Eichah 1 איכה א׳

איכה ישבה בדד. ירמיה כתב ספר קינות היא המגלה אשר שרף יהויקים על האח אשר על האש והיו בה שלש אל"ף ביתו"ת איכה ישבה איכה יעיב איכה יועם שוב הוסיף עליו אני הגבר שהוא שלש אל"ף בית"ות שנ' (ירמיה לו) ועוד נוסף עליהם דברים רבים כהמה שלש כנגד שלש:

How can it be that she sits in isolation. Yirmiyahu wrote the book of Lamentations. ¹Because Chapter 3 of Eichah begins with Yirmiyahu writing, “I am the man,” one might mistakenly think that is the beginning of Yirmiyahu’s writing, therefore Rashi states that he wrote the entire Book of Lamentations [=Eichah]. (Sifsei Chachomim) This is the scroll that Yehoyakim burned on the hearth.²See Yirmiyahu 36:23. It contained three³The three acrostics respond to the three tragedies that occurred: the physical exile of the Bnei Yisroel, the departure of the Shchinah and the loss of Eretz Yisroel. (Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez) alphabetical acrostics:⁴The alphabetical acrostic symbolizes the Bnei Yisroel’s transgression of the Torah which was written with the letters of the Aleph Beis. (Sifsei Chachomim) “Oh how can it be that she sits [in isolation],”⁵Eichah 1:1. “How can it be [that God] has cast a gloom,”⁶Ibid., 2:1. [and] “How dim can it be [that the golden glow] has paled.”⁷Ibid., 4:1. He added to it, “I am the man...”,⁸Ibid., 3:1. which contains three sets of alphabetical acrostics, as it is stated, “and many more words were added similar to those [of the original scroll],”⁹Yirmiyahu 36:32. three corresponding to three.¹⁰He also added Chapter 5. See Eichah Rabbah, Pesichta 28.

בדד. גלמוד מיושביה:

In isolation. Devoid of her inhabitants.

רבתי עם. יו"ד יתירה כמו רבת עם שהיתה עמה רב יש מדרשי אגדה הרבה ואני באתי לפרש לשון המקרא כמשמעו:

Teeming with people. The yud of רַבָּתִי is superfluous;¹¹Palgei Mayim explains that the yud is not superfluous because the prophet is speaking in [first person singular] God’s Name, saying, “How can it be that the city that ‘I’ made great and that ‘I’ made important, etc.” [it means the same] as, רַבָּתִי עָם, that her people were many.¹²Alternatively, ‘the city whose people were so wise’ yet they were unable to prevent its destruction. (Eichah Rabbah); or, ‘the city with great people.’ (Ibn Ezra) There are many Aggadic midrashim, but I have come to explain the Scripture according to its literal meaning.

היתה כאלמנה. ולא אלמנה ממש אלא כאשה שהלך בעלה למדינת הים ודעתו לחזור אצלה:

Has become like a widow. But not really a widow; rather, like a woman whose husband went abroad and he intends to return to her.¹³See Maseches Sanhedrin 104a.

בכו תבכה. שתי בכיות על שתי חורבנין:

She weeps bitterly. Weeping twice over the two destructions [of the Beis Hamikdosh].¹⁴Rashi is explaining the reason for the double verb בכו תבכה. Alternatively, Yerusholayim weeps, and God, as it were, also weeps. (Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez)

בלילה. שהמקדש נשרף בלילה דאמר מר לעת ערב הציתו בו את האור, דבר אחר בלילה לילה של בכיית מרגלים בתשעה באב גרמה להם, דבר אחר בלילה שכל הבוכה בלילה השומע קולו בוכה עמו:

In the night. For the Beis Hamikdosh was burned at night, as the master said, “at the time of evening they set it on fire.”¹⁵Maseches Ta’anis 29a. Another explanation of “in the night,” [is that] the night of the weeping of the spies on the ninth of Av caused it to happen to them.¹⁶Ibid. Another explanation of “in the night,” is that whoever weeps at night, the one who hears his voice weeps along with him.¹⁷Maseches Sanhedrin 104b.

