The Possuk at the end of this week’s Parsha states: וַיָבֹא מֹשֶׁה בְּתוֹךְ הֶעָנָן “Moshe came within the cloud”. Rashi explains under the heading בְּתוֹךְ הֶעָנָן and says: This cloud was a kind of smoke, and quotes the Talmud and says that Hashem, blessed be He, made a path within it.
Sequence of Events: At Matan Torah, which is the pronouncement of the Ten Commandments in Parshas Yisro, the Possuk states (19:18): “And the entire Mount Sinai smoked because HaShem had descended upon it in fire, and its smoke ascended like the smoke of the kiln, and the entire mountain quaked violently.” After Matan Torah, the cloud remains upon the mountain as the Possuk states (24:17): “And the appearance of the glory of HaShem was like a consuming fire atop the mountain, before the eyes of the B’nei Yisroel.” Moshe is then commanded to approach HaShem, and to remain with him to receive the Luchos. Moshe ascends on the 7th of Sivan (Rashi 32:1). As the Possuk states (24:18): “And Moshe came within the cloud, and he went up to the mountain, and Moshe was upon the mountain forty days and forty nights.” During these forty days Moshe receives the laws commanded at the end of Yisro and the bulk of Mishpotim (20:19 until 23:33; see Rashi on 31:18). The end of the forty days is described in Ki Sisa. When he is finished speaking, HaShem gives Moshe the Luchos (31:18).
Rashi’s Explanation: This cloud was a kind of smoke, and HaKodosh Boruch Hu made a path within it. [From Yoma 4b].
Talmudic Parallel: The Talmud (Yoma 4b) notes a parallel: In one place, “And Moshe was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting because the cloud dwelt on it” (Shemos 40:35), as Moses was unable to enter the cloud. And it is written elsewhere: “And Moshe came into the cloud” (Shemos 24:18). This teaches that HaKodosh Boruch Hu grabbed Moshe and brought him into the cloud since he could not enter on his own. The school of Rabbi Yishmoel taught: There is a verbal analogy that resolves this contradiction. It is stated here: “And Moshe came into the cloud,” and it is stated below, in another verse: “And the B’nei Yisroel went into the sea on dry land” (Shemos 14:22); Just as below, there was a path within the sea, as it is written: “And the water was a wall for them” (Shemos 14:22), here too, there was a path through the cloud.
The Talmud draws a parallel and states that in our Possuk the Torah uses the word ‘B’soch’ and it also uses the same word ‘B’soch’ when the Possuk says: “The B’nei Yisroel went into the sea on dry land”, just like on the dry land in the sea there was a ‘path’ because the Torah tells us that “the water was, for them, a wall” so too over here in the cloud there was also a path.
Explanation of the Path: In both cases the letter ‘Beis’ as a prefix alone, which means ‘In’ could have been used. The Torah chooses to use the word ‘B’soch’ instead to indicate a path through something with substance; in the earlier verse, the sea, and here, a thick, smoky cloud, not an airy, vaporous one (Mira Dachya).
