Watch Rabbi David Sutton - A Path To A Meaningful , Positive, and Meaningful Elul & Yamim Noraim https://itorah.com/browse-lectures/all/rabbi-david-sutton/personal-growth-midot-/midot-perseverance/all-languages/all-dates Welcome to our special mini series on Pesukim from the Musaf prayers. We are now on our second pasuk of Zichronot , where it says, וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־נַאֲקָתָ֑ם וַיִּזְכֹּ֤ר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶת־בְּרִית֔וֹ אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֶת־יִצְחָ֥ק וְאֶֽת־יַעֲקֹֽב Hashem heard their groaning and Hashem remembered his covenant with Abraham , Yitzchak and Yaakov. So of course, it includes the word Vayizkor / and He remembered, which is our key point. And let us now explain the pasuk: וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶת־נַאֲקָתָ֑ם /God heard their groaning. It's interesting that it doesn't say He heard their prayers . It doesn't even say He heard their calls . It says He heard their groanings. The Sifre tells us there are ten terms of prayer, and one of them is Na'aka / groaning , and the source is this pasuk, that Hashem heard, their groaning . Rabbi Pinchus, ztzl, in his sefer Sha'arim B'Tefila/Gates of Prayer, goes through the ten terms and talks about this concept of groaning . He points out that we don't see anything about prayer here. Groaning just means a person is calling out in pain. How is that prayer ? He explains that a person has the ability to take any groan in pain and focus it to Hashem, and that becomes prayer. Prayer does not have to be with words. A groan that's focused on God is a prayer. He tells a story about Rav Baruch Ber Lebowitz.When he was a child, he was punished one afternoon, and in those days, they believed in corporal punishment. He got a smack and he was crying (he was about seven or eight years old), and he took out a siddur and started to pray Minhah. His father asked him, Why are you praying now, when you're crying ? He answered, " I'm crying anyway. Let me at least turn the crying into prayer." This is a child thinking, Why should I waste a cry for nothing? And it's this concept that we could take any groan, any tear, and turn it into the right thing. I still remember the people of old- when child a was crying, they would say, Cry over the Bet Hamikdash. That was their way of looking at things, that if you're crying or groaning, focus it on something that you should cry about. This shows us how Hashem is so aware of our pain, He heard their groaning in the times of Mitzrayim, and it impacted. The Bet Yosef quotes the Shibolei HaLaket that explains that every prayer, every blessing we have in the Amida is based on a historical event. Magen Avraham was from when Abraham was saved from the fiery furnace. Mehayeh Hametim was from when Yitzhak Avinu was saved at the Akeda , and so on. Where did Shomeya Tefila come from? Says the Bet Yosef, in Or Hahayim siman 112, When the Jewish people groaned and Hashem heard their groaning, that is where Shomeya Tefillah comes from. This is fascinating. Shomeya Tefillah did not come from a prayer. It came from hearing the groans. We see another important point in this pasuk. It says God heard their groans, and He remembered the covenant. So which was it? Was it the covenant of Avraham Yitzhak and Yaakov or was it their groans? The answer is that really, the zechut Avot was what did it. But they still weren't befitting. The zechut Avot wasn't enough. In order to invoke and arouse, they had to groan . They had to cry, which is an important rule. This pasuk is brought down in our Haggadah as well, to prove this point. And we see in Ki Tavo that Hashem hears our prayers, and our prayers are sometimes necessary to arouse a previous covenant, a previous deal that Hashem had with us. So, our lesson is that it's not just prayers, but even a well focused groan can have that power to arouse our zechuyot .