The power of crying out is very great, as it has the power to annul bad decrees, as it says in Tehillim “The face of Hashem is towards those who perform evil to destroy their memory from the earth; they cried out and Hashem hears”. Regarding the four types of people who are obligated to give thanks it also says “And they cried out to Hashem when they were in trouble; He will save them from their sufferings”. On a basic level we would think that the word “Tze’akah” (which means crying out) refers to raising one’s voice when praying from the corners of one’s heart. However, it is difficult to say this as Chazal say that one who raises his voice when praying is like a false prophet. It would therefore appear that the ideal way is that one’s heart should cry out with a great and bitter cry, but the sound should be low and muted, so that only his lips are moving but his voice cannot be heard. However, if fire is burning in his heart and he is unable to hold himself back from crying out to Hashem in a loud voice from the midst of his troubles, this is also very important and has a great effect on high. This is even more true for a cantor who leads the services who is obligated to cry out with a great cry. The main crying out is in the heart with the voice muted like the voice of one who is crying, so that he is as one who is crying out, weeping and supplicating. When one does this, Hashem will listen and answer those prayers, for He listens to the sound of His people crying out together.
