So..Does Everything Happen for a Reason or Not?

         This week in Megillot, we discussed Perek Gimmel and the many questions that it raises. The first and foremost question that we addressed was- who is the Gever???

         We saw two suggestions, one from Rashi and one from Ibn Ezra. Rashi suggested that the Gever is simply Yirmiyahu speaking from a more personal perspective instead of the previous objective view. He finds evidence in that there are similar phrases used in this Perek that have been used in other books of Yirmiyahu. However, in class, we decided that this didn't really make sense, as Yirmiyahu still wrote Eicha. Ibn Ezra suggested that the Gever represents the "universal man", or the person who suffers. He finds proof in that this Perek doesn't explicitly describe the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and therefore it can be seen as a generic account of suffering.

          Perek Gimmel was split into three sections, each with subsections. The first subsection of the first section is pasukim 1-11. In this section, the Gever believes that the world is chaotic and arbitrary and it seems like he is too self-absorbed in his feeelings of pain and entrapment to understand that his suffering could be because of him. Moving on to the next section, pasukim 12-18, the Gever still seems very deep in his suffering, believing that the destruction and pain was targeted, which he believes makes it cruel. He seems to lose all hope in G-d.

         In the next two sections, an odd transition occurs. In pasukim 19-20, the Gever sort of takes a step back. He had been complaining about everything that "He" did and everything that came from "Him", and finally, in pasuk 18, he said "G-d". This causes him to stop and reflect. He remembers the pain and the bad experiences and expresses his bitterness that it all comes from G-d. In pasukim 20-24, the Gever realizes that G-d can also be good, which gives him hope that maybe his relationship with G-d can be repaired.

         In the last two sections, the Gever comes to an important conclusion. In pasukim 27-30, he recognizes that sometimes suffering can be good and maybe G-d inflicts pain for a reason. In pasukim 31-39, he decides that everything, both good and bad, comes from G-d. He isn't cruel and He only punishes if man sins.

         Paul Thagard, psychologytoday.com, discusses whether or not things happen for a reason. He suggests, and I'm not saying that I agree with this, that there is one problem with believing that G-d does everything for a reason: There is no evidence that things stem from the fact that G-d wants it to happen, other that they happened. He also writes, "The idea that chance is an objective property of the universe was advocated in the nineteenth century by the great American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, who called this doctrine tychism, from the Greek word for chance...is often interpreted as implying that some events such as radioactive decay are inherently unpredictable." This basically means that events do not happen by chance. However, he continues on to say that many events should been seen as accidents.

Link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hot-thought/201002/does-everything-happen-reason-0

Everything Comes From G-d

In this week's Megillot class, we discussed the first half of Perek Gimel. In Perek Gimel, there is a radical change in speaker, either thought to be Yirmiyahu (Rashi) or a "universal man" directed towards any man who has suffered (Ibn Ezra). Anywho, the Gever begins in a state of depression and feels entrapped/encircled/walled up, due to the fact that he feels he's fighting a losing battle. The Gever is stumbling in the darkness and cannot find his way. The Gever concludes that there is an arbitrary nature to the destruction, and that his prayers are being shut out.

However, he quickly transforms and adopts the idea that G-d's anger was intentional, and the pain that He inflicted on the Gever was intentional, thus eliminating the feeling of chaos/arbitrariness/randomness. And he therefore concludes that he is finished with a G-d who could inflict pain. He's given up hope in G-d. In Pesukim 19-20, he pleads that the reader remember all the pain that his "nefesh" (soul) suffered at the hands of G-d.

Then, we encounter the complete transition of the Gever. He begins his next words a changed man, with the idea of perhaps repairing his relationship with G-d imbued in him. Hashem has the ability to act with chesed and mercy. Hashem is good to those who have hope and faith in Him. Therefore, if it's deserved, maybe it's good to suffer. Then, the Gever concludes that G-d doesn't afflict man to be spiteful or cruel, but rather, G-d only punishes man when man sins.

So, let's review the evolution of the Gever. At first (Pesukim 1-11), he believed the world was chaotic and arbitrary, and adopted a self-absorbed attitude. Then (Pesukim 12-18), he became convinced that the destruction and pain was targeted, which makes it cruel, and he loses all hope in G-d. In Pesukim 19-20 (which serve as a transition to the next part of the Perek), he asks that his pain be remembered, and expresses his bitterness that this is all from G-d. After transforming, he declares that G-d can be good, and this idea might give him hope that his relationship will be repaired (21-26). Later, he considers suffering to be good, as there might be a reason to why G-d inflicts pain. In his last hurrah (for now), he understands that everything, both good and bad, comes from G-d. He's not cruel and He only punishes if man sins.

I think that the Gever is raising such an important idea. Oftentimes, when tragedy occurs, we immediately attribute it to G-d. However, when we are prosperous, we fail to realize that G-d is behind it all. That's precisely the point of Kohelet, due to the fact that when gathering the harvest, it is easy to believe that man is the source of his success and to completely ignore the fact that it was Hashem who provided him with his array of crops. Sefer Kohelet teaches us that G-d is truly in control and that man is beneath Him. This is the reason for why we read Sefer Kohelet on Sukkot. Eicha also further instills this concept. Our belief in G-d needs to be eternal; Judaism is not a pick and choose religion. Therefore, when the Gever realizes this, he's able to re-evaluate his actions, and shows even further how merciful and just G-d is.

Hashem only punishes us if we deserve it, but perhaps the most unique and special part is that He's willing to take us back. G-d never rejects us. As we saw in Devarim, we will always be able to return to G-d. Suffering does not have to be permanent, and the faster we realize what we've done, we can proceed and re-establish our connection to G-d.

