should be understood from the verse itself. Rashi means to say that the place is assumedly in the mountain, as that is where God constantly speaks with Moshe. And since אתי seemingly implies [literally] “with Me,” not in the mountain, thus Rashi says: “I have a place prepared for your needs.” For this can be understood from אתי .

V. 21. ויאמר ד׳ וגו׳. Fast möchten wir sagen, mit didaktischer Synthese war die Antwort in den beiden vorangehenden Versen gegeben, zuerst das gewährende Positive und dann das versagende Negative zugleich mit dem Motiv der Versagung. Beides in besonderen Aussprüchen gesondert dem auffassenden Verständnis geboten. ויאמר ד׳, und, fügt Gott erläuternd hinzu: הנה מקום אתי, und — wenn wir diese Worte recht verstehen — so ist mit ihnen in prägnantester Weise der Höhepunkt, zugleich aber auch der Grenzpunkt gezeichnet, zu dem hinanzustreben dem menschlichen Geiste vergönnt ist. "Nicht Gott schauen, sondern vom göttlichen Standpunkte aus die Erde und das Irdische, den Menschen und das Menschliche zu schauen," das ist das höchste vom Menschengeiste in seinem irdischen Hiersein erreichbare, und darum das einzige anzustrebende Ziel. הנה מקום אתי: nur einen Standpunkt gibt es als höchstes Ziel des höchsten Menschengeistes, selbst für einen Mosche nur einen Standpunkt, und der heißt nicht: aus menschlicher Erdenniedere zu Gott empor Anschauung Gottes und des Göttlichen gewinnen, sondern: von Gott gehoben, aus Gott naher Höhe, "neben Gott", vom göttlichen Standpunkte aus den Menschen und das Menschliche anzuschauen, den Menschen und alles Menschliche aus der Gotteshöhe zu verstehen und zu würdigen — "nicht vor mir und zu mir hinan, neben mir ist der Standpunkt für dein Schauen; auf den Fels stelle dich, von der Höhe hinab die Erde unter der gestaltenden Macht der göttlichen Führungen zu erblicken —."

הנה מקום אתי ונצבת על הצור, “Behold there is a place by Me, and you shall stand upon the rock;” the author refers to an explanation he has found in a Midrash known as Socher tov (chapter 90) in which a Rabbi Chanina queries why, i.e. to what purpose, one of the Lord’s names is מקום, “place,” (Genesis 19,27). He answers that essentially far from G–d being in any place, G–d and place are identical , i.e. anything we call “place,“ is in reality occupying part of G–d’s place as He created space. Our author feels that one could still have been in doubt whether this means that any מקום on earth or in the universe is always to be understood as secondary to Him, or if on occasion it is used as primary to anything surrounding the subject under discussion. By referring to מקום אתי, “a place next to Me,” G–d reminded Moses that any “place” is always secondary to Him.

ונצבת, “you shall stand;” the meaning of the word is to remain stationary, not advancing or planning to advance.

AND THOU SHALT STAND UPON THE ROCK — which was upon the mountain, as it is said, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb.⁴⁹⁷Above, 17:6.

על הצור, “on the rock;” another way of sayings: “on the top of the mountain.” This has been spelled out in Exodus 34,2.