The Midrash Tehillim, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, wrestles with this very idea. Rabbi Yitzchak points to Deuteronomy 33:27, which speaks of God as "the abode for the God Who precedes all." But, the Midrash asks, how do we know if God is the dwelling place for the world, or the world is God’s dwelling place? The answer, they suggest, comes from Moses. It is God who is our dwelling place.
Rabbi Yosi bar Halifta takes this even further. How can we know if God needs the world, or the world needs God? Is God dependent on us, or are we dependent on God? He points to Exodus 33:21, where God says, "...Behold, there is a place with Me…" The implication? God is the place of the world, but the world is not God’s place. In other words, we are dependent on God, but God is not dependent on us.
Think about that for a moment. It flips our perspective, doesn't it? We often think of ourselves as offering something to God, but the Midrash suggests that God is offering us a home.
Rabbi Huna, quoting Rabbi Ami, asks a simple question: why is God called "place" – Makom in Hebrew? Because, he answers, God is the place of His world, as it says in Exodus 33:21. It's a beautiful, almost circular definition, but it highlights the all-encompassing nature of God. God isn't just in a place; God is the place.
And it doesn’t stop there! The Midrash goes on to show how Abraham, Jacob, and Moses all refer to God as "place." When Abraham names the spot where he offered the ram instead of his son, Isaac, "The Lord will see" (Genesis 22:14), the Midrash sees him naming the place after God – calling God “place.” Similarly, when Jacob awakens from his dream of the ladder and proclaims, "How awesome is this place!" (Genesis 28:17), he, too, is recognizing God's presence and essentially calling God "place."
But there's another layer to this concept of "place." The Midrash offers another explanation for why God is called "place": Because wherever the righteous are standing, there God is found with them, as it says in Exodus 20:21, "Wherever I allow My name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you." It’s almost as if our acts of righteousness, our dedication to justice and kindness, create a space where God's presence can dwell.
Consider Jacob's journey in Genesis 28:11, "And he arrived at the place and lodged there…" The Midrash hints that the place itself wasn't inherently special until Jacob arrived. It was Jacob's presence, his righteousness, that transformed it into a sacred space.
So, what does all this mean for us? Perhaps it means that we are not just searching for a physical place to call home, but for a spiritual one. A place within ourselves and within the world where we can connect with the Divine. And perhaps, just perhaps, by living righteous lives, by striving to be better, kinder, and more just, we can create that place – not just for ourselves, but for others as well. We can make the world a dwelling place for the Divine.