Perek 3-- Maybe all the suffering will eventually make sense

After going our Chavruta sheets, this week we went over the first part of perek gimmel. In perek gimmel, the Gever, a random man was introduced. According to Ibn Ezra, the approach we learned in class, the Gever represents universal man. The Gever is a general reflection and response to man's suffering. In this section we see the Gever's response to suffering.
     In 1-11 the Gever is so caught up in how the world is so chaotic and random that he cannot even grasp the bigger picture. In this section he is self absorbed just focusing on HIS pain.
     In passukim 12-18 he recognizes that the pain is targeted which causes him to lose all hope in G-d.
     In passukim 19-20 he focuses on pain and horror. He is upset knowing that it all comes from G-d. This is the start of his transformation. Realizing that G-d causes the pain is key to the transformation.
     In passukim 21-26 he realizes that if G-d does all the bad then he also has to do the good because there are some beautiful things. He looks to this thought to give him hope that he can fix his relationship with Hashem.
     In 23-30 he finally realizes that maybe there is a reason when people suffer. Maybe they did something and deserve it.
     In the last section, 31-39 the Gever sees that good and bad both come from G-d. He does have a good side and does not just bring pain across people for no reason.

I had a big question after this. People suffer constantly even if they do not deserve it so how does it make sense that people are only punished and suffer when they do not deserve it?
       Soon after we learned in Devarim that G-d said if people do not follow him and if it gets bad enough he will do all of these things that he ended up doing to Yerushalayim. He said that people would collectively suffer and he would not judge the people individually.
 This gives me a little bit of justice explaining why the children and innocent ones were punished, but what about today? People continually suffer even if they do not deserve it but there is no reason. I seem to suffer with this question constantly and cannot find an answer.
 This made me remember something that I learned a while back ago. I learned that everything that G-d has done to us was shown somewhere back in the torah but we did not realize what it meant until we somehow connected it to the certain event. In the perek in Devarim we see that everything it said happened to Yerushalayim, Like most of my blogs, I know it does not connect perfectly because in Devarim it was a warning and in Perek Gimmel of Eicha it was a result, but I thought it was pretty similar. I also am applying the whole " Everything G-d does is hinted in the Torah" thing to people's suffering in general. Maybe one day we will realize that G-d hinted the suffering in the Torah and we did not realize or maybe we will learn that suffering in general is like a "reward." It does not make any sense now because we do not understand our suffering but maybe one day we will see it was hinted in the Torah and everything will make sense. I do not know, just a thought. Good shabbos to all!

          The sefer uses many words that each have so much detail, starting from the very beginning. The first passuk says that Yerushaliam is "badad" alone. When we look closer at this word we see that it is mainly used in tanach in reference to tzora'at. So why is it being used here? 

          In the case of tzora'at the person who says the bad things is punished by having to be by themselves "badad" for a week. They are punished this way because they have brought it upon themselves, they did something to deserve this. Similarly we can see that Yerushaliam is punished because of what she did and she brought it upon herself. Now she needs to be alone. 

          We see from this how much meaning and expression Yirmiyaho puts into each word and each passuk which can be very hard. It's easier to express emotion when you are talking to someone in person with things like tone of voice and body language, but if you are sending a text or writing an e-mail you are limited in way of expression. We can see the extent that Yirmiyaho goes to, to get his point across and he really helps us understand and feel what is happening.   

A Cruel G-d?

In class we struggled with the idea that G-d would punish not only those who sinned, but the completely innocent, the babies and children.

To try to reconcile this idea, we discussed how Devarim Perekim 28-30 G-d goes into explicit detail about what will happen when (implying that it is inevitable) Bnei Yisrael sins. He says that every single person in the nation will suffer, not just those who sinned. It describes exactly what the people experienced upon the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash and Yerushalayim.

We talked about how these Pesukim are sort of an excuse, for lack of a better word, for why G-d could punish everyone, including the innocent. However, is this supposed to keep our stomachs from churning when we hear about how the women would eat their own children out of starvation? Why does the fact that G-d previously promised this suffering make it any better that He would punish the innocent children? In my opinion, all that this tells us is that he decided long before the destruction of Yerushalayim that everyone would suffer. This still seems cruel to me. I don't think that the fact that He warned the people in the Torah that this destruction and suffering would take place changes how cruel  and merciless it seems to be.

Thoughts, people? I'm interested to see what y'all think. 

The Aftermath of Trauma

This week, we learned about the steps someone goes through after they experience trauma, and how Eicha is not only about the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash,but about anyone who has faced trauma.

The steps are shock, sadness, anger, blame, and then either depression or re-evaluation of life.

It is made clear in Eicha, that Yerushaliam has no one to comfort her and help her, but what if someone goes through tragedy, who does have someone comforting them.

If someone has someone to support them, like a friend or family member, after tragedy occurs than will they be able to skip some of these steps of moving on? Or will they at least be able to speed up the process? And if so, how can Eicha be about anyone in the post-trauma stage?

Revelation

Although I was not in class when we did the chavruta assignment for Perek ג, I heard a lot of classmates say that they thought the perek was about the "bipolar angry man" who was having some serious issues as he tried to come to terms with the destruction and his anger. Although it was not explicitly stated until passuk י״ח, we inferred that the Gever was ranting at G-d.

In פסוק י״ח, the Gever's perspective did a 360. Once he said, "I'm done with G-d," he took a step back. In פסוקים י״ט-כ׳, the Gever realized that, if G-d is in control of the bad things in life, He must also control the good things in life. From that point on, the Gever's internal dialogue turned into a discussion of his past actions and his punishment. All of this was spoken about in the context of G-d existence. The conclusion that this Perek leads us to draw is that our relationship with G-d is complicated but mendable. There is still hope.

Although we said that this section (יח-כ) is the epicenter of the Sefer because it's the middle section of the middle Perek, I don't think we emphasized the amazingness of the Gever's realization. I know for a fact that we have all pondered the following question at some point in our lives:

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Those of us who have been through an emotional trauma will know how hard it is to come to terms with what has happened and cope with it internally. We talked about the steps people take when responding to a trauma. Mrs. Perl even mentioned that people sometimes get stuck after the blame phase; the only way they would be able to move on is through getting a new perspective. I know from personal experience that moving on after a tragedy is one of the hardest things to do and I have seen people reject G-d because they can't accept that something this horrible could happen to them.

