מדרש אויף שמות 33:3

Rabbi Yoḥanan, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, and the Rabbis,¹⁵⁸They said in their exposition of the verse: “Draw me [moshkheni]; we will run after you.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because You took us into a good and expansive land, we will run after You to a good land that is called a dwelling place [mashkenuta].¹⁵⁹Because You took us to the good and extensive lands of Siḥon and Og on the eastern side of the Jordan, we desired to follow You further, to the Land of Israel proper, which is called God’s dwelling place (Etz Yosef).
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Because You took us to a good, expansive land that is called a dwelling place [mashkenuta], we will run after You.
The Rabbis say: Because You rested Your Divine Presence [shekhina] in our midst, as it is written: “They shall make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell [veshakhanti] among them” (Exodus 25:8), we will run after You. The Rabbis say another matter: Because You removed Your Divine Presence from our midst, we will run after You. Know that this is so, for with all the troubles that befell them for the incident of the Golden Calf they did not mourn, but when Moses said to them [on behalf of God]: “For I will not ascend in your midst” (Exodus 33:3), immediately, “When the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned” (Exodus 33:4). Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai taught: [It was] a weapon that He gave to the Israelites at Ḥorev with the ineffable name engraved upon it.¹⁶⁰This is stated in explanation of the adornment mentioned in the verse: “The children of Israel were stripped of their adornment from Mount Ḥorev” (Exodus 33:6). When they sinned in the incident of the Calf, it was taken from them. How was it taken from them? Rabbi Aivu and the Rabbis, Rabbi Aivu said: It was peeled off them by itself, and the Rabbis say: An angel would descend and peel it off them. The Israelites said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, does a wife not adorn herself only for her husband?’¹⁶¹If You will not be ascending with us, what is the point of the ornaments? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: The Israelites yearned for the Divine Presence, as it is stated: “Let my beloved come to his garden [legano]” (Song of Songs 4:16) – to his wedding canopy [leginuno].

Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “And I said: How shall I place you among the children.… Indeed, a woman has betrayed her lover” (Jeremiah 3:19–20). “And I said: How shall I place you among the children” – all the miracles and mighty acts that I performed on your behalf were not so you would give Me My reward, but rather, so you would respect Me like children and call Me your Father. “I said: You shall call Me my Father” (Jeremiah 3:19) – what miracles did I perform for any creature more than you, as you would walk after Me and I would walk before you and illuminate for you, as it is stated: “The Lord was going before them by day [in a pillar of cloud to lead them on the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to illuminate for them]” (Exodus 13:21).
“I said: You shall call Me my Father” (Jeremiah 3:19), but you, what did you do? “Indeed, a woman has betrayed her lover” (Jeremiah 3:20) – it is not written here, “her husband,” but rather, “her lover.” Why? It is because a man who takes a wife and spends many days with her, even if he becomes poor, his wife does not reject him; rather, she says: When he was wealthy, he fed me and clothed me, and now that he has become poor, I do not reject him. But when she is a prostitute,¹³The prostitute is with a man only because he pays her and not because they share a marriage relationship. if he gives to her she thanks him, if he does not give to her, she does not acknowledge him. That is why it is stated: “Indeed, a woman has betrayed her lover.”
Another matter: When a prostitute has a lover and he honors her with an object, she shows it to her friends and says: See how much my lover has honored me. But you, house of Israel, did not do so. Rather, I performed miracles and mighty acts on your behalf, as the clouds of glory were surrounding you, the manna was falling, the spring of water was rising, and the quail was available, but you did not laud Me, and you were not like a prostitute who lauds the fee <see ezekiel="" 16:31="">, as it is stated: “They did not say: Where is the Lord, who takes us up from the land of Egypt” (Jeremiah 2:6). I, too, “for I will not ascend in your midst” (Exodus 33:3), but rather, “behold, I am sending an angel” (Exodus 23:20).

Moses said to Him: ‘Are You sending an angel with me? Were those the terms? Did You not say: “I have descended to rescue it from the hand of Egypt and to bring it up from that land [to a good and expansive land]” (Exodus 3:8), and now You say: “Behold, I am sending an angel before you” (Exodus 23:30)? “If Your presence does not go, do not take us up from here”’ (Exodus 33:15). [God] said to him: “For I will not ascend in your midst” (Exodus 33:3). Moses said: ‘You said angel, and I say: “If Your presence does not go,” let us see whose words will stand’; that is what is written: “Moses said to the Lord: See, You say to me: [Take this people up, but You did not inform me whom You will send with me]” (Exodus 33:12). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘As you live, “My Presence will go, and I will give you rest”’ (Exodus 33:14). The Divine Spirit cries out: “Since the king's rule is in his word, [who will say to him: What are you doing?] One who observes a mitzva will know no evil matter” (Ecclesiastes 8:4–5).¹⁶The midrash applies the verse in Ecclesiastes to mean that someone of Moses’s stature had the ability to annul the divine decree.