“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His fury” (Lamentations 3:1). “I am the man” – Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina began: “Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Barukh son of Neriyahu, the scribe, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book that Yehoyakim, king of Judah, had burned in the fire, and many more similar matters were also added to them” (Jeremiah 36:32). The verse need not have stated “similar.” Why does the verse state “similar”? Rav Kahana said: “Many more similar matters were also added to them”: “Matters” – “how does [the greatly crowded city] sit” (Lamentations 1:1), “how [the Lord] has clouded” (Lamentations 2:1), “how has [gold] tarnished” (Lamentations 4:1).1Rav Kahana interprets “matters” to allude to chapters 1, 2, and 4 of Lamentations. “Many” – “remember, Lord” (Lamentations 5:1).2The word “many” alludes to chapter 5 of Lamentations. “Similar” – “I am the man,” which is three verses each.3In the third chapter of Lamentations there are three verses for each letter of the alphabet. That is what is written: “Did I not write it for you three times [shalishim]” (Proverbs 22:20) – words [organized] in a threefold manner. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: What is shalishim? It is mighty men, just as it says: “And shalishim over them all” (Exodus 14:7), and we translate it: “And mighty men were appointed over them all.”4The midrash is referencing Onkelos, an ancient Aramaic translation of the Torah. Alternatively: Shalishim – “I am the man” – as it is three verses each. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: “I am the man” – it is I who is well versed in suffering, what is pleasing to You is pleasing for me.5This statement is an acceptance of God’s judgment despite being unable to understand the need for such intense suffering (Matnot Kehuna). Others explain differently such that this statement introduces the upcoming analogy, and interpret this line to mean: I have received benefit by having benefited You by accepting Your Torah. Accordingly, this line is bitter and sarcastic, as the speaker complains that the great suffering is due only to Israel’s acceptance of the Torah, which brought them a higher level of accountability than other nations (Etz Yosef). This is analogous to a king who became angry at the queen and shoved her and expelled her from the palace. She went and concealed her face behind a pillar.6She hoped to catch a glimpse of the king as he passed. The king was passing and saw her. He said to her: ‘You have been impudent.’ She said to him: ‘My lord the king, is this [treatment] appropriate for me, is this becoming for me, is this befitting of me? No woman accepted you other than me.’ He said to her: ‘It was I who disqualified all the women in favor of you.’ She said to him: ‘If so, why did you enter such and such alleyway, such and such courtyard, and such and such place? Was it not for such and such a woman, and she did not accept you?’ So too, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘You have been impudent.’ They said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, is this appropriate for me, is this becoming for me, is this befitting of me? No other nation accepted Your Torah other than me.’ He said to them: ‘It is I who disqualified all the nations in favor of you.’ They said to Him: ‘If so, why did You offer the Torah to all the nations but they did not accept it?’ As it is taught: Initially, He revealed himself to the children of Esau; that is what is written: “He said: The Lord came from Sinai, and shone from Seir for them” (Deuteronomy 33:2),7Seir is the land of Esau; see Genesis 36:8. but they did not accept it. He offered it to the children of Ishmael, but they did not accept it; that is what is written:“He appeared from Mount Paran”(Deuteronomy 33:2).8Ishmael dwelled in Paran; see Genesis 21:21. Ultimately, He offered it to Israel and they accepted it, as it is written: “And He came from the holy myriads, from His right, a fiery law to them”(Deuteronomy 33:2), and it is written: “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7). Another matter: “I am the man [hagever]” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is I who is the man. I am Job, as it is stated: “Who is a man [gever] like Job, who drinks scoffing like water” (Job 34:7). “Who has seen affliction [ani]” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: The congregation of Israel said: Since He saw me impoverished of mitzvot, impoverished of good deeds, He brought “the rod of His fury” upon me. Rabbi Berekhya said: He fortified me to withstand them all. What do you find written after the ninety-eight rebukes in the book of Deuteronomy?9See Deuteronomy 28:15–69. “You are standing today, all of you” (Deuteronomy 29:9), and we translate it: “You exist this day, all of you,” mighty to withstand them all. “He conducted and led me in darkness and not light. Indeed, against me He will again turn His hand all day” (Lamentations 3:2–3). “He conducted [and led] me” in this world, which is called “darkness and not light.” “Indeed, against me He will again turn His hand all day” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: This teaches that the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, but then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “Indeed, against me He will again [turn His hand].”
“He wore away my flesh and my skin, broke my bones” (Lamentations 3:4). “He wore away my flesh” – this is the community. “And my skin” – this is the Sanhedrin; just as the skin protects the flesh, so the Sanhedrin protects the community. “Broke my bones [atzmotai]” – my mighty ones [itzumai], people who were like mighty warriors [benei haatzumim]. “He built against me and surrounded me with gall and hardship” (Lamentations 3:5). “He built against me and surrounded me with gall [rosh]” – this is Nebuchadnezzar, as it is written in his regard: “You are the head [reisha] of gold” (Daniel 2:38). “And hardship” – this is Nevuzaradan. Alternatively: “Gall” – this is Vespasian; “and hardship” – this is Trajan. “He settled me in darkness, like those long dead” (Lamentations 3:6). “He settled me in darkness, like those long dead” – Rabbi Shmuel said: Four are considered as dead: A blind person, as it is stated: “He settled me in darkness, like those long dead.” A leper, as it is stated: “Let her not be like a corpse” (Numbers 12:12).10Aaron said this in reference to Miriam, who was afflicted with leprosy, when he asked Moses to pray on her behalf. One who does not have children, as it is written regarding Rachel: “Give me children, and if not, I am dead” (Genesis 30:1). And one who has become impoverished, as it is stated: “All the men [seeking your life] have died” (Exodus 4:19). Were they, in fact, dead? Rather, they had become impoverished.11The Sages identified the men seeking Moses’s life as Datan and Aviram (see Avoda Zara 5a). They were not yet dead, as they later participated in Koraḥ’s uprising (see Numbers 16:1–2).
“He fenced me in that I will not emerge; He made my fetters heavy” (Lamentations 3:7). “He fenced me in that I will not emerge” – Rabbi Aivu said: This is the enclosure of the Arabs. Rabbi Berekhya said: This is the fortress of the Persians.12The “enclosure of the Arabs” and the “fortress of the Persians” were locations where Jews were imprisoned. The Rabbis say: This is the strip of land of the Cuthites.13The Cuthites inhabited a strip of land in the Land of Israel that separated between the Jewish communities of Judea and the Galilee, and they would not permit Jews to travel between the two Jewish areas (see Ḥagiga 25a). “He made my fetters heavy” – He burdened me with land tax, state tax, and poll tax. “Even when I cry and plead, He blocks my prayer” (Lamentations 3:8). “Even when I cry and plead” – Rabbi Aḥa said: Anyone who prays with the congregation, to what is he comparable? It is to people who crafted a crown for the king. A poor man comes and donates his portion of it. What does the king say? Shall I not accept it because of this poor person?14The translation is in accordance with the Hebrew textual emendation of Rabbi David Luria. Immediately, the king accepts it and places it on his head. Likewise, if there were ten righteous men standing in prayer and there is a wicked man standing in their midst, what does the Holy One blessed be He say? Shall I not accept their prayer because of this wicked person? The Rabbis said: One who comes after the congregation, his actions are scrutinized. To what is he comparable? It is to a king whose sharecroppers and the members of his household entered to honor him. One came late. The king said: ‘Let his barrel be sealed.’15He brought a barrel of wine or other goods for the king, but the king does not accept the gift (Matnot Kehuna). What caused this for him? It is because he came late. So too, anyone who prays after the community, his actions are scrutinized. That is why it is stated: “Even when I cry and plead, He blocks [satam] my prayer.” Satam is written with a sin,16It is not written here with a samekh, which would have been the conventional spelling. Thus, the word can be vocalized shetam, which means “because it has concluded.” because the prayer of the congregation has concluded. “He fenced my ways with hewn stone, distorted my paths” (Lamentations 3:9). “He fenced my ways with hewn stone” – the daughters of Lod would knead their doughs, ascend and pray [in Jerusalem], and descend before they leavened. The daughters of Tzippori would ascend and praise [God] in the Temple, and there was no one who harvested the fig tree before them.17They would leave early in the morning and return early in the morning as well. Some assert that the text should state that they would stay for Shabbat [shavtan] rather than that they would praise God [shabḥan]. Nonetheless, they were able to return home so early on Sunday morning that they were the first to harvest the figs (Matnot Kehuna). The scribe of Migdal would prepare his lamps every Friday, would ascend [to the Temple], praise, and descend and kindle them. Some say that every Friday the scribe would ascend, review his [Torah] portion in the Temple, descend, and observe Shabbat in his home. There was an incident involving a certain person who was standing and plowing. His ox fled. He went and told people what [had occurred]. They said to him: ‘On which thoroughfare did you come?’18Apparently, he had lost his way and did not know how to get home. Alternatively, they asked him which way his ox had taken so that they could help him find it. He began showing them but could not find the way. They applied to him the verse: “He fenced my ways with hewn stone, distorted [iva] my paths.” He rendered [the paths] ruins, just as it says: “A ruin [ava], a ruin, a ruin I will render it” (Ezekiel 21:32).
“He is like a bear in ambush to me, a lion in hiding” (Lamentations 3:10). “He is like a bear in ambush to me” – this is Nebuchadnezzar. “A lion in hiding” – this is Nevuzaradan. Alternatively: “A bear in ambush” – this is Vespasian; “a lion in hiding” – this is Trajan. “He has twisted my ways and mauled me; He rendered me desolate” (Lamentations 3:11). “He has twisted my ways and mauled me [vaifashḥeni]” – split me, as we say: A tree that was split [nifshaḥ], one may tie it during the Sabbatical Year.19Mishna Sheviit 4:6. “He drew His bow, and set me as the target for the arrow” (Lamentations 3:12). “He drew His bow, and set me as the target for the arrow” – there were two amora’im; one said: Like a shield for arrows,20Although the shield blocks the arrows, the arrows pierce and damage the shield (Maharzu). and one said: Like a beam for arrows that everyone fires at it but it remains standing. Rabbi Yudan said: He fortified me to withstand them all. What do you find written after the ninety-eight rebukes in the book of Deuteronomy? “You are standing today, all of you” (Deuteronomy 29:9), and we translate it: “You exist this day, all of you,” mighty to withstand them all.
“He brought the contents of His quiver into my kidneys” (Lamentations 3:13). “He brought the contents of His quiver [benei ashpato] into my kidneys” – Rav and Shmuel: Rav said: His prisoners and hostages;21The word benei generally is used in reference to people. Rav expounds that prisoners and hostages were appointed as guards over the Jewish prisoners. These individuals were bitter and cruel (Midrash HaMevo’ar). Shmuel said: He brought upon me people who eat much and excrete excrement [ashpot].22The reference is to the Persians (see Megilla 11a). “I have become a laughingstock to all my people, their song all day” (Lamentations 3:14). “I have become a laughingstock to all my people” – it is written: “Those who sit at the gate talk about me” (Psalms 69:13) – these are the nations of the world who sit in theaters and circuses. “I am the subject of songs by ale drinkers” (Psalms 69:13) – after they sit, eat, drink, and become intoxicated, they sit, speak about me, mock me, and say: So that we will not need to eat carobs like the Jews.23We have eaten as much as we like, unlike the Jews who are poor and must carobs [ḥarovim]. Alternatively, this sentence can be translated to mean: We will not be destroyed [ḥaruvim] like the Jews (Matnot Kehuna). They would say to each other: ‘How many years do you want to live?’ They would say: ‘Like the Shabbat garment of the Jews.’24The Jews would wear their Shabbat clothes for many years. The gentiles mocked them for this as well. They would bring the camel into their theaters with its garments25Sackcloth was used as a covering for camels and as clothes for mourners (Etz Yosef). on it. They would say to each other: ‘Why is it mourning?’ They would say: ‘These Jews observe the Sabbatical Year. They do not have any vegetation and they eat its thorns, and it is mourning over them.’ They would bring the dead into their theater and its head was shaved. They would say to each other: ‘Why is this one’s head shaved?’ He would say: ‘These Jews are Shabbat observers, and everything for which they exert themselves all the days of the week, they eat on Shabbat. They do not have wood with which to cook, and they break their beds and cook with them. They sleep on the ground and become covered with dirt, and they smear themselves with oil. Therefore, the oil is expensive.26They cannot afford oil to shampoo their hair, so they shave it. Another matter: “Those who sit at the gate talk about me” – these are Israel, who sit in the synagogues and study halls. “I am the subject of songs by ale drinkers” – after they sit, eat, drink, and become intoxicated at the meal prior to the ninth of Av, they sit and recite lamentations, wailing, with eikha. “He filled me with bitterness, sated me with wormwood” (Lamentations 3:15). “He filled me with bitterness” – this is the first festival day of Passover, in whose regard it is written: “With unleavened bread and bitter herbs [they shall eat it]” (Numbers 9:11). “Sated me with wormwood” – with what He filled me on the evening of the first festival day of Passover, He sated me on the ninth of Av. That is why the evening of the first festival day of Passover coincides with the evening of the ninth of Av.27They occur on the same day of the week each year.
“He has broken my teeth with gravel, covered me in ashes” (Lamentations 3:16). “He has broken my teeth with gravel” – there was an incident involving the son of Rabbi Ḥananya ben Teradyon, who joined robbers and revealed their secret. They killed him and filled his mouth with dirt and pebbles. Three days later, [his body was found]. They placed him on a rope stretcher and sought to laud him in deference to his father, but he did not allow them to do so. He said to them: ‘Leave him, and I will speak about my son.’ He began and said: “I did not heed the voice of my instructors, and to my teachers I did not incline my ear. I was on the verge of complete degradation in the midst of an assembly and a congregation” (Proverbs 5:13–14). His mother read in his regard: “A foolish son is vexation to his father, and bitterness to the one who bore him” (Proverbs 17:25). His sister read in his regard: “Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel” (Proverbs 20:17). We learned: Whenever it is the meal of the ninth of Av,28The last meal before the ninth of Av. it is prohibited to eat meat, to drink wine, to eat two cooked items, to wash, and to anoint oneself. Whenever it is not the meal of the ninth of Av, it is permitted to eat meat, to drink wine, and to eat two cooked items. Rav, after he would eat his fill of food, would take one small piece of bread, place ashes on it, and say: This is the meal of the ninth of Av, to fulfill what is stated: “He has broken my teeth with gravel, covered me in ashes.” “My soul has forsaken peace; I have forgotten goodness” (Lamentations 3:17). “My soul has forsaken peace; I have forgotten goodness” – Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei said in the name of Rabbi Ḥananya son of Rabbi Abbahu: There was an incident involving a woman who took her son to a baker in Caesarea. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’ He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for five years, and I will teach him five hundred species of wheat.’29How to distinguish between the different species, and how best to use each one. How many species of wheat are there? Rabbi Aḥa said: With Minit wheat they are unquantifiable.30Minit is a type of wheat mentioned in Ezekiel 27:17. The Rabbis say: There are five hundred species of wheat, equivalent to the numerical value of Minit.31Mem – 40; nun – 50; yod – 10; tav – 400 = 500 Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yonatan were sitting and counting them, and they got to sixty. In addition, Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei said: There was an incident involving a certain woman who took her son to a certain chef. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’ He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for five years, and I will teach him one hundred types of eggs.’32One hundred dishes that can be prepared with eggs. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] heard and said: We have not seen that there is such goodness in the world. Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta heard and said: We have not heard that there is such goodness in the world.33We have never seen or heard that there is such a range of foods to benefit from. These statements relate to the end of the verse: “I have forgotten goodness.” Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira went to Netzivin on the day before the great fast.34Yom Kippur He ate and finished.35He ate his fill and stopped eating even though the fast had not yet begun. The Exilarch heard and came to him. He said to him: ‘Heed my request, my Master.’36Please come eat the meal before the fast with me. He said to him: ‘I have already eaten and finished.’ He said to him: ‘Heed my request, my Master, so they will not say that he did not regard him at all to expend any effort on his behalf.’37The Exilarch asked Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira to join him, if only so that it not appear as though Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira was disrespecting him. He went with him. When he went, he said to his servant: ‘My son, a dish that you bring us once, do not bring it to us another time.’ While they were eating, he brought before them eighty cooked dishes. He ate one loaf with each dish and one cup from each barrel. [The Exilarch] said to him: ‘My Master, after you ate and finished, we brought eighty dishes before you; with each dish, my Master ate one loaf, and from each barrel, my Master drank one cup.’38The Exilarch was saying to Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira that he must have still been hungry, and therefore the Exilarch had benefited him. [Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira] said: ‘Why do they call it39The bodynafsha? Because the more it is given, the more it expands [nefisha].’ Rabbi Abbahu went to Basra and was received by Yosei “the head.” They brought before him eighty types of birds’ brains.40Eighty dishes prepared with birds’ brains. He said to him: ‘Do not be angry, my Master, as the hunt was insufficient.’ They called him Yosei “the head” because all of his food was only birds’ brains. Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great went to the south and was received by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. They brought before him twenty-four cooked dishes. [Rabbi Ḥiyya] said to him: ‘What do you do on Shabbat?’ He said to him: ‘We double them.’ Sometime later, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came to Tiberias and was received by Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great. He gave drachmas to the disciples of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi and said to them: ‘Go provide for your Master as he is accustomed.’41Rabbi Ḥiyya himself could not prepare an adequate feast for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. Rabbi Yitzḥak ben Rabbi Eliezer knew how to prepare meals according to the number of days in the solar year. When he had the means, he would do so.42He would prepare a different meal each day. When he did not have the means, he would take seeds and count them, so that he would not forget them.43He would eat the seeds individually, and associate the dishes to the corresponding number of seeds, so that he would not be included in the curse mentioned in the verse, “I have forgotten goodness” (Midrash HaMevo’ar). These stories are related in the midrash in order to accentuate the troubles that have occurred and which have caused the goodness that was found in previous times to be forgotten. “I have forgotten goodness” – Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: This is washing one’s hands and feet after the bathhouse.44Even this simple pleasure has become impossible and has been forgotten due to the suffering of the Jewish people. “I said: My strength and my expectation have perished from the Lord” (Lamentations 3:18). “I said: My strength and my expectation have perished from the Lord” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “I said: My strength [and my expectation] have perished.”45Israel had thought there was no hope of salvation, but in fact salvation will come.
