Israel365 Presents the eBook of Eicha Lamentations€¦ · It is the Book of Lamentations that best...

Israel365 Presents the

eBook of EichaLamentations

2Israel365 • The eBook of Eicha

Dear Reader,

The Talmud teaches that those who participate in mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem, will merit to participate one day in rejoicing upon the rebuilding of the Holy City. Throughout the Jewish life cycle, we express our sorrow for the fact that the Temple is no longer with us and that God’s presence is further away as a result. For this reason, we break a glass at Jewish weddings, to remember Jerusalem, even at our happiest occasions. But on the 9th of Av, our mourning for Jerusalem is particularly vivid. For more than 24 hours, we don’t eat, we don’t drink, we don’t even greet each other with a simple hello. Rather, we sit on the floor and recall the events surrounding the destruction as if it just happened, and in this way, come to grips with what we have lost. It is the Book of Lamentations that best expresses our broken hearts as we call out again and again, “Eicha, How desolate is our city of Jerusalem?!”

To be sure, it is difficult to feel pain over an event that occurred nearly 2,000 years ago, which is why Israel365 has tried hard to bring new relevance and meaning with our “eBook of Eicha.” I would like to thank Rabbi Noam Shapiro for writing the commentary for this eBook. He has done a masterful job in weaving together insights on the ancient text that touch upon some of the lowest moments in Jewish history, but also give a glimpse into the indomitable Jewish spirit. Thanks also to Cantor Jeffrey Siegel for recording all five chapters of Eicha in the traditional melancholy tune that captures the mood of the fast day in videos that are embedded here for the reader to participate even outside of the synagogue. And finally, a special thanks to Rabbi Rob Shur for his beautiful layout and design of this eBook.

May those of us who share the pain over Jerusalem through this eBook of Eicha, may we merit together to see God’s comfort through the immediate building of the Third Temple.

Rabbi Tuly WeiszIsrael365


11 How does the city sit solitary, which was once full of people! How is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become

tributary!

2 She weeps bitterly in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks; she hath none to comfort her among all her lovers; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.

3 Judah is gone into exile because of affliction, and because of great servitude; she dwelleth among the nations, she findeth no rest; all her pursuers overtook her within the straits.

4 The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn assembly; all her gates are desolate, her priests sigh; her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is in bitterness.

5 Her adversaries are become the head, her enemies are at ease; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her young children are gone into captivity before the adversary.

א איכה ישבה בדד, העיר רבתי עם--היתה, אכאלמנה; רבתי בגוים, שרתי במדינות--

היתה, למס.

ב בכו תבכה בלילה, ודמעתה על לחיה--אין-לה מנחם, מכל-אהביה: כל-רעיה בגדו בה, היו לה

לאיבים.

ג גלתה יהודה מעני, ומרב עבדה--היא ישבה בגוים, לא מצאה מנוח; כל-רדפיה השיגוה, בין המצרים.

ד דרכי ציון אבלות, מבלי באי מועד--כל-שעריה שוממין, כהניה נאנחים; בתולתיה נוגות, והיא מר-לה.

ה היו צריה לראש איביה שלו, כי-יהוה הוגה על רב-פשעיה; עולליה הלכו שבי, לפני-צר.

All her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.Sadly, Jewish history has demonstrated time and time again just how drastically friends can indeed turn into enemies. Ever since the Biblical account of Pharaoh inviting Joseph’s family down to Egypt which quickly led to bitter enslavement of the Israelites, we have incessantly seen one host country after another turn against her Jewish subjects. In the last century, Jews were active contributors in all realms of European society: politicians, academics, doctors, lawyers, artists, and more. It was thus all the more devastating, when in 1935, with Adolf Hitler’s power steadily growing, the Nuremberg Laws were passed. These laws called for clear genetic definitions regarding who is a Jew and all those defined as Jews were denied the right to German citizenship. How quickly friend turned to foe!


6 And gone is from the daughter of Zion all her splendour; her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer.

7 Jerusalem remembereth in the days of her affliction and of her anguish all her treasures that she had from the days of old; now that her people fall by the hand of the adversary, and none doth help her, the adversaries have seen her, they have mocked at her desolations.

8 Jerusalem hath grievously sinned, therefore she is become as one unclean; all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness; she herself also sighs, and turns backward.

9 Her filthiness was in her skirts, she was not mindful of her end; therefore is she come down wonderfully, she hath no comforter. ‘Behold, O LORD, my affliction, for the enemy hath magnified himself.’

10 The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her treasures; for she hath seen that the heathen are entered into her sanctuary, concerning whom Thou didst command that they should not enter into Thy congregation.

ו ויצא מבת ציון, כל-הדרה; היו שריה, כאילים לא-מצאו מרעה, וילכו בלא-כח, לפני רודף.

ם, ימי עניה ומרודיה--כל מחמדיה, ז זכרה ירושלאשר היו מימי קדם; בנפל עמה ביד-צר, ואין עוזר

לה--ראוה צרים, שחקו על משבתה.

ם, על-כן לנידה היתה; כל- ח חטא חטאה ירושלמכבדיה הזילוה כי-ראו ערותה, גם-היא נאנחה

ותשב אחור.

ט טמאתה בשוליה, לא זכרה אחריתה, ותרד פלאים, אין מנחם לה; ראה יהוה את-עניי, כי

הגדיל אויב.

י ידו פרש צר, על כל-מחמדיה: כי-ראתה גוים, באו מקדשה--אשר צויתה, לא-יבאו בקהל לך.

Jerusalem remembereth in the days of her affliction and of her anguish all her treasures that she had from the days of old; Jerusalem here recalls sadly the contrast between what she was, and what she now has become. In the wake of destruction, the memories of better times, of an era of flourishing culture, are all the more painful. Similarly, Jewish life in Europe in the decades preceding the Nazi rise to power was brimming with activity and creativity. Jews excelled in many fields, and Torah learning in particular had reached meteoric heights. This renders the subsequent destruction of European Jewry in the Holocaust all the more tragic. Living in the shadow of the worst genocide in history, it is important to never forget the thriving Jewish culture that was, and render it the admiration it so justly deserves.


11 All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul. ‘See, O LORD, and behold, how abject I am become.’

12 ‘Let it not come unto you, all ye that pass by! Behold, and see if there be any pain like unto my pain, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger.

13 From on high hath He sent fire into my bones, and it prevails against them; He hath spread a net for my feet, He hath turned me back; He hath made me desolate and faint all the day.

14 The yoke of my transgressions is impressed by His hand; they are knit together, they are come up upon my neck; He hath made my strength to fail; the Lord hath delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.

