If You Afflict Them and I Surely Hear Their Cry

Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai 22:22

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"If you afflict, afflict them" (Exodus 22:22): this includes both one who afflicts their bodies with labor, or [afflicts] their property with words. Or might one think it includes even [the master] teaching them Torah or teaching them a craft? Scripture teaches, "if you afflict" [only true affliction is meant]. "If he cries out, cries out to Me" (Exodus 22:22): one might think a person is not liable until [the victim] cries out and cries out [repeatedly]; Scripture teaches, "his cry" — even a single cry. If so, why is it stated, "if he cries out, cries out"? To make one liable for each and every cry. "I will surely hear his cry" (Exodus 22:22): it is not that, just as I hear from this one, [so] I hear from that one [— rather, I hear the cry of the oppressed especially].

Themes

Divine JusticePrayerEthics

Continue Reading

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on ExodusPharaoh's Bloody Cure - The Sick King's DecreeWhy did the cry of the Hebrews finally pierce heaven? Because Pharaoh had stopped being a tyrant and become a monster. "And it was after many of those days thatYalkut Shimoni on TorahThe God Who Hears the Cry of the Oppressed Either WayGod promises to hear the cry of the afflicted, and the Sages wrestle with what that promise really covers. At first the verse seems to make crying out a conditiBen SiraIncense and Prayer of SiraBen Sira, in his wisdom, reminds us of something fundamental: "If they were not, you would not have come to the world." Your parents, your ancestors... they pavBook of JubileesAbraham Reads the Stars and Learns HebrewBook of Jubilees turns to Abraham Reads the Stars and Learns Hebrew. In the 12th chapter of Jubilees, we find Abraham at a pivotal moment. He's just finished prBook of JubileesBowing Before the LordBook of Jubilees turns to Bowing Before the Lord. Chapter 20 lays out a powerful promise, a vision of what life could be when lived in alignment with a higher pBook of JudithJudith the HeroineJudith, as you might recall, is the brave and beautiful widow who saves her people from the Assyrian army. But before she puts her daring plan into action, she