Any time a talmid chochom (who has passed on to the next world) has words that he said repeated in this world, his lips whisper in his grave.
With this in mind, the Panim Me’iros explains the pasuk: “Odom ki yamus b’ohel.” If a person teaches Torah while he is alive, even after a person dies, he can still be “in the tent of Torah”. When others repeat his divrei Torah, he learns Torah in his grave.
Their Lips Move Even When it is Not Their Own Chiddush:
The Chida adds that this can also explain the next part of the pasuk. “Anyone who enters the tent and anything in the tent.” We see from the words of Chazal that if someone repeats a devar Torah that he heard someone say in the name of someone else, and that person had related it in the name of someone else, etc., then the lips of all of those people murmur in their graves.
Thus, when the pasuk speaks about “anything that is in the tent” it can be understood as a reference to all of the tzadikim who said this devar Torah in the name of someone else. All of them get to learn Torah in their graves and their lips move to say the words of Torah, even it was not their own chiddush.
Even Without Good Deeds:
Furthermore, the Chida says that even if the person who said this devar Torah was a simple person who did not possess many good deeds and simply said over words of Torah in the name of someone else, he will also merit having his lips whisper in his grave. This is hinted from the words “anyone who enters the tent.” It doesn’t matter who it is. Even if he is a very simply person, he will merit being in the tent of Torah.
Tzadikim Reveal Themselves When One Learns Their Torah:
It is related that the Maharshal had a “mochiach”, someone whose job it was to rebuke him for whatever he had done wrong. One day, the Maharshal came late to Shacharis. His mochiach came to chastise him but remained silent and did not rebuke him. When the Maharshal asked why he didn’t rebuke him, the mochiach said, “I was afraid to say anything to you because I saw two distinguished looking old men coming towards you“.
The Maharshal said, “Those two old men were the Baalei Tosafos, the Rabenu Tam and the R”I. Since I stayed up late last night studying their words, they came to see me.”
Sefer Magid Meisharim (Parshas Vayakhel) relates that the Malach told the Bais Yosef that an explanation he had said the day before regarding the words of the Rambam was the truth and that the Rambam was overjoyed to hear that someone understood the full intent of what he wrote. The Malach added that when the Bais Yosef would be nifter, the Rambam will come to greet him and thank him for explaining how the halacha is in accordance with what he wrote, and that he is speaking on his behalf now as well!
In the introduction to Sefer Maginei Shlomo, written by Rav Yehoshua the Rov of Krakow, the author’s grandson relates that after Rav Yehoshua answered a question that Tosafos asks on Rashi, Rashi came to him in a dream with much joy on his face. Rashi told him, “Since you put in the effort to save me from the mouths of the mighty lions, the sharp Baalei Tosafos, I will come to greet you in Olam Haba with all of my student!”
And so it was. On the day of Rav Yehoshua’s passing, a half hour before his neshama left his body, he turned to the Gedolei Yisroel sitting around him and said, “Prepare a chair for Rav Shomo Yitzchaki (Rashi). He is coming to joyfully greet me accompanied by his holy students as a show of derech eretz to me for standing up for him and answering Tosafos question on his p’shat!”
Tzadikim Help Those Who Learn Their Torah:
Sefer Peleh Yoeitz writes that the Yerushalmi says that the enjoyment a talmid chochom derives when a devar Torah is said in his name is like when one drinks aged wine. He goes on to relate that there once was a decree issued to kill all of the Jews in a certain area. At that time, the Alshich Hakadosh appeared and saved one man from death because that man had studied his sefer regularly.
Sefer Chasidim writes that if a tzadik explains the words of another tzadik, when he dies the other tzadik comes to greet him with a big smile. He accompanies him and tells the malachim to go easy on him and to stand him before Hashem and say good things about him.
He further writes that if someone says over a devar Torah in a tzadik’s name, the tzadik will daven for him and speak well of him.