“Remember my affliction and my anguish, wormwood and gall” (Lamentations 3:19). “Remember my affliction and my anguish [umrudi]” – the congregation of Israel says before the Holy One blessed be He: Master of the universe, remember the afflictions with which I was afflicted, the rebellion [umrudi] that I carried out against You, and the suffering with which You sated me, “wormwood and gall.” These are expiated by those. “You will remember, and my soul is despondent within me” (Lamentations 3:20). “You will remember” – Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: This is analogous to a king who went out to war. His sons were with him and were provoking him. The next day, the king went out alone and his sons were not with him. The king said: If only my sons were with me, even if they would be provoking me. So too, the king is the Holy One blessed be He, and His sons are Israel. When Israel would go out to war, the Holy One blessed be He would go out with them. When they angered Him, He did not go out with them. But when Israel was no longer in the Land [of Israel], He said: If only Israel was with Me, even if they would be angering Me. We have three verses: “Would that I would be in the wilderness, in a wayfarers’ lodging place” (Jeremiah 9:1); would that My people be with Me as they were at the outset, when they were in the wilderness.46This is expounded from the term for lodging place [melon], which is similar to the word for complaining [malinim], used to describe the Israelites’ complaints in the wilderness (see Numbers 14:27) (Etz Yosef). And it is written: “Son of man, the house of Israel dwelled in their land…” (Ezekiel 36:17).47The verse continues: “They defiled it in their way and by their doings; their way before Me was as the impurity of a menstruating woman.” The implication is that despite the impurity, God wants them “before Me.” And this, “You will remember, and My soul is despondent within Me.” Rabbi Yudan said: “You will remember” – I know that You remember the nations of the world.48You remember what they did to me and You will punish them. But what can I do, “my soul is despondent within me.” The parable says: Until the fat one grows lean, the soul of the lean one expires. “This I will reply to my heart; therefore I have hope” (Lamentations 3:21). “This I will reply to my heart; therefore I have hope” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: To what is this matter analogous? To a king who married a noblewoman and wrote for her a very substantial marriage contract, saying to her: ‘I will prepare for you such and such number of wedding canopies, and I am giving you such and such number of gowns of purple wool.’ The king left her and went to a country overseas, and he was delayed there. Her neighbors came to her and were teasing her and saying to her: ‘The king left you, went to a country overseas, and he is not going to return to you.’ She was crying and sighing. When she would enter her house, she would take her marriage contract and read it. She would see in her marriage contract: I will prepare such and such number of wedding canopies, and I am giving you such and such number of gowns of purple wool, and she would be immediately comforted. Ultimately, the king came. He said to her: ‘My daughter, I am astonished, how did you wait for me all those years?’ She said to him: ‘My lord, the king, were it not for the substantial marriage contract that you wrote and gave to me, my neighbors would have caused my demise.’ So too, idolaters provoke Israel and say to them: ‘Your God has concealed His face from You and caused His Divine Presence to depart from you. He will never return to you.’ They cry and sigh. When they enter the synagogues and study halls, read the Torah, and find that it is written: “I will turn to you, and make you fruitful.… I will place My Sanctuary in your midst.… I will walk in your midst” (Leviticus 26:9, 11–12), they are comforted. Tomorrow, when the end of the redemption comes, the Holy One blessed be He will say to Israel: ‘My children, I am astonished over you, how did you wait for Me all those years?’ They will say before Him: ‘Master of the universe, were it not for Your Torah that You gave us, the nations would have caused our demise.’ That is why it is stated: “This (zot) I will reply to my heart,” and zot is nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “And this [vezot] is the Torah” (Deuteronomy 4:44). Likewise, David said: “Had Your Torah not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction” (Psalms 119:92). “Therefore I have hope” in Him, and we proclaim the unity of His name twice daily and say: “Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
“It is the Lord’s kindnesses that have not ceased, for His mercies have not ended” (Lamentations 3:22). “It is the Lord’s kindnesses that have not ceased” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “It is the Lord’s kindnesses that have not ceased.” “They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23). “They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” – Rabbi Alexandri said: Because You renew us each and every morning, we know that “great is Your faithfulness” regarding the revival of the dead. Rabbi Shimon bar Abba said: Because You renew us on the mornings of the kingdoms,49New kingdoms arise and supplant the old ones, yet the Jewish people remain (Etz Yosef). we know that “great is Your faithfulness” to redeem us. Rabbi Ḥelbo said: Each and every day, the Holy One blessed be He creates a band of new angels and they recite a new song and go on their way.50They cease to exist. Rabbi Berekhya said: I responded to Rabbi Ḥelbo: ‘But is it not written: “Release me, as dawn is breaking”’ (Genesis 32:27)?51This is the guardian angel of Esau, who is still in existence. Apparently, angels do not cease to exist after only one day. He said to me: ‘Strangler, did you think you could strangle me?52Did you think you could challenge me from an explicit verse? Gavriel and Mikhael are the supernal princes. All of them are replaced, but they are not replaced.’53Some angels, such as Gavriel and Mikhael, and also the guardian angel of Esau, continue to exist. Hadrian, may his bones be crushed, asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, he said to him: ‘Do you say that each and every day the Holy One blessed be He creates a band of new angels and they recite a new song and go on their way?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘And where do they go?’ He said to him: ‘To where they were created from.’ He said to him: ‘Where are they created from?’ He said to him: ‘From the river of fire.’ He said to him: ‘How does the river of fire function?’ He said: ‘Like the Jordan, which does not stop at night and does not stop during the day.’ He said to him: ‘But the Jordan flows during the day and stops at night.’ He said to him: ‘I was watching at Beit Peor, and that Jordan, just as it flows during the day, so it flows at night.’ He said to him: ‘From where does that river of fire emerge?’ He said to him: ‘From the perspiration of the creatures that bear the Throne.’ “The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore I will hope in Him” (Lamentations 3:24). “The Lord is my portion, says my soul” – Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: [This is analogous] to a king who entered a province, and there were generals, captains, and commanders with him. The prominent leaders of the province resided in the middle of the province. One said: ‘I will take the generals to me.’ One said: ‘I will take the captains to me.’ One said: ‘I will take the commanders to me.’54Each thought to curry favor with the different groups of attendants There was one clever one there. He said: ‘I will take the king, as all the others are replaced and the king is not replaced.’ Likewise, idolaters, some worship the sun, some worship the moon, some worship wood and stone. But Israel worships only the Holy One blessed be He. That is what is written: “The Lord is my portion, says my soul,” as I proclaim His unity twice daily, and say: “Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
“The Lord is good to those who trust in Him, to the soul that seeks Him” (Lamentations 3:25). “The Lord is good to those who trust in Him” – is it, perhaps, to everyone?55One might think that the Lord is good to everyone who trusts in Him. The verse states: “To the soul that seeks Him.”56This is taken to mean that God is good only to those who seek Him alone and do not place their trust in anything else (Etz Yosef). Similarly, “Truly, God is good to Israel” (Psalms 73:1) – is it, perhaps, to everyone? The verse states: “To those pure of heart” (Psalms 73:1), to those whose heart is pure, who have no iniquity. Similarly, “Happy is the man whose strength is in You” (Psalms 84:6) – is it, perhaps, for everyone? The verse states: “Whose heart follows Your path” (Psalms 84:6), those in whose hearts the path of the Torah is paved. Similarly, “Be good, Lord, to those who are good” (Psalms 125:4) – is it, perhaps, for everyone? The verse states: “And to the upright of heart” (Psalms 125:4). Similarly, “The Lord is close to all who call Him” (Psalms 145:18) – is it, perhaps, for everyone? The verse states: “To all who call Him in truth” (Psalms 145:18). Similarly, “Who is God like You, bearing iniquity and overlooking transgression?” (Micah 7:18) – is it, perhaps, for everyone? The verse states: “For the remnant of His inheritance” (Micah 7:18). “It is good to wait silently for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:26). “It is good to wait silently for the salvation of the Lord” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “It is good to wait silently for the salvation of the Lord.” “It is good for a man that he bear a yoke in his youth” (Lamentations 3:27). “It is good for a man that he bear a yoke in his youth” – the yoke of Torah, the yoke of a wife, the yoke of labor.
“Let him sit alone and be silent, because He has laid it upon him” (Lamentations 3:28). “Let him sit alone and be silent” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: The Holy One blessed be He summoned the ministering angels and said to them: ‘A mourning king of flesh and blood, what does he do?’ They said to Him: ‘He dons black and covers his head with sackcloth.’ He said: ‘I, too, will do so.’ That is what is written: “I clothe heavens with blackness and I make sackcloth their garment” (Isaiah 50:3). Moreover, He asked them: ‘A mourning king of flesh and blood, what [else] does he do?’ They said to him: ‘He extinguishes the lights.’ He said to them: ‘I, too, will do so.’ That is what is written: “The sun and the moon darkened, and the stars withdrew their shine” (Joel 2:10). Moreover, He asked them: ‘A mourning king of flesh and blood, what [else] does he do?’ They said to him: ‘He walks barefoot.’ He said to them: ‘I, too, will do so.’ That is what is written: “The Lord, in a tempest and in a storm is His way, and clouds are the dust of His feet” (Nahum 1:3). Moreover, He asked them: ‘A mourning king of flesh and blood, what [else] does he do?’ They said to him: ‘He sits and is silent.’ He said to them: ‘I, too, will do so.’ That is what is written: “Let him sit alone and be silent, because He has laid it upon him.”57The verse is understood to mean that God will be silent because He has brought the mourning upon Himself. “Let him put his mouth in the dust, perhaps there is hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who strikes him; let him be filled with disgrace” (Lamentations 3:29–30). “Let him put his mouth in the dust, perhaps there is hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who strikes him; let him be filled with disgrace” – Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] was interpreting verses and when he reached the following verses, he would weep: “Samuel said to Saul: Why did you disturb me to bring me up?” (I Samuel 28:15).58The Gemara in Ḥagiga (4b) indicates that Samuel thought he was being summoned to a heavenly judgement and was scared. If Samuel, the great prophet, was scared of heavenly judgement, all the more so those of lesser stature should be scared. This is why Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi cried when reading this verse. And it is written: “For behold, He forms mountains and creates winds; He recounts to a person what were his deeds [seḥo]” (Amos 4:13) – even matters lacking substance are written for a person in his ledger.59This is derived from the term seḥo, which can be interpreted to mean speech [siḥo]; God keeps track even of every frivolous comment a person might make (see Ḥagiga 5b). Who writes them? “He who turns dawn into darkness…[the Lord, the God of hosts, is His name]” (Amos 4:13). “Seek the Lord all you humble of the earth…” (Zephaniah 2:3). And it is written: “Hate evil, and love good, [and display justice at the gate; perhaps the Lord, God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph]” (Amos 5:15).60Despite there being an abundance of virtue, nevertheless, only perhaps “He will be gracious”? Why? “For every action God will bring to judgment [for every unknown]” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).61God will bring judgment even for unknown, that is, unwitting, transgressions. And this, “let him put his mouth in the dust [perhaps there is hope].”62Only perhaps there is hope? And it is written: “Let him offer his cheek to one who strikes him; let him be filled with disgrace.”63After all this, the end result could very well be disgrace.
“For the Lord will not forsake forever. For, if He torments, He will have compassion according to His abundant grace. For He does not afflict willingly and torment the children of men” (Lamentations 3:31–33). “For the Lord will not forsake forever” – as it were, He has not forsaken and He will not forsake. “For, if He torments, He will have compassion according to His abundant grace” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “For, if He torments, He will have compassion.” “For He does not afflict willingly” – Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: In two places Israel acted. In one, they acted with their mouths but not with their hearts, and in one, they acted with their hearts but did not act with their mouths. These are Sinai and Babylon. In Sinai, they acted with their mouths but not with their hearts. That is what is written: “But they beguiled Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue…” (Psalms 78:36). In Babylon, they acted with their hearts and not with their mouths.64When Nebuchadnezzar forced them to bow to his idol, they remained loyal to God in their hearts but not outwardly. That is what is written: “For He does not afflict willingly.” The Holy One blessed be He said: Let the mouth at Sinai come and atone for the mouth in Babylon, and let the heart in Babylon come and atone for the heart at Sinai. Nevertheless, “and torment the children of men” (Lamentations 3:33) – He placed over them “a man who is an adversary and an enemy,” this is Haman” (Esther 7:6); and He and made their wound more painful.
“To subdue under his feet all the prisoners of the earth” (Lamentations 3:34). “To subdue under his feet…” – this is Nebuchadnezzar, in whose regard it is written: “[And everywhere] the sons of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens dwell, He has given them into your hand and set your rule over all of them; you are the head of gold” (Daniel 2:38).
“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” (Lamentations 3:37). “Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” – who did command? Haman commanded, but the Holy One blessed be He did not command. Haman commanded “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13). But the Holy One blessed be He did not command it, but rather, “the plot [that he devised]…return [upon his head]” (Esther 9:25). “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emerge?” (Lamentations 3:38). “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emerge?” – Rabbi Elazar said: From the moment that the Holy One blessed be He said: “See, I have placed before you today: life and good, and death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15), no good has emerged for a performer of evil nor evil for a performer of good, but rather good for a performer of good and evil for a performer of evil, just as it says: “The Lord will reward the performer of evil in accordance with his wickedness” (II Samuel 3:39). “Of what shall a living man complain, each man for his sins?” (Lamentations 3:39). “Of what shall a living man complain?” – it is sufficient for him that he is alive. Rabbi Levi said: The Holy One blessed be He said: Your life is in My hands, yet you complain? Rabbi Huna said: Let him stand like a mighty one, confess his sins, and not complain. Rabbi Berekhya said: Of what shall he complain about the One who gives life to the worlds? If he seeks to complain, it should be each man for his sins. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] says: Descendants of bearers of grievance; Adam, the first man, after all the good that I bestowed upon him, he expresses a grievance before Me and says: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, [she gave me from the tree, and I ate]” (Genesis 3:12). Jacob, too, did so. I am engaged in crowning his son king in Egypt, and he expresses a grievance before Me: “[Why do you say, Jacob…] my way is hidden from the Lord” (Isaiah 40:27). His children, too, I am engaged in providing them with easily digestible bread so that no one among them will be afflicted with indigestion or diarrhea, and they express a grievance before Me: “Our soul loathes this insubstantial bread” (Numbers 21:5). Zion, too, is similar: “Zion said: The Lord has forsaken Me and the Lord has forgotten Me” (Isaiah 49:14).
“Let us search and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens” (Lamentations 3:40–41). “Let us search and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens” – Rabbi Beiva bar Zavdai, Rabbi Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai, and Rabbi Yoshiya went out for a fast.65On fast days, the congregation would take the ark out to the city square and pray there. See Mishna Taanit 2:1. Rabbi Beiva bar Zavdai expounded and said: Is it possible that a person’s heart is taken from him and returns to him?66What, then, is the meaning of the verse “Let us lift up our heart with our hands”? Rather, we should focus our hearts on our hands,67We must ensure that our hands have not engaged in malfeasance with another’s property. and only thereafter to God in the heavens. If there is a swarming creature in a person’s hand, even if he immerses himself in all of the primordial waters, he will never be purified. If he casts the swarming creature from his hand, his immersion is effective for him [even] in forty se’a. Rabbi Tanḥuma expounded: “The princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said: The Lord is righteous” (II Chronicles 12:6). And it is written: “When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the Lord was with Shemaya, saying: They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, and I will grant them a small measure of deliverance, and My wrath will not be poured upon Jerusalem by means of Shishak” (II Chronicles 12:7). It is not written here, “when the Lord saw that they had fasted,” but rather, “that they had humbled themselves.” Rabbi Yoshiya expounded: “Gather yourselves, gather [hitkosheshu vakoshu]” (Zephaniah 2:1) – let us adorn [nekashet] ourselves and thereafter adorn others. Because there is a person who is here who slandered me before Rabbi Yoḥanan; let the entire people stand for judgment.68He demanded that the individual who had slandered him repent before exhorting others to do so, and so too that each person repent from his sins. They said: Rabbi Ḥiyya, Rabbi Ami, and Rabbi Yosei were there. They stood and went out.69Some explain that it is because they were the guilty parties and they were angry that he had called them out (Yefe Anaf). Others explain that they sought to spare the guilty party the public shame (Matnot Kehuna). “We have transgressed and defied; You have not forgiven” (Lamentations 3:42). “We have transgressed and defied [umarinu]” – the Rabbis there70In Babylon said: When the endives are bitter [meriran], the vinegar is sour.71This translation is based on the interpretation of Rabbi David Luria. He explains that the endives are dipped in the vinegar. The point is that Israel sinned, and so too God was strict in exercising judgment. There are alternate interpretations of this line in the midrash; see, e.g., Matnot Kehuna. The Rabbis here72In the Land of Israel said: If actions are evil, they are harsh for the one who performs them. Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rav Yosef: “We have transgressed and defied” – as is our wont. “You have not forgiven” – is that Your wont? Rabbi Levi said: “We have transgressed and defied” – and You destroyed Your Temple.73As “You have not forgiven.”
“You are covered with wrath and have pursued us; You have killed, did not have compassion. You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass. You have rendered us filth and refuse in the midst of the peoples” (Lamentations 3:43–45). “You are covered with wrath and have pursued us; You have killed, did not have compassion. You have covered Yourself with a cloud” – Rabbi Ḥelbo asked Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman, he said to him: ‘Because I heard about you that you are a master of aggada, what is this that is written: “You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass”?’ He said: ‘Prayer is likened to a ritual bath, and repentance is likened to the sea. Just as the ritual bath is at times open and at times locked, so the gates of prayer are at times locked and at times open. However, the sea is always open. Rav Anan said: ‘The gates of prayer, too, are never locked. That is what is written: “Like the Lord our God whenever we call to Him” (Deuteronomy 4:7). Call is nothing other than prayer, as it is stated: “It will be that before they call I will answer”’ (Isaiah 65:24). Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥalafta said: There are times for prayer, as so said David before the Holy One blessed be He: Master of the universe, when I pray before You, let my prayer be at a time of favor. That is what is written: “For me, let my prayer come to You, Lord, at a time of favor” (Psalms 69:14). Rabbi Akiva was standing and being judged by Turnus Rufus, and Yehoshua HaGarsi was standing in prayer with him. A cloud descended and surrounded them. He said: It appears to me that this cloud descended and surrounded only so the prayer of my Master would not be heard. That is what is written: “You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass.” “You have rendered us filth and refuse [seḥi umaos] in the midst of the peoples” – despicable [masaya] and lowly [pesilaya].
“All our enemies have opened their mouth against us” (Lamentations 3:46). “[All our enemies] have opened [patzu] their mouth against us” – why does peh come before ayin?74The verses in chapter 3 of Lamentations form an alphabetical acrostic, with three consecutive verses beginning with each letter of the alphabet. However, the verses that begin with peh (verses 46–48) come before the verses that begin with ayin (verses 49–51), despite the fact that ayin precedes peh in the alphabet. Because they would say with their mouths what they had not seen with their eyes.75The word for mouth is peh, whereas the word for eye is ayin. The enemies rejoiced over their projected victory before it even happened.
“My eye will flow and will not cease, without respite. Until the Lord looks out and sees from Heaven” (Lamentations 3:49–50). “My eye will flow and will not cease.… until the Lord looks out and sees from Heaven” – Rabbi Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: In three places we found the Divine Presence connected with the redemption. What is the source? “A stomping ground for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks” (Isaiah 32:14).76This is a reference to the Temple after its destruction. What is written thereafter? “Until a spirit will be poured upon us from on high and wilderness will become fertile land and fertile land will be considered as forest” (Isaiah 32:15). Similarly, “The smallest will become a thousand, and the youngest [a mighty nation; I am the Lord, at its time, I will hasten it]” (Isaiah 60:22), and it is written thereafter: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me” (Isaiah 61:1). And this, “My eye will flow,” and it is written thereafter: “Until the Lord looks out and sees from Heaven.” “My eye distressed my soul over all the daughters of my city” (Lamentations 3:51). “My eye distressed my soul” – Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were five hundred primary schools in Beitar, and the smallest among them had no fewer than three hundred children. They would say: If our enemies come against us, we will emerge and stab them with these quills. When the iniquities were the cause and the enemies came, they wrapped each and every one of them in his scroll and they burned them, and I am the only one of them who survived. I applied to myself the verse: “My eye distressed my soul over all the daughters of my city.”
“My enemies hunted me like a bird, without cause. They bound my life in the pit, and cast stones at me” (Lamentations 3:52–53). “My enemies hunted me like a bird, without cause. They bound my life in the pit” – this is Joseph, this is Jeremiah, this is Daniel.77All three were wrongly imprisoned. “Waters rose over my head; I said: I am doomed” (Lamentations 3:54). “Waters rose over my head…” – these are the nations of the world in whose regard it is written: “Woe, the tumult of many peoples, like the roar of the seas they will roar; the din of nations like the din of great waters” (Isaiah 17:12).
“I called Your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit” (Lamentations 3:55). “I called Your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit” – this is Joseph, this is Jeremiah, this is Daniel. “You heard my voice; let Your ear not disregard my cry for my comfort. You approached on the day that I called You; You said: Do not fear” (Lamentations 3:56–57). “You heard my voice.… You approached on the day that I called You.”78No commentary is offered on this verse. Possibly, the midrash is applying this verse to Joseph, Jeremiah and Daniel, stating that God heeded their prayers and, as the next passage states, fought their battles. Perhaps the verse is cited here as an implied prayer: Just as God heeded their prayers, so may He heed ours (Etz Yosef).
“Lord, You have fought the battles of my soul; You redeemed my life. Lord, You have seen the wrongs committed against me; judge my case. You have seen all their vengeance, all their thoughts against me” (Lamentations 3:58–60). “Lord, You have fought the battles of my soul; You redeemed my life. Lord, You have seen the wrongs committed against me; judge my case” – A certain Jew passed before Hadrian and greeted him. He said to him: ‘Who are you?’ He said to him: ‘A Jew.’ He said to him: ‘Is there a Jew who passes before Hadrian and greets him?’ [Hadrian] said [to his men]: ‘Go and behead him.’ Another passed, he saw what had befallen the one who preceded him, and he did not greet him. [Hadrian] said to him: ‘Who are you?’ He said to him: ‘A Jew.’ He said to him: ‘Is there a Jew who passes before Hadrian and does not greet him?’ [Hadrian] said to [his men]: ‘Go and behead him.’ His advisers said to him: ‘We do not understand these actions that you are performing. One who greets you is executed and one who does not greet you is executed?’ He said to them: ‘Do you seek to advise me how I am supposed to execute my enemies?’79These were merely pretexts to kill my enemies. The Divine Presence was screaming and saying: “Lord, You have seen the wrongs committed against me.… You have seen all their vengeance…”
“You heard their taunt, Lord, all their thoughts about me. The lips of those who rise against me and their thoughts are against me all day. Look at their sitting and their rising; I am their song” (Lamentations 3:61–63). “You heard their taunt, Lord.… the lips of those who rise against me and their thoughts.… Look at their sitting and their rising; I am their song” – I am their song of derision.