ודמעתה על לחיה. מתוך שהיא בוכה תמיד:

Her tear on her cheek. Because she cries constantly.¹⁸Alternatively, her pain and suffering were so intense that she did not bother to wipe away her tears. (Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez)

כל רעיה. אוהביה:

All of her friends. Her lovers.¹⁹I.e., the prophets who predicted only her doom. (Palgei Mayim) Alternatively, her former allies who abandoned her in her time of crisis.

גלתה יהודה. מארצה:

Yehudah was exiled. From her land.

מעני. מחמת עוני:

Because of torment. Because of her affliction.

ומרוב עבודה. שהכבידו עליה כשדים:

And excessive toil. With which the people of Kasdim burdened her.²⁰Alternatively, Yehudah was exiled because of her idol worship [עבודה זרה]. (Rishon Letzion)

היא ישבה בגוים. ובמקום שגלתה וישבה שם לא מצאה מנוח:

[Even] when she dwelt among the nations. And in the place where she was exiled and settled, she found no respite.²¹Because in the land where they were exiled, they were unable to partake of their food or their wine. (Lechem Dimah) Alternatively, although exile and torment serve as atonement for sin, the atonement was not complete and therefore there was no respite.

בין המצרים. שיש גובה מכאן ומכאן ואין מקום לנוס:

Between the barriers. It is elevated on either side and there is no place to flee.

המצרים. גבולים של שדה וכרם ומדרש אגדה בין שבעה עשר בתמוז לתשעה באב:

The barriers. The boundaries of fields and vineyards.²²From where there is no way to escape. (Palgei Mayim) The Midrash Aggadah [explains that it refers to the boundaries of time], i.e., between the seventeenth of Tammuz and the ninth of Av.

באי מועד. עולי רגלים:

Festival visitors. People who went up [to Yerusholayim] for the festivals.²³Alternatively, מועד refers to the Beis Hamikdosh, i.e., ‘for lack of Beis Hamikdosh visitors.’

נוגות. לשון יגון ואין שורש בתיבה אלא הגימ"ל לבדה:

Grieve. An expression of grief,²⁴Because the maidens were no longer able to go out and rejoice on the two most joyous days of the year, on the fifteenth of Menachem Av and on Yom Kippur. See Maseches Ta’anis, Mishnah 4:8. and there is no radical [=שֹׁרֶשׁ but the ‘gimel’ alone.

שלו. יושבים בשלוה:

Are at ease. Sit peacefully.²⁵Alternatively, ‘her enemies hunted her down.’ (Yein Horekach); or ‘her enemies made peace with each other.’ Although they were fighting among themselves, they made peace and united against the Bnei Yisroel. See Rashi in Bamidbar 22:3 regarding Midyan and Mo’av. (Lechem Dimah)

הוגה. הדאיבה והוא לשון יגון:

Has brought her grief. Caused her to moan; it is an expression of sighing יָגוֹן.

כאילים לא מצאו מרעה. כאילים אשר לא מצאו מרעה שאין להם כח לברוח שהוחלש כחם ברעב:

Like harts who could find no pasture. Like harts who did not find pasture and have no strength to flee,²⁶Alternatively, her nobles acted like harts who abandon their young when there is no pasture. Similarly, Bnei Yisroel’s leaders did not chastise their brethren, but rather abandoned them. (Palgei Mayim) for their strength has been weakened by hunger.

לפני רודף. כל רודף שבמקרא חסר וזה מלא שנרדפו רדיפה שלימה על כן יסד הפייט מלא רודפתי וחסרה שנת גאולי, שנת גאלי באה חסר כתיב:

Before the pursuer. Every רֹדֵף in Scripture is defective,²⁷I.e., it is spelled without a ‘vav’. but this one רוֹדֵף is full,²⁸I.e., it is spelled with a vav. for they were totally pursued. Therefore the liturgic author composed, “I have been totally pursued, but the year of my redemption has not come.”²⁹Selichos for the second day of Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. [Also,] “and the year of my redemption has come,”³⁰Yeshayahu 63:4. is spelled defectively גְּאֻלַי.³¹Without a vav. In our editions it is spelled full [גאולי]. However, the prophecy in Yeshayahuu 59:20 states, “A redeemer [גואל—spelled full] will come to Tzion,” to indicate a “total redemption.” (Eichah Rabbah 1:33)

זכרה ירושלם בגלותה:

Yerusholayim remembered. In her exile.

