When Leah, Jacob’s first wife, bore him his first child, she named him Reuven., which is a contraction of the phrase “G-d saw my suffering.” Leah felt that by bearing a child for her husband Jacob, he would now begin to have love for her, despite the fact that Jacob was tricked into marrying her.
When she bore him a second son, she named him Shimon, which is a contraction of:
“G-d heard that I was despised.”
The question can be asked, why is it that in the first instance, Leah used the metaphor of sight with regard to
G-d taking note of her suffering—”G-d saw my suffering”—whereas with the birth of her second son, Leah employs the metaphor of hearing—”G-d heard that I was despised”—to describe G-d’s attentiveness to her situation?
Second, why is it that when Reuven is born, G-d sees her suffering, whereas when Shimon is born G-d hears that she is despised? What is the more general experience of suffering associated with Reuven, while the more specific feeling of being despised is connection to Shimon?
Third, we must try to grasp the deeper meaning of these two metaphors—seeing and hearing—and how they can be applied to our own lives, with regard to our relationships with G-d and with others.
There are many salient distinguishing features between the visual and the auditory.
Among these differences one finds that when we see something, it is usual a cursory examination and overview of the matter at hand. Vision is panoramic. It generally covers a wide expanse and has no appreciation for the details. It is not that we don’t see the details, but it is that we don’t focus on them. They count only to the extent that they contribute to the whole picture and they are what make the entire scene what it is, but as individual parts they have minimal value.
Hearing, on the other hand, deals primarily with the details. We hear one sound at a time. (Within sound there are exceptions to this rule, such as the pleasure we derive from listening to a philharmonic orchestra. And, likewise within the visual experience there are times when we do focus our attention on and are memorized by one detail. But these exceptions, only prove the rule that visual is generally sweeping and cursory, while hearing focuses on the details.
Translating this difference into human relationships, we can say that there are two ways that we deal with each other’s needs. There are times that we see another person’s plight. However, because it is visual, it cannot fathom what precisely is wrong. It is a simple recognition that something is wrong. It does not suffice to just see the other person’s misery and empathize. We must take this to the next step, by listening to their story. What might seem to be just petty details or minutiae is not to the person who is suffering. And they can only be helped if they are listened to. When we not only see their suffering, but we also hear the details of their situation we have emulated G-d who saw and heard Leah’s sad predicament.
When Joseph was in prison, he notices that two of the prisoners—Pharaoh’s butler and baker, were miserable. But he doesn’t stop there and just say a few comforting words to them. He proceeds to ask them what was wrong. Seeing alone only told him half of the story. He then had to hear from them the details, without which he could not have helped them.
This sheds light on how Leah viewed G-d’s response to her plight. First she appreciates G-d’s seeing her suffering and gave her a child. When she had a second child, she realized that G-d was not only involved in her life in a cursory fashion—that He was able to sense her suffering—but that He also knew here particular situation, that she was despised.
These two traits of seeing and hearing —the Reuven and Shimon approaches to life—are reflected in their personalities they developed when they grew up. Reuven makes a general effort to save Joseph from his brother’s attempt at killing him. He doe not follow through, and while he takes a break, Joseph is sold into slavery. Had Reuven been endowed with the Shimon trait, he would have followed through and not rested until he had saved Joseph.
Shimon, on the other hand, upon hearing how his sister Dinah was violated, did not rest until he redeemed his sister and decimated the entire city of perpetrators. Without going into the ethics of this action, Shimon’s personality of hearing enabled him to go to the extreme in addressing the need of the victim.
When we approach G-d in our prayers, we ask G-d to do both: See us and hear us. We are, in effect. Saying to G-d: “Don’t just respond to our pleas by some general Divine act of kindness, a few words of comfort, we want more.” Our prayers for the immediate Redemption is an expression of how we want G-d to not only see our plight but to also hear all of the particulars of our suffering and not rest until we are redeemed from all facets and manifestations of exile.