“Pay them retribution, Lord, according to their handiwork” (Lamentations 3:64). “Pay them retribution” – Jeremiah said: “Pay them retribution.” Asaf said: “Pay our neighbors retribution sevenfold to their bosom [ḥeikam]” (Psalms 79:12). What is “to their bosom [ḥeikam]”? Rabbi Yehuda ben Gadya said: Pay them retribution for what they did to the Temple that is situated in the foundation [ḥeiko] of the world, just as it says: “From the foundation in the ground to the [lower] ledge” (Ezekiel 43:14). The Rabbis say: What they did regarding circumcision, which is positioned in man’s bosom,80The meaning here is that it is in the center of his body. as Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin and Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: They81The Amalekites would do this to the Israelites when they departed from Egypt. would take the circumcised organs of the Israelites and cast them upward, saying: This You chose; here is what You chose! Until Samuel arose and exacted retribution from them. That is what is written: “Samuel said: "Bring me Agag, king of Amalek” (I Samuel 15:32), and it is written: “Samuel slashed Agag…” (I Samuel 15:33). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: He began chopping his flesh into numerous pieces and fed it to the ostriches. That is what is written: “It will consume the branches of his skin” (Job 18:13). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: He brought four posts and stretched him upon them. “Agag said: Indeed, the bitterness of death is at hand [sar]” (I Samuel 15:32). Is this the way one kills princes, with bitter deaths? Rabbi Yitzḥak said: He castrated him, because he would take the circumcised organs and cast them upward. For this, retribution was exacted from him. That is what is written: “Samuel said: Just as your sword made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women” (I Samuel 15:33). “He slashed” – it teaches that he sliced him into four pieces. “May you give them hardness of heart, Your curse upon them” (Lamentations 3:65). “May you give them hardness of [meginat] heart” – two amora’im: One said: Heartbreak, and one said: Strength of heart.82The amora’im discussed the true meaning of the term meginat. One said it means heartbreak due to suffering. The other said it means strength of heart to endure a lot of suffering without dying. The one who said heartbreak, it is as it is stated: “Who delivered [migen] your enemies into your hand” (Genesis 14:20).83Just as the term migen here indicates that the enemies were broken, the word meginat regarding the heart means heartbreak. The one who said: Strength of heart, as it is written: “The shield [magen] of your protection” (Deuteronomy 33:29). “Your curse [taalatekha] upon them” – suspend [teli] them84Suspend them between life and death. in suffering. Bring upon them all the curses [alot] in the Torah, just as it says: “The Lord your God will place all these curses [alot] on your enemies, and on those who hate you…” (Deuteronomy 30:7).
“May You pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:66). “May You pursue them in wrath and destroy them” – Jeremiah said: “May you pursue them in wrath and destroy them.” Moses said: “For I will erase [maḥo emḥe] the memory of Amalek from under the heavens” (Exodus 17:14). Shmuel said: “Amalek” – in its plain sense; “memory” – this is Haman; maḥo – in this world; emḥe – in the World to Come; “from under the heavens” – for him and for all the members of that generation [and] until the end of all generations. Rabbi Yehoshua said: So that there will not be a son and a grandson for Amalek under the heavens, so [people] will not say: This tree is Amalek’s, this camel is Amalek’s, this sheep is Amalek’s. Rabbi Eliezer said: Because it sought to eliminate Israel from under the wings of the heavens, Moses said before the Holy One blessed be He: This wicked one seeks to eliminate Israel from under Your wings. The Torah scroll that You gave them, who will read it? Another matter: Because it sought to eliminate Israel, who are destined to be scattered from one end of the world to the other, as it is stated: “From the end of the earth to the end of the earth” (Deuteronomy 28:64). Rabbi Eliezer says: When will the name of these be eliminated from the world, and idolatry and its worshippers will be eliminated from the world, and the Holy One blessed be He will be one in the world,85He will be acknowledged as the one, true God. like the matter that is stated: “The Lord will be King over all the land; on that day the Lord will be one and His name one” (Zechariah 14:9)? At the time when, “may you pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.” Rabbi Natan said: Haman came only to provide a remembrance for Israel.86This is in explanation of the statement earlier that the word “memory” (Exodus 17:14) alludes to Haman. Through the story of Purim, Jews continue to preserve the memory of Amalek and its actions, as well as the requirement to destroy Amalek, as required by the Torah (Deuteronomy 25:17–19). That is what is written: “These days of Purim will not pass from among the Jews, and their memory will not cease from their descendants” (Esther 9:28). End of the Third Alphabetical Acrostic
אֲנִי הַגֶּבֶר. רַבִּי חָמָא בַּר חֲנִינָא פָּתַח (ירמיה לו, לב): וְיִרְמְיָהוּ לָקַח מְגִלָּה אַחֶרֶת וַיִּתְּנָהּ אֶל בָּרוּךְ בֶּן נֵרִיָּהוּ הַסֹּפֵר וַיִּכְתֹּב עָלֶיהָ מִפִּי יִרְמְיָהוּ אֵת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַסֵּפֶר אֲשֶׁר שָׂרַף יְהוֹיָקִים מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה בָּאֵשׁ וְעוֹד נוֹסַף עֲלֵיהֶם דְּבָרִים רַבִּים כָּהֵמָּה, שֶׁאֵין תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר כָּהֵמָּה, מַה תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר כָּהֵמָּה, רַב כַּהֲנָא אָמַר: וְעוֹד נוֹסַף עֲלֵיהֶם דְּבָרִים רַבִּים כָּהֵמָּה, דְּבָרִים, אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה, אֵיכָה יָעִיב, אֵיכָה יוּעַם. רַבִּים, זְכֹר ה'. כָּהֵמָּה, אֲנִי הַגֶּבֶר, דְּהוּא תְּלָתָא תְּלָתָא פְּסוּקִים, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (משלי כב, כ): הֲלֹא כָתַבְתִּי לְךָ שָׁלִשִׁים, דְּבָרִים מְשׁוּלָשִׁים. רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָנִי אָמַר מַהוּ שָׁלִשִׁים, גִּבּוֹרִים, כְּמָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (שמות יד, ז): וְשָׁלִשִׁים עַל כֻּלּוֹ, וּמְתַרְגְּמִינַן וְגִיבָּרִין מְמַנָּן עַל כּוּלְּהוֹן. דָּבָר אַחֵר, שָׁלִשִׁים, אֲנִי הַגֶּבֶר, דְּהוּא מִתְּלָתָא תְּלָתָא פְּסוּקִים. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ דְּסִכְנִין בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר, אֲנִי הַגֶּבֶר, אֲנָא הוּא דִילִיפְנָא יִיסּוּרִין, אַהֲנֵי עָלַי מַה דְּאַהֲנֵי לָךְ, מָשָׁל לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁכָּעַס עַל מַטְרוֹנָה וּדְחָפָהּ וְהוֹצִיאָהּ חוּץ לַפָּלָטִין, הָלְכָה וְצִמְצְמָה פָּנֶיהָ אַחַר הָעַמּוּד, נִמְצָא הַמֶּלֶךְ עוֹבֵר וְרוֹאֶה אוֹתָה. אָמַר לָהּ אַקְשִׁית אַפֵּיךְ, אָמְרָה לוֹ אֲדוֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ כָּךְ יָפֶה לִי וְכָךְ נָאֶה וְכָךְ רָאוּי לִי שֶׁלֹא קִבְּלָה אוֹתָךְ אִשָּׁה אַחֶרֶת אֶלָּא אֲנִי. אָמַר לָהּ אֲנִי הוּא שֶׁפָּסַלְתִּי כָּל הַנָּשִׁים בַּעֲבוּרֵךְ. אָמְרָה לוֹ אִם כֵּן לָמָּה נִכְנַסְתָּ לְמָבוּי פְּלוֹנִי וּלְחָצֵר פְּלוֹנִי וּלְמָקוֹם פְּלוֹנִי, לֹא בִּשְׁבִיל אִשָּׁה פְּלוֹנִית וְלֹא קִבְּלָה אוֹתְךָ. כָּךְ אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אַקְשִׁיתוּן אַפֵּיכוֹן, אָמְרוּ לְפָנָיו רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם כָּךְ יָפֶה לָנוּ וְכָךְ נָאֶה לָנוּ וְכָךְ הָגוּן לָנוּ שֶׁלֹא קִבְּלָה אֻמָּה אַחֶרֶת תּוֹרָתֶךָ אֶלָּא אֲנִי. אָמַר לָהֶם אֲנִי הוּא שֶׁפָּסַלְתִּי כָּל הָאֻמּוֹת בִּשְׁבִילְכֶם. אָמְרוּ לוֹ אִם כֵּן לָמָּה הֶחֱזַרְתָּ תּוֹרָתְךָ עַל הָאֻמּוֹת וְלֹא קִבְּלוּהָ. דְּתַנְיָא בַּתְּחִלָּה נִגְלָה עַל בְּנֵי עֵשָׂו, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (דברים לג, ב): וַיֹּאמַר ה' מִסִּינַי בָּא וְזָרַח מִשֵֹּׂעִיר לָמוֹ, וְלֹא קִבְּלוּהָ, הֶחֱזִירָהּ עַל בְּנֵי יִשְׁמָעֵאל, וְלֹא קִבְּלוּהָ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (דברים לג, ב): הוֹפִיעַ מֵהַר פָּארָן, וּלְבַסּוֹף הֶחֱזִירָהּ עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל וְקִבְּלוּהָ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (דברים לג, ב): וְאָתָה מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ מִימִינוֹ אֵשׁ דָּת לָמוֹ. וּכְתִיב (שמות כד, ז): כֹּל אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר ה' נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע. דָּבָר אַחֵר, אֲנִי הַגֶּבֶר, אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי אֲנִי הוּא הַגֶּבֶר, אֲנָא הוּא אִיּוֹב, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (איוב לד, ז): מִי גֶבֶר כְּאִיּוֹב יִשְׁתֶּה לַּעַג כַּמָּיִם. רָאָה עֳנִי, אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן אָמְרָה כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, כֵּיוָן שֶׁרָאָה אוֹתִי עֲנִיָּה מִן הַמִּצְווֹת, עֲנִיָּה מִמַּעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים, הֵבִיא עָלַי שֵׁבֶט עֶבְרָתוֹ. אָמַר רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה גִּבְּרַנִי לַעֲמֹד בְּכֻלָּן, אַתְּ מוֹצֵא אַחַר מֵאָה חָסֵר שְׁתַּיִם תּוֹכָחוֹת שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּמִשְׁנֵה תוֹרָה, מַה כְּתִיב (דברים כט, ט): אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם, וּמְתַרְגְּמִינַן אַתּוּן קַיָּימִין יוֹמָא דֵין כּוּלְּכוֹן, גִּבּוֹרִים לַעֲמֹד בְּכֻלָּם, אוֹתִי נָהַג, בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה שֶׁנִּקְרָא חשֶׁךְ וְלֹא אוֹר, אַךְ בִּי יָשֻׁב יַהֲפֹךְ יָדוֹ כָּל הַיּוֹם, אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִתְיָאֵשׁ מִן הַצַּדִּיקִים בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, אֲבָל חוֹזֵר וּמְרַחֵם עֲלֵיהֶם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: אַךְ בִּי יָשֻׁב.
“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His fury” (Lamentations 3:1).
“I am the man” – Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina began: “Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Barukh son of Neriyahu, the scribe, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book that Yehoyakim, king of Judah, had burned in the fire, and many more similar matters were also added to them” (Jeremiah 36:32). The verse need not have stated “similar.” Why does the verse state “similar”? Rav Kahana said: “Many more similar matters were also added to them”: “Matters” – “how does [the greatly crowded city] sit” (Lamentations 1:1), “how [the Lord] has clouded” (Lamentations 2:1), “how has [gold] tarnished” (Lamentations 4:1).1Rav Kahana interprets “matters” to allude to chapters 1, 2, and 4 of Lamentations. “Many” – “remember, Lord” (Lamentations 5:1).2The word “many” alludes to chapter 5 of Lamentations. “Similar” – “I am the man,” which is three verses each.3In the third chapter of Lamentations there are three verses for each letter of the alphabet. That is what is written: “Did I not write it for you three times [shalishim]” (Proverbs 22:20) – words [organized] in a threefold manner. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: What is shalishim? It is mighty men, just as it says: “And shalishim over them all” (Exodus 14:7), and we translate it: “And mighty men were appointed over them all.”4The midrash is referencing Onkelos, an ancient Aramaic translation of the Torah. Alternatively: Shalishim – “I am the man” – as it is three verses each.
Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: “I am the man” – it is I who is well versed in suffering, what is pleasing to You is pleasing for me.5This statement is an acceptance of God’s judgment despite being unable to understand the need for such intense suffering (Matnot Kehuna). Others explain differently such that this statement introduces the upcoming analogy, and interpret this line to mean: I have received benefit by having benefited You by accepting Your Torah. Accordingly, this line is bitter and sarcastic, as the speaker complains that the great suffering is due only to Israel’s acceptance of the Torah, which brought them a higher level of accountability than other nations (Etz Yosef). This is analogous to a king who became angry at the queen and shoved her and expelled her from the palace. She went and concealed her face behind a pillar.6She hoped to catch a glimpse of the king as he passed. The king was passing and saw her. He said to her: ‘You have been impudent.’ She said to him: ‘My lord the king, is this [treatment] appropriate for me, is this becoming for me, is this befitting of me? No woman accepted you other than me.’ He said to her: ‘It was I who disqualified all the women in favor of you.’ She said to him: ‘If so, why did you enter such and such alleyway, such and such courtyard, and such and such place? Was it not for such and such a woman, and she did not accept you?’ So too, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘You have been impudent.’ They said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, is this appropriate for me, is this becoming for me, is this befitting of me? No other nation accepted Your Torah other than me.’ He said to them: ‘It is I who disqualified all the nations in favor of you.’ They said to Him: ‘If so, why did You offer the Torah to all the nations but they did not accept it?’ As it is taught: Initially, He revealed himself to the children of Esau; that is what is written: “He said: The Lord came from Sinai, and shone from Seir for them” (Deuteronomy 33:2),7Seir is the land of Esau; see Genesis 36:8. but they did not accept it. He offered it to the children of Ishmael, but they did not accept it; that is what is written: “He appeared from Mount Paran” (Deuteronomy 33:2).8Ishmael dwelled in Paran; see Genesis 21:21. Ultimately, He offered it to Israel and they accepted it, as it is written: “And He came from the holy myriads, from His right, a fiery law to them” (Deuteronomy 33:2), and it is written: “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7).
Another matter: “I am the man [hagever]” – Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: It is I who is the man. I am Job, as it is stated: “Who is a man [gever] like Job, who drinks scoffing like water” (Job 34:7).
“Who has seen affliction [ani]” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: The congregation of Israel said: Since He saw me impoverished of mitzvot, impoverished of good deeds, He brought “the rod of His fury” upon me. Rabbi Berekhya said: He fortified me to withstand them all. What do you find written after the ninety-eight rebukes in the book of Deuteronomy?9See Deuteronomy 28:15–69. “You are standing today, all of you” (Deuteronomy 29:9), and we translate it: “You exist this day, all of you,” mighty to withstand them all.
“He conducted and led me in darkness and not light. Indeed, against me He will again turn His hand all day” (Lamentations 3:2–3).
“He conducted [and led] me” in this world, which is called “darkness and not light.” “Indeed, against me He will again turn His hand all day” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: This teaches that the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, but then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “Indeed, against me He will again [turn His hand].”
בִּלָּה בְשָׂרִי, זֶה צִבּוּר, וְעוֹרִי, זֶה סַנְהֶדְרִין, כְּשֵׁם שֶׁהָעוֹר חוֹפֶה עַל הַבָּשָׂר כָּךְ סַנְהֶדְּרִין חוֹפִין עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל. שִׁבַּר עַצְמוֹתָי, עִצּוּמַי, בְּנֵי אָדָם שֶׁהָיוּ כִּבְנֵי הָעֲצוּמִים. בָּנָה עָלַי וַיַּקַּף רֹאשׁ, זֶה נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר, דִּכְתִיב בֵּיהּ (דניאל ב, לח): אַנְתְּ הוּא רֵאשָׁה דִי דַהֲבָא, וּתְלָאָה, זֶה נְבוּזַרְאֲדָן. דָּבָר אַחֵר, רֹאשׁ, זֶה אַסְפַּסְיָאנוּס. וּתְלָאָה, זֶה טְרַכִינוּס. בְּמַחֲשַׁכִּים הוֹשִׁיבַנִי כְּמֵתֵי עוֹלָם, אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל אַרְבָּעָה חֲשׁוּבִין כְּמֵתִים, סוּמָא, דִּכְתִיב: בְּמַחֲשַׁכִּים הוֹשִׁיבַנִּי כְּמֵתֵי עוֹלָם. מְצוֹרָע, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר יב, יב): אַל נָא תְהִי כַּמֵּת. וּמִי שֶׁאֵין לוֹ בָנִים, דִּכְתִיב בָּהּ בְּרָחֵל (בראשית ל, א): הָבָה לִי בָנִים וְאִם אַיִן מֵתָה אָנֹכִי. וּמִי שֶׁיָּרַד מִנְכָסָיו, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות ד, יט): כִּי מֵתוּ כָּל הָאֲנָשִׁים, וְכִי מֵתִים הָיוּ, אֶלָּא שֶׁיָּרְדוּ מִנִּכְסֵיהֶם.
“He wore away my flesh and my skin, broke my bones” (Lamentations 3:4).
“He wore away my flesh” – this is the community. “And my skin” – this is the Sanhedrin; just as the skin protects the flesh, so the Sanhedrin protects the community. “Broke my bones [atzmotai]” – my mighty ones [itzumai], people who were like mighty warriors [benei haatzumim].
“He built against me and surrounded me with gall and hardship” (Lamentations 3:5).
“He built against me and surrounded me with gall [rosh]” – this is Nebuchadnezzar, as it is written in his regard: “You are the head [reisha] of gold” (Daniel 2:38). “And hardship” – this is Nevuzaradan. Alternatively: “Gall” – this is Vespasian; “and hardship” – this is Trajan.
“He settled me in darkness, like those long dead” (Lamentations 3:6).
“He settled me in darkness, like those long dead” – Rabbi Shmuel said: Four are considered as dead: A blind person, as it is stated: “He settled me in darkness, like those long dead.” A leper, as it is stated: “Let her not be like a corpse” (Numbers 12:12).10Aaron said this in reference to Miriam, who was afflicted with leprosy, when he asked Moses to pray on her behalf. One who does not have children, as it is written regarding Rachel: “Give me children, and if not, I am dead” (Genesis 30:1). And one who has become impoverished, as it is stated: “All the men [seeking your life] have died” (Exodus 4:19). Were they, in fact, dead? Rather, they had become impoverished.11The Sages identified the men seeking Moses’s life as Datan and Aviram (see Avoda Zara 5a). They were not yet dead, as they later participated in Koraḥ’s uprising (see Numbers 16:1–2).
