Parashat Va-era 5769 -- The Power to Cry Out

My most vivid memory of my first summer at a Jewish overnight camp is sitting during services and praying with my eyes closed for the first time. For someone who so likes to be in control, looking inward was a new experience.

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Va-era, God tells Moses:

“I have now heard the cries of the Israelites because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am Adonai. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage.” (Exodus 6:5-6).

For me, the miracle of Exodus is not that God answered the Israelites’ cries. God had been answering cries for generations. The miracle is that the Israelites had the self-awareness to realize that they were enslaved and the strength to believe they could do something about it.

Ironically, the most important lesson I have learned in recent years is discovering how to pray with my eyes open. I have learned that prayer is not only about self-reflection, but also about seeing the world, recognizing injustice, and coming to believe I can do something about it.

“I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary judgments. And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, Adonai, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I Adonai” (Exodus 6:7-8).

From Egypt, Mitzraim (literally, the “Narrow Place”), God promises the Israelites a new land, a Promised Land. Of course, there will be forty years of wandering, desert trials, and the passing of a generation before the Israelites ever touch foot on the soil of that promised inheritance. It is the awareness of the “in between,” the desert that often stands between slavery and freedom, which reminds me that nothing in life is as simple as spacious land and pledged blessings. Praying with open eyes means accepting the complexities of life. There will always be lands filled with sweetness and there will always be deserts along the way.

This week Torah reminds us that we are a people who cry out; who cry out at injustice, at oppression, at inequality, and unfairness. We are to be the people who pray with our eyes open.

Among God’s many names, we call the divine “Shomeah T’fillah,” “the One who hears prayers. Surely, we hear that name echoed in Torah this week.

Let us be reminded this week that ours is a God who cares about the suffering in our world. Let us be reminded that the path from injustice to freedom is often winding and filled with challenges, but neither of these facts excuses us from taking it. Let us be reminded that our inheritance is not only land, but also a willingness to cry out and wander.