15 The Lord hath set at nought all my mighty men in the midst of me; He hath called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men; the Lord hath trodden as in a winepress the virgin the daughter of Judah.

יא כל-עמה נאנחים מבקשים לחם, נתנו מחמדיהם באכל להשיב נפש; ראה יהוה והביטה, כי הייתי זוללה.

יב לוא אליכם, כל-עברי דרך--הביטו וראו, אם-יש מכאוב כמכאבי אשר עולל לי: אשר הוגה יהוה, ביום

חרון אפו.

יג ממרום שלח-אש בעצמתי, וירדנה; פרש רשת לרגלי, השיבני אחור--נתנני שממה, כל-היום דוה.

יד נשקד על פשעי בידו, ישתרגו עלו על-צוארי--הכשיל כחי; נתנני אדני, בידי לא-אוכל קום.

טו סלה כל-אבירי אדני בקרבי, קרא עלי מועד לשבר בחורי; גת דרך אדני, לבתולת בת-יהודה.

All her people sigh, they seek bread; they have given their pleasant things for food to refresh the soul. This verse highlights the extent of the suffering the Jews experienced during the time of the destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. Their brutal oppression resulted in widespread starvation amongst the Jewish population. Jews young and old pined for the simple nourishment of a meager piece of bread. Jews have experienced similar levels of suffering in more recent history as well. Following the German invasion of Poland in September, 1939, the Nazis began deporting the Jews to ghettos, enclosed sections of cities designated exclusively for Jews. These ghettos served as a resource of workers for forced labor camps, but also functioned as the first step in the eventual systematic genocide of European Jewry. As more and more Jews were crammed into the ghettos, living conditions deteriorated rapidly, and food became increasingly scarce. Starvation and illness were rampant.


16 ‘For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye run down with water; because the comforter is far from me, even he that should refresh my soul; my children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.’

17 Zion spreads forth her hands; there is none to comfort her; the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that they that are round about him should be his adversaries; Jerusalem is among them as one unclean.

18 ‘The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against His word; hear, I pray you, all ye peoples, and behold my pain: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.

19 I called for my lovers, but they deceived me; my priests and mine elders perished in the city, while they sought them food to refresh their souls.

20 Behold, O LORD, for I am in distress, mine inwards burn; my heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled. Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is the like of death.

טז על-אלה אני בוכיה, עיני עיני ירדה מים--כי-רחק ממני מנחם, משיב נפשי; היו בני שוממים,

כי גבר אויב.

יז פרשה ציון בידיה, אין מנחם לה--צוה יהוה ם לנדה, ביניהם. ליעקב, סביביו צריו; היתה ירושל

יח צדיק הוא יהוה, כי פיהו מריתי; שמעו-נא כל-עמים )העמים(, וראו מכאבי--בתולתי

ובחורי, הלכו בשבי.

יט קראתי למאהבי המה רמוני, כהני וזקני בעיר גועו: כי-בקשו אכל למו, וישיבו את-נפשם.

כ ראה יהוה כי-צר-לי, מעי חמרמרו--נהפך לבי בקרבי, כי מרו מריתי; מחוץ שכלה-חרב, בבית

כמות.

For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye run down with water; The sages explain that God intentionally selected the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, as the day upon which both the First and the Second Temple would be destroyed. Why that day? According to Jewish tradition, it was the 9th of Av that the 12 spies returned from their mission to scout out the Land of Israel. As reported in Numbers 13-14, following their pessimistic and libelous report, the Jews cried out to God in fear, “How will we ever conquer the land? Why did you take us out of Egypt into the desert - simply to die here?” God reprimanded the people for their lack of faith and said: “You cried on the 9th of Av for no reason; this day will become a day of crying for all future generations.” The events surrounding the Temple’s destruction are linked back to the Biblical account of the 12 spies to illustrate that all of Jewish history is inexorably interwoven, and is the unfolding of God’s divine plan. Furthermore, we must never forget that one of the keys to the rebuilding of the Temple and the heralding in of the Messianic Era is our unquestioning trust in God, the very trait the spies and the nation failed to exhibit and which we must constantly seek to demonstrate.


21 They have heard that I sigh, there is none to comfort me; all mine enemies have heard of my trouble, and are glad, for Thou hast done it; Thou wilt bring the day that Thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.

22 Let all their wickedness come before Thee; and do unto them, as Thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions; for my sighs are many and my heart is faint.’

כא שמעו כי נאנחה אני, אין מנחם לי--כל-איבי שמעו רעתי ששו, כי אתה עשית; הבאת יום-

קראת, ויהיו כמני.

כב תבא כל-רעתם לפניך ועולל למו, כאשר עוללת לי על כל-פשעי: כי-רבות אנחתי, ולבי

דוי.

They have heard that I sigh, there is none to comfort me; The prophet here captures the sense of utter loneliness; the feeling that there is no one to stand by your side in your time of need, to provide any sort of comfort. Many Jews experienced this sense of abandonment two millennia later. As Hitler’s persecution mounted in the late 1930’s, many Jews desired to flee from Europe. Unfortunately, there was not a single country willing to absorb a large number of Jewish refugees. In July of 1938, delegates from over 30 countries met in Évian-les-Bains, France, to discuss the refugee crisis. Despite many sympathetic speeches for the tragic plight of the Jews, no country was willing to change their immigrant quota to allow in additional Jewish refugees. Like this verse bemoans, the whole world had closed their doors to the Jewish people, abandoning them in their time of need.


21 How hath the Lord covered with a cloud the daughter of Zion in His anger! He hath cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and hath not remembered His

footstool in the day of His anger.

2 The Lord hath swallowed up unsparingly all the habitations of Jacob; He hath thrown down in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He hath brought them down to the ground; He hath profaned the kingdom and the princes thereof.

3 He hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel; He hath drawn back His right hand from before the enemy; and He hath burned in Jacob like a flaming fire, which devours round about.

4 He hath bent His bow like an enemy, standing with His right hand as an adversary, and hath slain all that were pleasant to the eye; in the tent of the daughter of Zion He hath poured out His fury like fire.

5 The Lord is become as an enemy, He hath swallowed up Israel; He hath swallowed up all her palaces, He hath destroyed his strongholds; and He hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and moaning.

א איכה יעיב באפו אדני, את-בת-ציון--השליך במשמים ארץ, תפארת ישראל; ולא-זכר הדם-רגליו,

ביום אפו.

ב בלע אדני לא )ולא( חמל, את כל-נאות יעקב--הרס בעברתו מבצרי בת-יהודה, הגיע לארץ; חלל ממלכה,

ושריה.

ג גדע בחרי-אף, כל קרן ישראל--השיב אחור ימינו, מפני אויב; ויבער ביעקב כאש להבה, אכלה סביב.