גָּדַר בַּעֲדִי וְלֹא אֵצֵא, רַבִּי אַיְּבוּ אָמַר זֶה בַּסְגָּר שֶׁל עֲרַבְיָיא. רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה אָמַר זֶה קַסְטְרָא שֶׁל פַּרְסִיִּין. וְרַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי זֶה מַטְלִית שֶׁל כּוּתִיִּים. הִכְבִּיד נְחָשְׁתִּי, הִכְבִּיד עָלַי אַרְנוֹנִיוֹת וְדִימוּסְיָאוֹת וְגֻלְגְּלָאוֹת. גַּם כִּי אֶזְעַק וַאֲשַׁוֵּעַ, רַבִּי אַחָא אָמַר כָּל הַמִּתְפַּלֵל עִם הַצִּבּוּר לְמָה הוּא דּוֹמֶה לִבְנֵי אָדָם שֶׁעָשׂוּ עֲטָרָה לַמֶּלֶךְ, בָּא עָנִי אֶחָד וְנָתַן חֶלְקוֹ בְּתוֹכָהּ, מָה הַמֶּלֶךְ אוֹמֵר בִּשְׁבִיל זֶה עָנִי אֲנִי מְקַבְּלָהּ, מִיָּד מְקַבֵּל הַמֶּלֶךְ וְנוֹתְנָהּ בְּרֹאשׁוֹ, כָּךְ אִם הָיוּ עֲשָׂרָה צַדִּיקִים עוֹמְדִים בִּתְפִלָה וְרָשָׁע עוֹמֵד בֵּינֵיהֶם, מָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אוֹמֵר בִּשְׁבִיל רָשָׁע זֶה אֵינִי מְקַבֵּל תְּפִלָּתָם. וְרַבָּנָן אָמְרִין בָּא אַחַר הַצִּבּוּר מַעֲשָׂיו נִפְרָטִין, לְמָה הוּא דּוֹמֶה לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁנִּכְנְסוּ אֲרִיסָיו וּבְנֵי בֵיתוֹ לְכַבְּדוֹ, בָּא אֶחָד בָּאַחֲרוֹנָה, אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ תִּסָּתֵם חָבִיתוֹ, וּמִי גָרַם לוֹ הֲרֵי שֶׁבָּא בָּאַחֲרוֹנָה, כָּךְ כָּל הַמִּתְפַּלֵּל לְאַחַר הַצִּבּוּר מַעֲשָׂיו נִפְרָטִין, לְכָךְ נֶאֱמַר: גַּם כִּי אֶזְעַק וַאַשַּׁוֵּעַ שָׂתַם תְּפִלָּתִי, שָׂתַם כְּתִיב, לְפִי שֶׁתַּמּוּ הַצִּבּוּר תְּפִלַּתְהוֹן. גָּדַר דְּרָכַי בְּגָזִית. בְּנוֹת לוּד הָיוּ לָשׁוֹת עִיסָּתָן וְעוֹלוֹת וּמִתְפַּלְּלוֹת וְיוֹרְדוֹת עַד שֶׁלֹא הֶחֱמִיצוּ. בְּנוֹת צִפּוֹרִי הַוְיָין סָלְקָן וְשַׁבְּחָן בְּבֵית מַקְדְּשָׁא וְלָא הֲוָה בַּר נָשׁ קָרֵיץ לִתְאֵנָה קֳדָמֵי מִנְהוֹן. וְהַאי סַפְרָא דְּמַגְדְּלָא הֲוָה מְסַדְרָא קַנְדִּילֵיהּ בְּכָל עֲרוּבָא שׁוּבָּא, סָלֵיק שַׁבַּח וְנָחֵת וּמַדְלֵיק יָתְהוֹן. וְאִית דְּאָמְרֵי סַפְרָא הֲוָה בְּכָל עֲרוּבָא שׁוּבָּא הֲוָה סָלֵיק וּפָשֵׁט סִדְרֵיהּ בְּבֵית מַקְדְּשָׁא וְנָחֵית שָׁבֵית בְּבֵיתֵיהּ. עוֹבָדָא הֲוָה בְּחַד בַּר נָשׁ דַּהֲוָה קָאי וְרָדֵי, עֲרָקַת תּוֹרְתֵיהּ, נְפַק אָמַר לְהוּ כַּדּוּ, אֲמָרוּ לֵיהּ בְּאִידְּנָא אִסְטְרַטְיָיא אֲתֵית, שָׁרֵי מַחֲוֵי לְהוֹן וְלָא אַשְׁכַּח הַדֶּרֶךְ, וְקָרוֹ עֲלֵיהּ הָדֵין קְרָיָיה, גָּדַר דְּרָכַי בְּגָזִית נְתִיבֹתַי עִוָּה, אַצְּדִי, כְּמָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (יחזקאל כא, לב): עַוָּה עַוָּה עַוָּה אֲשִׂימֶנָּה.
“He fenced me in that I will not emerge; He made my fetters heavy” (Lamentations 3:7).
“He fenced me in that I will not emerge” – Rabbi Aivu said: This is the enclosure of the Arabs. Rabbi Berekhya said: This is the fortress of the Persians.12The “enclosure of the Arabs” and the “fortress of the Persians” were locations where Jews were imprisoned. The Rabbis say: This is the strip of land of the Cuthites.13The Cuthites inhabited a strip of land in the Land of Israel that separated between the Jewish communities of Judea and the Galilee, and they would not permit Jews to travel between the two Jewish areas (see Ḥagiga 25a). “He made my fetters heavy” – He burdened me with land tax, state tax, and poll tax.
“Even when I cry and plead, He blocks my prayer” (Lamentations 3:8).
“Even when I cry and plead” – Rabbi Aḥa said: Anyone who prays with the congregation, to what is he comparable? It is to people who crafted a crown for the king. A poor man comes and donates his portion of it. What does the king say? Shall I not accept it because of this poor person?14The translation is in accordance with the Hebrew textual emendation of Rabbi David Luria. Immediately, the king accepts it and places it on his head. Likewise, if there were ten righteous men standing in prayer and there is a wicked man standing in their midst, what does the Holy One blessed be He say? Shall I not accept their prayer because of this wicked person? The Rabbis said: One who comes after the congregation, his actions are scrutinized. To what is he comparable? It is to a king whose sharecroppers and the members of his household entered to honor him. One came late. The king said: ‘Let his barrel be sealed.’15He brought a barrel of wine or other goods for the king, but the king does not accept the gift (Matnot Kehuna). What caused this for him? It is because he came late. So too, anyone who prays after the community, his actions are scrutinized. That is why it is stated: “Even when I cry and plead, He blocks [satam] my prayer.” Satam is written with a sin,16It is not written here with a samekh, which would have been the conventional spelling. Thus, the word can be vocalized shetam, which means “because it has concluded.” because the prayer of the congregation has concluded.
“He fenced my ways with hewn stone, distorted my paths” (Lamentations 3:9).
“He fenced my ways with hewn stone” – the daughters of Lod would knead their doughs, ascend and pray [in Jerusalem], and descend before they leavened. The daughters of Tzippori would ascend and praise [God] in the Temple, and there was no one who harvested the fig tree before them.17They would leave early in the morning and return early in the morning as well. Some assert that the text should state that they would stay for Shabbat [shavtan] rather than that they would praise God [shabḥan]. Nonetheless, they were able to return home so early on Sunday morning that they were the first to harvest the figs (Matnot Kehuna). The scribe of Migdal would prepare his lamps every Friday, would ascend [to the Temple], praise, and descend and kindle them. Some say that every Friday the scribe would ascend, review his [Torah] portion in the Temple, descend, and observe Shabbat in his home.
There was an incident involving a certain person who was standing and plowing. His ox fled. He went and told people what [had occurred]. They said to him: ‘On which thoroughfare did you come?’18Apparently, he had lost his way and did not know how to get home. Alternatively, they asked him which way his ox had taken so that they could help him find it. He began showing them but could not find the way. They applied to him the verse: “He fenced my ways with hewn stone, distorted [iva] my paths.” He rendered [the paths] ruins, just as it says: “A ruin [ava], a ruin, a ruin I will render it” (Ezekiel 21:32).
דֹּב אֹרֵב הוּא לִי, זֶה נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר. אֲרִי בְּמִסְתָּרִים, זֶה נְבוּזַרְאֲדָן. דָּבָר אַחֵר, דֹּב אֹרֵב, זֶה אַסְפַּסְיָאנוּס. אֲרִי בְּמִסְתָּרִים, זֶה טְרָכִינוּס. דְּרָכַי סוֹרֵר וַיְפַשְּׁחֵנִי. תִּילְהֵי, כִּדְאַמְרִינַן אִילָן שֶׁנִּפְשַׁח קוֹשְׁרִין אוֹתוֹ בַּשְּׁבִיעִית. דָּרַךְ קַשְׁתּוֹ וַיַּצִּיבֵנִי כְּמַטָּרָה לַחֵץ, תְּרֵין אָמוֹרָאִין, חַד אֲמַר כְּבוּרְמָא לְאַסְפְּרִיסָא, וְחַד אֲמַר כְּקוֹרַת חִצִּים שֶׁהַכֹּל מוֹרִים בָּהּ וְהִיא נִצֶּבֶת. רַבִּי יוּדָן אָמַר וְגִבְּרַנִי לַעֲמֹד בְּכֻלָּן, אַתְּ מוֹצֵא אַחַר מֵאָה חָסֵר שְׁתֵּי תּוֹכָחוֹת שֶׁיֵּשׁ בְּמִשְׁנֵה תוֹרָה, מַה כְּתִיב (דברים כט, ט): אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם, וּמְתַרְגְּמִינַן אַתּוּן קַיָּימִין גִּבּוֹרִים לַעֲמֹד בְּכֻלָּן.
“He is like a bear in ambush to me, a lion in hiding” (Lamentations 3:10).
“He is like a bear in ambush to me” – this is Nebuchadnezzar. “A lion in hiding” – this is Nevuzaradan. Alternatively: “A bear in ambush” – this is Vespasian; “a lion in hiding” – this is Trajan.
“He has twisted my ways and mauled me; He rendered me desolate” (Lamentations 3:11).
“He has twisted my ways and mauled me [vaifashḥeni]” – split me, as we say: A tree that was split [nifshaḥ], one may tie it during the Sabbatical Year.19Mishna Sheviit 4:6.
“He drew His bow, and set me as the target for the arrow” (Lamentations 3:12).
“He drew His bow, and set me as the target for the arrow” – there were two amora’im; one said: Like a shield for arrows,20Although the shield blocks the arrows, the arrows pierce and damage the shield (Maharzu). and one said: Like a beam for arrows that everyone fires at it but it remains standing. Rabbi Yudan said: He fortified me to withstand them all. What do you find written after the ninety-eight rebukes in the book of Deuteronomy? “You are standing today, all of you” (Deuteronomy 29:9), and we translate it: “You exist this day, all of you,” mighty to withstand them all.
הֵבִיא בְּכִלְיֹתָי בְּנֵי אַשְׁפָּתוֹ, רַב וּשְׁמוּאֵל, רַב אָמַר בְּנֵי אוֹפִיכֵיהּ, בְּנֵי אֲמוֹרֵיהּ. וּשְׁמוּאֵל אָמַר בְּנֵי אָדָם שֶׁאוֹכְלִין הַרְבֵּה וּמוֹצִיאִין אַשְׁפּוֹת, הֵבִיאָן עָלַי. הָיִיתִי שְׂחֹק לְכָל עַמִּי, כְּתִיב (תהלים סט, יג): יָשִׂיחוּ בִי ישְׁבֵי שָׁעַר, אֵלּוּ אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֵן יוֹשְׁבִין בְּבָתֵּי תַּרְטִיאוֹת וּבְבָתֵּי קַרְקְסִיאוֹת. וּנְגִינוֹת שׁוֹתֵי שֵׁכָר, מֵאַחַר שֶׁהֵן יוֹשְׁבִין וְאוֹכְלִין וְשׁוֹתִין וּמִשְׁתַּכְּרִין, הֵן יוֹשְׁבִין וּמְשִׂיחִין בִּי וּמַלְעִיגִים בִּי וְאוֹמְרִים בְּגִין דְּלָא נִצְרוֹךְ לְחָרוֹבָא כִּיהוּדָאֵי, וְהֵן אוֹמְרִים אֵלּוּ לָאֵלּוּ, כַּמָּה שָׁנִים אַתְּ בָּעֵי מְחֵי, וְהֵן אוֹמְרִים כַּחֲלוּקָא דִּיהוּדָאֵי דְּשַׁבַּתָּא. וּמַכְנִיסִין אֶת הַגָּמָל לְטַרְטִיאוֹת שֶׁלָּהֶם וְהַחֲלוּקִין שֶׁלּוֹ עָלָיו, וְהֵן אוֹמְרִים אֵלּוּ לָאֵלּוּ עַל מָה זֶה מִתְאַבֵּל, וְהֵן אוֹמְרִים הַיְּהוּדִים הַלָּלוּ שׁוֹמְרֵי שְׁבִיעִית הֵן וְאֵין לָהֶם יָרָק וְאָכְלוּ הַחוֹחִים שֶׁל זֶה וְהוּא מִתְאַבֵּל עֲלֵיהֶם. וּמַכְנִיסִים אֶת הַמּוּמוֹס לַתֵּיאַטְרוֹן שֶׁלָּהֶם וְרֹאשׁוֹ גָּלוּחַ, וְהֵן אוֹמְרִים אֵלּוּ לָאֵלּוּ עַל מָה רֹאשׁוֹ שֶׁל זֶה מְגֻלָּח, וְהוּא אוֹמֵר הַיְּהוּדִים הַלָּלוּ שׁוֹמְרֵי שַׁבָּתוֹת הֵן, וְכָל מַה שֶּׁהֵם יְגֵיעִין כָּל יְמוֹת הַשַּׁבָּת אוֹכְלִים בַּשַּׁבָּת, וְאֵין לָהֶם עֵצִים לְבַשֵּׁל בָּהֶם, וְהֵם שׁוֹבְרִים מִטּוֹתֵיהֶם וּמְבַשְּׁלִים בָּהֶן, וְהֵם יְשֵׁנִין בָּאָרֶץ וּמִתְעַפְּרִים בֶּעָפָר וְסָכִין בְּשֶׁמֶן, לְפִיכָךְ הַשֶּׁמֶן בְּיֹקֶר. דָּבָר אַחֵר, יָשִׂיחוּ בִי ישְׁבֵי שָׁעַר, אֵלּוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁהֵם יוֹשְׁבִין בְּבָתֵּי כְנֵסִיּוֹת וּבְבָתֵּי מִדְרָשׁוֹת, וּנְגִינוֹת שׁוֹתֵי שֵׁכָר, מֵאַחַר שֶׁהֵן יוֹשְׁבִין וְאוֹכְלִין וְשׁוֹתִין וּמִשְׁתַּכְּרִין בִּסְעוּדַת תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב, יוֹשְׁבִין וְקוֹרְאִים קִינוֹת וּנְהִי בְּאֵיכָה. הִשְׂבִּיעַנִּי בַמְּרוֹרִים, זֶה יוֹם טוֹב הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל פֶּסַח, דִּכְתִיב בּוֹ (במדבר ט, יא): עַל מַצּוֹת וּמְרֹרִים. הִרְוַנִּי לַעֲנָה, מַה שֶּׁהִשְׂבִּיעַנִּי בְּלֵיל יוֹם טוֹב הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל פֶּסַח, הִרְוַנִּי בְּלֵיל תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב לַעֲנָה, הֱוֵי לֵיל יוֹם טוֹב הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל פֶּסַח הוּא לֵיל תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב.
“He brought the contents of His quiver into my kidneys” (Lamentations 3:13).
“He brought the contents of His quiver [benei ashpato] into my kidneys” – Rav and Shmuel: Rav said: His prisoners and hostages;21The word benei generally is used in reference to people. Rav expounds that prisoners and hostages were appointed as guards over the Jewish prisoners. These individuals were bitter and cruel (Midrash HaMevo’ar). Shmuel said: He brought upon me people who eat much and excrete excrement [ashpot].22The reference is to the Persians (see Megilla 11a).
“I have become a laughingstock to all my people, their song all day” (Lamentations 3:14).
“I have become a laughingstock to all my people” – it is written: “Those who sit at the gate talk about me” (Psalms 69:13) – these are the nations of the world who sit in theaters and circuses. “I am the subject of songs by ale drinkers” (Psalms 69:13) – after they sit, eat, drink, and become intoxicated, they sit, speak about me, mock me, and say: So that we will not need to eat carobs like the Jews.23We have eaten as much as we like, unlike the Jews who are poor and must carobs [ḥarovim]. Alternatively, this sentence can be translated to mean: We will not be destroyed [ḥaruvim] like the Jews (Matnot Kehuna). They would say to each other: ‘How many years do you want to live?’ They would say: ‘Like the Shabbat garment of the Jews.’24The Jews would wear their Shabbat clothes for many years. The gentiles mocked them for this as well. They would bring the camel into their theaters with its garments25Sackcloth was used as a covering for camels and as clothes for mourners (Etz Yosef). on it. They would say to each other: ‘Why is it mourning?’ They would say: ‘These Jews observe the Sabbatical Year. They do not have any vegetation and they eat its thorns, and it is mourning over them.’ They would bring the dead into their theater and its head was shaved. They would say to each other: ‘Why is this one’s head shaved?’ He would say: ‘These Jews are Shabbat observers, and everything for which they exert themselves all the days of the week, they eat on Shabbat. They do not have wood with which to cook, and they break their beds and cook with them. They sleep on the ground and become covered with dirt, and they smear themselves with oil. Therefore, the oil is expensive.26They cannot afford oil to shampoo their hair, so they shave it.
Another matter: “Those who sit at the gate talk about me” – these are Israel, who sit in the synagogues and study halls. “I am the subject of songs by ale drinkers” – after they sit, eat, drink, and become intoxicated at the meal prior to the ninth of Av, they sit and recite lamentations, wailing, with eikha.
“He filled me with bitterness, sated me with wormwood” (Lamentations 3:15).
“He filled me with bitterness” – this is the first festival day of Passover, in whose regard it is written: “With unleavened bread and bitter herbs [they shall eat it]” (Numbers 9:11). “Sated me with wormwood” – with what He filled me on the evening of the first festival day of Passover, He sated me on the ninth of Av. That is why the evening of the first festival day of Passover coincides with the evening of the ninth of Av.27They occur on the same day of the week each year.
