Komentaryo sa Exodo 2:23: Mei HaShiloach, Rashi, Chizkuni & Da'at Zekenim

And the Children of Israel sighed from their labor and they cried out. And their groaning rose up to God from their labor. At this moment, the salvation began. Once they started to cry out, then immediately "their groaning rose up" - meaning that it catalyzed the salvation. For until this moment they had no awakening to scream and pray. And because the Holy Blessed One desired to redeem them, [therefore] the scream was awakened within them. And this is the beginning of redemption, when a person is roused to scream to God. Similar to what King David, peace be upon him, said (Psalm 66:20), "blessed is God for not taking away God's prayer and kindness from me." Meaning that if there is prayer within him, then God will shine kindness upon him. For before God desire to bring salvation a person does not even acknowledge their own lack, and they are not at all aware what they are lacking. But when God desire to redeem them, God shows a person their lack, and the person therefore becomes aware that all of the outgrowths of their lacking derive from this primary root. And God sends the person the strength to pray and scream to God, and they begin to make a lot of noise about this to God - and then God shines kindness upon them.

[ויהי בימים הרבים ההם AND IT CAME TO PASS DURING THOSE MANY DAYS during which Moses was sojourning in Midian, וימת מלך מצרים THAT THE KING OF EGYPT DIED, and the Israelites felt the need of help; and therefore ומשה היה רעה “And Moses fed the flock” and help came through him. For this reason these chapters are placed in juxtaposition].

ויהי בימים הרבים ההם, “It was during these many years, etc;” the reference is to the 400 years that G-d had told Avraham that it would take before His promise to him that his descendants would be redeemed from the land in which they would be slaves would be fulfilled. The Jewish people in Egypt now felt that the time for them to be redeemed had arrived.