ד דרך קשתו כאויב, נצב ימינו כצר, ויהרג, כל מחמדי-עין; באהל, בת-ציון, שפך כאש, חמתו.

ה היה אדני כאויב, בלע ישראל--בלע כל-ארמנותיה, שחת מבצריו; וירב, בבת-יהודה, תאניה, ואניה.

and hath not remembered His footstool in the day of His anger.What is the “footstool” that is referred to in this verse? Many commentaries point to other verses in the Bible where the Temple is referred to as God’s footstool. The metaphor expresses the notion that while God’s essence is incomprehensible to man, and that He resides, as it were, in another realm, His presence can still be felt in the Temple. There, we catch a glimpse of God’s metaphorical “feet.” Even in the absence of the Temple, the Bible tells us that God’s presence can be felt most closely in the Land of Israel. It is, “a land which the LORD thy God cares for; the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year unto the end of the year” (Deuteronomy 11:12).


6 And He hath stripped His tabernacle, as if it were a garden, He hath destroyed His place of assembly; the LORD hath caused to be forgotten in Zion appointed season and Sabbath, and hath rejected in the indignation of His anger the king and the priest.

7 The Lord hath cast off His altar, He hath abhorred His sanctuary, He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces; they have made a noise in the house of the LORD, as in the day of a solemn assembly.

8 The LORD hath purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Zion; He hath stretched out the line, He hath not withdrawn His hand from destroying; but He hath made the rampart and wall to mourn, they languish together.

9 Her gates are sunk into the ground; He hath destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations, instruction is no more; yea, her prophets find no vision from the LORD.

10 They sit upon the ground, and keep silence, the elders of the daughter of Zion; they have cast up dust upon their heads, they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

ו ויחמס כגן שכו, שחת מעדו; שכח יהוה בציון מועד ושבת, וינאץ בזעם-אפו מלך וכהן.

ז זנח אדני מזבחו, נאר מקדשו--הסגיר ביד-אויב, חומת ארמנותיה; קול נתנו בבית-יהוה, כיום מועד.

ח חשב יהוה להשחית, חומת בת-ציון--נטה קו, לא-השיב ידו מבלע; ויאבל-חל וחומה, יחדו אמללו.

ט טבעו בארץ שעריה, אבד ושבר בריחיה; מלכה ושריה בגוים, אין תורה--גם-נביאיה, לא-מצאו חזון

מיהוה.

י ישבו לארץ ידמו, זקני בת-ציון--העלו עפר על-ראשם, חגרו שקים; הורידו לארץ ראשן, בתולת

ם. ירושל

the LORD hath caused to be forgotten in Zion appointed season and Sabbath The destruction of the Temple led to a drastic diminishment of holiness in the world. This verse emphasizes the tragedy of the elimination of Sabbath observance from the confines of the Temple as a result of its destruction. The famous Jewish author, Ahad Ha’am once remarked: “More than the Jews have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews.” Indeed, in many ways, the tranquility and spiritual rejuvenation which Shabbat offers proved invaluable to the Jew’s ability to persevere in the face of so much oppression. Many of the worst enemies of the Jewish people were aware of the power of the Sabbath, and thus sought to eradicate it from Jewish life. Antiochus Epiphanes, the villain of the Hanukka story, prohibited Sabbath observance, as did many subsequent oppressors. Despite the myriad attempts to erase the Sabbath from Jewish consciousness, it has remained a central and defining feature of Jewish life, until this very day.


11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, mine innards burn, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the breach of the daughter of my people; because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the broad places of the city.

12 They say to their mothers: ‘Where is corn and wine?’ when they swoon as the wounded in the broad places of the city, when their soul is poured out into their mothers’ bosom.

13 What shall I take to witness for thee? What shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O virgin daughter of Zion? For thy breach is great like the sea; who can heal thee?

14 Thy prophets have seen visions for thee of vanity and delusion; and they have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back thy captivity; but have prophesied for your burdens of vanity and seduction.

יא כלו בדמעות עיני, חמרמרו מעי--נשפך לארץ כבדי, על-שבר בת-עמי: בעטף עולל ויונק, ברחבות קריה.

יב לאמתם, יאמרו, איה, דגן ויין: בהתעטפם כחלל, ברחבות עיר--בהשתפך נפשם, אל-חיק אמתם.

ם--מה אשוה- יג מה-אעידך מה אדמה-לך, הבת ירושללך ואנחמך, בתולת בת-ציון: כי-גדול כים שברך, מי

ירפא-לך.

יד נביאיך, חזו לך שוא ותפל, ולא-גלו על-עו נך, להשיב שבותך ויחזו לך, משאות שוא ומדוחים.

when their soul is poured out into their mothers’ bosom. This verse describes the Babylonian attack on Jewish children at the time of the destruction of the Temple. The suffering of children is always an unspeakable tragedy. Among the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, one and a half million children were coldly murdered. In a particularly graphic description, one Russian witness later described the horrific scene of a mass grave in the town of Berdichev that the Nazis forced the Jews to dig for themselves:“As these innocent people were brought to the pits, they said farewell to each other, the mothers kissed their children, the children kissed the mothers, the adults hugged each other and clasped to each other’s bosom. The mothers took their children into their arms, held them tightly to their breast, kissing them. I will never forget this horrifying scene, how the executioners shot their victims to death with guns, and grabbed the little children by their hair and threw them over their dead parents.”


15 All that pass by clap their hands at thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem: ‘Is this the city that men called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?’

16 All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against thee; they hiss and gnash the teeth; they say: ‘We have swallowed her up; certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have found, we have seen it.’

17 The LORD hath done that which He devised; He hath performed His word that He commanded in the days of old; He hath thrown down unsparingly; and He hath caused the enemy to rejoice over thee, He hath exalted the horn of your adversaries.

18 Their heart cried unto the Lord: ‘O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give thyself no respite; let not the apple of your eye cease.

טו ספקו עליך כפים, כל-עברי דרך--שרקו וינעו ראשם, ם: הזאת העיר, שיאמרו כלילת יפי-- על-בת ירושל

משוש, לכל-הארץ.

טז פצו עליך פיהם, כל-איביך--שרקו ויחרקו-שן, אמרו בלענו; אך זה היום שקוינהו, מצאנו ראינו.

יז עשה יהוה אשר זמם, בצע אמרתו אשר צוה מימי-קדם--הרס, ולא חמל; וישמח עליך אויב, הרים קרן

צריך.

יח צעק לבם, אל-אדני; חומת בת-ציון הורידי כנחל דמעה, יומם ולילה--אל-תתני פוגת לך, אל-תדם בת-

עינך.