וַיַּגְרֵס בֶּחָצָץ שִׁנָּי, מַעֲשֶׂה בִּבְנוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי חֲנַנְיָה בֶּן תְּרַדְיוֹן שֶׁנִּתְחַבֵּר לְלִסְטִים וְגִלָּה אֶת רָזָן, וַהֲרָגוּהוּ וּמִלְאוּ פִּיו עָפָר וּצְרוֹרוֹת. לְאַחַר שְׁלשָׁה יָמִים נְתָנוּהוּ בִּכְלִיבָא, וּבִקְּשׁוּ לְקַלֵּס עָלָיו מִפְּנֵי כְּבוֹד אָבִיו וְלֹא הִנִּיחָן, אָמַר לָהֶם הַנִּיחוּ לוֹ וַאֲנִי אֹמַר עַל בְּנִי, פָּתַח וְאָמַר (משלי ה, יג יד): וְלֹא שָׁמַעְתִּי בְּקוֹל מוֹרָי וְלִמְלַמְּדַי לֹא הִטִּיתִי אָזְנִי. כִּמְעַט הָיִיתִי בְכָל רָע בְּתוֹךְ קָהָל וְעֵדָה. וְאִמּוֹ קָרָאת עָלָיו (משלי יז, כה): כַּעַס לְאָבִיו בֵּן כְּסִיל וּמֶמֶר לְיוֹלַדְתּוֹ. אֲחוֹתוֹ קָרָאת עָלָיו (משלי כ, יז): עָרֵב לָאִישׁ לֶחֶם שָׁקֶר וְאַחַר יִמָּלֵא פִיהוּ חָצָץ. וּתְנַן כָּל שֶׁהוּא מִסְּעוּדַת תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב, אָסוּר לֶאֱכֹל בָּשָׂר, וְלִשְׁתּוֹת יַיִן, וְלֶאֱכֹל שְׁנֵי תַּבְשִׁילִין, וְלִרְחֹץ וְלָסוּךְ. וְכָל שֶׁאֵינוֹ מִסְּעוּדַת תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב, מֻתָּר לֶאֱכֹל בָּשָׂר וְלִשְׁתּוֹת יַיִן, וְלֶאֱכֹל שְׁנֵי תַּבְשִׁילִין. רַב מִן דְּהוּא אָכֵיל כָּל מַאֲכָלוֹ נְסֵיב חַד פַּת פָּחִית וִיהַב עֲלֵיהּ קְטָם וַאֲמַר זוֹ הִיא סְעוּדַת תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב, לְקַיֵּם מַה שֶּׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיַּגְרֵס בֶּחָצָץ שִׁנָּי הִכְפִּשַׁנִּי בָּאֵפֶר. וַתִּזְנַח מִשָּׁלוֹם נַפְשִׁי נָשִׁיתִי טוֹבָה, רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי חֲנַנְיָה בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַבִּי אַבָּהוּ אָמַר, מַעֲשֶׂה בְּאִשָּׁה אַחַת בְּקֵיסָרִין שֶׁהוֹלִיכָה אֶת בְּנָהּ אֵצֶל נַחְתּוֹם אֶחָד אָמְרָה לוֹ לַמֵּד אֶת בְּנִי אֻמָּנוּת, אָמַר לָהּ יַמְתִּין אֶצְלִי חֲמִשָּׁה שָׁנִים וַאֲנִי מְלַמְּדוֹ חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת מִינִין בְּחִטָּה. כַּמָּה מִינִין יֵשׁ בְּחִטָּה, רַבִּי אַחָא אָמַר בְּחִטֵּי מִנִּית, חִטִּים דְּלָא מְנִין. וְרַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת בְּחִטִּין כְּמִנְיַן מִנִּית. רַבִּי חֲנִינָא וְרַבִּי יוֹנָתָן הֲווֹ יָתְבִין וְחָשְׁבִין לְהוֹן עַד שִׁתִּין וְקָמוּ לְהוֹן. וְעוֹד אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי, מַעֲשֶׂה בְּאִשָּׁה אַחַת שֶׁהוֹלִיכָה אֶת בְּנָהּ אֵצֶל חַד פַּרְכוֹטָס, אָמְרָה לוֹ לַמֵּד אֶת בְּנִי אֻמָּנוּת, אָמַר לָהּ יַמְתִּין אֶצְלִי חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וַאֲנִי מְלַמְּדוֹ מֵאָה מִינִין בְּבֵיצָה. שָׁמַע רַבִּי וְאָמַר לֹא רָאִינוּ שֶׁיֵּשׁ טוֹבָה בָּעוֹלָם. שָׁמַע רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן חֲלַפְתָּא וְאָמַר לֹא שָׁמַעְנוּ שֶׁיֵּשׁ טוֹבָה בָּעוֹלָם. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בֶּן בְּתֵירָה אֲזַל לִנְצִיבִין בְּעַרְבֵי צוֹמָא רַבָּא, אֲכַל וּפְסַק, שְׁמַע רֵישׁ גָּלוּתָא וַאֲתָא לְגַבֵּיהּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ יַשְׁגַּח עֲלַי רַבִּי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ אֲכַלִּית וּפְסַקִית. אֲמַר לֵיהּ יַשְׁגַּח עָלַי רַבִּי דְּלָא יְהוֹן אָמְרִין לָא חֲשָׁבֵיהּ כְּלוּם מַטְרַח עֲלוֹי, אֲזַל עִמֵּיהּ. כֵּיוָן דַּאֲזַל אֲמַר לְטַלְיָא, בְּרִי, פָּטִילִיק דְּאַתְּ מַיְיתֵי לָן חַד זְמַן קֳדָמַיי לָא תַיְיתֵי לָן זְמַן אֳחוֹרֵי, מִן דַּאֲכָלוּן אַיְיתִין קֳדָמֵיהוֹן תְּמָנִין פָּטִילְקִין, אֲכַל מִכָּל פָּטִילִיק חַד פַּת וּמִכָּל פְּטִיס חַד כָּס, אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי מִן דַּאֲכָלִית וּפְסָקִית אַיְיתוֹן קֳדָמָךְ תְּמָנִין פָּטִילְקִין, מֵחָדָא פָּטִילִיקֵי אָכַל רַבִּי חָדָא פְּתִית וּמֵחָדָא פְּטִיס אִישְׁתֵּי רַבִּי חַד כָּס, אֲמַר וּבַמֶּה קָרַן לָהּ נַפְשָׁא, דְּהִיא כְּמָה דְּאִיתְיְהֵיב לָהּ הִיא נְפִישָׁה. רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ אֲזַל לְבָצְרָה וְאִתְקַבֵּל גַבֵּי יוֹסֵי רֵישָׁא, אַיְיתוֹן קַמֵּיהּ תְּמָנִין מִינֵי מֹחִין דְּעוֹף, אֲמַר לֵיהּ לָא יִכְעוֹס רַבִּי דְּלָא הֲוָה צֵידָא סָפֵק, וְלָא קַרְיָין לֵיהּ יוֹסֵי רֵישָׁא אֶלָּא דְּלָא הֲוָה מַאֲכָלֵיהּ אֶלָּא מֹחִין דְּעוֹף. רַבִּי חִיָּא רַבָּא אֲזַל לְדָרוֹמָא, וְאִתְקַבֵּל גַּבֵּי רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי, אַיְיתוּ לְקַמֵּיהּ עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה תַּבְשִׁילִין. אֲמַר לֵיהּ בְּשַׁבַּתָּא מָה אַתּוּן עָבְדִין, אֲמַר לֵיהּ אֲנַן כָּפְלִין לְהוֹן. לְבָתַר יוֹמִין אֲתָא רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי לִטְבֶרְיָא וְאִתְקַבֵּל גַּבֵּי רַבִּי חִיָּא רַבָּא וִיהַב לְתַלְמִידוֹי דְּרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ דַּרְכְּמוֹנִין וַאֲמַר לְהוֹן זִילוּ וַעֲבִידוּ לְרַבְּכוֹן כְּמִנְהָגֵיהּ. רַבִּי יִצְחָק בְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר הֲוָה יָדַע לְמִסְדַּר סְעוּדָתָא כְּמִנְיַן יְמוֹת הַחַמָּה. כַּד הֲוָה לֵיהּ הֲוָה עָבֵיד, כַּד לָא הֲוָה לֵיהּ נְסֵיב גַּרְעִינִין וּמְנֵי עֲלֵיהוֹן, בְּגִין דְּלָא יִתְנְשֵׁי יַתְהוֹן. נָשִׁיתִי טוֹבָה. אָמַר רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַמְלִיאֵל זוֹ רְחִיצַת יָדַיִם וְרַגְלַיִם אַחַר הַמֶּרְחָץ. וָאֹמַר אָבַד נִצְחִי וְתוֹחַלְתִּי מֵה'. אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ מִשֶּׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִתְיָאֵשׁ מִן הַצַּדִּיקִים בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה חוֹזֵר וּמְרַחֵם עֲלֵיהֶם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: וָאֹמַר אָבַד נִצְחִי.
“He has broken my teeth with gravel, covered me in ashes” (Lamentations 3:16).
“He has broken my teeth with gravel” – there was an incident involving the son of Rabbi Ḥananya ben Teradyon, who joined robbers and revealed their secret. They killed him and filled his mouth with dirt and pebbles. Three days later, [his body was found]. They placed him on a rope stretcher and sought to laud him in deference to his father, but he did not allow them to do so. He said to them: ‘Leave him, and I will speak about my son.’ He began and said: “I did not heed the voice of my instructors, and to my teachers I did not incline my ear. I was on the verge of complete degradation in the midst of an assembly and a congregation” (Proverbs 5:13–14). His mother read in his regard: “A foolish son is vexation to his father, and bitterness to the one who bore him” (Proverbs 17:25). His sister read in his regard: “Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel” (Proverbs 20:17).
We learned: Whenever it is the meal of the ninth of Av,28The last meal before the ninth of Av. it is prohibited to eat meat, to drink wine, to eat two cooked items, to wash, and to anoint oneself. Whenever it is not the meal of the ninth of Av, it is permitted to eat meat, to drink wine, and to eat two cooked items. Rav, after he would eat his fill of food, would take one small piece of bread, place ashes on it, and say: This is the meal of the ninth of Av, to fulfill what is stated: “He has broken my teeth with gravel, covered me in ashes.”
“My soul has forsaken peace; I have forgotten goodness” (Lamentations 3:17).
“My soul has forsaken peace; I have forgotten goodness” – Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei said in the name of Rabbi Ḥananya son of Rabbi Abbahu: There was an incident involving a woman who took her son to a baker in Caesarea. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’ He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for five years, and I will teach him five hundred species of wheat.’29How to distinguish between the different species, and how best to use each one. How many species of wheat are there? Rabbi Aḥa said: With Minit wheat they are unquantifiable.30Minit is a type of wheat mentioned in Ezekiel 27:17. The Rabbis say: There are five hundred species of wheat, equivalent to the numerical value of Minit.31Mem – 40; nun – 50; yod – 10; tav – 400 = 500 Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yonatan were sitting and counting them, and they got to sixty.
In addition, Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei said: There was an incident involving a certain woman who took her son to a certain chef. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’ He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for five years, and I will teach him one hundred types of eggs.’32One hundred dishes that can be prepared with eggs. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] heard and said: We have not seen that there is such goodness in the world. Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta heard and said: We have not heard that there is such goodness in the world.33We have never seen or heard that there is such a range of foods to benefit from. These statements relate to the end of the verse: “I have forgotten goodness.”
Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira went to Netzivin on the day before the great fast.34Yom Kippur He ate and finished.35He ate his fill and stopped eating even though the fast had not yet begun. The Exilarch heard and came to him. He said to him: ‘Heed my request, my Master.’36Please come eat the meal before the fast with me. He said to him: ‘I have already eaten and finished.’ He said to him: ‘Heed my request, my Master, so they will not say that he did not regard him at all to expend any effort on his behalf.’37The Exilarch asked Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira to join him, if only so that it not appear as though Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira was disrespecting him. He went with him. When he went, he said to his servant: ‘My son, a dish that you bring us once, do not bring it to us another time.’ While they were eating, he brought before them eighty cooked dishes. He ate one loaf with each dish and one cup from each barrel. [The Exilarch] said to him: ‘My Master, after you ate and finished, we brought eighty dishes before you; with each dish, my Master ate one loaf, and from each barrel, my Master drank one cup.’38The Exilarch was saying to Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira that he must have still been hungry, and therefore the Exilarch had benefited him. [Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira] said: ‘Why do they call it39The body nafsha? Because the more it is given, the more it expands [nefisha].’
Rabbi Abbahu went to Basra and was received by Yosei “the head.” They brought before him eighty types of birds’ brains.40Eighty dishes prepared with birds’ brains. He said to him: ‘Do not be angry, my Master, as the hunt was insufficient.’ They called him Yosei “the head” because all of his food was only birds’ brains.
Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great went to the south and was received by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. They brought before him twenty-four cooked dishes. [Rabbi Ḥiyya] said to him: ‘What do you do on Shabbat?’ He said to him: ‘We double them.’ Sometime later, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came to Tiberias and was received by Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great. He gave drachmas to the disciples of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi and said to them: ‘Go provide for your Master as he is accustomed.’41Rabbi Ḥiyya himself could not prepare an adequate feast for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.
Rabbi Yitzḥak ben Rabbi Eliezer knew how to prepare meals according to the number of days in the solar year. When he had the means, he would do so.42He would prepare a different meal each day. When he did not have the means, he would take seeds and count them, so that he would not forget them.43He would eat the seeds individually, and associate the dishes to the corresponding number of seeds, so that he would not be included in the curse mentioned in the verse, “I have forgotten goodness” (Midrash HaMevo’ar). These stories are related in the midrash in order to accentuate the troubles that have occurred and which have caused the goodness that was found in previous times to be forgotten.
“I have forgotten goodness” – Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: This is washing one’s hands and feet after the bathhouse.44Even this simple pleasure has become impossible and has been forgotten due to the suffering of the Jewish people.
“I said: My strength and my expectation have perished from the Lord” (Lamentations 3:18).
“I said: My strength and my expectation have perished from the Lord” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “I said: My strength [and my expectation] have perished.”45Israel had thought there was no hope of salvation, but in fact salvation will come.
זְכָר עָנְיִי וּמְרוּדִי, כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל אוֹמֶרֶת לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם זְכֹר עִנּוּיִין שֶׁעֻנֵּיתִי, וּמְרוּדִי שֶׁמָּרַדְתִּי בְּךָ, וְיִסּוּרִין שֶׁהִרְוִיתַנִי לַעֲנָה וָרוֹשׁ, יָצְאוּ אֵלּוּ בָּאֵלּוּ. זָכוֹר תִּזְכּוֹר. תָּנֵי רַבִּי חִיָּא מָשָׁל לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁיָּצָא לַמִּלְחָמָה וְהָיוּ בָּנָיו עִמּוֹ וְהָיוּ מַקְנִיטִין אוֹתוֹ. לְמָחָר יָצָא הַמֶּלֶךְ לְבַדּוֹ וְלֹא הָיוּ בָּנָיו עִמּוֹ, אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ הַלְוַאי הָיוּ בָּנַי עִמִּי וַאֲפִלּוּ מַקְנִיטִים אוֹתִי. כָּךְ, הַמֶּלֶךְ זֶה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בָּנָיו, אֵלּוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל. בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל יוֹצְאִין לַמִּלְחָמָה הָיָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יוֹצֵא עִמָּהֶם, כֵּיוָן שֶׁהִכְעִיסוּהוּ לֹא יָצָא עִמָּהֶם, וְכֵיוָן שֶׁלֹא הָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּאָרֶץ, אָמַר הַלְּוַאי הָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל עִמִּי וַאֲפִלּוּ הָיוּ מַכְעִיסִים אוֹתִי, וְאִית לָן שְׁלשָׁה פְּסוּקִים (ירמיה ט, א): מִי יִתְּנֵנִי בַמִּדְבָּר מְלוֹן אֹרְחִים, מִי יִתֵּן עַמִּי עִמִּי כְּמֵרֹאשׁ כְּשֶׁהָיָה בַּמִּדְבָּר. וּכְתִיב (יחזקאל לו, יז): בֶּן אָדָם בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל ישְׁבִים עַל אַדְמָתָם וגו', וְהָדֵין: זָכוֹר תִּזְכּוֹר וְתָשׁוֹחַ עָלַי נַפְשִׁי. אָמַר רַבִּי יוּדָן זָכוֹר תִּזְכּוֹר, יוֹדֵעַ אֲנִי שֶׁאַתָּה זוֹכֵר אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, אֲבָל מָה אֶעֱשֶׂה וְתָשׁוֹחַ עָלַי נַפְשִׁי, מַתְלָא אָמְרָה עַד דִּשְׁמֵינָא עֲבֵיד קְטִין, נַפְשֵׁיהּ דִּקְטִינָא נָפְקַת. זֹאת אָשִׁיב אֶל לִבִּי עַל כֵּן אוֹחִיל. רַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר כַּהֲנָא בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר מָשָׁל לְמָה הַדָּבָר דּוֹמֶה, לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁנָּשָׂא מַטְרוֹנָה וְכָתַב לָהּ כְּתֻבָּה מְרֻבָּה, וְאָמַר לָהּ כָּךְ וְכָךְ חֻפּוֹת אֲנִי עוֹשֶׂה לִיךְ, כָּךְ וְכָךְ אַרְגְּוָנוֹת טוֹבוֹת אֲנִי נוֹתֵן לִיךְ. הִנִּיחָהּ הַמֶּלֶךְ וְהָלַךְ לוֹ לִמְדִינַת הַיָּם וְאֵחֵר לְשָׁם. נִכְנְסוּ שְׁכֵנוֹתֶיהָ אֶצְלָה וְהָיוּ מַקְנִיטוֹת אוֹתָהּ וְאוֹמְרוֹת לָהּ הִנִּיחֵךְ הַמֶּלֶךְ וְהָלַךְ לוֹ לִמְדִינַת הַיָּם, וְשׁוּב אֵינוֹ חוֹזֵר עָלַיִךְ, וְהָיְתָה בּוֹכָה וּמִתְאַנַּחַת, וְכֵיוָן שֶׁנִּכְנְסָה לְתוֹךְ בֵּיתָהּ פּוֹתַחַת וּמוֹצִיאָה כְּתֻבָּתָהּ וְקוֹרֵאת, וְרוֹאָה בִּכְתֻבָּתָהּ כָּךְ וְכָךְ חֻפּוֹת אֲנִי עוֹשֶׂה, כָּךְ וְכָךְ אַרְגְּוָנוֹת טוֹבוֹת אֲנִי נוֹתֵן לִיךְ, מִיָּד הָיְתָה מִתְנַחֶמֶת. לְיָמִים בָּא הַמֶּלֶךְ, אָמַר לָהּ בִּתִּי אֲנִי תָּמֵהַּ אֵיךְ הִמְתַּנְתְּ לִי כָּל אוֹתָן הַשָּׁנִים, אָמְרָה לוֹ אֲדוֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ אִלְמָלֵא כְּתֻבָּה מְרֻבָּה שֶׁכָּתַבְתָּ וְנָתַתָּ לִי כְּבָר אִבְּדוּנִי שְׁכֵנוֹתַי. כָּךְ עוֹבְדֵי כּוֹכָבִים מוֹנִין אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאוֹמְרִין לָהֶם, אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הִסְתִּיר פָּנָיו מִכֶּם וְסִלֵּק שְׁכִינָתוֹ מִכֶּם, עוֹד אֵינוֹ חוֹזֵר עֲלֵיכֶם, וְהֵן בּוֹכִין וּמִתְאַנְחִין, וְכֵיוָן שֶׁנִּכְנָסִין לְבָתֵּי כְנֵסִיּוֹת וּלְבָתֵּי מִדְרָשׁוֹת וְקוֹרִין בַּתּוֹרָה וּמוֹצְאִין שֶׁכָּתוּב (ויקרא כו, ט): וּפָנִיתִי אֲלֵיכֶם וְהִפְרֵיתִי אֶתְכֶם וְנָתַתִּי מִשְׁכָּנִי בְּתוֹכְכֶם וְהִתְהַלַּכְתִּי בְּתוֹכְכֶם, וְהֵן מִתְנַחֲמִין. לְמָחָר כְּשֶׁיָּבוֹא קֵץ הַגְּאֻלָּה אוֹמֵר לָהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בָּנַי אֲנִי תָּמֵהַּ מִכֶּם הֵיאַךְ הִמְתַּנְתֶּם לִי כָּל אוֹתָן הַשָּׁנִים, וְהֵן אוֹמְרִים לְפָנָיו רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם אִלּוּלֵי תּוֹרָתְךָ שֶׁנָּתַתָּ לָנוּ כְּבָר אִבְּדוּנוּ הָאֻמּוֹת. לְכָךְ נֶאֱמַר: זֹאת אָשִׁיב אֶל לִבִּי, וְאֵין זֹאת אֶלָּא תּוֹרָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים ד, מד): וְזֹאת הַתּוֹרָה. וְכֵן דָּוִד אָמַר (תהלים קיט, צב): לוּלֵי תוֹרָתְךָ שַׁעֲשֻׁעָי אָז אָבַדְתִּי בְעָנְיִי. עַל כֵּן אוֹחִיל לוֹ, וּמְיַחֲדִים שְׁמוֹ שְׁתֵּי פְּעָמִים בַּיּוֹם, וְאוֹמְרִים (דברים ו, ד): שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ ה' אֶחָד.
“Remember my affliction and my anguish, wormwood and gall” (Lamentations 3:19).
“Remember my affliction and my anguish [umrudi]” – the congregation of Israel says before the Holy One blessed be He: Master of the universe, remember the afflictions with which I was afflicted, the rebellion [umrudi] that I carried out against You, and the suffering with which You sated me, “wormwood and gall.” These are expiated by those.
“You will remember, and my soul is despondent within me” (Lamentations 3:20).
“You will remember” – Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: This is analogous to a king who went out to war. His sons were with him and were provoking him. The next day, the king went out alone and his sons were not with him. The king said: If only my sons were with me, even if they would be provoking me. So too, the king is the Holy One blessed be He, and His sons are Israel. When Israel would go out to war, the Holy One blessed be He would go out with them. When they angered Him, He did not go out with them. But when Israel was no longer in the Land [of Israel], He said: If only Israel was with Me, even if they would be angering Me. We have three verses: “Would that I would be in the wilderness, in a wayfarers’ lodging place” (Jeremiah 9:1); would that My people be with Me as they were at the outset, when they were in the wilderness.46This is expounded from the term for lodging place [melon], which is similar to the word for complaining [malinim], used to describe the Israelites’ complaints in the wilderness (see Numbers 14:27) (Etz Yosef). And it is written: “Son of man, the house of Israel dwelled in their land…” (Ezekiel 36:17).47The verse continues: “They defiled it in their way and by their doings; their way before Me was as the impurity of a menstruating woman.” The implication is that despite the impurity, God wants them “before Me.” And this, “You will remember, and My soul is despondent within Me.”
Rabbi Yudan said: “You will remember” – I know that You remember the nations of the world.48You remember what they did to me and You will punish them. But what can I do, “my soul is despondent within me.” The parable says: Until the fat one grows lean, the soul of the lean one expires.
“This I will reply to my heart; therefore I have hope” (Lamentations 3:21).
