Now the Alter Rebbe will go back to answer the question we asked at the beginning of the maamar, as to why this story of Moshe speaking and Hashem responding is written in the present tense as opposed to the past tense:
And this is the idea of saying “Moshe would speak” and “Elokim would repeat back” in the present-tense.
For, as the Zohar says (Tikunei Zohar 112a): “the extension of Moshe exists in every generation,” in every person in the generation, this is the idea of the bitul-submission that each person has, according to the measure of this bitul in his heart, in how he fulfills the Torah and Mitzvos without ego, by putting aside our own personal desires to just want to do Hashem’s Will.
So, the reason that this verse is written in present-tense, is because this is a story that is currently happening, every day. Every day we push ourselves to awaken our bitul to Hashem so that we can bring down His Light and perspective into our reality through learning Torah and doing mitzvos; and every day we hope that our animal soul will be able copy and repeat back that message that it heard from the Divine soul.
And regarding a person who learns Torah with bitul to Hashem, our sages said (Yalkut Shimoni Ch. 1,035), "When a person reads Chumash and learns Mishna and Gemara, the Holy One Blessed Be He reads and learns opposite him.”
However, not everyone is equal, in this matter, regarding how strongly they bring down Hashem to “read and learn opposite him” in a revealed manner, rather, each person according to the measure of his heart, of how much bitul he has to Hashem’s Infinite Light, and how much feels that “there is no existence separate from Hashem,” and that “there is no change” in Hashem’s Oneness caused by the creation of the world, since He is still the only True Existence, and that just as Hashem’s Infinite Light filled the entire space of the void of this world before this world was created; that is literally how He is now, after the world was created.
And this is the idea of Moshe, complete bitul, and, like Moshe said: “we are considered like nothing before Hashem,” and like our Sages say: “The shechinah speaks from the throat of Moshe.”
Meaning, Moshe brought down Hashem’s Light and presence on the greatest level possible, because had the greatest bitul to Hashem.
And similarly, in every generation, there are great Tzadikim who reveal Hashem in their Torah study on a high level due to their great bitul to Him.
As the angel, referred to as the “Magid” told the Beis Yosef that when he learned mishnah, the Mishnah itself said, “I am the Mishnah who is speaking through your mouth.”
And this is why a Talmid Chacham is called “Moshe,” as it is brought in the Gemara (see Shabbos 101b) that one Amora would tell another: “Moshe, you’ve said well.”
For the term “Talmid Chacham-wise student” can also mean one who is a “student” who receives from Hashem’s Chochma-Wisdom Above, and from that level of “חָּכְמָּה-Wisdom” he receives (something spelled with the same letters in a different order) “כח-מה-the power for bitul,” which makes him like Moshe, the idea of bitul.
And, as it says in the Zohar (III 248a): “The level of Chochma-Wisdom, referred to as ‘a father’ establishes the level of Malchus, which is referred to as ‘a daughter,’” since it receives from the higher level of Chochma like how a daughter receives important things from her father, as it is written (Mishlei 3:19): “Hashem establishes the ‘Earth-Malchus’ with Wisdom-Chochma,”
And this idea of Malchus that is dependant on Chochma is “the word of Hashem, which is Halacha” (see Shabbos 135b), that is in the mouth of a Talmid Chacham, depending on how much bitul he has from Chochma.
And this is the meaning of the Gemara’s explanation of the last word of the verse: “Hashem answered him corresponding to the voice of Moshe”:
For, voice is the idea of drawing out from what is concealed in one’s thoughts to being revealed to other people in speech. This is similar, by way of analogy, to the physical process of speech, which involves air that is hidden in the lungs and heart and comes out of the person through his neck and mouth, as is known what is explained elsewhere on the verse (Mishlei 4:5): “קְנֵה-acquire Wisdom,” since the word “קנה” can also refer to the windpipe, the trachea, that can be used to acquire wisdom by speaking out words of wisdom, because saying the words of wisdom verbally can help to acquire it intellectually as well. Also see Torah Or Mikeitz, the first maamar.
In other words, the idea of “קו ל-voice” is how much something is revealed tangibly, like how an abstract thought becomes tangible through speech. Meaning, that according to how “loud,” how pronounced is a person’s bitul, his aspect of Moshe, how much “voice” his own inner ‘Moshe’ has, to Hashem’s Infinite Light, exactly corresponding to how loud is that “voice of bitul” will be how strongly “Hashem will respond back to him,” by “reading and learning Torah opposite him” down here in this world in a revealed way, that he can actually feel and be affected by it.