‘Is this the city that men called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?’ This verse demonstrates the grandeur that once was Jerusalem. However, it is peculiar that in the hands of Babylon, and so many other subsequent nations, the city of Jerusalem, and the Land of Israel as a whole, lay in ruins, utterly fallow. The important Biblical commentator, Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman (1194-1270) explains in his notes on Leviticus that the Land of Israel has a supernatural quality to it. While under foreign occupation, the land is nothing more than an arid desert. However, while under Jewish sovereignty, the land comes to life, flourishes, and yields great produce and grain. Indeed, for nearly two millennia, as the land switched hands numerous times between various foreign powers, including the Romans, the Muslims and the Turks, the land lay utterly desolate. Amazingly, the modern rebirth of the Jewish state in 1948 has brought with it an astounding development of the land, to the point where once again the Jewish people can claim a flourishing country all their own. In agriculture, technology, and culture, Israel ranks among the most advanced countries of the world. Indeed, Israel has returned to a point where passersby remark once again that the land is the “perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth.”


19 Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord; lift up thy hands toward Him for the life of thy young children, that faint for hunger at the head of every street.

20 See, O LORD, and consider, to whom Thou hast done thus! Shall the women eat their fruit, the children that are dandled in the hands? Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

21 The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets; my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; Thou hast slain them in the day of Your anger; Thou hast slaughtered unsparingly.

22 Thou hast called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side, and there was none in the day of the LORD’S anger that escaped or remained; those that I have dandled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.

יט קומי רני בליל )בלילה(, לראש אשמרות--שפכי כמים לבך, נכח פני אדני; שאי אליו כפיך, על-נפש

עולליך--העטופים ברעב, בראש כל-חוצות.

כ ראה יהוה והביטה, למי עוללת כה: אם-תאכלנה נשים פרים עללי טפחים, אם-יהרג במקדש אדני כהן

ונביא.

כא שכבו לארץ חוצות נער וזקן, בתולתי ובחורי נפלו בחרב; הרגת ביום אפך, טבחת לא חמלת.

כב תקרא כיום מועד מגורי מסביב, ולא היה ביום אף-יהוה פליט ושריד: אשר-טפחתי ורביתי, איבי כלם.

pour out thy heart like water before the face of the Lord; With these moving words, Jeremiah pleads with his listeners to cry out to God: “Pour out thy heart like water.” In the face of utter destruction, sincere tears are the only course of action for the suffering servant of God. These words have been a guiding light for generations of Jews who have faced similar tragedies. In the late 11th century the Crusades swept through Europe and with great religious fervor, many Jews were brutally murdered and entire communities ravaged. Here is the text of a poem written following one of the attacks during the Crusades:“If only my head were water, and my eyes the source of my tears, and I would cry all my days and nights for the martyrs, both young and old. And you respond: ‘Avoy! Oy! Alellai!’ And so, cry more for the House of Israel and for the nation of God that has fallen by the sword!”


31 I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of His wrath.

2 He hath led me and caused me to walk in darkness and not in light.

3 Surely against me He turneth His hand again and again all the day.

4 My flesh and my skin hath He worn out; He hath broken my bones.

5 He hath built against me, and compassed me with gall and travail.

6 He hath made me to dwell in dark places, as those that have been long dead.

א אני הגבר ראה עני, בשבט עברתו. ג

ב אותי נהג וילך, חשך ולא-אור.

ג אך בי ישב יהפך ידו, כל-היום.

ד בלה בשרי ועורי, שבר עצמותי.

ה בנה עלי ויקף, ראש ותלאה.

ו במחשכים הושיבני, כמתי עולם.

My flesh and my skin hath He worn out; This verse, though metaphorical on one level, also graphically depicts the physical suffering that many Jews have endured over the two thousand year exile. Quite literally, Jews have had their flesh, skin, and bones come under attack. In the darkest hours of Jewish history, in order to maintain their commitment to God and His Torah, there have always been pious Jews who have sacrificed their very lives His honor. The Talmud (Berakhot 61b) famously relates the last few hours of the great Rabbi Akiva’s life. In the Second Century of the Common Era, the Romans outlawed the public teaching of the Torah. Rabbi Akiva refused to bow to their authority. They arrested the great sage and tied him to the stake:

At the moment when they took Rabbi Akiva to his death, it was the time of reciting the Shema prayer. The Romans began combing his flesh with iron combs. Rabbi Akiva began recited the Shema and accepted upon himself the yoke of Heaven. His students asked him, “Even now?” He responded, “All my life I was distressed at my inability to fulfill the verse commanding us to ‘love the Lord God with all of your soul’ (Deut 6:5). Now that I have the opportunity, should I not embrace it?” Rabbi Akiva has served as one of the paragons of martyrdom in Jewish consciousness ever since.


7 He hath hedged me about, that I cannot go forth; He hath made my chain heavy.

8 Yea, when I cry and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.

9 He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone, He hath made my paths crooked.

10 He is unto me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places.

11 He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; He hath made me desolate.

12 He hath bent His bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

ז גדר בעדי ולא אצא, הכביד נחשתי.

ח גם כי אזעק ואשוע, שתם תפלתי.

ט גדר דרכי בגזית, נתיבתי עוה.

י דב ארב הוא לי, אריה )ארי( במסתרים.

יא דרכי סורר ויפשחני, שמני שמם.

יב דרך קשתו ויציבני, כמטרא לחץ.

Yea, when I cry and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.

While God always HEARS our prayers, He doesn’t always say yes to our requests. Even in difficult times, God does not always respond to our prayers in the affirmative, “He shuts out my prayer.” It is noteworthy that in the central prayer known as the Amida recited three times a day, we refer to God as, “He who listens to our prayers” and not, “He who answers our prayers.” God’s will is inscrutable, but He is always there to listen with love, to hear our cries.


13 He hath caused the arrows of His quiver to enter into my reins.

14 I am become a derision to all my people, and their song all the day.

15 He hath filled me with bitterness, He hath sated me with wormwood.

16 He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, He hath made me to wallow in ashes.

17 And my soul is removed far off from peace, I forgot prosperity.

18 And I said: ‘My strength is perished, and mine expectation from the LORD.’

יג הביא, בכליתי, בני, אשפתו.

יד הייתי שחק לכל-עמי, נגינתם כל-היום.

טו השביעני במרורים, הרוני לענה.

טז ויגרס בחצץ שני, הכפישני באפר.

יז ותזנח משלום נפשי, נשיתי טובה.

יח ואמר אבד נצחי, ותוחלתי מיהוה.