“This I will reply to my heart; therefore I have hope” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: To what is this matter analogous? To a king who married a noblewoman and wrote for her a very substantial marriage contract, saying to her: ‘I will prepare for you such and such number of wedding canopies, and I am giving you such and such number of gowns of purple wool.’ The king left her and went to a country overseas, and he was delayed there. Her neighbors came to her and were teasing her and saying to her: ‘The king left you, went to a country overseas, and he is not going to return to you.’ She was crying and sighing. When she would enter her house, she would take her marriage contract and read it. She would see in her marriage contract: I will prepare such and such number of wedding canopies, and I am giving you such and such number of gowns of purple wool, and she would be immediately comforted. Ultimately, the king came. He said to her: ‘My daughter, I am astonished, how did you wait for me all those years?’ She said to him: ‘My lord, the king, were it not for the substantial marriage contract that you wrote and gave to me, my neighbors would have caused my demise.’ So too, idolaters provoke Israel and say to them: ‘Your God has concealed His face from You and caused His Divine Presence to depart from you. He will never return to you.’ They cry and sigh. When they enter the synagogues and study halls, read the Torah, and find that it is written: “I will turn to you, and make you fruitful.… I will place My Sanctuary in your midst.… I will walk in your midst” (Leviticus 26:9, 11–12), they are comforted. Tomorrow, when the end of the redemption comes, the Holy One blessed be He will say to Israel: ‘My children, I am astonished over you, how did you wait for Me all those years?’ They will say before Him: ‘Master of the universe, were it not for Your Torah that You gave us, the nations would have caused our demise.’ That is why it is stated: “This (zot) I will reply to my heart,” and zot is nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “And this [vezot] is the Torah” (Deuteronomy 4:44). Likewise, David said: “Had Your Torah not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction” (Psalms 119:92). “Therefore I have hope” in Him, and we proclaim the unity of His name twice daily and say: “Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
חַסְדֵּי ה' כִּי לֹא תָמְנוּ כִּי לֹא כָלוּ רַחֲמָיו, אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ מִשֶּׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִתְיָאֵשׁ מִן הַצַּדִּיקִים בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, הוּא חוֹזֵר וּמְרַחֵם עֲלֵיהֶם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: חַסְדֵּי ה' כִּי לֹא תָמְנוּ. חֲדָשִׁים לַבְּקָרִים רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ, אָמַר רַבִּי אֲלֶכְּסַנְדְּרִי עַל שֶׁאַתָּה מְחַדְּשֵׁנוּ בְּכָל בֹּקֶר וּבֹקֶר, אָנוּ יוֹדְעִין שֶׁאֱמוּנָתְךָ רַבָּה לִתְחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים. אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר אַבָּא עַל שֶׁאַתָּה מְחַדְּשֵׁנוּ בְּבָקְרָן שֶׁל מַלְכֻיּוֹת, אָנוּ יוֹדְעִין שֶׁאֱמוּנָתְךָ רַבָּה לְגָאֳלֵנוּ. אָמַר רַבִּי חֶלְבּוֹ בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם בּוֹרֵא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כַּת שֶׁל מַלְאָכִים חֲדָשִׁים וְאוֹמְרִין שִׁירָה חֲדָשָׁה וְהוֹלְכִין לָהֶם. אָמַר רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה הֵשַׁבְתִּי לְרַבִּי חֶלְבּוֹ וְהָא כְתִיב (בראשית לב, כו): וַיֹּאמֶר שַׁלְחֵנִי כִּי עָלָה הַשָּׁחַר, אָמַר לִי חֲנוֹקָה סְבַרְתְּ לַחֲנוֹקֵנִי, גַּבְרִיאֵל וּמִיכָאֵל הֵן הֵן שָׂרִים שֶׁל מַעְלָה, דְּכֻלָּם מִתְחַלְּפִין וְאִינוּן לָא מִתְחַלְפִין. אַדְרִיָּאנוּס שְׁחִיק עֲצָמוֹת שָׁאַל אֶת רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן חֲנַנְיָה, אָמַר לוֹ, אַתֶּם אוֹמְרִים בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם בּוֹרֵא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כַּת שֶׁל מַלְאָכִים חֲדָשִׁים וְאוֹמְרִים שִׁירָה חֲדָשָׁה וְהוֹלְכִין לָהֶם, אָמַר לוֹ אִין. אָמַר לוֹ וּלְאָן אִינוּן אָזְלִין. אָמַר לֵיהּ מִן הָן דְּמִתְבְּרִיאוּ. אָמַר לֵיהּ מִנַּיִן מִתְבָּרְיָין. אָמַר לוֹ מִן הָדֵין נְהַר דְּנוּר. אָמַר לֵיהּ וּמָה עִיסְקֵיהּ דִּנְהַר דְּנוּר, אָמַר לֵיהּ כְּהָדֵין יַרְדְּנָא דְּלָא פָּסֵיק לָא בְּלֵילְיָא וְלָא פָּסֵיק בִּימָמָא. אָמַר לֵיהּ וְהִינִין יַרְדְּנָא מְהַלֵּךְ בִּימָמָא וּפָסֵיק בְּלֵילְיָא. אָמַר לֵיהּ נָטֵר הֲוֵינָא בְּבֵית פְּעוֹר וְהָדֵין יַרְדְּנָא כְּמָה דִּמְהַלֵּךְ בִּימָמָא כָּךְ מְהַלֵּךְ בְּלֵילְיָא. אָמַר לֵיהּ וּמִנַּיִן אוֹתוֹ נְהַר דִּינוּר נָפֵיק, אָמַר לֵיהּ מִן זֵיעַתְהוֹן דְּחֵיוָתָא מִמַּה דִּטְעוּנִין בְּכוּרְסְיָא. חֶלְקִי ה' אָמְרָה נַפְשִׁי, רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁנִּכְנַס לִמְדִינָה וְהָיוּ עִמּוֹ דֻּכָּסִין וְאִפַּרְכִין וְאִיסְטְרַטִילוּטִין, וְהָיוּ גְּדוֹלֵי מְדִינָה יוֹשְׁבִים בְּאֶמְצַע הַמְּדִינָה, חַד אֲמַר אֲנָא נָסֵיב דֻּכָּסִין לְגַבִּי. וְחַד אֲמַר אֲנָא נָסֵיב אִפַּרְכִין לְגַבִּי, וְחַד אֲמַר אֲנָא נָסֵיב אִיסְטְרַטִילוּטִין לְגַבִּי. הָיָה פִּקֵּחַ אֶחָד לְשָׁם אֲמַר אֲנָא נָסֵיב לְמַלְכָּא, דְּכוֹלָּא מִתְחַלְּפִין וּמַלְכָּא אֵינוֹ מִתְחַלֵּף. כֵּן עוֹבְדֵי כּוֹכָבִים, מֵהֶן עוֹבְדִין לַחַמָּה, וּמֵהֶן עוֹבְדִין לַלְּבָנָה, וּמֵהֶן עוֹבְדִין לְעֵץ וָאֶבֶן, אֲבָל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵינָן עוֹבְדִין אֶלָּא לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: חֶלְקִי ה' אָמְרָה נַפְשִׁי, שֶׁאֲנִי מְיַחֵד אוֹתוֹ שְׁתֵּי פְּעָמִים בְּכָל יוֹם, וְאוֹמֵר (דברים ו, ד): שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ ה' אֶחָד.
“It is the Lord’s kindnesses that have not ceased, for His mercies have not ended” (Lamentations 3:22).
“It is the Lord’s kindnesses that have not ceased” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “It is the Lord’s kindnesses that have not ceased.”
“They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23).
“They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness” – Rabbi Alexandri said: Because You renew us each and every morning, we know that “great is Your faithfulness” regarding the revival of the dead. Rabbi Shimon bar Abba said: Because You renew us on the mornings of the kingdoms,49New kingdoms arise and supplant the old ones, yet the Jewish people remain (Etz Yosef). we know that “great is Your faithfulness” to redeem us.
Rabbi Ḥelbo said: Each and every day, the Holy One blessed be He creates a band of new angels and they recite a new song and go on their way.50They cease to exist. Rabbi Berekhya said: I responded to Rabbi Ḥelbo: ‘But is it not written: “Release me, as dawn is breaking”’ (Genesis 32:27)?51This is the guardian angel of Esau, who is still in existence. Apparently, angels do not cease to exist after only one day. He said to me: ‘Strangler, did you think you could strangle me?52Did you think you could challenge me from an explicit verse? Gavriel and Mikhael are the supernal princes. All of them are replaced, but they are not replaced.’53Some angels, such as Gavriel and Mikhael, and also the guardian angel of Esau, continue to exist.
Hadrian, may his bones be crushed, asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, he said to him: ‘Do you say that each and every day the Holy One blessed be He creates a band of new angels and they recite a new song and go on their way?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘And where do they go?’ He said to him: ‘To where they were created from.’ He said to him: ‘Where are they created from?’ He said to him: ‘From the river of fire.’ He said to him: ‘How does the river of fire function?’ He said: ‘Like the Jordan, which does not stop at night and does not stop during the day.’ He said to him: ‘But the Jordan flows during the day and stops at night.’ He said to him: ‘I was watching at Beit Peor, and that Jordan, just as it flows during the day, so it flows at night.’ He said to him: ‘From where does that river of fire emerge?’ He said to him: ‘From the perspiration of the creatures that bear the Throne.’
“The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore I will hope in Him” (Lamentations 3:24).
“The Lord is my portion, says my soul” – Rabbi Abbahu said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: [This is analogous] to a king who entered a province, and there were generals, captains, and commanders with him. The prominent leaders of the province resided in the middle of the province. One said: ‘I will take the generals to me.’ One said: ‘I will take the captains to me.’ One said: ‘I will take the commanders to me.’54Each thought to curry favor with the different groups of attendants There was one clever one there. He said: ‘I will take the king, as all the others are replaced and the king is not replaced.’ Likewise, idolaters, some worship the sun, some worship the moon, some worship wood and stone. But Israel worships only the Holy One blessed be He. That is what is written: “The Lord is my portion, says my soul,” as I proclaim His unity twice daily, and say: “Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
טוֹב ה' לְקֹוָו, יָכוֹל לַכֹּל, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר לְנֶפֶשׁ תִּדְרְשֶׁנּוּ. וְדִכְוָותֵיהּ (תהלים עג, א): אַךְ טוֹב לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אֱלֹהִים, יָכוֹל לַכֹּל, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר לְבָרֵי לֵבָב, אֵלּוּ שֶׁלִּבָּם בָּרוּר עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁאֵין בְּיָדָם עָוֹן, וְדִכְוָותֵיהּ (תהלים פד, ו): אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם עוֹז לוֹ בָךְ, יָכוֹל לַכֹּל, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר מְסִלּוֹת בִּלְבָבָם, אֵלּוּ דִּשְׁבִילֵי אוֹרָיְתָא כְּבוּשִׁין בְּלִבְּהוֹן. וְדִכְוָותֵיהּ (תהלים קכה, ד): הֵיטִיבָה ה' לַטּוֹבִים, יָכוֹל לַכֹּל, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר וְלִישָׁרִים בְּלִבּוֹתָם. וְדִכְוָותֵיהּ (תהלים קמה, יח): קָרוֹב ה' לְכָל קֹרְאָיו, יָכוֹל לַכֹּל, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָאֻהוּ בֶאֱמֶת. וְדִכְוָותֵיהּ (מיכה ז, יח): מִי אֵל כָּמוֹךָ נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וְעֹבֵר עַל פֶּשַׁע, יָכוֹל לַכֹּל, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר לִשְׁאֵרִית נַחֲלָתוֹ. טוֹב וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם לִתְשׁוּעַת ה', אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ מִשֶּׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ מִתְיָאֵשׁ מִן הַצַּדִּיקִים בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה הוּא חוֹזֵר וּמְרַחֵם עֲלֵיהֶם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: טוֹב וְיָחִיל וְדוּמָם לִתְשׁוּעַת ד'. טוֹב לַגֶּבֶר כִּי יִשָֹּׂא עֹל בִּנְעוּרָיו, עֹל תּוֹרָה, עֹל אִשָּׁה, עֹל מְלָאכָה.
“The Lord is good to those who trust in Him, to the soul that seeks Him” (Lamentations 3:25).
“The Lord is good to those who trust in Him” – is it, perhaps, to everyone?55One might think that the Lord is good to everyone who trusts in Him. The verse states: “To the soul that seeks Him.”56This is taken to mean that God is good only to those who seek Him alone and do not place their trust in anything else (Etz Yosef). Similarly, “Truly, God is good to Israel” (Psalms 73:1) – is it, perhaps, to everyone? The verse states: “To those pure of heart” (Psalms 73:1), to those whose heart is pure, who have no iniquity. Similarly, “Happy is the man whose strength is in You” (Psalms 84:6) – is it, perhaps, for everyone? The verse states: “Whose heart follows Your path” (Psalms 84:6), those in whose hearts the path of the Torah is paved. Similarly, “Be good, Lord, to those who are good” (Psalms 125:4) – is it, perhaps, for everyone? The verse states: “And to the upright of heart” (Psalms 125:4). Similarly, “The Lord is close to all who call Him” (Psalms 145:18) – is it, perhaps, for everyone? The verse states: “To all who call Him in truth” (Psalms 145:18). Similarly, “Who is God like You, bearing iniquity and overlooking transgression?” (Micah 7:18) – is it, perhaps, for everyone? The verse states: “For the remnant of His inheritance” (Micah 7:18).
“It is good to wait silently for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:26).
“It is good to wait silently for the salvation of the Lord” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “It is good to wait silently for the salvation of the Lord.”
“It is good for a man that he bear a yoke in his youth” (Lamentations 3:27).
“It is good for a man that he bear a yoke in his youth” – the yoke of Torah, the yoke of a wife, the yoke of labor.
יֵשֵׁב בָּדָד וְיִדֹּם, אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן, קָרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמַלְאֲכֵי הַשָּׁרֵת וְאָמַר לָהֶם מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם אָבֵל מַהוּ עוֹשֶׂה, אָמְרוּ לוֹ לוֹבֵשׁ שְׁחוֹרִים וּמְכַסֶּה אֶת רֹאשׁוֹ בְּשַׂק, אָמַר אַף אֲנִי עוֹשֶׂה כֵן, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (ישעיה נ, ג): אַלְבִּישׁ שָׁמַיִם קַדְרוּת וְשַׂק אָשִׂים כְּסוּתָם. וְעוֹד שָׁאַל לָהֶם, מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם אָבֵל מַהוּ עוֹשֶׂה, אָמְרוּ לוֹ מְכַבֶּה אֶת הַפַּנָּסִין, אָמַר לָהֶם אַף אֲנִי עוֹשֶה כֵן הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (יואל ב, י): שֶׁמֶשׁ וְיָרֵחַ קָדָרוּ וְכוֹכָבִים אָסְפוּ נָגְהָם. וְעוֹד שָׁאַל לָהֶם מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם אָבֵל מַהוּ עוֹשֶׂה, אָמְרוּ לוֹ מְהַלֵּךְ יָחֵף, אָמַר לָהֶם אַף אֲנִי עוֹשֶׂה כֵן, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (נחום א, ג): ה' בְּסוּפָה וּבִסְעָרָה דַרְכּוֹ וְעָנָן אֲבַק רַגְלָיו. וְעוֹד שָׁאַל לָהֶם מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם אָבֵל מַהוּ עוֹשֶׂה, אָמְרוּ לוֹ יוֹשֵׁב וְדוֹמֵם, אָמַר לָהֶם אַף אֲנִי עוֹשֶׂה כֵן, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: יֵשֵׁב בָּדָד וְיִדֹּם כִּי נָטַל עָלָיו. יִתֵּן בֶּעָפָר פִּיהוּ אוּלַי יֵשׁ תִּקְוָה, יִתֵּן לְמַכֵּהוּ לֶחִי יִשְׂבַּע בְּחֶרְפָּה, רַבִּי הֲוָה פָּשֵׁיט קְרָיָה, וְכַד הֲוָה מָטֵי לְאִילֵין פְּסוּקַיָא הֲוָה בָּכֵי (שמואל א כח, טו): וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל שָׁאוּל לָמָּה הִרְגַּזְתַּנִי לְהַעֲלוֹת אֹתִי. וּכְתִיב (עמוס ד, יג): כִּי הִנֵּה יוֹצֵר הָרִים וּבֹרֵא רוּחַ וּמַגִּיד לְאָדָם מַה שֵֹּׂחוֹ, אֲפִלּוּ דְּבָרִים שֶׁאֵין בָּהֶם מַמָּשׁ נִכְתָּבִין לוֹ לָאָדָם עַל פִּנְקָסוֹ, וּמִי כוֹתְבָן (עמוס ד, יג): עֹשֵׂה שַׁחַר עֵיפָה. (צפניה ב, ג): בַּקְּשׁוּ אֶת ה' כָּל עַנְוֵי הָאָרֶץ וגו', וּכְתִיב (עמוס ה, טו): שִׂנְאוּ רָע וְאֶהֱבוּ טוֹב וגו', לָמָּה (קהלת יב, יד): כִּי אֶת כָּל מַעֲשֶׂה הָאֱלֹהִים יָבִא בְמִשְׁפָּט וגו', וְהָדֵין: יִתֵּן בְּעָפָר פִּיהוּ וגו', וּכְתִיב: יִתֵּן לְמַכֵּהוּ לֶחִי יִשְׂבַּע בְּחֶרְפָּה.
“Let him sit alone and be silent, because He has laid it upon him” (Lamentations 3:28).
“Let him sit alone and be silent” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: The Holy One blessed be He summoned the ministering angels and said to them: ‘A mourning king of flesh and blood, what does he do?’ They said to Him: ‘He dons black and covers his head with sackcloth.’ He said: ‘I, too, will do so.’ That is what is written: “I clothe heavens with blackness and I make sackcloth their garment” (Isaiah 50:3).
Moreover, He asked them: ‘A mourning king of flesh and blood, what [else] does he do?’ They said to him: ‘He extinguishes the lights.’ He said to them: ‘I, too, will do so.’ That is what is written: “The sun and the moon darkened, and the stars withdrew their shine” (Joel 2:10).
Moreover, He asked them: ‘A mourning king of flesh and blood, what [else] does he do?’ They said to him: ‘He walks barefoot.’ He said to them: ‘I, too, will do so.’ That is what is written: “The Lord, in a tempest and in a storm is His way, and clouds are the dust of His feet” (Nahum 1:3).
Moreover, He asked them: ‘A mourning king of flesh and blood, what [else] does he do?’ They said to him: ‘He sits and is silent.’ He said to them: ‘I, too, will do so.’ That is what is written: “Let him sit alone and be silent, because He has laid it upon him.”57The verse is understood to mean that God will be silent because He has brought the mourning upon Himself.
“Let him put his mouth in the dust, perhaps there is hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who strikes him; let him be filled with disgrace” (Lamentations 3:29–30).
“Let him put his mouth in the dust, perhaps there is hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who strikes him; let him be filled with disgrace” – Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] was interpreting verses and when he reached the following verses, he would weep: “Samuel said to Saul: Why did you disturb me to bring me up?” (I Samuel 28:15).58The Gemara in Ḥagiga (4b) indicates that Samuel thought he was being summoned to a heavenly judgement and was scared. If Samuel, the great prophet, was scared of heavenly judgement, all the more so those of lesser stature should be scared. This is why Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi cried when reading this verse. And it is written: “For behold, He forms mountains and creates winds; He recounts to a person what were his deeds [seḥo]” (Amos 4:13) – even matters lacking substance are written for a person in his ledger.59This is derived from the term seḥo, which can be interpreted to mean speech [siḥo]; God keeps track even of every frivolous comment a person might make (see Ḥagiga 5b). Who writes them? “He who turns dawn into darkness…[the Lord, the God of hosts, is His name]” (Amos 4:13). “Seek the Lord all you humble of the earth…” (Zephaniah 2:3). And it is written: “Hate evil, and love good, [and display justice at the gate; perhaps the Lord, God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph]” (Amos 5:15).60Despite there being an abundance of virtue, nevertheless, only perhaps “He will be gracious”? Why? “For every action God will bring to judgment [for every unknown]” (Ecclesiastes 12:14).61God will bring judgment even for unknown, that is, unwitting, transgressions. And this, “let him put his mouth in the dust [perhaps there is hope].”62Only perhaps there is hope? And it is written: “Let him offer his cheek to one who strikes him; let him be filled with disgrace.”63After all this, the end result could very well be disgrace.
