Naso

When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with God, he would hear the Voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Covenant between the two cherubim; thus God spoke to him.

7:89

“to him” refers to Moses. These words would demonstrate the enormous spiritual stature of Moses compared to all other subsequent prophets. He was not taken aback by being addressed by God, on the contrary, he engaged in conversation with God…Basically the Torah reveals here that Moses had attained the ultimate level of spirituality that it is possible for man to attain while alive on earth…

Rabbeinu Bachya (13^th Century)

It is respect for God to say here that God was speaking to Himself, and Moses heard from his inner self. In other words, when the Torah states “spoke to him,” the words “to him” really mean “to himself.” Moses heard God speaking to Himself, and Moses heard from his inner self. This was not an acoustic event, in which the sound reached Moses, but there was a process in Moses’ self-awareness, whereby, Moses heard God speaking to Himself..

Rashi (12^th Century)

Rashi’s interpretation is surprising, and almost astounding, Rashi lived two generations before Maimonides, but in these few words Rashi gives Maimonides entire view of prophecy…We are not surprised at Maimonides, for this view of prophecy is in keeping with his entire system of faith. But Rashi, who is always considered to be of naïve faith and far from philosophic thought and analysis, says the exact same thing. This must indicate that this view reflects something of basic faith…One should note that Martin Luther also understood these words in this form…

Yeshayahu Leibovitz (20^th Century)

“Rashi’s” interpretation is an amazing insight at a very early age in our history about the nature of our dialogue with God, of revelation. To hear God thus really means to perceive God. From our vantage point in history and religious sensitivity…we are torn between envy and rejection, between admiration and horror. We have lost a magic world, we have lost the grace of immediate connection with the sacred in the world. And yet we have gained an ever increasing sense of self, of spiritual independence and a sense of irony about our lives…Our relationship with the past, as committed Jews engaged (even if ambivalently) with our sacred texts, must be more complex and searching, more tolerant and audacious. To sit here as unrelenting judges of the past only sets up up for a similar rejection by those who in the future will look back on us in horror about many of our behaviors and believes.

Eduardo Rauch (20^th Century)

Another difference between Moses and all other prophets was that all others could not voluntarily initiate a prophetic vision, but could only do so when God willed to bring His influence to bear on them. Moses, on the other hand, could do so at will. He was given the ability to bind himself to God whenever necessary, and thus experience a revelation. The revelation of all other prophets was furthermore limited to the particular things that God desired to reveal to them. Moses on the other hand, had all the systems of creation revealed to him…

Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (18^th Century)