As it is written (Tehillim 78:25), “The man (Moshe) ate the spiritual food of angels,” meaning, that Moshe’s physical body was literally sustained by Divine Light just as the angels are sustained by the spiritual “food” of Divine Light.
Now, how is it possible for a physical being to receive its lifeforce and sustenance from spirituality? They are completely different realms of existence!
But this is the idea and purpose of the cloud with which Moshe clothed himself before ascending Har Sinai to learn the Torah with Hashem.
Meaning, that the cloud was rooted in a very lofty level of Elokus. However, it descended to the physical level to become a garment for Moshe, enabling him to grasp Elokus, and in this way, it enabled him to be physically sustained by spiritual “food,” i.e., energy that came from Hashem’s Light shining into him through the Torah he learned.
This is analogous to a person who looks at a bright light shining through a curtain. The curtain filters out the intensity of the light so that the person can perceive the light without becoming overwhelmed. Similarly, the power of Hashem’s Light which shines in the spiritual worlds of the angels is too powerful and lofty for the physical body to receive and be powered by it. The “cloud” was a filter that blocked out the intensity and loftiness of Hashem’s Light shining in the Torah so that Moshe’s body could handle receiving it and being powered by it, similar to how the angels are powered by Hashem’s Light that shines in the spiritual worlds.
The reason the “cloud” was able to serve an interface system between the loftiness of Hashem’s Light and the physicality of the body is because this “cloud” is derived from a very deep level of Elokus, that is higher than the Hashem’s Light that shines in the spiritual worlds of the angels.
The Cloud as a Spiritual Interface
The cloud, which is the idea of darkness and concealment, derives from a level of Elokus that is “dark” in the sense that it so deep it is beyond the perception of all spiritual beings of souls and angels. It seems “dark” to them because it transcends their understanding. Because this level is so lofty, relative to it there is no difference between the physical needs of a body or the spiritual needs of an angel, since both are equally distant from this level of Elokus. Because from that level physical and spiritual are equal, it can enable these two realms to merge, so that the physical body can be nourished by the spiritual energy that angels live from.
The Alter Rebbe gave an analogy of the “cloud” that Moshe used as an interface for his mind and body to receive and be powered by Hashem’s Light. Now he will apply that concept to how Mitzvos in general serve as an interface system for the soul to perceive Elokus in Gan Eden after they leave the body:
