JHI Dvar Torah on Parshat Shemot

PARSHAT SHEMOT – SEEING AND FEELING


SHEMOT 3:7 And Hashem (G-d) said: "I have certainly seen the afflic­tion of my people that are in Egypt, and their cries I have heard because of their taskmasters, for I know their pains."

COMMENTARY OF RASHI (ibid.) "For I know their pains" As it is written (in 2:25). "And Hashem took cognizance of them," that is to say I have set My heart to consider and to know their pains and I did not hide My eyes, and I did not close My ears from their cries.


These words of the Bible describe the first in the sequence of events that culminated in the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Hashem “took note” of the suffering Jewish slaves in Egypt. He did not block His Eyes to avoid seeing their pain, nor did He block His Ears to prevent Himself from hearing their cries. Then, in response to their suffering, He initiated the process of their redemption.

[It should be noted that any mention in the Torah of Hashem Seeing or Hearing cannot be taken literally. G-d does not require additional focus to see or hear, nor does He have Ears and Eyes (as we know them) that must be blocked to stop His Hearing or Sight. Rather, these descrip­tions depict His actions in human-like terms for the purpose of instruction. It is a method of teaching about how human beings typically react and about what constitutes proper conduct.]

The Jews were suffering from their slavery in Egypt. The Almighty, who Loves all people, then dedicated His focus upon their plight in order to be maximally attuned to their travail. Through this example, the Torah is teaching that it is not enough to be aware of another person’s suffering. To become fully sensitized to the situation at hand, one must first consciously focus on that person’s travail, despite however obvious it might appear to be.

A comparable human situation might entail someone without a family who is languishing alone in a hospital bed, suffering from a painful disease. Then, two otherwise equally kind acquaintances of the patient began thinking of possibly paying a hospital visit. The first of the two thought about it for a moment. The second acquaintance, however, began contemplating, for a full two minutes, how awful it must be to face this illness alone and how much the patient must therefore be suffering. Based on this text, the second friend would be far more attuned to the suffering of the patient, despite the fact that the details of the illness are well known to both of them. Accordingly, it is far more likely that the second friend would make the hospital visit.

Why, however, was there a need, in this particular situation, for this delib­erate effort to become sensitized to the suffering of the Jews? Seemingly, even a casual glance at their circumstances would arouse any observer. It was glaringly obvious that they were suffering - and terribly. Newborn Jewish male babies were being drowned and they were sub­jected to inhuman working conditions. The Midrash (a Talmud-era work) provides another glimpse at the extent of the Jews suffering in Egypt. The Midrash writes that when the Jews came to Mount Sinai after miraculously crossing the Red Sea, Hashem performed another great miracle and cured them all. Prior to that point, most of the Jewish adults were maimed or crippled from the beatings they had received at the hands of the Egyptian taskmasters.

This indicates that even this extreme and blatantly apparent level of suffering and torture would typically be ‘seen but not fully felt’ by a human observer. It is only after “Setting one’s heart to consider and to know their pains” that one will fully appreciate the situation of the victims.

As a practical matter, this teaches that even perfectly kind and honorably people could ‘see and yet not feel’ the obvious misfortunes of those with whom they constantly interact – even when loved ones are the ones who are suffering. For example, parents can be intellectually aware that their beloved children suffer at school from learning problems and yet do little about it. They are perfectly capable of ‘seeing the problem but not noticing it’ – and for years on end. However, if those same parents would visit the school to seriously discuss the problem with the teachers and spend time speaking with their child about the details of the difficulties at school, they would suddenly become far more attuned and proactive. The added measure of emotional involvement might then motivate the parents to seek out a solution. The difference in the child’s well-being could last a lifetime.

Human suffering is unfortunately all around us. The Torah is teaching that an ethically appropriate response will likely not result from merely “seeing” this travail. It must also be “felt.”




This Dvar Torah was adapted from a Musser Schmuess (discourse on ethics) by the author’s Rebbe (primary teacher of Torah), Rabbi A. H. Liebowitz (1918-2008).

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