In recent news, there has been one particular story that caught my eye. It caught my eye because of the parents' incredible response to the loss of their children. Last week in Israel, the four children from the Gross family were poisoned with toxic insecticide that was inadvertently left in their house. The two daughters died soon after exposure and the two sons were taken to the hospital. In light of the loss of two children and the potential loss of two more, the parents made the following plea to Am Yisrael.

It's extremely moving to see how these parents have held on to their faith even through the hard times. I hope everyone can draw inspiration from their reaction to this trauma and see that we can blame G-d in the moment, but as she said, "Everything G-d does is for the best." We may not understand it or like it, but at least we can take the new perspective and move forward. 

Aicha+Psychology

To be honest, this is not an east subject to blog about but I'll try my best.
In perek gimmel, this guy goes on one crazy ride. He does a lot of developing, so I thought I'd try to relate some of his actions to what we're learning in psychology.

At first he is angry with G-d for punishing him arbitrarily. He doesn't even mention G-d's name for the first 17 passim. He feels like G-d is cruel and that everything that is happening is in no way connected to his actions. This is kindof like the egocentric attitude young children have because they have not yet developed the ability to think about things from others points of view. This guy (either Yirmiahu or the universal man) is only too see this from his point of view in the beginning. He doesn't feel that he has done anything wrong and is angry that he is being punished. He is not able to see the big picture and realize that G-d is not spiteful and is only punishing him because he sinned. In class, we talked about the different phases of trauma this guy is going through. Maybe the shock and anger at the beginning are the cause of egocentrism--he is unable to look at what's been happening clearly.

Then he says G-d's name. He is still angry and feels that G-d is cruel, but after saying G-d's name, walls come down. He begins to develop a bit more and is able to see that he is the target. It is not arbitrary. There is a G-d. It's like he's growing up and thinking more abstractly and realizing that even though he can't see G-d, He is still there (sort of like object permanence). He also realizes that if G-d in control of the world, then He is also the reason there is good in the world. Maybe then there is hope..G-d might do good things for him in the future. Once he recognizes this, everything changes. It's like he's hitting adolescence and the world is starting to make sense to him.

G-d is not spiteful. He is only punishing him for sinning. There is hope for this complicated relationship. We looked back into  Devarim and saw that G-d told the people that He would punish them if they ever sinned, so He's just following through with that. It's like a father telling his young son that if he gets in a fight with other kids at school, he will be punished. After getting in a fight at school, the father takes away the boy's electronics and doesn't let him watch the Super Bowl. The boy is angry at first and does not realize why his father is being so cruel. After calming down a bit, he sees his friend at school and his friend asks him what happened. He tells his friend that his father punished him. The friend asks why and the boy responds that his father told him not to fight at school. After talking about it and actually saying what he did aloud, he realizes that his father was just following through with the punishment he promised if the kid got in a fight. It all made sense now. The father is not trying to be mean. He is trying to teach the child. The kid must be punished so he can understand that fighting is wrong and won't do it again.

Basically, G-d is positively punishing the Jews. He brings destruction and chaos and pain to Yerushalayim in order to show the people that what they did was wrong and ensure that learn their lesson and don't repeat this behavior anymore.

Last Section of Perek ב

In the last section of פרק ב (in פסוקים יג–כב), we see the מקונן is sympathizing with ירושלים. The מקונן is saying "wow, that's rough. I understand what you're saying, and I'm sorry." The מקונן goes through and lists things that happened - the prophets failed her, the leaders misled her, everyone was shocked this could happen to ירושלים, all of her enemies swallowed her and were excited for her loss, and Hashem really took no pity on her. Instead of coming to the conclusion that ירושלים came to (to just be angry), the מקונן offers a different approach: to reach out to G-d and cry out to Him. In פסוקים כ–כב, we see that ירושלים actually does it! She cries out to G-d and actually communicates with Him - she's screaming about all of the things that are wrong, but it shows that she's willing to come back.

Since we've started learning איכה, I've had a hard time connected some of the pieces to my own life. It seems so distant and ancient, but this פרק I was really able to connect this to my life. Oftentimes, when we're upset about something, it's really hard for us to think logically and reasonably. It's much easier to just get frustrated and upset and focus on that. I know that's what I do most of the time. This is definitely what ירושלים's doing. But most of the time, when an outsider helps, we can think more reasonably. Someone else comes in and gives us a more logical approach to the situation and gives us advice on how to make things a little better. The מקונן tells ירושלים to reach out to G-d - not such a profound, unique idea - just a logical one that ירושלים was unable to come to at that time. After she does it though, she's able to calm down a little bit though.

In פרק ב ירושלים cannot continue in her crying. After so many tears and sorrow, she abruptly stops. She cannot continue describing why she is in pain. She cannot fathom what has happened to her city and the innocent people inside of it. But when it is the מקונן's turn to speak, he encourages her to continue crying. Why would the מקונן encourage this behavior? 

We spoke about the idea in class that when you stop crying it means you stop caring. In this situation ירושלים was sad about G0d's abandonment to her. This means that she cared about her relationship with G0d. But once she stops caring and stops crying for her loss, it means that she has given up on a relationship. The מקונן doesn't want her to give up on the relationship that they had. 

Crying is similar to davening. Crying is a way of communicating to G0d about your feelings whether it is praising or asking or how could you do this. When you stop davening, you stop wanting a relationship with G0d or you don't have anything to ask for. It is kind of like you stopped caring to have a relationship with him when you stop davening. 

We need to remember that G0d is there for us to communicate with Him, so we need someone like the מקונן to come and urge us to cry again. 

The Haftorah: a different side of our story?

