וַיֵּאָנְחוּ בְנֵי יִשְ ׂרָ אֵל מִ ן הָעֲבֹדָה וַיִּזְעָקוּ וַתַ ּעַל שַ ׁוְעָתָם אֶל הָאֱלֹקִים מִ ן הָעֲבֹדָה (ב, כג)
And the children of Yisroel sighed from the labor, and they cried out, and their cry ascended to G-d from the labor. (2:23)
A Groan for Those Far From Hashem:
Rav Moshe of Kobrin zy”a (Sefer Imros Moshe) explains this pasuk to be describing the greatness of Klal Yisroel. It is saying that they only groaned because they were far from serving Hashem properly, not because of their own pain. Since Hashem saw that their groans were l’sheim shomayim, He immediately heard their cries.
We also see from the pasuk that even though they cried under difficult circumstances, when they were unable to focus on their prayers, He still answered them. Sefer Lechem Shlomo quotes the Rebbe of Maglonitza zy”a as explaining a pasuk in Tehillim in a similar way. It is stated (Tehillim 18:4): “With praise (m’holel) I call to Hashem, and from my enemies I will be saved.” He says that the word “m’holel” can also mean “mahul b’mayim” (mixed with water, i.e. confused). Thus, the pasuk is saying that even if one cries out to Hashem in a confused state, unable to focus his thoughts properly, he still will be saved from his enemies.
Tefillos of a Broken Heart:
Rav Boruch of Kosov zy”a (Sefer Yesod Hatorah) learns the pasuk to be saying that they were answered because their cries were “from the labor”. Since they cried out to Him with a broken heart, their prayers were accepted, as Hashem never rejects a broken and downtrodden heart (Tehillim 51:19).
This pasuk uses the word “Elokim”, as does the pasuk in Tehillim, which represents Hashem’s trait of strict judgment. Thus, it is saying that even His middas hadin accepts a broken heart and welcomes such prayers.
There is a proof to this from the Gemara (Bava Metziah 59A) that says that one must be careful not to cause his wife distress, as a woman becomes distressed and cries easily. Chazal also say that since Esav cried bitterly (Bereishis 27:34) and his heart was broken from losing the brachos, Hashem heard his prayers and this led to our long, bitter golus.
We also find the pasuk saying (Devarim 15:9) that if one causes a poor man distress and he cries to Hashem, the one who caused the pain will bear a sin. In this verse, Hashem’s name of “Havaya”, which represents His middah of mercy, is used, to indicate that even the Divine trait of compassion will transform into middas hadin and punish one who broke another Jew’s heart.
Rav Boruch concludes: “There is a general rule that the reason we sometimes find the name of ‘Havaya’ in reference to a punishment and the name of ‘Elokim’ in reference to a reward is because tzadikim transform middas hadin to rachamim and wicked men transform middas harachamim to middas hadin.”