כִּי לֹא יִזְנַח לְעוֹלָם ה', כִּבְיָכוֹל לָא שְׁבַק וְלָא שָׁבֵיק, כִּי אִם הוֹגָה וְרִחַם כְּרֹב חֲסָדָו, אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ, מִשֶּׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִתְיָאֵשׁ מִן הַצַּדִּיקִים בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה הוּא חוֹזֵר וּמְרַחֵם עֲלֵיהֶם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: כִּי אִם הוֹגָה וְרִחַם וגו'. כִּי לֹא עִנָּה מִלִּבּוֹ, רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר בִּשְׁנֵי מְקוֹמוֹת פָּעֲלוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּאֶחָד פָּעֲלוּ בְּפִיהֶם וְלֹא בְּלִבָּם, וּבְאֶחָד פָּעֲלוּ בְּלִבָּם וְלֹא פָעֲלוּ בְּפִיהֶם, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן סִינַי וּבָבֶל. בְּסִינַי פָּעֲלוּ בְּפִיהֶם וְלֹא בְלִבָּם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (תהלים עח, לו): וַיְפַתּוּהוּ בְּפִיהֶם וּבִלְּשׁוֹנָם יְכַזְּבוּ לוֹ וגו'. בְּבָבֶל פָּעֲלוּ בְּלִבָּם וְלֹא בְפִיהֶם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: כִּי לֹא עִנָה מִלִּבּוֹ. אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יָבֹא פֶּה שֶׁבְּסִינַי וִיכַפֵּר עַל פֶּה שֶׁבְּבָבֶל, וְיָבֹא לֵב שֶׁבְּבָבֶל וִיכַפֵּר עַל לֵב שֶׁבְּסִינַי. אַף עַל פִי כֵן וַיַּגֶּה בְּנֵי אִישׁ, הֵבִיא עֲלֵיהֶם אִישׁ צַר וְאוֹיֵב, זֶה הָמָן וְהָגָה אֶת מַכָּתָן.
“For the Lord will not forsake forever. For, if He torments, He will have compassion according to His abundant grace. For He does not afflict willingly and torment the children of men” (Lamentations 3:31–33).
“For the Lord will not forsake forever” – as it were, He has not forsaken and He will not forsake. “For, if He torments, He will have compassion according to His abundant grace” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “For, if He torments, He will have compassion.”
“For He does not afflict willingly” – Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: In two places Israel acted. In one, they acted with their mouths but not with their hearts, and in one, they acted with their hearts but did not act with their mouths. These are Sinai and Babylon. In Sinai, they acted with their mouths but not with their hearts. That is what is written: “But they beguiled Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue…” (Psalms 78:36). In Babylon, they acted with their hearts and not with their mouths.64When Nebuchadnezzar forced them to bow to his idol, they remained loyal to God in their hearts but not outwardly. That is what is written: “For He does not afflict willingly.” The Holy One blessed be He said: Let the mouth at Sinai come and atone for the mouth in Babylon, and let the heart in Babylon come and atone for the heart at Sinai. Nevertheless, “and torment the children of men” (Lamentations 3:33) – He placed over them “a man who is an adversary and an enemy,” this is Haman” (Esther 7:6); and He and made their wound more painful.
לְדַכֵּא תַּחַת רַגְלָיו וגו', זֶה נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר שֶׁכָּתוּב בּוֹ (דניאל ב, לח): דִּי דָיְרִין בְּנֵי אֲנָשָׁא חֵיוַת בָּרָא וְעוֹף שְׁמַיָּא יְהַב בִּידָךְ וְהַשְׁלְטָךְ בְּכָלְּהוֹן אַנְתְּ הוּא רֵאשָׁה דִי דַהֲבָא.
“To subdue under his feet all the prisoners of the earth” (Lamentations 3:34).
“To subdue under his feet…” – this is Nebuchadnezzar, in whose regard it is written: “[And everywhere] the sons of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens dwell, He has given them into your hand and set your rule over all of them; you are the head of gold” (Daniel 2:38).
מִי זֶה אָמַר וַתֶּהִי ה' לֹא צִוָּה, מִי צִוָּה, הָמָן צִוָּה, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לֹא צִוָּה, הָמָן צִוָּה לְהַשְּׁמִיד לַהֲרֹג וּלְאַבֵּד, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לֹא צִוָּה, אֶלָּא (אסתר ט, כה): יָשׁוּב מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ וגו'. מִפִּי עֶלְיוֹן לֹא תֵצֵא הָרָעוֹת וְהַטּוֹב, אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר מִשָּׁעָה שֶׁאָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא (דברים ל, טו): רְאֵה נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַיּוֹם אֶת הַחַיִּים וְאֶת הַטּוֹב וְאֶת הַמָּוֶת וְאֶת הָרָע, לֹא יָצָאת טוֹבָה לְעוֹשֵׂה רָעָה, וְרָעָה לְעוֹשֵׂה טוֹבָה, אֶלָּא טוֹבָה לְעוֹשֵׂה טוֹבָה וְרָעָה לְעוֹשֵׂה רָעָה, כְּמָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (שמואל ב ג, לט): יְשַׁלֵּם ה' לְעֹשֵׂה הָרָעָה כְּרָעָתוֹ. מַה יִּתְאוֹנֵן אָדָם חָי, דַּיּוֹ שֶׁהוּא חַי, אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא חַיּוּתְךָ בְּיָדִי וָחַי, וְאַתָּה מִתְאוֹנֵן. אָמַר רַבִּי הוּנָא יַעֲמֹד כְּגִבּוֹר וְיוֹדֶה עַל חֲטָאָיו וְאַל יִתְאוֹנֵן. אָמַר רַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה מַה יִּתְאוֹנֵן עַל חֵי הָעוֹלָמִים, אִם מְבַקֵּשׁ הוּא לְהִתְאוֹנֵן גֶּבֶר עַל חֲטָאָו. רַבִּי אוֹמֵר בְּנֵי תּוּרְעֲמָנִין, אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן אַחַר כָּל הַשֶּׁבַח שֶׁעָשִׂיתִי עִמּוֹ הוּא מִתְרַעֵם לְפָנַי וְאוֹמֵר (בראשית ג, יב): הָאִשָּׁה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּ עִמָּדִי. אַף יַעֲקֹב כֵּן, אֲנִי עוֹסֵק לְהַמְלִיךְ אֶת בְּנוֹ בְּמִצְרַיִם וְהוּא מִתְרַעֵם וְאוֹמֵר (ישעיה מ, כז): נִסְתְּרָה דַרְכִּי מֵה'. וְאַף בָּנָיו כֵּן, אֲנִי עוֹסֵק לָבוּר לָהֶם לֶחֶם קַל כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹא יְהֵא אֶחָד מֵהֶן גּוֹסֵא וְדוּלַרְיָיא אוֹחַזְתּוֹ, וְהֵן מִתְרַעֲמִין לְפָנַי וְאוֹמְרִים (במדבר כא, ה): וְנַפְשֵׁנוּ קָצָה בַּלֶּחֶם הַקְּלֹקֵל. אַף צִיּוֹן כֵּן הִיא (ישעיה מט, יד): וַתֹּאמֶר צִיּוֹן עֲזָבַנִי ה' וַה' שְׁכֵחָנִי.
“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” (Lamentations 3:37).
“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” – who did command? Haman commanded, but the Holy One blessed be He did not command. Haman commanded “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate” (Esther 3:13). But the Holy One blessed be He did not command it, but rather, “the plot [that he devised]…return [upon his head]” (Esther 9:25).
“Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emerge?” (Lamentations 3:38).
“Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emerge?” – Rabbi Elazar said: From the moment that the Holy One blessed be He said: “See, I have placed before you today: life and good, and death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15), no good has emerged for a performer of evil nor evil for a performer of good, but rather good for a performer of good and evil for a performer of evil, just as it says: “The Lord will reward the performer of evil in accordance with his wickedness” (II Samuel 3:39).
“Of what shall a living man complain, each man for his sins?” (Lamentations 3:39).
“Of what shall a living man complain?” – it is sufficient for him that he is alive. Rabbi Levi said: The Holy One blessed be He said: Your life is in My hands, yet you complain? Rabbi Huna said: Let him stand like a mighty one, confess his sins, and not complain. Rabbi Berekhya said: Of what shall he complain about the One who gives life to the worlds? If he seeks to complain, it should be each man for his sins. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] says: Descendants of bearers of grievance; Adam, the first man, after all the good that I bestowed upon him, he expresses a grievance before Me and says: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, [she gave me from the tree, and I ate]” (Genesis 3:12). Jacob, too, did so. I am engaged in crowning his son king in Egypt, and he expresses a grievance before Me: “[Why do you say, Jacob…] my way is hidden from the Lord” (Isaiah 40:27). His children, too, I am engaged in providing them with easily digestible bread so that no one among them will be afflicted with indigestion or diarrhea, and they express a grievance before Me: “Our soul loathes this insubstantial bread” (Numbers 21:5). Zion, too, is similar: “Zion said: The Lord has forsaken Me and the Lord has forgotten Me” (Isaiah 49:14).
נַחְפְּשָׂה דְּרָכֵינוּ וְנַחְקֹרָה וְנָשׁוּבָה עַד ה', נִשָֹּׂא לְבָבֵנוּ אֶל כַּפָּיִם אֶל אֵל בַּשָּׁמָיִם, רַבִּי בֵּיבָא בַּר זַבְדָּאי וְרַבִּי תַּנְחוּם בַּר חֲנִילָאי וְרַבִּי יֹאשִׁיָּה נְפַקִין לְתַעֲנִיתָא, דָּרַשׁ רַבִּי בֵּיבָא בַּר זַבְדָּאי וַאֲמַר אֶפְשָׁר דְּלִיבֵּיהּ דְּבַר נָשׁ נְסֵיב מִינֵיהּ וְחָזַר עֲלֵיהּ, אֶלָא נְשַׁוֵּוי לִבֵּינָן לְגַבֵּי יְדֵינָן, וְאַחַר כָּךְ אֶל אֵל בַּשָּׁמָיִם, אִם יֵשׁ שֶׁרֶץ בְּיָדוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם אֲפִלּוּ טוֹבֵל בְּכָל מֵימֵי בְּרֵאשִׁית אֵינוֹ טָהוֹר לְעוֹלָם, הִשְׁלִיךְ הַשֶּׁרֶץ מִיָּדוֹ, עָלְתָה לוֹ טְבִילָה בְּאַרְבָּעִים סְאָה. דָּרַשׁ רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא (דברי הימים ב יב, ו): וַיִּכָּנְעוּ שָׂרֵי יְהוּדָה וְהַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמְרוּ צַדִּיק ה'. וּכְתִיב: וּבִרְאוֹת ה' כִּי נִכְנָעוּ וַיְהִי דְבַר ה' אֶל שְׁמַעְיָה לֵאמֹר נִכְנְעוּ לֹא אַשְׁחִיתֵם וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם כִּמְעַט לִפְלֵיטָה וְלֹא תִתַּךְ חֲמָתִי בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם בְּיַד שִׁישָׁק. וְכִרְאוֹת ה' כִּי נִתְעַנּוּ אֵין כְּתִיב כָּאן אֶלָּא כִּי נִכְנָעוּ, דָּרַשׁ רַבִּי יֹאשִׁיָּה (צפניה ב, א): הִתְקוֹשְׁשׁוּ וָקוֹשׁוּ, נְקַשֵּׁט עַצְמָן וְאַחַר כָּךְ נְקַשֵּׁט אֲחֵרִים, מִבְּגִין דְּאִית הָכָא בַּר נָשׁ דַּאֲמַר עֲלַי לִישָׁן בִּישָׁא קֳדָם רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אֶלָּא כָּל עַמָּא לְדִינָא אֲמָרוּן, הֲוָה תַּמָּן רַבִּי חִיָּא וְרַבִּי אַמֵּי וְרַבִּי יוֹסֵי קָמוּן וּנְפָקוּן לְהוֹן. נַחְנוּ פָשַׁעְנוּ וּמָרִינוּ, רַבָּנָן דְהָתָם אָמְרֵי אִית כַּרְנְכֵי מְרִירָן בְּסִימָא דְּסִימָא חֲמִיעַ, רַבָּנָן דְּהָכָא אָמְרִין אִין דְּעוֹבָדִין בִּישִׁין לְמָרֵיהוֹן קַשְׁיָן. רַבִּי הוּנָא בְּשֵׁם רַב יוֹסֵף אָמַר: נַחְנוּ פָשַׁעְנוּ וּמָרִינוּ כְּמִדָּתֵנוּ, אַתָּה לֹא סָלָחְתָּ, כְּמִדּוֹתֶיךָ. אָמַר רַבִּי לֵוִי: נַחְנוּ פָשַׁעְנוּ וּמָרִינוּ וְהֶחֱרַבְתָּ מִקְדָּשֶׁיךָ.
“Let us search and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens” (Lamentations 3:40–41).
“Let us search and examine our ways, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands to God in the heavens” – Rabbi Beiva bar Zavdai, Rabbi Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai, and Rabbi Yoshiya went out for a fast.65On fast days, the congregation would take the ark out to the city square and pray there. See Mishna Taanit 2:1. Rabbi Beiva bar Zavdai expounded and said: Is it possible that a person’s heart is taken from him and returns to him?66What, then, is the meaning of the verse “Let us lift up our heart with our hands”? Rather, we should focus our hearts on our hands,67We must ensure that our hands have not engaged in malfeasance with another’s property. and only thereafter to God in the heavens. If there is a swarming creature in a person’s hand, even if he immerses himself in all of the primordial waters, he will never be purified. If he casts the swarming creature from his hand, his immersion is effective for him [even] in forty se’a.
Rabbi Tanḥuma expounded: “The princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said: The Lord is righteous” (II Chronicles 12:6). And it is written: “When the Lord saw that they had humbled themselves, the word of the Lord was with Shemaya, saying: They have humbled themselves; I will not destroy them, and I will grant them a small measure of deliverance, and My wrath will not be poured upon Jerusalem by means of Shishak” (II Chronicles 12:7). It is not written here, “when the Lord saw that they had fasted,” but rather, “that they had humbled themselves.”
Rabbi Yoshiya expounded: “Gather yourselves, gather [hitkosheshu vakoshu]” (Zephaniah 2:1) – let us adorn [nekashet] ourselves and thereafter adorn others. Because there is a person who is here who slandered me before Rabbi Yoḥanan; let the entire people stand for judgment.68He demanded that the individual who had slandered him repent before exhorting others to do so, and so too that each person repent from his sins. They said: Rabbi Ḥiyya, Rabbi Ami, and Rabbi Yosei were there. They stood and went out.69Some explain that it is because they were the guilty parties and they were angry that he had called them out (Yefe Anaf). Others explain that they sought to spare the guilty party the public shame (Matnot Kehuna).
“We have transgressed and defied; You have not forgiven” (Lamentations 3:42).
“We have transgressed and defied [umarinu]” – the Rabbis there70In Babylon said: When the endives are bitter [meriran], the vinegar is sour.71This translation is based on the interpretation of Rabbi David Luria. He explains that the endives are dipped in the vinegar. The point is that Israel sinned, and so too God was strict in exercising judgment. There are alternate interpretations of this line in the midrash; see, e.g., Matnot Kehuna. The Rabbis here72In the Land of Israel said: If actions are evil, they are harsh for the one who performs them. Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rav Yosef: “We have transgressed and defied” – as is our wont. “You have not forgiven” – is that Your wont? Rabbi Levi said: “We have transgressed and defied” – and You destroyed Your Temple.73As “You have not forgiven.”
סַכּוֹתָה בָאַף וַתִּרְדְּפֵנוּ הָרַגְתָּ לֹא חָמָלְתָּ, סַכֹּתָה בֶעָנָן לָךְ, רַבִּי חֶלְבּוֹ שָׁאַל אֶת רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן, אָמַר לוֹ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁשָּׁמַעְתִּי עָלֶיךָ שֶׁאַתָּה בַּעַל אַגָּדָה מַהוּ דֵּין דִּכְתִיב סַכֹּתָה בֶעָנָן לָךְ מֵעֲבוֹר תְּפִלָּה, אָמַר לוֹ נִמְשְׁלָה תְּפִלָּה כְּמִקְוָה וְנִמְשְׁלָה תְּשׁוּבָה כַּיָּם. מַה מִּקְוָה זוֹ פְּעָמִים פְּתוּחָה פְּעָמִים נְעוּלָה, כָּךְ שַׁעֲרֵי תְּפִלָּה פְּעָמִים נְעוּלִים פְּעָמִים פְּתוּחִין, אֲבָל הַיָּם הַזֶּה לְעוֹלָם פָּתוּחַ, כָּךְ שַׁעֲרֵי תְּשׁוּבָה לְעוֹלָם פְּתוּחִין. אָמַר רַב עָנָן אַף שַׁעֲרֵי תְּפִלָּה אֵינָן נִנְעָלִים לְעוֹלָם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (דברים ד, ז): כַּה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּכָל קָרְאֵנוּ אֵלָיו, וְאֵין קְרִיאָה אֶלָּא תְּפִלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה סה, כד): וְהָיָה טֶרֶם יִקְרָאוּ וַאֲנִי אֶעֱנֶה. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בַּר חֲלַפְתָּא עִתִּים הֵן לַתְּפִלָּה, שֶׁכָּךְ אָמַר דָּוִד לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁאֲנִי מִתְפַּלֵּל לְפָנֶיךָ תִּהְיֶה תְּפִלָּתִי עַל שְׁעַת רָצוֹן, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (תהלים סט, יד): וַאֲנִי תְפִלָּתִי לְךָ ה' עֵת רָצוֹן. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא הָיָה עוֹמֵד וְנִדּוֹן לִפְנֵי טוּרְנוּסְרוֹפּוּס, וְהָיָה שָׁם יְהוֹשֻׁעַ הַגַּרְסִי עוֹמֵד בִּתְפִלָּה עִמּוֹ, יָרַד עָנָן וְהִקִּיפָן, אָמַר דּוֹמֶה אֲנִי שֶׁלֹא יָרַד עָנָן וְהִקִּיף אֶלָּא כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹא תִּשָּׁמַע תְּפִלָּתוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב: סַכֹּתָה בֶעָנָן לָךְ מֵעֲבוֹר תְּפִלָּה. סְחִי וּמָאוֹס תְּשִׂימֵנוּ בְּקֶרֶב הָעַמִּים, מַאסְיָיא פְּסִילַאיָיא.
“You are covered with wrath and have pursued us; You have killed, did not have compassion. You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass. You have rendered us filth and refuse in the midst of the peoples” (Lamentations 3:43–45).
“You are covered with wrath and have pursued us; You have killed, did not have compassion. You have covered Yourself with a cloud” – Rabbi Ḥelbo asked Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman, he said to him: ‘Because I heard about you that you are a master of aggada, what is this that is written: “You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass”?’ He said: ‘Prayer is likened to a ritual bath, and repentance is likened to the sea. Just as the ritual bath is at times open and at times locked, so the gates of prayer are at times locked and at times open. However, the sea is always open. Rav Anan said: ‘The gates of prayer, too, are never locked. That is what is written: “Like the Lord our God whenever we call to Him” (Deuteronomy 4:7). Call is nothing other than prayer, as it is stated: “It will be that before they call I will answer”’ (Isaiah 65:24).
Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥalafta said: There are times for prayer, as so said David before the Holy One blessed be He: Master of the universe, when I pray before You, let my prayer be at a time of favor. That is what is written: “For me, let my prayer come to You, Lord, at a time of favor” (Psalms 69:14).
Rabbi Akiva was standing and being judged by Turnus Rufus, and Yehoshua HaGarsi was standing in prayer with him. A cloud descended and surrounded them. He said: It appears to me that this cloud descended and surrounded only so the prayer of my Master would not be heard. That is what is written: “You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass.”
“You have rendered us filth and refuse [seḥi umaos] in the midst of the peoples” – despicable [masaya] and lowly [pesilaya].
פָּצוּ עָלֵינוּ פִּיהֶם, לָמָּה הִקְדִּים פּ"א לְעי"ן, שֶׁהָיוּ אוֹמְרִים בְּפִיהֶם מַה שֶּׁא רָאוּ בְּעֵינֵיהֶם.
“All our enemies have opened their mouth against us” (Lamentations 3:46).
“[All our enemies] have opened [patzu] their mouth against us” – why does peh come before ayin?74The verses in chapter 3 of Lamentations form an alphabetical acrostic, with three consecutive verses beginning with each letter of the alphabet. However, the verses that begin with peh (verses 46–48) come before the verses that begin with ayin (verses 49–51), despite the fact that ayin precedes peh in the alphabet. Because they would say with their mouths what they had not seen with their eyes.75The word for mouth is peh, whereas the word for eye is ayin. The enemies rejoiced over their projected victory before it even happened.
