"Please listen to My word, if there be a prophet among you...etc. Only Moshe...did not prostrate himself or go into convulsions as did other prophets....” (Bemidbar 12:6-8)
From the Ohr HaChaim commentary by Rabbi Chaim (ben Moshe) Ibn Atar
When G-d speaks about appearing to prophets "in a dream", this does not mean that they actually dream. Rather, it describes the impact of G-d's communications to such prophets as being similar to that of people who experience a dream while asleep, even though G-d always communicated with His prophets while the latter were awake.
Only Moshe was able to maintain his regular posture when G-d communicated with him; he did not prostrate himself or go into convulsions as did other prophets. Neither did he receive such communications in the form of a riddle or parable. Every communication Moshe received from G-d was crystal clear, requiring no further elaboration. This is what the Torah means when it describes such communication as "I speak with him mouth to mouth."
All the Israelites saw that all the 53 times the Torah reports that G-d spoke to Moshe (in order that Moshe communicate what He said to them) the message was crystal clear and could be understood by anyone with a command of the Hebrew language. The same applies to all the wealth of wisdom contained in the written Torah. Anyone who immerses himself in that part of the Torah will find that he can understand it.
The phenomenon of man being a composite of body and spirit is bound to prevent him from being able to receive undiluted spiritual input....
This is in contrast with the writings of Isaiah and Jeremiah, many of which are extremely obscure, full of parables and enigmas. The prophecies of the so-called Minor Prophets, such as Zachariah, are even harder to unravel, so that none of us can be certain of the events to which these prophecies relate.
We need to examine why the prophecies given to Moshe were all so clear whereas those granted to the aforementioned prophets appear so confusing.
Kabbalists explain that the phenomenon of man being a composite of body and spirit is bound to prevent him from being able to receive undiluted spiritual input. Any attempt to subject man to such additional spiritual input upsets the fragile equilibrium between the forces of body and spirit which constitute a human being. It is only natural, therefore, that when a human being is called upon by G-d, his body will tremble, be subject to convulsions, etc.
Once man has achieved this, his body is no longer a hindrance to his receiving communications from G-d....
The only human being able to retain his composure when thus addressed by G-d is one who has succeeded in transforming the material part of himself into the perfect state G-d has created it in. Once man has achieved this, his body is no longer a hindrance to his receiving communications from G-d, and he will be able to do so as a matter of course.
When there are no people around who meet these specifications and G-d has found Israel worthy to receive prophetic communications, He has no choice but to choose someone to whom He transmits His word in a manner which upsets the body and mind of the recipient. As a result the world abounded with prophets who had to receive their messages in the form of parables and riddles so that the equilibrium of their bodies and minds would not be permanently upset.
The reason that we find that Zachariah's prophecies were even more enigmatic than those of his predecessors is that he was the last of the Prophets. Subsequent generations did not create an environment in which G-d saw fit to communicate His word to prophets anymore.
When G-d spoke about His communications to Moshe being "mouth to mouth", He meant that His word did not have to travel through the airwaves or some other part of the atmosphere which diluted it (and therefore made it unclear) in order to make it accessible to less than perfect man. When G-d emphasizes that His word appeared to Moshe as a "a clear vision", this means that Moshe did not have to go into convulsions, etc., when he received communications from G-d. G-d could show Moshe a clear vision, and Moshe could behold it and understand it - without it being distorted.
When the Torah adds: "...not by means of riddles", this is an elaboration of how G-d's word reaches Moshe. The Torah is careful not to say that G-d's word traveled from G-d's mouth to Moshe' ear, but "mouth to mouth".
King Solomon asked G-d to grant him "a listening heart" to enable him to divine the truth behind the claims of litigants, etc. (see Kings I 3:9). He aspired to the highest level of prophecy. The Torah speaks of G-d communicating with Moshe as "I speak within him" instead of the customary "I speak with him". This formulation also means that no one else was privy to the fact that G-d spoke to Moshe.
[Selected from the English edition of "Ohr HaChaim: the Torah Commentary of Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar" by Eliyahu Munk.]
Biographical note:
Rabbi Chaim (ben Moshe) Ibn Atar (1696 – 15 Tammuz 1743) is best known as the author of one of the most important and popular commentaries on the Torah: the Ohr HaChaim. He established a major yeshiva in Israel, after moving there from Morocco. His earliest works, chidushim on Shas was titled Chefetz HaShem Another famous work that he wrote is the Pri To'ar on Yoreh Dei'a.
Chassidic tradition is that the main reason the Baal Shem Tov twice tried (and failed) to get to the Holy Land was that he said if he could join the Ohr HaChaim there, together they could bring Moshiach. Rabbi Chaim acquired a reputation as a miracle worker, hence his title “the holy,” although some apply this title only to his Torah commentary. He is buried outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem on Har HaZeisim.
When Har HaZeisim fell into the hands of the Jordanians after 1948, they started to build a road through the Bais HaKevaros. When the tractor came to the kever of the Ohr Hachaim it broke down and nothing could start it again. The next day they brought in a new tractor to clear the path. As soon the tractor touched the kever it overturned and tumbled into the valley killing the driver. After that the plans were halted and a road was built higher on the mountain. The beginning of earlier road is still visible today.
