A Far Cry

There is a lot of crying in this week’s portion of Mishpatim, perhaps timed to hold or reflect a nation in tears. Tragically, like the numerous names of snow that eskimos have, we have quite a few for crying. The word that we are perhaps most familiar with לבכות to cry, is etched into our collective memories through the iconic song sung by Arik Einstein, written by Aviv Geffen, released in 1993. It became all the more renowned when Aviv Geffen himself sang it following the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin in 1995.

אני הולך לבכות לך

…תהיה חזק למעלה

I am going to cry for you,

be strong up there… 

We are singing and crying with these words today.

Whilst this term occurs frequently in the book of Bereishit, it occurs just once in the Book of Shemot, where with the trauma and suffering of slavery we may have anticipated hearing it all the more. It is poignantly used to describe our early encounter with Moses, when he is discovered floating in a basket in the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter. Shemot 2:6;

וַתִּפְתַּח֙ וַתִּרְאֵ֣הוּ אֶת־הַיֶּ֔לֶד וְהִנֵּה־נַ֖עַר בֹּכֶ֑ה וַתַּחְמֹ֣ל עָלָ֔יו וַתֹּ֕אמֶר מִיַּלְדֵ֥י הָֽעִבְרִ֖ים זֶֽה׃

When she opened it, she saw that it was a child, a boy crying. She took pity on it and said, “This must be a Hebrew child.”

The word that becomes used is לצעוק to cry out, or outcry, a much more guttural and intense expression. Here it is in our portion 22:21,22

כׇּל־אַלְמָנָ֥ה וְיָת֖וֹם לֹ֥א תְעַנּֽוּן׃

You [communal leaders] shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan.

אִם־עַנֵּ֥ה תְעַנֶּ֖ה אֹת֑וֹ כִּ֣י אִם־צָעֹ֤ק יִצְעַק֙ אֵלַ֔י שָׁמֹ֥עַ אֶשְׁמַ֖ע צַעֲקָתֽוֹ׃

If you do mistreat him, I will surely hear their outcry as soon as they cry out to Me.

The mirror and double expressions of the raw crying out, the hearing and expeditious response is comforting yet 503 days later is jarring.

Umberto Cassuto (1883-1951) an Italian Rabbi and renowned scholar of the Bible expounds,

שמוע אשמע צעקתו, כפי ששמעתי את צעקתכם כאשר עינו אתכם המצרים

I will surely hear their cry, in the same way as I heard your crying out as the Egyptians oppressed and tortured you.

The Chizkuni, thirteenth century French Rabbinic Scholar  offers a searing explanation for the singular form of ‘oto’ him (her) in the second verse where the first mentions both the widow and the orphan. As we hold the images of the beloved babies in our minds, this is agonizingly timely and timeless. The singular form refers to and highlights the orphan, as s/he, being a minor does not even have a concept of what such discrimination means and does not know how to show people what s/he feels, as opposed to the widow. That raw scream becomes intolerable and the reaction must surely be immediate.

The Kli Yakar, Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz 1550 – 1619 understands the singular Him as referring to God; ‘… He is the “Father of orphans,” if one mistreats an orphan one mistreats Him as well, so to speak. This causes His attribute of judgment to cry out in heaven at the same time that the orphan cries out on earth.’ This daunting depiction evokes the writings of Kalonymus Kalman Szapiro the Rabbi in the Warsaw Ghetto in his venerable work, Aish Kodesh – Holy Fire.

There is indeed much crying in this week. The heavens have opened and God too must be crying with us at the atrocities committed and displayed of His people.