353) There are three things here: sigh, cry, and outcry, and they are not similar. With a sigh, it is written, “And the children of Israel sighed.” With a cry, it is written, “And they cried.” With an outcry, it is written, “And their outcry went up.” Each is interpreted separately, but Israel did all of them.
However, Israel did the cry and the outcry, but they did not do the sigh. This is implied from the words that they sighed but were not sighed, and that the sigh above was for them.
354) How are cry and outcry different? There is a cry only in prayer, as it is written, “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry.” It is also written, “To You, O Lord, is my cry,” and “My cry is to You, and You will heal me.” Thus, a cry means words of prayer.
An outcry means crying out and not saying anything, without any words. The outcry is greater than all of them, for the outcry is in the heart. It is closer to the Creator than a prayer or a sigh, as it is written, “For if they cry out to Me, I will surely hear their outcry.”
A sigh, an outcry, and a cry are thought, voice, speech—Bina, ZA, and Malchut. Hence, a cry in which there is no speech is more acceptable to the Creator than a prayer in words, since the speech is revealed and there is gripping in it for the accusers. However, an outcry, where there is no disclosure except in the heart that cries out, there is no hold for the accusers in it. It is also more acceptable than a sigh because it is revealed only in the thought of the one who sighs, which is Bina, and the lower one cannot properly adhere to the Creator through it. This is why a cry is more acceptable.
355) What does it say when the Creator said to Samuel, “It repents Me that I have set up Saul to be king”? It is written, “And it grieved Samuel; and he cried out to the Lord all night.” He left everything—the sigh, the cry—and took the outcry, since it was closest to the Creator, as it is written, “And now, behold, the outcry of the children of Israel has come to Me.”
356) One who prays and cries and cries out until he can no longer move his lips, this is a complete prayer that is in the heart. It is never returned empty, but is accepted. Great is the outcry for it tears a man’s sentence from all his days.
357) Great is the cry that governs the quality of judgment above. Great is the cry that governs this world and the next world. For a cry, man inherits this world and the next world, as it is written, “Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.”