In the Haftorah reading for this past week's Parshat Mishpatim, Yirmiyahu delivers a frightening message of impending doom for the Jews in Yerushalayim. The Jews really messed up this time, because they went against the will of God and harmed their fellow Jews. God commanded them to let their Jewish slaves go free, which they did. But then, the Jews chased after their ex-slaves and and forced them back into servitude. God becomes very mad at the Jews for such a horrible act, and through Yirmiyahu, delivers the following message:

"Therefore, so says the Lord: You have not hearkened to Me to proclaim freedom, every one to his brother and every one to his neighbor; behold I proclaim freedom to you, says the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and I will make you an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18. And I will deliver the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not kept the words of the covenant which they made before Me when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts. 19. The princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the officers and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20. I will deliver them into the hand[s] of their enemies and into the hand[s] of those who seek their lives, and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of the earth. 21. And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes I will deliver into the hand[s] of their enemies and into the hand[s] of those who seek their lives, and into the hand[s] of the army of the king of Babylon who have gone up away from you. 22. Behold I command, says the Lord, and I will return them to this city, and they shall fight against it and capture it, and burn it with fire, and the cities of Judah I will make desolate without an inhabitant."

Does this look frighteningly familiar to anyone else? It's the same time period, talking about the same characters and empires, about the same downfall and exile, and about the spiral of doom destined for Yerushalayim! The princes and officers- it's all there! Could this be a "behind-the-scenes" look at what Yerushalayim is being punished for? Or perhaps is this a separate incident at the same time? Most importantly, though- why have we not heard more about this?! One would think that this would be a story worth mentioning when describing Yerushalayim's guilt. Or, from a separate vantage-point, why is this not brought up around Tisha- B"av time? This would really help us understand the meaning of "baseless hatred" for fellow Jews, a main reason the temple was destroyed.

Once again, I leave everyone with plenty of questions and very few answers. If you have any ideas, or even more questions, feel free to comment!

How Could You?

The start of these Pesukim are Yerushalaim fighting back asking G-d how could He do this to her? She says in Pasuk 20: Look! who else have You done this to before? Because of what You did, G-d, the mothers are forced to eat their children. This is the state we are now in. You did this, G-d. How could you kill these innocent people like you killed the priest and the Navis.

Before, we saw that Yerushalaim said that she sinned, and she was accountable for that. She recognized that she had sinned and that it's her fault that there was all this destruction. At one point, she said that she would no longer talk and she was done. Now she is coming back and pouring out all the anger she has onto G-d. She's turning the situation around and now it's Yerushalaim's anger towards G-d. 

  

Yerushalaim takes the worst thing ever out of this situation. She mentions how the innocent children are being eaten by their mothers. Before, she said how the children were dying of starvation. The innocent children fainting in the streets because they have nothing to eat. Here, it's so much worse. It's like she is saying before I tried to talk to You and show You how horrible this situation but it didn't work so I'm going to make it sound worse. Now, I'm telling you that things have gotten so bad that mothers are eating their own children. You need to fix this, it's all Your fault that this is happening. 

In Pasuk 21 she says: You G-d, You were killing all Your leaders, but at the same time the young and the old, maidens and young men have fallen by sword. You slaughtered them on the day of your anger. You slaughtered them with no mercy. In Pasuk 22 she says: You declared a day of celebration by gathering all my enemies towards me. No one escaped, no one survived. 

She is saying why couldn't you just hold the people that were accountable for their sins? Why are You killing at the young, innocent people too? Here, she recognizes that there was sin involved. That it was sin that caused this all to happen. She is still going off at G-d saying how could you kill all the innocent people? She is saying that there were people who should be punished because they did sin, but just to stop killing all the innocent people. 

To understand or not to understand? That is the question.

This week, we finished Perek Bet in class. At least, I heard we finished Perek Bet. Anyway, in an attempt to find out what was happened in Eicha while I was sick, I asked a few people what had happened over the course of the Perek. They told me that there was a heavy emphasis on G-d as the enemy and on the destruction of babies, the most innocent creatures in existence. While I was hearing this, I was thinking about the Chacham. I was thinking about the Chachem because often, when disaster strikes, the first thing people do is try to understand what happened and why it happened.

At the beginning of Eicha, we hear about ירושלים's immense sadness. As the story moves forward, her attitude transforms from completely melancholy to immensely angry. She's going through the cycle of grief, as anyone who has been through an immense loss would know. Not only is she grieving, but she is trying to comprehend why innocent children would be killed.

In Kohelet, we talked a lot about how the various characters had trouble with finding meaning through following G-d because G-d's justice system in this world is imperfect. If they could have seen the destruction of ירושלים, and the Yirei Elokim would have told them that G-d would deliver justice in the next world, this is what they would have said:

Well, in the context, that answer would have sounded extremely absurd. In truth, I don't think I understood the problems of the characters in Kohelet until now. I know that there's injustice in the world. I didn't realize that it meant that innocent children would die in the streets as they begged their mothers for food. How are we supposed to understand that? Are we supposed to understand it?

Let's take this into a more modern context. During the Holocaust, children died of starvation in the streets in massive numbers. Still more children were immediately sent to gas chambers, where they choked to death. Why? What could they have possibly have done? It's no surprise that so many people lost their faith following the Holocaust. Even so, there were some people who maintained their faith in G-d. I wonder if their current faith has anything to do with the choice to not try to understand. I really wonder...

