And we cried to the Lord God of our ancestors, as it is written: "And it came to pass, after some time, that the King of Egypt died, and the children of Israel groaned from the labor and their cry went up to God from the labor" (Exodus 2:23). At first glance, this seems strange: why did they groan only after the death of Pharaoh? It should have been the other way around. The Israelites should have rejoiced at the death of Pharaoh. I learned the following explanation from Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, the Sh'lah. The Egyptians understood that if the Israelites repented and returned to God and prayed God would answer their prayer; therefore, they did not give them permission to have even a minute free from slavery lest they begin praying to God. It was the custom of the Egyptians, however, upon the death of Pharaoh for all the people, great and small, to follow behind the king's casket and cry. The Egyptians thought that the Israelites were crying over the loss of Pharaoh. Actually, the Israelites cried out to their Father in Heaven in prayer to help them. Thus, God heard their cry. This is the meaning of the verse, "The King of Egypt died… and the children of Israel groaned…" Their prayer was a groan, something they had not been permitted to do until now. Thus, "Their cry went up to God…" It seems to me that there is another explanation for this matter. One must explain the second use of the expression "from the labor." This expression appears twice in Exodus 2:23; "The Israelites groaned from the labor," and "their groan rose up to God from the labor." The second use of "From the labor," is superfluous. The two uses of the expression "From the labor," can be explained by a discussion which appears in the Talmud regarding the word, b'farekh, "ruthlessly" or "With hard labor." (This word appears twice in Exodus, ch. 1.) The first use of the word b'farekh is interpreted as b'feh rakh, "with soft language," while the second is understood as crushing labor: 13. The Egyptians with soft language (b'farekh) imposed upon the Israelites 14. the various labors that they made them perform. With crushing labor (b'farekh) they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field. (Exodus 1:13-14) Yet, if the second use of the word b'farekh is understood as ruthlessly, why shouldn’t the first use of the word have the same meaning? Or, why shouldn’t the second use of this word be understood as b'feh rakh as well? Why shouldn’t both be understood as having the same meaning? The difference between the two uses of this word is that the first use of b'farekh applies to the Egyptians and the second one to the Israelites. Yet if the second interpretation of b'farekh (ruthlessly) is correct, then what does it mean for the first use of this expression? Rather both times the word is used, it should be understood as b'feh rakh, soft language. It was because of the soft language, that the Israelites allowed themselves to be enslaved to the Egyptians and to be forced to do crushing labor. It would seem that when Pharaoh said, "Let us deal shrewdly with them," it was his intention to keep the Israelites from praying to God to help them, lest their prayer be received and answered. He knew that when they were oppressed, they would pray from their heart of hearts and they would groan because of the hard labor they experienced as slaves. God never despises a broken heart. Pharaoh was concerned that God would hear their prayer and redeem them from oppression. So he commanded his taskmasters to make sure that the Israelites performed their tasks without groans, and that they performed their work cheerfully, as they originally performed these tasks when Pharaoh stood at their sides. Pharaoh worked them constantly so that there was no time to groan. He never lightened their burden for even a moment for he knew that once they began groaning they would pray to God and their prayer would be accepted. He made it their obligation to appear to be satisfied and happy in performing their tasks. There is no greater oppression than this - to be forced to be happy when you are miserable. That is why we find no mention of groaning or complaining before the death of Pharaoh. It is then that we are told, "A new king arose in Egypt…" It was the custom that when a new king arose, he would free all those who were imprisoned from former officials to lowly slaves so that they would favor the new king for his acts of kindness. In the case of the Israelites, the new king conferred with his advisors about whether or not to free them. He was unaware of the reason the old king had oppressed the Israelites so severely (so that they would have no time to pray). He, however, gave them permission for groaning and crying, and as a result of this God heard their cries. This is the meaning of the text. When the old king died (during whose reign they were not even allowed to groan), and a new king arose who gave them permission to groan, only then did the Israelites cry out to God. The Egyptians thought that the Israelites were groaning from their labors but really they were crying out to God.

"We cried out," through, "The king of Egypt died. The Israelites were groaning:" The verse says: "A long time after that, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites were groaning" (Exodus 2:23). The Talmud and the Midrash explain that the time when Pharaoh died is called "Many days" because he was a leper during that time, and a leper is considered to be like a dead man.

And the children of Israel groaned. Why did the Israelites groan? The magicians of Egypt told Pharaoh, "There is no greater cure for leprosy than this: take one hundred fifty Israelite children, slaughter them and then bathe in their blood twice a day. This decree was fulfilled with the maximum cruelty: the mother was forced to hold the child over the pool and the father had to slaughter his own child. It was then that God heard the groaning of the Israelites and He took note of them. He took note of them because He had made promises, at the covenants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What were the three decrees that caused God to take note of them: the forced separation of couples, the casting of the Israelites baby boys into the Nile, and the hard labor which weakened the Israelites. Let me explain: Rabbi Bondi concludes his commentary on Deuteronomy 26:7 with the very same comments as the Haggadah itself. The Haggadah refers to these three terms: "Our affliction, our sorrow, and, our oppression" as referring to the three decrees by the Egyptians that caused God "to hear" the cry of the Israelites. He arrives at this interpretation in a roundabout fashion. He questions whether Pharaoh actually died or not, and if the death of Pharaoh was an opportunity for the Israelites to cry out to God, or a result of the decrees enforced by the new king. This section began by exploring what the Torah means when it says that "We cried out," and concludes by saying that their groaning and crying was a result of the terrible and cruel suffering inflicted on the Israelites. In the end, it was the cruelty to the children that motivated God to hear the prayers of the Israelites. What is the point of all these imaginative Midrashim? They are not part of the biblical text but they are most definitely part of how Jews from time immemorial have told the story of the Exodus. We did not just tell this story, word for word, as it is recorded in Scripture. We told it in light of our historic experience as Jews. Our suffering in the present was not new - what we experienced now obviously happened in the past as well, so it was perfectly legitimate to read the present back into the past. In this way the story of the Exodus was timeless.