(1) Alas! The gold is dulled, Debased the finest gold! The sacred gems are spilled At every street corner. (2) The precious children of Zion; Once valued as gold— Alas, they are accounted as earthen pots, Work of a potter’s hands! (3) Even jackals offer the breast And suckle their young; But my poor people has turned cruel, Like ostriches of the desert. (4) The tongue of the suckling cleaves To its palate for thirst. Little children beg for bread; None gives them a morsel. (5) Those who feasted on dainties Lie famished in the streets; Those who were reared in purple Have embraced refuse heaps. (6) The guilt of my poor people Exceeded the iniquity of Sodom, Which was overthrown in a moment, Without a hand striking it. (7) Her elect were purer than snow, Whiter than milk; Their limbs were ruddier than coral, Their bodies were like sapphire. (8) Now their faces are blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin has shriveled on their bones, It has become dry as wood. (9) Better off were the slain of the sword Than those slain by famine, Who pined away, [as though] wounded, For lack of the fruits of the field. (10) With their own hands, tenderhearted women Have cooked their children; Such became their fare, In the disaster of my poor people. (11) The LORD vented all His fury, Poured out His blazing wrath; He kindled a fire in Zion Which consumed its foundations. (12) The kings of the earth did not believe, Nor any of the inhabitants of the world, That foe or adversary could enter The gates of Jerusalem. (13) It was for the sins of her prophets, The iniquities of her priests, Who had shed in her midst The blood of the just. (14) They wandered blindly through the streets, Defiled with blood, So that no one was able To touch their garments. (15) “Away! Unclean!” people shouted at them, “Away! Away! Touch not!” So they wandered and wandered again; For the nations had resolved: “They shall stay here no longer.” (16) The LORD’s countenance has turned away from them, He will look on them no more. They showed no regard for priests, No favor to elders. (17) Even now our eyes pine away In vain for deliverance. As we waited, still we wait For a nation that cannot help. (18) Our steps were checked, We could not walk in our squares. Our doom is near, our days are done— Alas, our doom has come! (19) Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles in the sky; They chased us in the mountains, Lay in wait for us in the wilderness. (20) The breath of our life, the LORD’s anointed, Was captured in their traps— He in whose shade we had thought To live among the nations. (21) Rejoice and exult, Fair Edom, Who dwell in the land of Uz! To you, too, the cup shall pass, You shall get drunk and expose your nakedness. (22) Your iniquity, Fair Zion, is expiated; He will exile you no longer. Your iniquity, Fair Edom, He will note; He will uncover your sins.
All but the last chapter of Eicha are alphabetical acrostics - although even the last chapter has 22 psukim. Many of the Kinot for Tisha B'Av are also alphabetic acrostics. This can be seen as having two contradictory meanings:
A. Comprehensiveness
The Ashamnu prayer in the HHD liturgy is sometimes seen as a comprehensive list of sins, stated in the first person plural, so that ALL sins will be covered (with the whole community taking responsibility for individuals and joining with them in teshuvah), and similarly, the alphabetical acrostic nature of most of Eicha can be seen as a way of describing the totality and comprehensiveness of the destruction and consequent mourning.
B. Limitation
On the other hand, an insight that Rabbanit Dasi Fruchter shared on Tisha B'Av is that the fact that the laments are limited to the letters of the alphabet (both in Eicha and in most of the Kinot) speaks to the limits that are placed on mourning, similar to the prescribed times for mourning the death of a close relative. Of course, human grief cannot be so easily contained, but by having limited containers for the grief, one is helped to express and really feel the grief in the time and space allotted and then have a chance to begin to rebuild one's life.
(1) How can it be that the golden glow has paled. This elegy was pronounced over Yoshiyahu, as it is stated in Divrei Hayomim, “Behold it is written in the Book of Lamentations,” and with it he joined, in the midst of the elegy, the rest of the children of Tzion. (2) Paled. Dimmed, as in “כֵּהָה” which is rendered [by the Targum as] עַמְיָא [=dimmed]. (3) Golden. The appearance of a face that shines like gold. (4) Altered. Changes its appearance. (5) Jewel. A collection of beautiful gold articles used as ornaments is called כֶּתֶם. (6) Sacred gems. Children who shine like precious stones. But the Midrash Aggadah [states that “sacred gems are spilled refers to], every fourth-part [=רְבִיעִית of blood that Yoshiyahu shed with each arrow that they thrust into him, Yirmiyahu buried in its place [i.e., where it spilled]. Concerning it he called out, “sacred gems are spilled.”