Relating to the Newtown Incident- Do not read if you are in a jolly mood

This week we were so fast in our learning and we knocked down two passukim! ( Well kind of, but techinally 1 1/2 because we did not finish reviewing the third one.) Since we did not finish Perek Gimmel completely, I am just going to focus on Perek Bet.
Well anyways, in Perek Bet in passukim 1-10 the Mikonen explains the destruction of the city and the Beit Hamikdash that was done.
In 11-12 Yerushalayim herself speaks. She is so devastated and heartbroken that she just gives a short one in those two passukim. She explains how devastated she was and she cannot cry anymore because she has already cried so much. G-d took the lives of innocent children who did absolutely nothing wrong. She has to stop talking after because she is too upset.
In 13- 19 Yermiyahu speaks again. He first starts off by going through everything that went wrong for Yerushalayim. He then acknowledges her pain. Lastly, he encourages Yerushalayim to cry to Hashem again and talk to Him herself.
In 20-22 Yerushalayim gains the strength to talk to Hashem. She is so angry and heartbroken in this section. The reason why she is so upset is because Hashem's anger did unimaginable damages. The anger caused women to eat their own children, young and old men to die, and no one was spared and no one escaped. This is the ending of the Perek.
Personally, I thought reading this was so sad. A huge question that came to my mind was How could women eat their own children? Even if they were starving, wouldn't the common thing be to just die of starvation. Instead they actually ate their loves, their family, their innocent children. Although this is so horrifying and sickening, I think that this raises even a bigger question. Why did the children deserve to get killed? What did the innocent children do?
Sadly, hearing about the young children being killed has not only been heard of here. Turn on the news and watch for a little bit. It breaks my heart to think about how innocent children even these days are killed for no apparent reason.  I remember last year going on twitter and seeing the trending hashtag, #PrayforNewtown. After I did some researching, I heard about the shooting that took place in the elementary school and the innocent students that were killed. I was shocked. I was speechless. I honestly did not understand and I still do not. They were elementary school students just going to get an education. They were not people who murdered others and brought the world horror. Just your average innocent child. I hate to talk about such a depressing topic and I know this extremely heavy and heartbreaking but when we learned about the innocent children being killed in class I immediately thought of modern times. I immediately thought of the news and various awful stories about innocent children. I especially thought of the Newtown incident. Yet again I apologize for this depressing article but I think it is important to realize that these issues, sadly, are even common today. So incomprehensible and so awful, but as they always say, G-d has a plan.

Yerushalayim and the Neheneh

Perek Bet give us another look, although brief, into the thoughts of Yerushalayim. She resurfaces for only two pessukim to give us a thought:

יא. כָּלוּ בַדְּמָעוֹת עֵינַי חֳמַרְמְרוּ מֵעַי נִשְׁפַּךְ לָאָרֶץ כְּבֵדִי עַל שֶׁבֶר בַּת עַמִּי בֵּעָטֵף עוֹלֵל וְיוֹנֵק 
בִּרְחֹבוֹת קִרְיָה:
11. My eyes are spent with tears, my innards burn; my heart is poured out in grief over the destruction of the daughter of my people, while infant and suckling faint in the streets of the city.

יב. לְאִמֹּתָם יֹאמְרוּ אַיֵּה דָּגָן וָיָיִן בְּהִתְעַטְּפָם כֶּחָלָל בִּרְחֹבוֹת עִיר בְּהִשְׁתַּפֵּךְ נַפְשָׁם אֶל חֵיק אִמֹּתָם:
12. They say to their mothers, "Where are corn and wine?" as they faint like one slain, in the streets of the city, while their soul ebbs away on their mothers' bosom.

Yerushalayim is focusing on the suffering of her children. She says that their souls pour out, they are faint and weak from starvation, and they lie among the wreckage in the street. She says that she has no tears left to cry. She is devastated over the fact that G-d has punished the innocent children by taking their lives, and she stops speaking altogether. 

I think this is similar to what we learned about the Neheneh in Kohelet. (Oh dear, I feel like I've written these words 436,002 times by now, but here goes!) The Neheneh starts to question G-d when he looks at the fact that the guilty go unpunished and the innocent suffer. This ultimately leads the Neheneh to lose all hope in the existence of G-d. 

Yerushalayim has yet to abandon all hope in G-d. It will be interesting to see where she goes from here in the way she views G-d.

G-d's forever

The themes and the ideas:

Hashem destroyed them 

Hashem rejected them and oxhibited, wrath towards them

G-d's the enemy 

focuss on the destrution of the leaders in the in the City. 

The relanship between yirushalim and Hahsem they are both angry 

We can see that Gd is upset and angry about something. There is a lot of anger and destruction in these pesukim. The Mikonain is the one mainly talking. The Mokinan is describing "how and what Gd is doing". Gd is angry at different people and is destroying them with his anger that is built up in him. Gd is taking his anger out on the leaders, and is blaming the leaders for all of the destruction that is happening. 

G-d's anger Caused him not to remember the  Beit Hamikdash. 

It's like G-d became an enemy - the relanship between G-d and the people

G-d's anger caused 

Eat tHeir own children 

No one escaped/ or spared

Young and old 

Gd is Helping us and we just have to wait for Him and not give up. We shouldnt Complain about things beCause G-d is Helping us

Exile- Modern vs. Ancient Times

         So, we finally return from our hiatus from megillot blogs. This week is a bonus blog, with a summary from Eicha Perek Bet, AND Gimmel! How exciting!! When looking through these perakim, we found similarities and differences from the first perek and we found new themes and ideas.

         In Perek Bet, we learned about the concept of אתבש, which is the order of the wording between the first and last pasuk, the second and second-to-last pasuk, and so on. We saw that the wording was very similar between the pairs of pesukim, which could possibly be showing that every word was thought out to convey meaning, which tells you something about the themes of the perek.

         So, from the wording, we concluded that the themes and ideas included: G-d's fury at the entire nation, which involved the destruction of the leaders and the children and G-d's withdrawal of support ("he removed his right hand"), Yerushalayim's response to the anger ("How could you do this to all of your children and all your people? It's not right to take out your anger on the innocent"), and the communication and relationship between Yerushalayim and Hashem, even though both were angry.

         When comparing and contrasting Perakim Alef and Bet, we saw that in Perek Alef, loneliness was the theme, while in Perek Bet, it seemed more focused on anger. In Perek Alef, Yerushalayim recognizes that the punishment is because of her sins, but in Perek Bet, she seems to be blaming G-d because the innocent were punished.