I forgot prosperity. It is a bitter irony of Jewish history that even in the countries which were most benevolent, in which the Jews scaled the highest echelons of society, too often the story ends with persecution, exile, and even annihilation. There is perhaps no greater example than the experience of Spanish Jewry in the middle ages. Jews in Spain in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries flourished, economically, politically, and culturally. But as the Spanish monarchy began its Inquisition in 1480, the tide changed dramatically. The goal was to ensure complete adherence to the Catholic Church, and Jews were a primary target. Under threat of torture and execution, Jews were faced with the choice of physical suffering or forcibly converting to Christianity. The persecution culminated in 1492, when the Jews were expelled from all of Spain, where they had been living for one thousand years. Indeed, by the end of this terrible expulsion, many Jew no doubt felt, “my soul is removed far off from peace, I forgot prosperity.” How distant must the era of prosperity in Spain have felt to the Jew who was forced to flee in 1492!


19 Remember mine affliction and mine anguish, the wormwood and the gall.

20 My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is bowed down within me.

21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22 Surely the LORD’S mercies are not consumed, surely His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.

24 ‘The LORD is my portion’, said my soul; ‘Therefore will I hope in Him.’

יט זכר-עניי ומרודי, לענה וראש.

כ זכור תזכור, ותשיח )ותשוח( עלי נפשי.

כא זאת אשיב אל-לבי, על-כן אוחיל.

כב חסדי יהוה כי לא-תמנו, כי לא-כלו רחמיו.

כג חדשים, לבקרים, רבה, אמונתך.

כד חלקי יהוה אמרה נפשי, על-כן אוחיל לו.

Surely the LORD’S mercies are not consumed, surely His compassions fail not. In this verse, amid the destruction, Jeremiah recalls God’s kindness, mercy, and compassion. It is remarkable that in the depths of horror and sorrow, man can still look hopefully to God and think about the kindnesses that He has bestowed until now, and about His promises to grant further kindness in the future. Even under the worst of Nazi persecution, countless Jews remained loyal to their traditions, and their love for God still burned within. There are many examples of Jews who maintained their religious observance under the most difficult of circumstances.

Karen Bamberger, a Holocaust survivor recalls:“I remember the first Shabbos we were in Bergen-Belsen, my mother lit candles. Everybody said to her: “You can’t light candles - it’s ridiculous, dangerous.” It just so happened at that moment that the Germans came in to check and they started screaming: “You lit candles?! What are you doing, dumme Juden?!” So my mother said very calmly: “This is my Sabbath and I light candles.” I don’t suppose we lit candles every Friday because I don’t suppose we had candles every Friday night. But I remember that was the first time. She lit candles. She never allowed us to forget Shabbos - no way. We knew, every week, it was Shabbos. And when it was a festival we knew it. You know, you could make a festival out of nothing if you have the spiritual resources. She obviously had unbelievable spiritual resources. She always said, “The Master of the Universe will help,” “everything will be okay, don’t worry, we will be together again with Papi.” She always had trust in God.”


25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him.

26 It is good that a man should quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

28 Let him sit alone and keep silence, because He hath laid it upon him.

29 Let him put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope.

30 Let him give his cheek to him that smites him, let him be filled full with reproach.

כה טוב יהוה לקוו, לנפש תדרשנו.

כו טוב ויחיל ודומם, לתשועת יהוה.

כז טוב לגבר, כי-ישא על בנעוריו.

כח ישב בדד וידם, כי נטל עליו.

כט יתן בעפר פיהו, אולי יש תקוה.

ל יתן למכהו לחי, ישבע בחרפה.

Let him sit alone and keep silence This verse reminds us that the appropriate response to suffering is – silence. Looking back to the earliest time in our history, this has been the approach of our great leaders. In the Book of Leviticus, Aaron the High Priest faces an unspeakable tragedy, as his two sons, Nadav and Avihu, are struck down within the walls of the Tabernacle. Rather than utter even a word, Aaron simply accepts the judgment of God: “And Aaron was silent” (Lev. 10:3). Job, too, in confronting his own tragedies, which also included the loss of his children, eventually embraces the notion that he ought to simply be silent. In fact, Job reproaches his friends who try to rationalize and explain the reason why the suffering befell him. In the face of God’s awesome judgment, man’s humility and relative inadequacy must guide him or her. Silence is the only response.


31 For the Lord will not cast off forever.

32 For though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.

33 For He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.

34 To crush under foot all the prisoners of the earth,

35 To turn aside the right of a man before the face of the Most High,

36 To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approves not.

לא כי לא יזנח לעולם, אדני.

לב כי אם-הוגה, ורחם כרב חסדיו.

לג כי לא ענה מלבו, ויגה בני-איש.

לד לדכא תחת רגליו, כל אסירי ארץ.

לה להטות, משפט-גבר, נגד, פני עליון.

לו לעות אדם בריבו, אדני לא ראה.

For the Lord will not cast off forever. Throughout the many episodes of persecution, Jews have remembered the critical message of this verse: The suffering of the Jewish people will not be eternal. Already in the days of Moses, God assured his people that though they may face wrath and anger, though God may send nations to oppress them, they are always God’s chosen nation. The suffering will come to an end, and God will redeem His people: “And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God” (Leviticus 26:44).


37 Who is he that said, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commanded it not?

38 Out of the mouth of the Most High proceed not evil and good?

39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a strong man because of his sins?

40 Let us search and try our ways, and return to the LORD.

41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

42 We have transgressed and have rebelled; Thou hast not pardoned.

לז מי זה אמר ותהי, אדני לא צוה.

לח מפי עליון לא תצא, הרעות והטוב.

לט מה-יתאונן אדם חי, גבר על-חטאו.

מ נחפשה דרכינו ונחקרה, ונשובה עד-יהוה.

מא נשא לבבנו אל-כפים, אל-אל בשמים.

מב נחנו פשענו ומרינו, אתה לא סלחת.

Let us search and try our ways, and return to the LORD. In response to persecution, the Jew has always turned inward. In the days of Queen Esther, when King Ahasuerus decreed the annihilation of the Jews, Esther and Mordekhai marshaled the Jewish people and encouraged them to fast, to pray, and to repent. Travails for the nation have always signaled the need for introspection. By using these dark periods for moments of repentance and growth, the relationship between God and His people is further strengthened, the bond further secured.


43 Thou hast covered with anger and pursued us; Thou hast slain unsparingly.

44 Thou hast covered Thyself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through.

45 Thou hast made us as the off-scouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples.

46 All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us.

47 Terror and the pit are come upon us, desolation and destruction.

48 Mine eye runs down with rivers of water, for the breach of the daughter of my people.

מג סכותה באף ותרדפנו, הרגת לא חמלת.