עֵינִי נִגְּרָה וְלֹא תִדְמֶה וגו' עַד יַשְׁקִיף וְיֵרֶא ה' מִשָּׁמָיִם, רַבִּי אַחָא בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן אָמַר בִּשְׁלשָׁה מְקוֹמוֹת מָצִינוּ רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ סָמוּךְ לַגְּאֻלָּה, מַאי טַעְמָא (ישעיה לב, יד): מְשׂוֹשׂ פְּרָאִים מִרְעֵה עֲדָרִים, מַה כְּתִיב אַחֲרָיו (ישעיה לב, טו): עַד יֵעָרֶה עָלֵינוּ רוּחַ מִמָּרוֹם וְהָיָה מִדְבָּר לַכַּרְמֶל וְהַכַּרְמֶל לַיַּעַר יֵחָשֵׁב. וְדִכְוָותֵיהּ (ישעיה ס, כב): הַקָּטֹן יִהְיֶה לָאֶלֶף וְהַצָּעִיר וגו', וּכְתִיב בַּתְרֵיהּ (ישעיה סא, א): רוּחַ ה' אֱלֹהִים עָלָי יַעַן מָשַׁח ה' אֹתִי, וְהָדֵין: עֵינִי נִגְּרָה, וּכְתִיב בַּתְרֵיהּ: עַד יַשְׁקִיף וְיֵרֶא ה' מִשָּׁמָיִם. עֵינִי עוֹלְלָה לְנַפְשִׁי, אָמַר רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל חֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת בָּתֵּי סוֹפְרִים הָיוּ בְּבֵיתָר, וְהַקָּטָן שֶׁבָּהֶם לֹא הָיָה פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁלשׁ מֵאוֹת תִּינוֹקוֹת, וְהָיוּ אוֹמְרִים אִם יָבוֹאוּ הַשֹּׂוֹנְאִים עָלֵינוּ בַּמַּכְתְּבִים הַלָּלוּ אָנוּ יוֹצְאִין וְדוֹקְרִין אוֹתָן, וְכֵיוָן שֶׁגָּרְמוּ הָעֲוֹנוֹת וּבָאוּ הַשֹּׂוֹנְאִים, כָּרְכוּ כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד בְּסִפְרוֹ וְשָׂרְפוּ אוֹתָם, וְלֹא נִשְׁתַּיֵּיר מֵהֶם אֶלָּא אֲנִי, וְקָרָאתִי עַל עַצְמִי עֵינִי עוֹלְלָה לְנַפְשִׁי מִכֹּל בְּנוֹת עִירִי.
“My eye will flow and will not cease, without respite. Until the Lord looks out and sees from Heaven” (Lamentations 3:49–50).
“My eye will flow and will not cease.… until the Lord looks out and sees from Heaven” – Rabbi Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: In three places we found the Divine Presence connected with the redemption. What is the source? “A stomping ground for wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks” (Isaiah 32:14).76This is a reference to the Temple after its destruction. What is written thereafter? “Until a spirit will be poured upon us from on high and wilderness will become fertile land and fertile land will be considered as forest” (Isaiah 32:15). Similarly, “The smallest will become a thousand, and the youngest [a mighty nation; I am the Lord, at its time, I will hasten it]” (Isaiah 60:22), and it is written thereafter: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me” (Isaiah 61:1). And this, “My eye will flow,” and it is written thereafter: “Until the Lord looks out and sees from Heaven.”
“My eye distressed my soul over all the daughters of my city” (Lamentations 3:51).
“My eye distressed my soul” – Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: There were five hundred primary schools in Beitar, and the smallest among them had no fewer than three hundred children. They would say: If our enemies come against us, we will emerge and stab them with these quills. When the iniquities were the cause and the enemies came, they wrapped each and every one of them in his scroll and they burned them, and I am the only one of them who survived. I applied to myself the verse: “My eye distressed my soul over all the daughters of my city.”
צוֹד צָדוּנִי כַּצִּפֹּר אֹיְבַי חִנָּם, צָמְתוּ בַבּוֹר חַיָּי, זֶה יוֹסֵף, זֶה יִרְמְיָה, זֶה דָנִיֵּאל. צָפוּ מַיִם עַל רֹאשִׁי וגו', אֵלּוּ הָאֻמּוֹת שֶׁכָּתוּב בָּהֶן (ישעיה יז, יב): הוֹי הֲמוֹן עַמִּים רַבִּים כַּהֲמוֹת יַמִּים יֶהֱמָיוּן וּשְׁאוֹן לְאֻמִּים כִּשְׁאוֹן מַיִם כַּבִּירִים.
“My enemies hunted me like a bird, without cause. They bound my life in the pit, and cast stones at me” (Lamentations 3:52–53).
“My enemies hunted me like a bird, without cause. They bound my life in the pit” – this is Joseph, this is Jeremiah, this is Daniel.77All three were wrongly imprisoned.
“Waters rose over my head; I said: I am doomed” (Lamentations 3:54).
“Waters rose over my head…” – these are the nations of the world in whose regard it is written: “Woe, the tumult of many peoples, like the roar of the seas they will roar; the din of nations like the din of great waters” (Isaiah 17:12).
קָרָאתִי שִׁמְךָ ה' מִבּוֹר תַּחְתִּיּוֹת, זֶה יוֹסֵף, זֶה יִרְמְיָה, זֶה דָנִיֵּאל. קוֹלִי שָׁמָעְתָּ וגו' קָרַבְתָּ בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָאֶךּ.
“I called Your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit” (Lamentations 3:55).
“I called Your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit” – this is Joseph, this is Jeremiah, this is Daniel.
“You heard my voice; let Your ear not disregard my cry for my comfort. You approached on the day that I called You; You said: Do not fear” (Lamentations 3:56–57).
“You heard my voice.… You approached on the day that I called You.”78No commentary is offered on this verse. Possibly, the midrash is applying this verse to Joseph, Jeremiah and Daniel, stating that God heeded their prayers and, as the next passage states, fought their battles. Perhaps the verse is cited here as an implied prayer: Just as God heeded their prayers, so may He heed ours (Etz Yosef).
רַבְתָּ אֲדֹנָי רִיבֵי נַפְשִׁי גָּאַלְתָּ חַיָּי, רָאִיתָה ה' עַוָּתָתִי שָׁפְטָה מִשְׁפָּטִי, חַד יְהוּדָאי עֲבַר קֳדָם אַדְרִיָּאנוּס וּשְׁאֵל בִּשְׁלָמֵיהּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ מָאן אַתְּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ יְהוּדָאי. אֲמַר לֵיהּ וְאִית יְהוּדָאי עֲבַר קֳדָם אַדְרִיָּאנוּס וּשְׁאֵיל בִּשְׁלָמֵיהּ, אֲמַר אֵיזִילוּ וְסַבוּ רֵאשֵׁיהּ. עֲבַר אוֹחֲרָן חֲמָא מָה אִיעֲבֵיד בְּקַדְמַיָּיא וְלָא שְׁאֵל בִּשְׁלָמֵיהּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ מָאן אַתְּ אֲמַר לֵיהּ יְהוּדָאי, אֲמַר לֵיהּ וְאִית יְהוּדָאי עֲבַר קֳדָם אַדְרִיָּאנוּס וְלָא שְׁאֵל בִּשְׁלָמֵיהּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ אֵיזִילוּ וְסַבוּ רֵישֵׁיהּ. אֲמַרוּ לֵיהּ סַנְקְלִיטִין שֶׁלּוֹ לֵית אֲנַן יָדְעִין מָה אִילֵין עוֹבָדֵי דְאַתְּ עָבֵיד, דְּשָׁאֵיל בִּשְׁלָמָךְ מִיתְקְטֵיל דְּלָא שָׁאֵיל בִּשְׁלָמָךְ מִתְקְטֵיל. אֲמַר לְהוֹן, וְאַתּוּן בָּעֲיָין מָלְכָה יָתִי אֵיךְ אֲנָא בָּעֵי לְמִקְטְלָה בְּשָׂנְאָי, וְרוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ צוֹוַחַת וְאוֹמֶרֶת: רָאִיתָה ה' עַוָּתָתִי, רָאִיתָה כָּל נִקְמָתָם וגו'.
“Lord, You have fought the battles of my soul; You redeemed my life. Lord, You have seen the wrongs committed against me; judge my case. You have seen all their vengeance, all their thoughts against me” (Lamentations 3:58–60).
“Lord, You have fought the battles of my soul; You redeemed my life. Lord, You have seen the wrongs committed against me; judge my case” – A certain Jew passed before Hadrian and greeted him. He said to him: ‘Who are you?’ He said to him: ‘A Jew.’ He said to him: ‘Is there a Jew who passes before Hadrian and greets him?’ [Hadrian] said [to his men]: ‘Go and behead him.’ Another passed, he saw what had befallen the one who preceded him, and he did not greet him. [Hadrian] said to him: ‘Who are you?’ He said to him: ‘A Jew.’ He said to him: ‘Is there a Jew who passes before Hadrian and does not greet him?’ [Hadrian] said to [his men]: ‘Go and behead him.’ His advisers said to him: ‘We do not understand these actions that you are performing. One who greets you is executed and one who does not greet you is executed?’ He said to them: ‘Do you seek to advise me how I am supposed to execute my enemies?’79These were merely pretexts to kill my enemies. The Divine Presence was screaming and saying: “Lord, You have seen the wrongs committed against me.… You have seen all their vengeance…”
שָׁמַעְתָּ חֶרְפָּתָם ה', שִׂפְתֵי קָמַי וְהֶגְיוֹנָם, שִׁבְתָּם וְקִימָתָם הַבִּיטָה אֲנִי מַנְגִּינָתָם, אֲנָא זִמְרֵיהוֹן.
“You heard their taunt, Lord, all their thoughts about me. The lips of those who rise against me and their thoughts are against me all day. Look at their sitting and their rising; I am their song” (Lamentations 3:61–63).
“You heard their taunt, Lord.… the lips of those who rise against me and their thoughts.… Look at their sitting and their rising; I am their song” – I am their song of derision.
תָּשִׁיב לָהֶם גְּמוּל, יִרְמְיָה אָמַר: תָּשִׁיב לָהֶם גְּמוּל, וְאָסָף אָמַר (תהלים עט, יב): וְהָשֵׁב לִשְׁכֵנֵינוּ שִׁבְעָתַיִם אֶל חֵיקָם, מַהוּ אֶל חֵיקָם, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בֶּן גַּדְיָיא אָמַר תָּשִׁיב לָהֶם גְּמוּל מַה שֶּׁעָשׂוּ בְּבֵית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ שֶׁנָּתוּן בְּחֵיקוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, כְּמָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (יחזקאל מג, יד): וּמֵחֵיק הָאָרֶץ עַד הָעֲזָרָה. וְרַבָּנָן אָמְרֵי מַה שֶּׁעָשׂוּ בַּמִּילָה שֶׁנִּתְּנָה בְּחֵיקוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם, דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ דְּסִכְנִין וְרַבִּי לֵוִי בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, שֶׁהָיוּ נוֹטְלִים מִילוֹתֵיהֶם שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמְזָרְקִין אוֹתָן כְּלַפֵּי מַעְלָה וְאוֹמְרִים בָּזֶה בָּחַרְתָּ הֵא לְךָ מַה שֶּׁבָּחַרְתָּ, עַד שֶׁעָמַד שְׁמוּאֵל וּפָרַע בָּהֶם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (שמואל א טו, לב): וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל הַגִּישׁוּ אֵלַי אֶת אֲגַג מֶלֶךְ עֲמָלֵק, וּכְתִיב (שמואל א טו, לג): וַיְשַׁסֵּף שְׁמוּאֵל אֶת אֲגָג וגו', אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר כַּהֲנָא הִתְחִיל מְחַתֵּךְ בִּבְשָׂרוֹ חֲתִיכוֹת חֲתִיכוֹת וּמַאֲכִיל לְנַעֲמִיּוֹת, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (איוב יח, יג): יֹאכַל בַּדֵּי עוֹרוֹ. רַבִּי יִצְחָק אָמַר הֵבִיא אַרְבָּעָה קוּנְדֵיסִין וּמְתָחוֹ עֲלֵיהֶם. (שמואל א טו, לב): וַיֹּאמֶר אֲגָג אָכֵן סָר מַר הַמָּוֶת, כָּךְ מְמִיתִין הַשָֹּׂרִים מִיתוֹת מָרוֹת. רַבִּי יִצְחָק אָמַר סֵרְסוֹ, לְפִי שֶׁהָיָה נוֹטֵל אֶת הַמִּילוֹת וְזוֹרְקָן כְּלַפֵּי מַעְלָה, עַל דָּא נִפְרַע מִמֶּנּוּ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (שמואל א טו, לג): וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל כַּאֲשֶׁר שִׁכְּלָה נָשִׁים חַרְבֶּךָ כֵּן תִּשְׁכַּל מִנָּשִׁים אִמֶּךָ. וַיְשַׁסֵּף, מְלַמֵּד שֶׁחֲתָכוֹ אַרְבַּע חֲתִיכוֹת. תִּתֵּן לָהֶם מְגִנַּת לֵב, תְּרֵין אָמוֹרָאִין, חַד אֲמַר תְּבִירוּת לִבָּא, וְחַד אֲמַר עֲזִיזוּת לִבָּא, מַאן דְּאָמַר תְּבִירוּת לִבָּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (בראשית יד, כ): אֲשֶׁר מִגֵּן צָרֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ. וּמַאן דְּאָמַר עֲזִיזוּת לִבָּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים לג, כט): מָגֵן עֶזְרֶךָ. תַּאֲלָתְךָ לָהֶם, תְּלֵי אוֹתָן בְּיִסּוּרִין, הָבֵא עֲלֵיהֶם כָּל אָלוֹת שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה, כְּמָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (דברים ל, ז): וְנָתַן ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶת כָּל הָאָלוֹת הָאֵלֶּה עַל אֹיְבֶיךָ וְעַל שׂנְאֶיךָ וגו'.
“Pay them retribution, Lord, according to their handiwork” (Lamentations 3:64).
“Pay them retribution” – Jeremiah said: “Pay them retribution.” Asaf said: “Pay our neighbors retribution sevenfold to their bosom [ḥeikam]” (Psalms 79:12). What is “to their bosom [ḥeikam]”? Rabbi Yehuda ben Gadya said: Pay them retribution for what they did to the Temple that is situated in the foundation [ḥeiko] of the world, just as it says: “From the foundation in the ground to the [lower] ledge” (Ezekiel 43:14). The Rabbis say: What they did regarding circumcision, which is positioned in man’s bosom,80The meaning here is that it is in the center of his body. as Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin and Rabbi Levi said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: They81The Amalekites would do this to the Israelites when they departed from Egypt. would take the circumcised organs of the Israelites and cast them upward, saying: This You chose; here is what You chose! Until Samuel arose and exacted retribution from them. That is what is written: “Samuel said: "Bring me Agag, king of Amalek” (I Samuel 15:32), and it is written: “Samuel slashed Agag…” (I Samuel 15:33).
Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: He began chopping his flesh into numerous pieces and fed it to the ostriches. That is what is written: “It will consume the branches of his skin” (Job 18:13). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: He brought four posts and stretched him upon them. “Agag said: Indeed, the bitterness of death is at hand [sar]” (I Samuel 15:32). Is this the way one kills princes, with bitter deaths? Rabbi Yitzḥak said: He castrated him, because he would take the circumcised organs and cast them upward. For this, retribution was exacted from him. That is what is written: “Samuel said: Just as your sword made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women” (I Samuel 15:33). “He slashed” – it teaches that he sliced him into four pieces.
“May you give them hardness of heart, Your curse upon them” (Lamentations 3:65).
“May you give them hardness of [meginat] heart” – two amora’im: One said: Heartbreak, and one said: Strength of heart.82The amora’im discussed the true meaning of the term meginat. One said it means heartbreak due to suffering. The other said it means strength of heart to endure a lot of suffering without dying. The one who said heartbreak, it is as it is stated: “Who delivered [migen] your enemies into your hand” (Genesis 14:20).83Just as the term migen here indicates that the enemies were broken, the word meginat regarding the heart means heartbreak. The one who said: Strength of heart, as it is written: “The shield [magen] of your protection” (Deuteronomy 33:29).
“Your curse [taalatekha] upon them” – suspend [teli] them84Suspend them between life and death. in suffering. Bring upon them all the curses [alot] in the Torah, just as it says: “The Lord your God will place all these curses [alot] on your enemies, and on those who hate you…” (Deuteronomy 30:7).
תִּרְדֹּף בְּאַף וְתַשְׁמִידֵם, יִרְמְיָה אָמַר: תִּרְדֹּף בְּאַף וְתַשְׁמִידֵם, וּמשֶׁה אָמַר (שמות יז, יד): כִּי מָחֹה אֶמְחֶה אֶת זֵכֶר עֲמָלֵק מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם, שְׁמוּאֵל אָמַר, עֲמָלֵק כְּמַשְׁמָעוֹ. זֵכֶר, זֶה הָמָן. מָחֹה, בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה. אֶמְחֶה, לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם, לוֹ וּלְכָל הַדּוֹר הַהוּא עַד סוֹף כָּל הַדּוֹרוֹת. רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אָמַר שֶׁלֹא יְהֵא נִין וְנֶכֶד לַעֲמָלֵק מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמַיִם, שֶׁלֹא יֹאמְרוּ אִילָן זֶה שֶׁל עֲמָלֵק. גָּמָל זֶה שֶׁל עֲמָלֵק, רָחֵל זוֹ שֶׁל עֲמָלֵק. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, לְפִי שֶׁבִּקֵּשׁ לְאַבֵּד אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתַּחַת כַּנְפֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם, אָמַר משֶׁה לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, רָשָׁע זֶה בָּא לְאַבֵּד אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתַּחַת כְּנָפֶיךָ, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָתְךָ שֶׁנָּתַתָּ לָהֶם, מִי יִקְרָא בּוֹ. דָּבָר אַחֵר, לְפִי שֶׁבִּקֵּשׁ לְאַבֵּד אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁהֵן עֲתִידִין לְהִתְפַּזֵּר מִסּוֹף הָעוֹלָם וְעַד סוֹפוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כח, סד): מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ וְעַד קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר אֵימָתַי יֹאבַד שְׁמָם שֶׁל אֵלּוּ מִן הָעוֹלָם וְתֵעָקֵר עֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים וְעוֹבְדֶיהָ מִן הָעוֹלָם, וִיהֵא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יְחִידִי בָּעוֹלָם, כָּעִנְיָן שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (זכריה יד, ט): וְהָיָה ה' לְמֶלֶךְ עַל כָּל הָאָרֶץ בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה ה' אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁתִּרְדֹּף בְּאַף וְתַשְׁמִידֵם מִתַּחַת שְׁמֵי ה'. רַבִּי נָתָן אָמַר לֹא בָּא הָמָן אֶלָּא לְזֵכֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (אסתר ט, כח): וִימֵי הַפּוּרִים הָאֵלֶּה לֹא יַעַבְרוּ מִתּוֹךְ הַיְּהוּדִים וְזִכְרָם לֹא יָסוּף מִזַּרְעָם. סְלִיק אַלְפָא בֵּיתָא תְּלִיתָאָה
“May You pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:66).
“May You pursue them in wrath and destroy them” – Jeremiah said: “May you pursue them in wrath and destroy them.” Moses said: “For I will erase [maḥo emḥe] the memory of Amalek from under the heavens” (Exodus 17:14). Shmuel said: “Amalek” – in its plain sense; “memory” – this is Haman; maḥo – in this world; emḥe – in the World to Come; “from under the heavens” – for him and for all the members of that generation [and] until the end of all generations. Rabbi Yehoshua said: So that there will not be a son and a grandson for Amalek under the heavens, so [people] will not say: This tree is Amalek’s, this camel is Amalek’s, this sheep is Amalek’s. Rabbi Eliezer said: Because it sought to eliminate Israel from under the wings of the heavens, Moses said before the Holy One blessed be He: This wicked one seeks to eliminate Israel from under Your wings. The Torah scroll that You gave them, who will read it?
Another matter: Because it sought to eliminate Israel, who are destined to be scattered from one end of the world to the other, as it is stated: “From the end of the earth to the end of the earth” (Deuteronomy 28:64).
Rabbi Eliezer says: When will the name of these be eliminated from the world, and idolatry and its worshippers will be eliminated from the world, and the Holy One blessed be He will be one in the world,85He will be acknowledged as the one, true God. like the matter that is stated: “The Lord will be King over all the land; on that day the Lord will be one and His name one” (Zechariah 14:9)? At the time when, “may you pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord.”
Rabbi Natan said: Haman came only to provide a remembrance for Israel.86This is in explanation of the statement earlier that the word “memory” (Exodus 17:14) alludes to Haman. Through the story of Purim, Jews continue to preserve the memory of Amalek and its actions, as well as the requirement to destroy Amalek, as required by the Torah (Deuteronomy 25:17–19). That is what is written: “These days of Purim will not pass from among the Jews, and their memory will not cease from their descendants” (Esther 9:28).
End of the Third Alphabetical Acrostic