ימי עניה. ימי חורבנה שהביאה לידי עוני:

The days of her poverty. The days of her destruction, which brought her to poverty.

ומרודיה. הוא לשון צער כמו (שופטים יא) וירדתי על ההרים (תהלים נה) אריד בשיחי ואהומה:

And lamenting. This וּמְרוּדֶיהָ is an expression of pain³²Alternatively, ‘and her rebellion [מרד] against God.’ as in, “and I will wail וְיָרַדְתִּי upon the mountains,”³³Shoftim 11:37. [and as in,] “I lament אָרִיד as I speak and I moan.”³⁴Tehilim 55:3.

כל מחמדיה. וזכרה כל טוב מחמדיה שמימי קדם:

All her treasures. And [Yerusholayim] remembered all the good of her precious things³⁵מחמדיה in this verse has a different meaning than in Verse 10 below, where it means ‘Torah scrolls.’ (Sifsei Chachomim) that were from days of old.³⁶The beginning of the verse speaks of ‘her poverty’, therefore Rashi explains that ‘her treasures’ relates back to the ‘days of old.’ (Sifsei Chachomim)

שחקו על משבתיה. שמחו על שביתת משושה חגה חדשה ושבתה ומ"א דורשו בלשון אחר שהיו שובתין בגולה בשבתות וימים טובים ושומטים בשביעיות והיו האומות משחקים עליהם ואומרים שוטים בארצכם לא שמרתם ועכשיו בגולה תשמרון:

Laughing derisively when she was curbed. They rejoiced over the cessation of her celebrating at her festivals, New Moons, and Sabbaths. But the Midrash Aggadah interprets it as a different expression, that they rested in exile on the Sabbath and festivals, and observed the seventh [i.e., Sabbatical] year. The gentiles ridiculed them and said, “Fools! In your land you did not observe [Sabbath and festivals,] and now in exile you keep it? In your land you did not observe [the Sabbatical year,] and now in exile you keep it?”

לנידה. לגולה לשון נע ונד אישמוב"ר בלע"ז:

A wanderer. One who is in exile; an expression of moving and wandering,³⁷See Bereishis 4:12. Also, see Rashi in verse 17 below. esmovement in O.F.

ערותה. קלונה:

Her degradation. [Literally; her nakedness] Her shame.

נאנחה. לשון נפעלה שושפי"דר בלע"ז. שמעו כי נאנחה אני הוא שם דבר שושפורי"דא:

Sorrowful. [Here נֶאֶנְחָה is] an expression in the passive past tense, sospira in O.F. [However, in] “They have heard how I groan,”³⁸Below, verse 21. it is a noun, sospirose in O.F.

טומאתה בשוליה. לשון גנאי הוא דם נדותה ניכר בשולי בגדיה כלומר חטאותיה גלויין, הרבה עשאתן בגלוי:

Her defilement is at her hem. This is an expression of disgrace. Her menstrual blood is visible in the hems of her garments, i.e., her sins are conspicuous; she committed them flagrantly.³⁹Alternatively, she committed her sins inconspicuously, hidden behind her hem. (Alshich)

לא זכרה אחריתה. כשהיו חוטאין לא נתנו לב מה תהיה אחריתם לפיכך ותרד פלאים ירידתם נפלאת פלאים הרבה שהכל פליאים שאירע לה מה שלא אירע לכל עיר:

She was not mindful of her end. When they would sin, they were not mindful of what their end would be. Therefore, she fell astonishingly. Her descent was astonishing, bringing about much bewilderment, for all were amazed that this happened to her, something that did not happen to any other city.

