Feeling the Suffering

For I too have heard the cries of the Children of Israel ... and I remember My covenant.

                                                            Exodus 6:5

          “I too have heard.” The use of the word “too” implies that others, besides the Almighty “have heard.”

          My father suggested that the implication refers to the Israelites, who “heard” the suffering of their fellow Israelites. Because an Israelite was not totally caught up in his own suffering, but felt the pain of the suffering of his brethren as well, the feeling of community inclined God to hear the cries of the Children of Israel.

          The verse seemingly implies that if not for the cries of the Children of Israel, God would not have remembered His covenant. Apparently, Rashi was sensitive to this point and therefore explains: “Since I must fulfill My covenant, therefore I have heard ...”

My father explained that indeed, were the Israelites to remain silent and not cry out to God, because they accepted their status as slaves, they would have been unworthy of salvation. Because realization of the inherent evil of being enslaved is the necessary first step towards salvation and freedom, the sine qua non of Israel’s redemption was their recognition that slavery constitutes suffering. Thus, the four “languages” of redemption (or in the version of the Jerusalem Talmud, the “four redemptions”), begin with “I will take you out of the sufferings of Egypt.” [Exodus 6:6]