The Person Honors the Place, Not the Place the Person

"Neither let the flocks nor the herds graze" (Exodus 34:3). It was taught: Rabbi Yose says: It is not a person's place that honors him; rather, he honors his place. For so we find at Sinai, that as long as the Divine Presence rested upon it, the Torah said, "Neither let the flocks nor the herds graze." Once the Divine Presence departed, the Torah said, "When the ram's horn sounds long, they may go up the mountain" (Exodus 19:13). And likewise we find regarding the Tent of Meeting, that as long as the Tent of Meeting was pitched, the Torah said, "And they shall send out of the camp every leper and everyone with a discharge" (Numbers 5:2). Once the curtain was rolled up, those with discharges and lepers were permitted to enter there.