ונצעק אל ה' אלוקי אבותינו כמו שנאמר: ויהי בימים הרבים ההם, וימת מלך מצרים וייאנחו בני ישראל מן העבודה, ויצעקו, ותעל שוועתם אל האלוקים מן העבודה. וישמע ה' את קולנו כמו שנאמר: "וישמע אלוקים את נאקתם, ויזכור אלוקים את בריתו את אברהם, את יצחק ואת יעקב."

Is there a significant difference between vayishma et koleinu and vayar et onyeinu? Aren’t hearing our voices and seeing our suffering essentially the same thing? Rav Soloveitchik suggests that there is in fact a key difference between the two. There are numerous types of pains-- some misfortunes that we respond to by crying out to God, and tragedies and heartaches that a person suffers in silence. During our enslavement in Egypt, the Jewish people lacked the words or any means of expression to relay their pain. However, God “saw our suffering” and heard the silent, unarticulated cries of our people. Every day, we ask HaShem to “see our afflictions” during Shemoneh Esrei, and it’s in reference to these pains. They speak of the inner struggles, the troubles, and the suffering that we endure in silence. We believe that God not only hears and answers verbalized prayers, but also the ones only expressed in the depths of our hearts.


haggadah Section: Maggid - Beginning
Source: Rachel Rapps