(ז) בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה, כָּל מִי שֶׁיּוֹדֵעַ לִקְרוֹת, קוֹרֵא. וְכָל מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ לִקְרוֹת, מַקְרִין אוֹתוֹ. נִמְנְעוּ מִלְּהָבִיא, הִתְקִינוּ שֶׁיְּהוּ מַקְרִין אֶת מִי שֶׁיּוֹדֵעַ וְאֶת מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ:
(7) In the beginning, anyone who knew how to read would read and anyone else would have it read for him. [Then,] people were reticent to bring and they declared that it would be read for those who know how to read and those who do not know.
תנו רבנן הרואה אוכלוסי ישראל אומר ברוך חכם הרזים שאין דעתם דומה זה לזה ואין פרצופיהן דומים זה לזה בן זומא ראה אוכלוסא על גב מעלה בהר הבית אמר ברוך חכם הרזים וברוך שברא כל אלו לשמשני הוא היה אומר כמה יגיעות יגע אדם הראשון עד שמצא פת לאכול חרש וזרע וקצר ועמר ודש וזרה וברר וטחן והרקיד ולש ואפה ואחר כך אכל ואני משכים ומוצא כל אלו מתוקנין לפני
Our masters taught: He who sees hosts of Israelites should say "Blessed be he who discerns secrets, " for the mind of each of them is not like the mind of any other, nor is the countenance of each of them like the countenance of any other. Ben Zoma once saw such a host on one of the steps of the Temple Mount. He said, "Blessed be He who discerns secrets, and blessed be He who has created all these people to serve me." For he used to say: How many labors did Adam have to engage in before he obtained bread to eat! He plowed, he sowed, he reaped, he stacked the sheaves, threshed the grain, winnowed the chaff, selected the good ears, ground them, sifted flour, kneaded the dough, and baked. And only then did he eat. Whereas I get up and find all these things done for me.
בזמן שהצבור שרוי בצער אל יאמר אדם אלך לביתי ואוכל ואשתה ושלום עליך נפשי ואם עושה כן עליו הכתוב אומר (ישעיהו כב, יג) והנה ששון ושמחה הרוג בקר ושחוט צאן אכול בשר ושתות יין אכול ושתו כי מחר נמות מה כתיב בתריה (ישעיהו כב, יד) ונגלה באזני ה' צבאות אם יכופר העון הזה לכם עד תמותון... וכל המצער עצמו עם הצבור זוכה ורואה בנחמת צבור ושמא יאמר אדם מי מעיד בי ...רבי חידקא אומר נשמתו של אדם היא מעידה עליו
When the community is in trouble, a person should not say: I will go to my home, and eat and drink and enjoy myself. If he does so, then to him will apply the verse: "And behold joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaying sheep, eating meat and drinking wine, [saying] Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we will die" (Is. 22:13). And what does it say after this? "And the Lord of hosts revealed Himself to my ears: 'Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven for you until you die' (Is. 22:14)...Whoever identifies himself with the suffering of the community will be deemed worthy to witness the deliverance of the community. And if a person should say: Who will testify against me?...R. Hidka says: A person's own soul teestifies against him.
Rav Joseph Soloveitchik, "Redemption Prayer, Talmud Torah," Tradition 17:2
Judaism, in contradistinction to mystical quietism, which recommended toleration of pain, wants man to cry out aloud against any kind of pain, to react indignantly to all kinds of injustice and unfairness. For Judaism held that the individual who displays indifference to pain and suffering, who meekly reconciles himself to the ugly, disproportionate and unjust in life, is not capable of appreciating beauty and goodness. Whoever permits his legitimate needs to go unsatisfied will never be sympathetic to the crying needs of others. A human morality based on love and friendship, on sharing in the travails of others cannot be practiced if the person's own need-awareness is dull and he does not know what suffering is.