         We haven't yet discussed Perek Gimmel in class, so I'll just provide the themes and ideas that my group came up with. For the first section of Perek Gimmel, we saw that a new speaker came, "הגבר", and that he seemed miserable because G-d continues to throw obstacles in front of him. In the second section, something super weird happens. All of a sudden, the speaker changes tactics and starts talking about how merciful G-d is, and how He only punishes for a reason, and He doesn't willingly cause His people to suffer. The third section seems to be a mix of both emotions, will a hint of happiness, when he talks about returning to G-d, and a bit of tragedy, when he asks G-d to destroy the enemies.

          When learning about these Perakim, I couldn't help but think about how the common people feel. Before Perek Gimmel, it was just the Mikonen and Yerushalayim. After seeing how the third speaker felt, I decided to see how destruction in today's age takes a toll on people. On theguardian.com, stories from people who have been kicked out of their homes surfaced. A few snippets of what it feels like comes to light. One woman discussed the tragedy after the Haiti earthquake of 2010- "After the earthquake, we slept in the streets. I was in agony; there were dead bodies and people crying." There are too many other people to discuss them all, but most had the same responses. Many people were forced to leave the country because of government wars or because they were forced out by soldiers. Either way, reading about these people's reactions can give us an idea of what the Jewish people were feeling.

Link: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/14/displaced-refugees-andrew-mcconnell-photographs

In Perek 3, we read about a man who was effected by the destruction in Yirushalayim. In the beginning he is very angry with Hashem. He is very angry about all the destruction and does not think it was fair. He feel that Hashem made him nothing and that He went out of the way to bring destruction. He suddenly changes his opinion. He starts to say that there is still hope and Hashem didn't really want to bring the destruction. He starts to ask Hashem for forgiveness. He also praises Hashem. What could make him have a sudden change of heart?  

     Flip Flop

     As we begin Perek 3 we are introduced to a man who tells us about how G-d reflected upon him. Although G-d made him suffer and he was put through a lot., he does not give up.He knows that he was put through all of this because he has sinned, but G-d will still forgive him. In addition to this he even starts to praise G-d instead of being mad at him. He does not want to be mad at G-d because he knows he sinned and that it will be ok. Later he tells Hashem that Yirushalayim was mocked by others and they should be punished. Why aren't they being punished along with her. Didn'`t they sin also. Usually when a group of kids get in trouble they all have consequences how did this not apply in this situation?

We Didn't See God

All this destruction in Eicha reminds me of the Holocaust. Then I was reminded by this text we read on Bronfman by Aharon Appelfeld, an Israeli novelist and Holocaust survivor. 

"God did not reveal himself in Auschwitz or in other camps. The survivors came out of hell wounded and humiliated. They were betrayed by the neighbors among whom they and their forefathers had lived. They were betrayed by Western culture, by the Germans, by the language and literature they admired so much. They were betrayed by the great beliefs: liberalism and progress. They were betrayed by their own bodies

What to hold onto to live a meaningful life? It was not clear to many that the denial of one's Judaism, which characterized the emancipated Jew, was no longer possible. After the Holocaust, it was immoral. No wonder many of the survivors went on to Israel. No doubt, they wanted to get a place where they could leave their victimhood behind and assert responsibility over their fate...

But this is not a story with a happy ending. A doctor who survived, from a religious background, who sailed to Israel with us in June 1946, told us: "We didn't see God when we expected him, so we have no choice but to do what he was supposed to do: we will protect the weak, we will love, we will comfort. From now on, the responsibility is all ours."" 

What do you think of this text? Does it speak to you?

Look at the first paragraph again. Doesn't it kind've remind you of perek aleph? God turned away and didn't help them, yes, that's been reflected everywhere so far. But this sense of "betrayal" that was expressed in perek aleph is also very prominent in the first paragraph of this. They were betrayed by the "Western culture, by the Germans, by the language.." just like the Jews all the way during the time of the destruction felt betrayed by the nations they had trusted. "They were betrayed by their own bodies"- Do you think that means that they betrayed themselves? How did they betray themselves? Is it wrong to trust other nations?

The last paragraph reminds me of Perek Bet. They were expecting God to help them out, but god wasn't there. God, instead, decided to act like the enemy. In Eicha, the women and children are then left to fend for themselves. In the piece above, they took all the responsibilities that had once belonged to God. Do you think that Eicha will come to a similar conclusion? Completely different? Is such a statement sacrilegious? 

Comic Time!

Charlie Brown is Yerushalayim in Perek Bet and Lucy is Hashem. Lucy is turning into the enemy and purposefully making things difficult for poor Charlie. 

Later, the narrator/Linus understands that Charlie is going through a lot of suffering and lets him cry it out, confirming his frustrations, so Charlie can continue talking to him. 

If Both the Innocent and the Guilty Are Gone, Who is Left?

In this week's Megillot class, we delved into Perek Bet of Eicha. In the first part of the Perek, Pesukim 1-10, the Mekonen offers an objective description of the destruction of the city and the Beit Hamikdash. G-d's anger/fury caused Him to not remember the Beit Hamikdash, He profaned her kings and officers and "swallowed," with no pity, enabling a fire to consume them. Hashem bent His bow like an enemy, killed "pleasing" people, and stopped protecting them. Hashem completely uprooted the Beit Hamikdash, by rejecting it and exiling the priests. Therefore, the elders and the "betulot" are mourning and silent. The themes of this section include: the destruction of the leaders and the city and rejection by G-d, and the idea of G-d becoming like an enemy, as there is a lack of relationship between G-d and the people.

The second section of the Perek, Pesukim 11-12, describes Yerushalayim and the children. Yerushalayim's insides burn, her children are faint, and there is destruction in the streets. The children's souls pour out, they are faint, and the destruction continues to be widespread. There is the incorporation of the idea of "tzadik vera lo," and Yerushalayim cannot cry anymore because of the implications of G-d's anger and fury, as it takes the lives of innocent children. 