מד סכותה בענן לך, מעבור תפלה.

מה סחי ומאוס תשימנו, בקרב העמים.

מו פצו עלינו פיהם, כל-איבינו.

מז פחד ופחת היה לנו, השאת והשבר.

מח פלגי-מים תרד עיני, על-שבר בת-עמי.

All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us. Many times in history, the enemies of the Jewish people eagerly awaited the day of when the Jews would finally meet their ultimate demise; alas, their plans have always been divinely foiled. This verse reflects the hatred that Israel’s modern enemies feel towards her. In the spring of 1967, Israel’s fate seemed truly doomed. Nearly all of her neighbors sought to wipe her off the map, including Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.Here is how Abba Eban, serving at that time as Israel’s Foreign Minister, describes the mood in the days leading up to the Six Day War: There was no doubt that the howling mobs in Cairo, Damascus and Baghdad were seeing savage visions of murder and booty. Israel, for its part, had learned from Jewish history that no outrage against its men, women and children, was inconceivable. Many things in Jewish history are too terrible to be believed, but nothing in that history is too terrible to have happened. Memories of the European slaughter were taking form and substance in countless Israeli hearts. They flowed into our room like turgid air and sat heavy on all our minds. As has always been the case, God had different plans, and the young State of Israel mightily and miraculously defeated its enemies.


49 Mine eye is poured out, and ceases not, without any intermission,

50 Till the LORD look forth, and behold from heaven.

51 Mine eye affected my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.

52 They have chased me sore like a bird, that are mine enemies without cause.

מט עיני נגרה ולא תדמה, מאין הפגות.

נ עד-ישקיף וירא, יהוה משמים.

נא עיני עוללה לנפשי, מכל בנות עירי.

נב צוד צדוני כצפור, איבי חנם.

Mine eye is poured out, and ceases not, without any intermission, Jeremiah in this verse erupts with emotion, unable to control his weeping over the tremendous loss he has witnessed. Crying is a natural response to tragedy, but is one that not all people are capable of. In the years following the Holocaust, some survivors lost their ability to cry. Rabbi Yisrael Lau, a Holocaust survivor who ended up becoming the Chief Rabbi of Israel, describes his journey following liberation from the Concentration Camps. He ended up in France, in an institution for children survivors and tells the moving story of the day a fellow survivor came to speak to encourage the orphaned children. Overcome with emotion as he looked out at this room full of children survivors, the survivor became unable to speak and simply stood at the microphone - and cried. Slowly, the room began to fill with tears, as the children unleashed some of the suffering and loss that they had experienced over the past five dark years. Finally, a young boy arose and spoke: “Thank you! … Thank you for the one present you gave us now, unintentionally – the ability to cry.”


53 They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast stones upon me.

54 Waters flowed over my head; I said: ‘I am cut off.’

55 I called upon Thy name, O LORD, Out of the lowest dungeon.

56 Thou hast heard my voice; hide not Your ear at my sighing, at my cry.

57 Thou drew near in the day that I called upon Thee; Thou said: ‘Fear not.’

נג צמתו בבור חיי, וידו-אבן בי.

נד צפו-מים על-ראשי, אמרתי נגזרתי.

נה קראתי שמך יהוה, מבור תחתיות.

נו קולי, שמעת: אל-תעלם אזנך לרוחתי, לשועתי.

נז קרבת ביום אקראך, אמרת אל-תירא.

and have cast stones upon me. Not only were stones cast upon the Jews, but evil aspersions as well. In many different centuries, and in many different countries, the Catholic Church lobbied false claims against the Jews. The most notorious of them all was the ‘Blood Libel.’ The charge was that Jews were abducting young Christian boys, killing them, and then using their blood in the baking of their Passover matza. Sadly many of these libels resulted in pogroms and other forms of violence aimed against the innocent and vulnerable Jews.


58 O Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; Thou hast redeemed my life.

59 O LORD, Thou hast seen my wrong; judge Thou my cause.

60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me.

61 Thou hast heard their taunt, O LORD, and all their devices against me;

נח רבת אדני ריבי נפשי, גאלת חיי.

נט ראיתה יהוה עותתי, שפטה משפטי.

ס ראיתה, כל-נקמתם--כל-מחשבתם, לי.

סא שמעת חרפתם יהוה, כל-מחשבתם עלי.

Thou hast redeemed my life. Indeed, God is the ultimate Redeemer. Time and time again, from the depths of despair, when all seems lost, God lifts up the Jewish people from the brink of destruction, and helps them stand once again. A shining example from modern history is the founding of the State of Israel. Merely three years following the end of the darkest period in Jewish history, when a third of world Jewry was murdered, when the future seemed most bleak - God restored His nation to a position of dignity and strength. In 1948, when the State of Israel was founded, it was not just the return of the Jewish people to their homeland; it was the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty, and the reaffirmation that God did not break His word, but was the Redeemer of His people.


62 The lips of those that rose up against me, and their muttering against me all the day.

63 Behold Thou their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their song.

64 Thou wilt render unto them a recompense, O LORD, according to the work of their hands.

65 Thou wilt give them hardness of heart, Thy curse unto them.

66 Thou wilt pursue them in anger, and destroy them from under the heavens of the LORD.

סב שפתי קמי והגיונם, עלי כל-היום.

סג שבתם וקימתם הביטה, אני מנגינתם.

סד תשיב להם גמול יהוה, כמעשה ידיהם.

סה תתן להם מגנת-לב, תאלתך להם.

סו תרדף באף ותשמידם, מתחת שמי יהוה.

The lips of those that rose up against me, and their muttering against me all the day. Here Jeremiah beseeches God to recall the “muttering” of his enemies. To what does this muttering refer? Perhaps this is an allusion to the anti-Semitic slurs that have characterized so much of our two thousand year exile. For many centuries, Jews were taunted with the insults of being money-grubbers, greedy, and sneaky. These financial accusations resulted in much more than a bad name. Any time a financial crisis struck a European country - it was often the Jews who were first turned to as the natural scapegoat. One of the more infamous incidents of this sort occurred in the Ukraine in the mid 17th century. In 1648, Bohdan Chmielnick led a Cossack uprising against the Polish noblemen who controlled much of their lives. At that time, Jews were banned from many professions and so a large number of them served as the financial middlemen between the nobility and the peasants, and it was these Jews who suffered the blows and the ire of the peasants. Tens of thousands of Jews were mercilessly slaughtered during the ‘Chmielnicki Massacres.’ This was one more tragic chapter in the bitter story of anti-Semitism in Europe.


41 How is the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed! The hallowed stones are poured out at the head of every street.