This kinah is based on Eicha 4, which tradition believes Yirmiyahu wrote as lament for killing of Yoshiyahu in battle. The first word of each verse of Eicha 4 is used as the first word of each verse of this kinah. It is not a kinah lamenting the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, but of the killing of a tzaddik, which the rabbis teach is like the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash.
Yoshiyahu’s father Amon assassinated when Yoshiyahu was 8 years old, and he became king. A Sefer Torah was found and he set about abolishing avodah zarah from Yehudah and restoring the observance of Torah and mitzvot to Israel.
The Egyptians wanted to travel through Yehudah to wage war with Assyria. Yirmiyahu advised Yoshiyahu to let them – but he did not, and fought them in battle, in which he was killed. He realized his sin and his last words are captured in Eicha 1:18 – HaShem is righteous, for I have rebelled against His word.
Why did he fail to heed the words of Yirmiyahu in a catastrophic way that cost him his life?
It must have been quite traumatic for him to lose his father to assassins at the early age of 8. I can only imagine the lack of trust he felt in others, particularly the Egyptians. And to discover the Sefer Torah and learn of the ways his father had sinned in stopping the sacrifices in the Beis HaMikdash and even burning the Torah. Reading of the redemption from Egypt – how could he allow them to come through?
Tragically, he was unable to heal the trauma from his childhood and learn new ways of interacting with others, including the Egyptians.
The kinah also mentions that he died because, although he ended public idolatry, the people continued avodah zarah in secret. It may seem unfair that he is punished for the sins of others of which he was unaware, but as the king, he was responsible for them.
How can we use Yoshiyahu’s life and death in our own lives to turn from the things that can prove to be our undoing and accept life?
We can learn that the traumas we have experienced affect us but do not define us, and learn to bring the wisdom of HaShem to each moment, listening to the wise counsel of others who, like Yirmiyahu, can help us to see clearly.
And we can do more cheshbon hanefesh, accounting of the soul, to uncover not just the obvious ways in which we turn from HaShem but the hidden avodah zarah that hides behind the doors of our hearts.
May we find refuah and teshuvah for our souls and our lives and may this Tisha B’Av be the beginning of redemption. Amen.
Thanks to Sharoni Sibony who shared with me her sourcesheet for a class she taught based on vv. 7-8 of this perek, based on the work of Julia Watts Belser!
(7) Her elect were purer than snow, Whiter than milk; Their limbs were ruddier than coral, Their bodies were like sapphire. (8) Now their faces are blacker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin has shriveled on their bones, It has become dry as wood.
These verses describe the effects of the conquest of Judah and Jerusalem on the inhabitants' bodies - particularly the famine that resulted. We read, throughout Eicha, of the effects of the destruction on its inhabitants in very graphic detail, and these verses contribute to the understanding of the devastation that was wrought. I am also struck with horror at this verse, describing one response to famine:
(10) With their own hands, tenderhearted women Have cooked their children; Such became their fare, In the disaster of my poor people.
In addition to the physical effects on people's bodies, the destruction had devastating effects on family structures and relationships, as this verse starkly demonstrates.
1. Do you find the acrostic structure more compelling as an expression of comprehensive grief, as a way of limiting grief, as both (perhaps in tension with one another), or as an expression of something else? Why?
2. What is the interplay of communal grief and individual grief? For Tisha B'Av, the commandment is to mourn and feel sadness - do you feel both communal and individual sadness? How do events in the history of the Jewish people (or other collective identities you may have, as an American/Canadian/South African/lgbt person/woman/person of color/etc.) relate to events in your own life?
3. How do images of violent oppression's effects on bodies (the images here, images from the Holocaust, images from wars, etc.) change your perception of the events? Do you feel called to respond in some way (tzedakah, tikkun olam, etc.) and, if so, how?
4. How does grief affect your own body? How does it affect your relationships, with those closest to you and others?
5. How has learning Eicha in 929 affected you? Your religious practice? How does it compare with previous books (Tehilliam, Mishlei, Iyov, Shir HaShirim, and Rut)?