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TISHA B’AV READING

Dr. Yael Ziegler

The Heart

of Eicha

he uniqueness of Chapter Three, avoid (verses 31–39). Prayer, repentance and Possibly the most significant transforma-
the structural center of Megillat communal responsibility follow these reflec- tion occurs as he abandons his self-centered
Eicha, is immediately discernible: tions (verses 40–51). The gever’s experience victimhood and begins to perceive those
Tits unusual triple acrostic sets it can rightly be termed a journey, inasmuch around him. The gever no longer feels alien-
apart from the other chapters. It therefore as he progresses in a linear fashion (albeit ated from his compatriots (as in verse 14),
has 66 verses, as opposed to the 22 verses of with some twists) during the course of Chap- nor does he regard G-d as his adversary (see
the other four chapters. ter Three. verses 1–16).
While this technical difference draws our The linear progression marks this chapter’s Instead, he advocates on his people’s behalf
attention, other distinctive elements of the distinctness as surely as the differences (verses 47–51) and enlists G-d as his protec-
chapter are substantive. The absence of the noted above. Constructed in a chiastic fash- tor (verse 55). This process allows him to
word Eicha at its opening suggests this chap- ion, the previous two chapters maintain a restore a relationship with both G-d and
ter was not composed as a lament. cyclical form that conveys the hopelessness his community, alleviating his loneliness,
of ceaseless suffering.
A unique, first-person voice launches the restoring his sense of meaningful existence
chapter; the speaker introduces himself as Chapter Three, in contrast, moves from and facilitating his recovery. Chapter Three
a gever, a lone individual. 1 despair to reflection to hope, in a steady opens with the word Ani, “I,” introducing an
forward motion. Contemplation spawns individual whose self-absorbed obsession
In a book concerned with national calam-
ity, the central chapter focuses upon the comprehension of responsibility and con- with his hardships alienates him from his
sequently moves the gever toward reconcil-
misfortunes of an individual, offering a surroundings.
portrait of how one suffering person con- iation with G-d. The chapter closes with the name of G-d,
tends with G-d and copes with travail. The illustrating that the gever has learned to look
sufferer navigates through the morass of his beyond the narrow scope of his own grief.
misery, experiencing religious growth along Though G-d never directly intervenes in the
the way. Every person who experiences chapter (or in the book), in this final sec-
adversity can regard this gever’s journey as The individual continues tion the sufferer hears G-d’s words (verses
his own. to feel entrapped, taunted 57), senses His immanence (verses 57), and
Chapter Three omits the major motifs of and tormented. anticipates the restoration of Divine justice
Eicha’s other chapters, including the fall (verses 58–59).
of Yerushalayim and the Beit HaMikdash, To arrive at these conclusions, the gever By the end of his process of introspection,
and the suffering, starvation and exile of
the Judeans. There are no priests, kings draws from his deep resources of faith, the gever has indeed found G-d, deep within
depicted at the core of the chapter, the piv-
or leaders, no maidens or young men, no otal center of the book (verses 21–39). The the recesses of his own inner being.
vulnerable, dying children and no hint of a gever at the beginning of the chapter (verses ■ Adapted from Dr. Yael Ziegler’s new book,
national tragedy. Even the suffering of the 1–20) is not the same as the gever at its con- Lamentations: Faith in a Turbulent World
individual is not directly connected to the (Maggid, 2021).
events of 586 BCE. clusion (verses 52–66), though his external
circumstances appear unchanged.
Instead, this chapter is uniquely concerned Nevertheless, the ending of the chapter is far
with theological reflection, considering the from triumphant. The suffering gever resur- 1 While both Chapters One and Two contain first-person
nature of G-d and His interactions with faces in 3:52–66, his plight still miserable, his accounts, the individual speaker seems to represent
a collective “I” of Yerushalayim, rather than a lone
humans (verses 21-39). The suffering indi- immediate prospects grim. The individual individual.
vidual of this chapter seeks and finds hope
in G-d – the only lengthy message of hope continues to feel entrapped, taunted and
tormented. Yet, while the gever’s external
in the book of Eicha appears at its center circumstances have not changed, he has cer- Dr. Yael Ziegler is a lecturer in Tanach at
(verses 21–26). The core of the chapter also tainly undergone an inner transformation. Matan and at Herzog College.
discusses the lessons one may draw from
suffering (verses 27–30), and several erro- The final section of the chapter illustrates A member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau
neous conclusions one should scrupulously the individual’s astonishing development. mizrachi.org/speakers

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