ידו פרש צר - עמון ומואב

The oppressor extended his hand. Ammon and Mo’av.⁴⁰Alternatively, Nevuchadnetzar. (Targum)

על כל מחמדיה - ספרי תורות שנאמר בהם (תהילים יט) הנחמדים מזהב הכל נפנו לבוז כסף וזהב והם נפנים על ספרי תורות כדי לשורפם לפי שכתוב בהם (דברים כג) לא יבא עמוני וגו'

Over all her treasures. The Torah scrolls, which are spoken of as, “they are more desirable than gold.”⁴¹Tehilim 19:11. All [the other nations] turned to plunder silver and gold, but they [i.e. Ammon and Mo’av] turned upon the Torah scrolls in order to burn them, because it is written in them, “an Ammonite [or a Mo’avite] shall not enter, etc.”⁴²Devarim 23:4. Concerning whom You commanded,

אשר צויתה לא יבאו בקהל לך - אלו עמון ומואב

“Let them not enter your community.” These are referring to Ammon and Mo’av.

לא אליכם. לא תהא כצרה הזאת עוד לכל עוברי על דת אמרו חכמים מכאן לקובלנא מן התורה ראו מה עשה לי הביטו וראו וגומר:

May this not happen to you. Such a calamity should not happen to all those who transgress the law.⁴³עוברי דרך is translated thus, ‘those who transgress [עוברי] the way [דרך] of the Torah.’ The Sages said, that from here it is derived that to [publicly] complain about one’s troubles has a basis in Scripture, [for Scripture states here,] “see what He did to me” [and] “Notice, see, etc.”⁴⁴Maseches Sanhedrin 104b.

אשר עולל. אשר נעשה לי:

That has been visited upon me. That was done to me.

אשר הוגה ה'. אותי ביום חרון אפו גם זה לשון יגון:

When Adonoy brought grief. Upon me on the day He vented His wrath. This הוֹגָה too is an expression of grief.⁴⁵Alternatively, הגה is an expression of speech; the phrase meaning, ‘that God had spoken [through His prophets].’

וירדנה. וירדה אותה וישבר אותה ע"י רידוי ויסורין לכן הנו"ן דגושה לפותרו בלשון יחידית כמו יעשנה יכרסמנה ירענה שהעצם ל' נקבה כמו דאת אומר (יחזקאל לו) העצמות היבשות שבר כל אחת ואחת, ד"א וירדנה כמו (שופטים יד) וירדהו אל כפיו הריק את המוח גורר ורודה המוח מתוכו:

Crushing it. It [the fire] crushed it and broke it through punishment and suffering. Therefore, the ‘nun’ is punctuated with a ‘dagesh’, so that it is interpreted in the feminine singular, as in יַעֲשֶׂנָּה [=he will do it], יְכַרְסְמֶנָּה [=he will gnaw at it], יִרְעֶנָּה [=will graze upon it]; for עֶצֶם [=bone] is in the feminine gender, as [Scripture] states, “the dry bones [=הָעֲצָמוֹת הַיְבֵשׁוֹת.”⁴⁶Yechezkeil 37:4. It broke each one. Another explanation, וַיִּרְדֶּנָּה as in, “and he separated it into his hands.”⁴⁷Shoftim 14:9. He emptied the marrow, [i.e.,] he scraped and separated the marrow from within it.⁴⁸Alternatively, ‘and sent it [i.e., fire] down.’

נשקד עול פשעי בידו. אין לתיבה זו דמיון במקרא ובלשון ארמי של פסיקתא קורין לדרבן מסקדא מלמד הבקר ואומר אני נשקד פויינט"רינט בלעז נקודים מנומרים ומסומני' היו פשעי בידו של הקב"ה לזכרון לא נשכח מניינם ותשלומיהם:

The yoke of my iniquities is recorded in His hand. This word נִשְׂקַד has no likeness in Scripture, and in the Aramaic language of the Pesikta, they call a goad מַסְקָדָא, an ox goad. And I say that נִשְׂקַד is pointured in O.F., [meaning,] my transgressions were dotted, spotted, and marked in the hand of the Holy One, Blessed Is He, for a remembrance; their number and recompense have not been forgotten.

