Page 28 - HaMizrachi Tisha B'Av AUS 2021

TISHA B’AV READING

Dr. Yael Ziegler

The Heart

of Eicha

he uniqueness of Chapter Three, follow these reflections (verses 40–51). The those around him. The gever no longer feels
the structural center of Megillat gever’s experience can rightly be termed a alienated from his compatriots (as in verse
Eicha, is immediately discernible: journey, inasmuch as he progresses in a 14), nor does he regard G-d as his adversary
Tits unusual triple acrostic sets it linear fashion (albeit with some twists) (see verses 1–16).
apart from the other chapters. It therefore during the course of Chapter Three.
has 66 verses, as opposed to the 22 verses The linear progression marks this chap- Instead, he advocates on his people’s behalf
of the other four chapters. (verses 47–51) and enlists G-d as his protec-
ter’s distinctness as surely as the differ- tor (verse 55). This process allows him to
While this technical difference draws our ences noted above. Constructed in a chi- restore a relationship with both G-d and
attention, other distinctive elements of the astic fashion, the previous two chapters his community, alleviating his loneliness,
chapter are substantive. The absence of maintain a cyclical form that conveys the restoring his sense of meaningful exis-
the word Eicha at its opening suggests this hopelessness of ceaseless suffering. tence and facilitating his recovery. Chapter
chapter was not composed as a lament. Three opens with the word Ani, “I,” intro-
Chapter Three, in contrast, moves from
A unique, first-person voice launches the despair to reflection to hope, in a steady ducing an individual whose self-absorbed
chapter; the speaker introduces himself as forward motion. Contemplation spawns obsession with his hardships alienates him
a gever, a lone individual. 1 comprehension of responsibility and con- from his surroundings.
sequently moves the gever toward recon- The chapter closes with the name of G-d,
In a book concerned with national calam- ciliation with G-d.
ity, the central chapter focuses upon the illustrating that the gever has learned to
misfortunes of an individual, offering a look beyond the narrow scope of his own
portrait of how one suffering person con- grief. Though G-d never directly inter-
tends with G-d and copes with travail. The venes in the chapter (or in the book), in
sufferer navigates through the morass of this final section the sufferer hears G-d’s
his misery, experiencing religious growth The individual continues words (verses 57), senses His immanence
along the way. Every person who expe- to feel entrapped, taunted (verses 57), and anticipates the restoration
riences adversity can regard this gever’s and tormented. of Divine justice (verses 58–59).
journey as his own. By the end of his process of introspection,

Chapter Three omits the major motifs of To arrive at these conclusions, the gever the gever has indeed found G-d, deep within
Eicha’s other chapters, including the fall draws from his deep resources of faith, the recesses of his own inner being.
of Yerushalayim and the Beit HaMikdash, depicted at the core of the chapter, the ■ Adapted from Dr. Yael Ziegler’s new book,
and the suffering, starvation and exile of pivotal center of the book (verses 21–39). Lamentations: Faith in a Turbulent World
the Judeans. There are no priests, kings The gever at the beginning of the chapter (Maggid, 2021).
or leaders, no maidens or young men, no (verses 1–20) is not the same as the gever
vulnerable, dying children and no hint of
a national tragedy. Even the suffering of at its conclusion (verses 52–66), though his 1 While both Chapters One and Two contain first-per-
external circumstances appear unchanged.
the individual is not directly connected to son accounts, the individual speaker seems to repre-
the events of 586 BCE. Nevertheless, the ending of the chapter sent a collective “I” of Yerushalayim, rather than a
is far from triumphant. The suffering lone individual.
Instead, this chapter is uniquely concerned gever resurfaces in 3:52–66, his plight still
with theological reflection, considering
the nature of G-d and His interactions miserable, his immediate prospects grim.
The individual continues to feel entrapped,
with humans (verses 21-39). The suffering
individual of this chapter seeks and finds taunted and tormented. Yet, while the
gever’s external circumstances have not
hope in G-d – the only lengthy message changed, he has certainly undergone an
of hope in the book of Eicha appears at inner transformation.
its center (verses 21–26). The core of the
chapter also discusses the lessons one may The final section of the chapter illustrates Dr. Yael Ziegler is a lecturer in Tanach at
draw from suffering (verses 27–30), and the individual’s astonishing development. Matan and at Herzog College.
several erroneous conclusions one should Possibly the most significant transforma-
scrupulously avoid (verses 31–39). Prayer, tion occurs as he abandons his self-cen- A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
repentance and communal responsibility tered victimhood and begins to perceive mizrachi.org/speakers

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