Likutei Moharan, Part II 78:6/ליקוטי מוהר"ן·תנינא ע״ח:ו׳

16. {“And I pleaded with God at that time, leimor (saying)” (Deuteronomy 3:23).} And so, when Moshe Rabbeinu, may peace be upon him, begged to enter the Land of Israel, he requested an unearned gift, as it is written, “And I pleaded with God”—the concept of an unearned gift. And this is “at that time, saying.” That is, his prayer was with the power of the concept of “at that time, saying”—i.e., the power of that time when the world existed through the Ten Utterances. This was before the Giving of the Torah, when the world existed through the Ten Utterances in which the Torah was hidden. The world’s existence was then the result of an unearned gift. And with this power of the world’s existence prior to the Giving of the Torah—i.e., the concept of unearned gifts, the aforementioned Ten Utterances—one merits coming and conquering the Land of Israel, as mentioned above. Moshe therefore used this concept in begging to enter the Land of Israel.

2Thus, this is the meaning of: And I pleaded with God— That is, an unearned gift.

3at that time, lEiMoR—That is, with the power of that time when the world existed through the maAMaRot (utterances) alone. The world existed then through the concept of an unearned gift, which allows coming to the Land of Israel, as mentioned above. Moshe therefore begged to enter the Land of Israel using this concept. This is the meaning of “at that time.” “That” alludes to hidden and concealed, because at that time, prior to the Giving of the Torah, the Torah was hidden and concealed within the Ten Utterances, etc., as mentioned above.