ישתרגו נעשו קליעות קליעות ועלו על צוארי לשון משנה אין משרגין את המטות:

They have become interwoven. They became many braids, and came up to my neck,⁴⁹צואר [neck] is symbolic of the Beis Hamikdosh; see Rashi in Bereishis 45:14. [as in] the language of the Mishnah, “We may (not) interlace the ropes of the bedsteads.”⁵⁰Maseches Mo’ed Katan, Mishnah 1:8.

סלה. רמס ורפס לשון (ישעיה סב) סולו סולו המסילה:

Trampled. He trampled and trod, an expression of, “pave, pave סֹלּוּ the road.”⁵¹Yeshayahuu 62:10.

קרא עלי מועד. יעידת גייסות לבא עלי ורבותינו דרשו מה שדרשו תמוז דההוא שתא מלוי' מלאה של שנה שנייה לצאתם ממצרים לכך אירע חזרתן של רגלים ליל תשעה באב שעליה הוקבעה בכייתן לדורות:

He has proclaimed a gathering against me. A gathering of troops to come against me.⁵²Alternatively, ‘He has proclaimed to break [מועד] me.’ (Yein Horekach) And our Rabbis expounded what they expounded. Tammuz of that year was a full month [=30 days], of the second year from their Exodus from Egypt. Therefore, the return of the spies occurred on the night of the ninth of Av, upon which their weeping was established for generations.⁵³Maseches Ta’anis 29a. According to this explanation, מועד means ‘a set time.’

גת דרך. לשון הריגה כמו (ישעיה סב) פורה דרכתי לבדי כדורך ענבי' להוציא יינם כך רמס הנשים להוציא דמם:

[As with] a wine press, [God] has trodden. An expression of killing, as in, “I alone have trodden a winepress,”⁵⁴Yeshayahuu 63:3. as one treads upon grapes to extract their wine, so did He trample the women to extract their blood.

עיני עיני. כלומר תמיד עיני יורדה מים כפל הלשון מלמד שאין הפוגות:

My eyes. I.e., my eye constantly sheds tears; the double expression indicates without interruption.⁵⁵Alternatively, the double expression indicates the shedding of tears from both eyes. (Targum)

פרשה ציון בידיה. כמו (ישעיה כה) ופירש ידיו בקרבו כאדם המוליך ידיו מוליכם ומביאם ומצטער בהם, דבר אחר פרשה ציון לשון שבירה כמו (איכה ד) ופורש אין להם לקבל לנחמו על מת כך חברו מנחם ובלשון משנה פירושו קיימת ומשמעו כאדם המצטער שחובק את ידיו ומשברם, תוספת מצאתי:

Tzion spread her arms. As in, “and he will stretch out his hand in its midst,”⁵⁶Yeshayahuu 25:11. like a person who moves his hands back and forth [showing] his pain with them.⁵⁷Alternatively, ‘Tzion spread her arms in prayer, but to no avail.’ (Lechem Dimah) Another explanation: פֵּרְשָׂה צִיּוֹן is an expression of breaking, as in, “no one breaks פּוֹרֵשׂ bread for them,”⁵⁸Eichah 4:4. [and as in,] “they will not break [bread] for them in their bereavement to comfort them for the dead.”⁵⁹Yirmiyahu 16:7. So did Menachem classify it. And in the language of the Mishnah, “the broken piece of bread פְּרוּסָה is intact.”⁶⁰Maseches Berachos 37a. It means [that Tzion was] like a person in pain who clasps his hands and breaks them [from agony]. I found an addendum. Adonoy has commanded concerning Yaakov,

צוה ה' ליעקב סביביו צריו. צוה על יעקב שיהיו צריו סביביו אף כשגלו לבבל ולאשור הגלה סנחריב את אויביהם עמון ומואב והושיבם אצליהם והם מקנתרים אותם כמ"ש במסכת קדושין הומניא איכא בבבל כולה דעמונאי:

that his oppressors surround him. He commanded concerning Yaakov that his adversaries would surround him. Even when they were exiled to Bavel and Assyria, Sancheirev exiled their enemies, Ammon and Mo’av, and settled them beside them, and they taunted them,⁶¹I.e., even in exile they are surrounded by their enemies. as is stated in Maseches Kiddushin,⁶²72a. that Homanya was in Bavel, entirely [occupied] by Ammonites.