In the third portion of the Perek, Pesukim 13-19, Yerushalayim ceases her speaking, and the Mekonen takes over. He validates Yerushalayim's pain, by acknowledging that the leaders misled her and the enemies made a mockery out of her. Furthermore, Hashem caused this to occur by fulfilling the promise not to show pity. However, Yerushalyaim cannot "bottle this up." She needs to pour out her heart before G-d and cry again because of the situation with her children. 

In the final segment of the Perek, Pesukim 20-22, Yerushalayim begins to speak again. "Have you ever done anything like this before (that the situation has deteriorated so quickly) that women eat their own children while the priests/prophets die in the Beit Hamikdash? The people have lost all sense of morality!" Yerushalayim screams. "On the day of your anger, you caused young and old, men and women, and children to be slaughtered without mercy, while the enemies rejoiced." 

Yerushalayim laments the innocent in this Perek. She bemoans the fact that her pure children have been slaughtered, and her people demoralized and eating their own to remain alive. She plays the role of a parent, completely broken over the loss of her children. How could G-d destroy those who cannot even think of sin yet? And why is there no mention of the sin that brought about this utter destruction that could at least justify His anger? Is Yerushalayim giving up hope?

However, the Mekonen seems to be advocating the idea of re-building the relationship between G-d and the people. Will this help to repair G-d and Yerushalayim's connection? Or will it cause more pain? I'm interested in seeing what happens as we continue. 

A Destructive G-d?

I wouldn't say that Aicha is anywhere near as confusing as reading Kohelet, but at this point in the book, I'm not really sure what to think. I feel like everything I've ever been told about G-d and His relationship with His people and His city has been put to the test. We always hear about G-d's abundant mercy and love for His people. He never wants to punish us and He is always protecting His holy city, Yerushalayim. He is the creator of morality and ethics which we discussed in our Bareishit class a few years ago. Now, all of that is being turned upside down.

Every other pasuk is about G-d's rage and the destruction and pain He has caused. Yerushalayim is in so much pain and doesn't even want to talk to G-d for a while before the Mekonan makes her talk again. She is so angry and hurt by G-d. She feels like G-d has betrayed her. He has destroyed her and her people. Even in the first part of perek gimmel, the mysterious speaker says that G-d has shut out his prayers. Yerushalayim says that G-d has created a situation that forces mothers to eat their own children. G-d is killing even the most innocent babies. It just doesn't make sense to me.

How could G-d create a situation that forces people to act in such an unethical and immoral way? G-d is killing babies? What does that even mean? The G-d I've been learning about since Pre-K would never do all of this to His people. It seems like all of this is meant to give a new meaning to "You must fear G-d."

I've tried thinking about all of this with G-d representing a different role in our lives. If He is our father then it just sounds like He is the abusive parent that gets too angry and ends up being destructive. If He is the king then He seems like that evil king in the movies who takes out His wrath on even the most innocent of His kingdom. How could G-d be portrayed like this? Why does it seem like He is the enemy? How could He turn Yerushalayim away and make her so angry that she almost gives up on their whole relationship?

It just doesn't make sense.

This week we read through Perek 3. In this Perek, the speaker is a man from Bnei Yisroel. There is not that much information about who he is, but he goes through a lot of emotions through out the Perek.
He starts of by saying "I am the man who has seen the affliction by the rod of His wrath." and goes explaining what G-d did to him and how he is suffering. He then goes on saying that he still has hope. He says that G-d does not destroy for no reason, only because someone is worthy of destruction. He is recognizing that G-d destroyed him, because he sinned,and eventually g-d will forgive him and feel compassion towards him. He then even says that he sinned, and he shouldn't even be complaining - "Why should a living man complain? A man for his sins."
Recognizing you have sinned and recognizing that your sin is the reason why G-d destroyed you is already a giant step, he still then goes on. He then talks to Hashem. The man tells G-d that he recognizes he sinned and rebelled, and is basically asking for forgiveness. After coming to a conclusion that G-d will forgive him, he then point out that the other nations mocked Yerushaliam when she was in pain, and says that they should be punished.
When reading this Perek, on question came to mind. How come the man who actually was the one who sinned, was able to go through so many steps of repentance in one Perek, when Yerushaliam could not in two?

But, The Innocent Babies!

One of the major themes that emerged in Perek Bet was about how Hashem killed the innocent babies. The babies didn't do anything, giving the metaphor that not everyone in Yerushalyim were sinners, but Hashem killed them anyways. The babies did nothing, but still lost their lives.

It is always fun to mix psychology and megillot! This week in psychology we started to learn about physical development of a human pertaining to developmental psychology. One of the main things that we learned was from the age of about 0-4 months, all a baby has is reflexes. It won't do much else, beside response to these reflexes.

The reflexes include a sucking reflex, a gripping reflex, and a toe curling reflex. When you place anything in a baby's palm, they will automatically grip it, and when you stroke the bottom of their feet, they will automatically curl their toes. These are just two or three of about seven main reflexes a baby has.

These reflexes show that babies are indeed very innocent. They don't do much in their infancy, and how could Hashem kill them for doing nothing? Babies are the epitome of what we see as faultless. Through this we see that Hashem was truly mad at the Jewish people if he killed every single one of them, even if they did nothing (like the babies).

G-d's Wrath Towards the Leaders

The main theme of these Pesukim are anger and destruction. The Mikonein starts off describing all the anger and destruction of G-d. This Perek is mostly the Mikonein talking and we don't hear Yisrael talking until later in the Perek when she comes to defend herself again. G-d's anger is probably the biggest theme in Pesukim 1-19:

1: G-d brought Bat Tzion into darkness with his anger. 

2: He destroyed them in His anger

3: In His anger, He cut down the strength and leaders of Yisrael.

