“The Lord heard our voice… And He saw our suffering.”

“The Lord heard our voice… And He saw our suffering.”

Is there a significant difference between vayishma et koleinu, that “The Lord heard our voice,” and vayar et onyeinu, and “saw our suffering”? Is it not essentially the same idea?

Rabbi Soloveitchik suggests that the two are not the same. There are some pains and misfortunes that we respond to with a cry for help from God. However, there are other tragedies and heartaches that person will suffer in silence, not calling out in prayer. Rabbi Soloveitchik says that this was a time when the Jewish people felt overwhelmed and did not have the words or even a way to express their pain.

However, God, who is all-knowing, also knows the pain that is filled by a crushed heart. It is this kind of pain that the author of the Haggadah understands and describes, “And He saw her suffering.” Not only did God hear their voices, God also heard the silent, unarticulated cries rising from the depths of their hearts.

In a moving and beautiful prayer that is added to the liturgy during the High Holidays, we say to God, “The One who answered our forefather Abraham at Mount Moriah, He will answer you and listen to your cries today.”

Asks Rabbi Soloveitchik, if we search the story of the Binding of Isaac, we never once see Abraham praying to God! So at what point does God answer Abraham’s prayer on Mount Moriah? Says the Rav: God heard the prayers of an anguished heart-the torment of a father anticipating that he was about to lose his beloved child

God, who sees all affliction, saw Abraham’s inner turmoil and answered him even though Abraham did not utter a formal prayer.

Each day, in our prayer of the silent devotion of the Amidah, we ask God, “See our afflictions.” These words address this kind of prayer. They speak of the inner struggles, the troubles, and the suffering that we endure in silence. We are confident that God answers not only the prayers that we verbalize; he also answers prayers we don’t express but are solely within the chambers of our hearts. (The Night That not Unites, page 136)

Know that I keep you in my prayers daily, praying for health and healing. Be comforted knowing God also hears the prayers we don’t express but are solely within the chambers of our hearts during this difficult time.