34. One night, Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Yehuda were in a village near the Sea of Galilee. They arose at midnight. Rabbi Yitzchak said to Rabbi Yehuda: Let us discuss the words of the Torah, for though we are in such a place, we must not be divided from the Tree of Life.
35. Rabbi Yehuda opened the discussion and said: "And Moses would take the Tent, and pitch it outside the camp..." (Shemot 33:7). HE ASKS: "And Moses would take the Tent." Why did he do so? AND HE ANSWERS: Moses said, 'Since Yisrael are false to the Holy One, blessed be He, and exchanged His glory FOR A GOLDEN CALF, let His pledge - THE SHECHINAH, CALLED 'THE TENT OF MEETING' - be in the hands of a trustee until we know with whom THE PLEDGE shall remain.
36. He said to Joshua: 'You shall be the trusted one between the Holy One, blessed be He, and Yisrael, and the pledge shall remain in your faithful hands. We shall see with whom it will remain.' It is written: "And he turned back to the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart out of the Tent" (Ibid. 11). What is the reason HE GAVE IT to Joshua? Because IN RELATION TO MOSES, he was like the moon to the sun, AS THE MOON IS THE SECRET OF MALCHUT, CALLED 'THE TENT OF MEETING.' HENCE, he was worthy of guarding the pledge, WHICH IS OF HIS OWN SIDE. Therefore, he "did not depart out of the Tent."
37. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: 'It is not fit to do it this way, since I gave My pledge into the hands OF THE CHILDREN OF YISRAEL. And though they sinned against Me, they shall have the pledge with them and shall not part with it. Would you wish that I would part from the children of Yisrael and never return to them?' FOR THE SHECHINAH IS THE PLEDGE IN THE HANDS OF THE CHILDREN OF YISRAEL THAT HE SHALL NEVER LEAVE THEM. 'Return My pledge to them, and for its sake I shall never leave them, wherever THEY MAY BE.'
38. Though Yisrael sinned against the Holy One, blessed be He, they did not forsake His pledge, nor did the Holy One, blessed be He, take it from them. Hence, wherever Yisrael were exiled, the Shechinah was with them. Therefore, it is written: "And I will set My Tabernacle among you." This has already been explained.