2 The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!

3 Even the jackals draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones; the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaves to the roof of his mouth for thirst; the young children ask bread, and none breaks it unto them.

5 They that did feed on dainties are desolate in the streets; they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.

א איכה יועם זהב, ישנא הכתם הטוב; ד תשתפכנה, אבני-קדש, בראש, כל-חוצות.

ב בני ציון היקרים, המסלאים בפז--איכה נחשבו לנבלי-חרש, מעשה ידי יוצר.

ג גם-תנין )תנים( חלצו שד, היניקו גוריהן; בת-עמי לאכזר, כי ענים )כיענים( במדבר.

ד דבק לשון יונק אל-חכו, בצמא; עוללים שאלו לחם, פרש אין להם.

ה האכלים, למעדנים, נשמו, בחוצות; האמנים עלי תולע, חבקו אשפתות.

the young children ask bread, and none breaks it unto them. In this bleak description of the state of famine, even a piece of bread for a child could not be taken for granted. Similarly, in the concentration camps, a morsel of bread was transformed into a precious delicacy. Rabbi Yehuda Amital, a survivor who later immigrated to Israel and eventually went on to found a prominent Yeshiva in the Judean Hills, often spoke of his changed perception of bread following his harrowing experience in the camps. Upon seeing a slice of bread, he would immediately ponder, How long could a person survive with that piece of bread? This provides but a small example of the enduring impact the Holocaust had even on those who survived.


6 For the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands fell upon her.

7 Her princes were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire;

8 Their visage is blacker than coal; they are not known in the streets; their skin is shriveled upon their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.

9 They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger; for these pine away, stricken through, for want of the fruits of the field.

10 The hands of women full of compassion have sodden their own children; they were their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

ו ויגדל עו ן בת-עמי, מחטאת סדם: ההפוכה כמו-רגע, ולא-חלו בה ידים.

ז זכו נזיריה משלג, צחו מחלב; אדמו עצם מפנינים, ספיר גזרתם.

ח חשך משחור תארם, לא נכרו בחוצות; צפד עורם על-עצמם, יבש היה כעץ.

ט טובים היו חללי-חרב, מחללי רעב: שהם יזבו מדקרים, מתנובת שדי.

י ידי, נשים רחמניות--בשלו, ילדיהן; היו לברות למו, בשבר בת-עמי.

They that are slain with the sword are better than they that are slain with hunger; As this verse indicates regarding the period of the Temple’s destruction, Jews were killed by the sword and died due to starvation. The Holocaust, as well, included an array of disturbing modes of murder. While the gas chambers claimed the lives of millions, the ‘Einsatzgruppen’ were also responsible for approximately one million deaths. This subgroup of the SS Army would round up their victims, often force them to dig their own graves, and then proceed to shoot hundreds of innocent people at once. The most infamous of these incidents occurred at Babi Yar, in the Nazi occupied Soviet Union, where the Einsatzgruppen systematically shot 33,771 Jews in just two days.


11 The LORD hath accomplished His fury, He hath poured out His fierce anger; and He hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured the foundations thereof.

12 The kings of the earth believed not, neither all the inhabitants of the world, that the adversary and the enemy would enter into the gates of Jerusalem.

13 It is because of the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.

14 They wander as blind men in the streets, they are polluted with blood, so that men cannot touch their garments.

15 ‘Depart ye! unclean!’ men cried unto them, ‘Depart, depart, touch not’; yea, they fled away and wandered; men said among the nations: ‘They shall no more sojourn here.’

יא כלה יהוה את-חמתו, שפך חרון אפו; ויצת-אש בציון, ותאכל יסדתיה.

יב לא האמינו מלכי-ארץ, וכל )כל( ישבי תבל: כי יבא ם. צר ואויב, בשערי ירושל

יג מחטאות נביאיה, עו נת כהניה: השפכים בקרבה, דם צדיקים.

יד נעו עורים בחוצות, נגאלו בדם; בלא יוכלו, יגעו בלבשיהם.

טו סורו טמא קראו למו, סורו סורו אל-תגעו--כי נצו, גם-נעו; אמרו, בגוים, לא יוספו, לגור.

‘Depart ye! unclean!’ men cried unto them, ‘Depart, depart, touch not’; yea, they fled away and wandered; men said among the nations: ‘They shall no more sojourn here.’ The insulting jeers mentioned in this verse were repeated not too long ago. Following the liberation of the Concentration Camps, Jews were not only denied entry into many foreign countries, but even their homeland had its borders closed. After the conclusion of WWII, ‘Palestine’ was under British sovereignty and the British government put a strict quota on the number of Jewish refugees allowed to enter. And if that was not cruel enough, many of those who did manage to make it over the border and into the Promised Land, were rounded up and placed in DP camps. However, the will of God could not be thwarted. After the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, the declaration “they shall no more sojourn here” quickly became obsolete. With the Knesset’s passing of the Law of Return, every Jew in the world became entitled to move to Israel and obtain Israeli citizenship. Thousands upon thousands of Jews have moved to the Holy Land from all four corners of the globe. For the first time in 2,000 years, a majority of the Jews in the world now live in Israel and indeed, ‘they sojourn here’ once again.


16 The anger of the LORD hath divided them; He will no more regard them; they respected not the persons of the priests, they were not gracious unto the elders.

17 As for us, our eyes do yet fail for our vain help; in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.

18 They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our broad places; our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.

19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heaven; they chased us upon the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

20 The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits; of whom we said: ‘Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.’

21 Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwells in the land of Uz: the cup shall pass over unto thee also; thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked.

22 The punishment of your iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion, He will no more carry thee away into captivity; He will punish your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, He will uncover thy sins.

טז פני יהוה חלקם, לא יוסיף להביטם; פני כהנים לא נשאו, זקנים )וזקנים( לא חננו.

יז עודינה )עודינו( תכלינה עינינו, אל-עזרתנו הבל; בצפיתנו צפינו, אל-גוי לא יושע.

יח צדו צעדינו, מלכת ברחבתינו; קרב קצנו מלאו ימינו, כי-בא קצנו.

יט קלים היו רדפינו, מנשרי שמים; על-ההרים דלקנו, במדבר ארבו לנו.

כ רוח אפינו משיח יהוה, נלכד בשחיתותם: אשר אמרנו, בצלו נחיה בגוים.

כא שישי ושמחי בת-אדום, יושבתי )יושבת( בארץ עוץ; גם-עליך, תעבר-כוס--תשכרי, ותתערי.