לנדה. לריחוק לבוז:

Despicable. As an outcast, a disgrace.⁶³Although Rashi above in verse 8 translated לנידה as a wanderer, here it is spelled without a yud [לנדה], meaning derision. (Sifsei Chachomim)

קראתי למאהבי. לאותם שמראים עצמם כאוהבים:

I cried out to those who appeared to love me. To those who pretend to be [my] lovers.⁶⁴I.e., the neighboring countries with the hope of forming an alliance.

המה רמוני. כגון בני ישמעאל שהיו יוצאים לקראת הגולים כשהיו השבאים מוליכים אותם דרך עליהם ומראים את עצמם כאילו מרחמים עליהם והיו מוציאים להם מיני מלוחים נודות נפוחים כסבורים שהוא יין ואוכלים וצמאים ורוצים לשתות וכשמתיר הנוד בשיניו היתה הרוח נכנסת במעיו והוא מת והוא שאמר הכתוב (ישעיה כא) ביער בערב תלינו וגו' (שם) לקראת צמא התיו מים יושבי ארץ תימא בלחמו קדמו נודד:

But they deceived me. E.g., the children of Yishmael, who came out toward the exiles when the[ir] captors were leading them on the road nearby, and pretended that they were compassionate toward them. They brought for them various kinds of salty foods and inflated skin flasks. They thought that they [contained] wine, so they ate and became thirsty and wished to drink; but when they untied the flasks with their teeth, the air entered their intestines and they died. This is what Scripture says, “in the forest in Arabia shall you lodge, etc. Bring water for the thirsty, the inhabitants of the land of Tema greeted the wanderer with their bread.”⁶⁵Yeshayahuu 21:13-14.

וישיבו את נפשם. כדי שישיבו את נפשם:

To sustain their souls. In order that they should revive their souls.

חמרמרו. כווצו ויש בלשון משנה נפלה לאור ונחמרו בני מעיה:

Shriveled. They became shriveled, and there is [an expression] like this in the language of the Mishnah, “It fell into the fire and its intestines were scorched וְנֶחְמְרוּ.”⁶⁶Maseches Chulin 3:3.

בבית כמות. בתוך הבית היתה אימת שדים ומזיקים ומלאכי מות ומחוץ חרב האויב משכלת:

Within, it is like death. Within the house was fear of demons, destructive beings, and angels of death; and from without, the enemy’s sword was bereaving them.

כי אתה עשית. אתה יגרמת לי שהם שונאים אותי שהבדלתני ממאכלם וממשתיהם ומהתחתן בם אם נתחתנתי בהם היו מרחמים עלי ועל בני בנותיהם:

For it is Your doing. You caused them to hate me when You separated me from [partaking of] their food and drink and from intermarrying with them. If I had intermarried with them, they would have had compassion upon me and upon their daughters’ children.

הבאת יום קראת. הלואי והבאת עליהם יום המועד שקראת עלי:

Bring the day that You proclaimed. If only you had brought upon them the appointed day that You proclaimed upon me.

ויהיו כמוני. ברעה:

And let them resemble me. In distress.

תבא כל רעתם לפניך. יזכרו ויפקדו עונותם לפניך:

Let all their evil come before You. May all their iniquities be remembered and counted before You.⁶⁷And judge them accordingly.

ועולל למו. ופעול למו כמו (משלי כ) גם במעלליו יתנכר (ירמיה כא) וכפרי מעלליו:

And do to them. And do to them, as in, “[even a child] can be recognized by his deeds בְּמַעֲלָלָיו”;⁶⁸Mishlei 20:11. and [as in,] “according to the fruits of his deeds מַעֲלָלָיו.”⁶⁹Yirmiyahu 32:19.