Amidah-Vaeira-See Our Suffering

“The Lord spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am God.’ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as ‘E-l Sha-ddai’, but with My Name ‘God’ I did not make Myself known to them (Exodus 6:2-3).” God begins by speaking of appearing to the patriarchs, and concludes by speaking of making Himself “known” to them. This is because Seeing is more powerful and clear than knowing. Someone can know something through his intellect, and yet make a mistake. But when someone sees something as it is he will not make a mistake. (Kli Yakar)

“See, please, our affliction, take up our grievance, and redeem us with a complete redemption speedily for Your Names sake.” This blessing takes us through the stages of seeing and knowing. We begin by asking God to “see,” with absolute and un-mistaken clarity our suffering, so as to “make known” to us, His concern and love for us.

God wanted to make known in the world that He, Blessed be He, created His world ex-nihilo, something from nothing. There was a world when people appeared. We are born into a world that exists. We’d cannot begin to comprehend “something from nothing.” Therefore, God had to make miracles that challenged all the rules of nature, to introduce to us the idea of something from nothing, the essence of Is Name, God. (Kli Yakar)

This is what we mean when we mention in the blessing, “For Your Name’s sake.” The only way the world will truly comprehend God’s Name, God, the Name that represents His bringing the world into existence from nothing, is with Redemption that will challenge all the rules of nature as we know it. We are actually praying for God to manifest Himself in such a way that everyone will acknowledge His role as Creator.