כב תם-עו נך, בת-ציון--לא יוסיף, להגלותך; פקד עו נך בת-אדום, גלה על-חטאתיך.

they lay in wait for us in the wilderness. The sense that this verse conveys is that the enemy lurked on all terrains, in all locations. It was impossible to escape. Unfortunately, even after arriving on the shores of the Land of Israel following the Holocaust, the Jewish refugees from Europe encountered a similar situation to that described in this verse. The Jews were met by a new enemy: the indigenous Arab population which fought violently to keep the Jews out of their ancient homeland. This enemy also waged war on a number of fronts, including the mountains and the wilderness as indicated in this verse. In January of 1948, there was a terrible tragedy in the Judean hills. A convoy of 35 soldiers was dispatched to bring provisions and food to the beleaguered communities of the Gush Etzion bloc. The convoy left at night in order to avoid detection, but the sun rose before they arrived at their destination. They encountered an Arab shepherd, upon whom they had mercy. They let him go. But in no time at all, this Arab shepherd divulged the whereabouts of the convoy. Arab legions were quickly deployed and in a bloody massacre, all 35 of the soldiers were killed. “They chased us upon the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.”


51 Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us; behold, and see our reproach.

2 Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, our houses unto aliens.

3 We are become orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows.

4 We have drunk our water for money; our wood cometh to us for price.

א א זכר יהוה מה-היה לנו, הביט )הביטה( הוראה את-חרפתנו.

ב נחלתנו נהפכה לזרים, בתינו לנכרים.

ג יתומים היינו אין )ואין( אב, אמתינו כאלמנות.

ד מימינו בכסף שתינו, עצינו במחיר יבאו.

Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, our houses unto aliens. In the past century we have merited to witness a reversal of this prophetic statement with our own eyes. Whereas Jeremiah bemoans that Jewish land has been seized by foreigners, today the direction has been reversed. Jews have returned en masse to their ancient homeland, and reclaimed lands that have historically belonged to them from the time that God promised the land to Abraham and his descendants for all time.


5 To our very necks we are pursued; we labor, and have no rest.

6 We have given the hand to Egypt, and to Assyria, to have bread enough;

7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.

8 Servants rule over us; there is none to deliver us out of their hand.

9 We get our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.

נח רבת אדני ריבי נפשי, גאלת חיי.

נט ראיתה יהוה עותתי, שפטה משפטי.

ס ראיתה, כל-נקמתם--כל-מחשבתם, לי.

סא שמעת חרפתם יהוה, כל-מחשבתם עלי.

To our very necks we are pursued; we labor, and have no rest.

Following the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 CE, many Jews were exiled to the Roman Empire, where they were sold as slaves. There was indeed, much labor, and very little rest. The famous arch of Titus in Rome depicts the Jews who were brought to Rome following the defeat of Judea, as they forcibly carried the holy vessels of the Temple, the spoils of war to the conquering Roman Emperor.


10 Our skin is hot like an oven because of the burning heat of famine.

11 They have ravished the women in Zion, the maidens in the cities of Judah.

12 Princes are hanged up by their hand; the faces of elders are not honored.

13 The young men have borne the mill, and the children have stumbled under the wood.

14 The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.

י עורנו כתנור נכמרו, מפני זלעפות רעב.

יא נשים בציון ענו, בתלת בערי יהודה.

יב שרים בידם נתלו, פני זקנים לא נהדרו.

יג בחורים טחון נשאו, ונערים בעץ כשלו.

יד זקנים משער שבתו, בחורים מנגינתם.

the faces of elders are not honored.

This verse, under the murderous Nazi regime, took on a literal sense, as well. Faces of the elderly were not honored. Though the Nazis waged a racial genocide against the Jews, there was a cruel element of religious persecution as well. The traditional mark of the adult Jewish male, the beard, was an object of derision for the Nazis. Often, in public settings, men were forced to shave their beards and side-locks.


15 The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning.

16 The crown is fallen from our head; woe unto us! for we have sinned.

17 For this our heart is faint, for these things our eyes are dim;

18 For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it.

19 Thou, O LORD, art enthroned forever, Thy throne is from generation to generation.

טו שבת משוש לבנו, נהפך לאבל מחלנו.

טז נפלה עטרת ראשנו, אוי-נא לנו כי חטאנו.

יז על-זה, היה דוה לבנו--על-אלה, חשכו עינינו.

יח על הר-ציון ששמם, שועלים הלכו-בו.

יט אתה יהוה לעולם תשב, כסאך לדור ודור.

For the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. Though the image of foxes running freely on the Temple Mount certainly reflects the devastation and desolation of Jerusalem, some can find hope even in the depths of darkness. The Talmud (Makkot 24b) relates that a number of leading sages were visiting Jerusalem following the destruction of the Temple and they came upon the ruins of the Temple Mount. Upon seeing a fox scamper across the holiest site in the world, three of the four rabbis began to cry. The great Rabbi Akiva, on the other hand, began to joyously laugh. Shocked, they asked him to explain his behavior. Rabbi Akiva explained that if the prophesies of destruction had indeed been fulfilled, then, we can be certain that the promises of redemption will also be fulfilled! Indeed, the Jews have always maintained immutable optimism and unwavering faith that the Almighty will always preserve His covenant with them.


20 Wherefore dost Thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time?

21 Turn Thou us unto Thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.

22 Thou canst not have utterly rejected us, and be exceeding wroth against us!

כ למה לנצח תשכחנו, תעזבנו לארך ימים.

כא השיבנו יהוה אליך ונשוב )ונשובה(, חדש ימינו כקדם.

כב כי אם-מאס מאסתנו, קצפת עלינו עד-מאד.

Turn Thou us unto Thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. This verse has been understood as one of the most central verses in the entire Book of Lamentations. Traditionally, when we read Lamentations in Synagogue on the 9th of Av, this verse is repeated at the conclusion of the reading to highlight its significance, and to end on a positive note. The verse emphasizes the belief that indeed God will one day return the Jewish people to the Land of Israel, and to an intimate relationship with Him centered around a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. Moreover, it reminds us that a relationship with our Maker is a two way street; we return to God, and God returns to us. This generation has been blessed with the beginning of the fulfillment of this promise. The Jewish people have begun their return to the Land of their fathers; the realization of the dream of redemption has begun and we sincerely pray for the fulfillment of the final redemption and the coming of the Messiah, Amen.

Israel365’s eBook of Eicha LamentationsCommentary by Rabbi Noam Shapiro, Edited by Rabbi Tuly WeiszReading of Eicha by Cantor Jeffrey Siegel of Congregation Beth Jacob, Columbus, OhioLayout and design by Rabbi Rob ShurCover photo by Pierre Ouimet. All other photos from Creative Commons.© All rights reserved by Israel365. May not be copied or distributed without written permission from Israel365. English translation is courtesy of the 1917 JPS translation.

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