4: He poured out his fury like fire

6: He poured out his fury on the king and priest

These few Pesukim show how angry G-d was. G-d is angry at his leaders. He is destroying the people with all the anger that is built up towards his leaders. His anger is described as fire something extremely destructive and can grow and grow and destroy everything in sight. With his anger he is making a big destruction through the land:

1: He cast down water onto the land

2: Hashem swallowed and didn't pity all the people of Yaakov.

3: He's removing his right hand and it burned in Yaakov a flaming fire that consumed everything

4: He bent like the bow of his enemy. He stood with His right hand stretched. He killed all those peasant to the eye.

5: He swallowed Yisrael and her palace and surroundings. 

7: He delivered the palace into the hands of the enemy. 

8: Hashem determined that He will destroy the walls of Bat Tzion. G-d is measuring a line to destroy. He didn't take bak His hand from swallowing. He destroyed His walls. 

9: Her gates sunk in the land. 

You can see that G-d's anger is strictly directed to his leaders. He is blaming the leaders for the reason of destruction. As the Mikonein describes the destruction he focuses on what is happening to the leaders:

2: He profaned the kingdom and his princes

6: He poured out His fury on the king and the priest

9: Her kings and priest are exiled 

As the whole city is being destroyed, it's the leaders that are being focused on. It is because it's trying to show that it was the leaders who led them astray. The fault is the leaders for causing such a horrible destruction.

פרק ב is all about G-d's anger and the destruction that he puts upon ירושלים. In פסוק ח it says, "He stretched out a line," when talking about all the destruction that was happening. When else would you see the phrase "stretching out a line" if not referring to measuring. When you measure, we use a ruler that guides us to find the exact length of another object. Why would this phrase be said here in a writing that is describing complete destruction? G-d doesn't seem to be having any mercy here. Not even for the innocent babies. He destroys everything. Why does G-d need a "measuring stick" or a guidance to destroy the city of ירושלים? 

ירושלים makes G-d seem like an enemy and a betrayer. But this is not the case. G-d wants us to succeed. G-d doesn't get enjoyment from destroying us. He wants us to be better people, so he has to give us punishment to learn our lesson. This way we won't make the same mistake twice. G-d knows he cannot be merciful in this situation, so he needs guidance to keep him from straying off course and being merciful. 

Sometimes there a situations when you don't want to do something, but you know it will benefit better in the end. You always need something to guide you in the right direction to stay on your task. 

ירושלים vs. the Children

In פרק ב, we found a list of words that were similar in both יא and יב.

I know I was wondering "what on earth could the message be" when Mrs. Perl pointed out this chiastic structure. When we looked further into it, we saw that the words were comparing the children with ירושלים. The death and destruction that happened in ירושלים is also happening to the children! Now I'm starting to think "HOW COULD THIS BE!?"
As we learned in class, this is exactly what ירושלים is saying and that is why she uses similar words. You can't get more innocent than a baby, how can Hashem kill innocent babies!? They didn't do anything wrong! To compare to קהלת - it's the ultimate צדיק ורע לו.
This is a big question that we often run into in our lives: How can Hashem do this? It wasn't enough that He was angry at the leaders, but He caused the death of innocent children!? By comparing the children to herself, ירושלים is essentially saying that she didn't really deserve this.
BUT WAIT A SECOND! In the last פרק we learned that at the end she really started to understand that she was deserving of a punishment.. We compared איכה to an argument between 2 girls. In this argument, ירושלים has now come full circle: she was at first totally in denial, then she finally admitted it, and now she's going back on it (if it was me I would say "okay I was just admitting that to be nice, but I totally lied.").
Okay, איכה got me - I'm finally interested to see what will come next with ירושלים!

יא  כָּלוּ בַדְּמָעוֹת עֵינַי, חֳמַרְמְרוּ מֵעַי--נִשְׁפַּךְ לָאָרֶץ כְּבֵדִי, עַל-שֶׁבֶר בַּת-עַמִּי:  בֵּעָטֵף עוֹלֵל וְיוֹנֵק, בִּרְחֹבוֹת קִרְיָה.  {ס}	11 Mine eyes do fail with tears, mine inwards burn, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the breach of the daughter of my people; because the young children and the sucklings swoon in the broad places of the city. {S}
יב  לְאִמֹּתָם, יֹאמְרוּ, אַיֵּה, דָּגָן וָיָיִן:  בְּהִתְעַטְּפָם כֶּחָלָל, בִּרְחֹבוֹת עִיר--בְּהִשְׁתַּפֵּךְ נַפְשָׁם, אֶל-חֵיק אִמֹּתָם.  {ס}	12 They say to their mothers: 'Where is corn and wine?' when they swoon as the wounded in the broad places of the city, when their soul is poured out into their mothers' bosom. {S}

Relapse of Yerushalayim?

In the first perek of Eicha, we learned that, despite what the Mikonen originally thought she would say, Yerushalayim did come to the realization that what happened to her was her own fault. She understood that all her problems were not because  her friends left her, but because of her own actions. These so-called friends were really her enemies, and she just didn't realize that all along, which caused this issue. She was going along with a crowd that was a bad influence. She was incredibly sad still, but in the end, she asked God to punish those who have wronged her.

At the end of that perek, we left with a feeling of progress. Yerushalayim came to her senses. She made the important realization of her guilt and our class was satisfied that even though she was distressed, we had passed through  this chaos and were now on our way to bigger and better things.
It  now appears that we have all been deceived.

At the end of perek bet, we heard back from Yerushalayim. She was again filled with intense sadness and emotion, how we left her before. No progress was made concerning that aspect; in fact, she seemed to be unable of feeling any more emotion towards God at one point because of emotional detachment. Yerushalayim, that crier of all criers, would not shed a tear. This, it seems, is a huge step backwards. - Yerushalayim seems to have severed ties with G-d- this is bad news. She then states that God removed the soul/ life from Yerushalayim and helpless infants, comparing herself to an innocent being. Then she begs the question: God, how could you kill innocent beings like Yerushalayim and helpless infants, who have obviously done nothing wrong?

Um, Yerushalayim...how can you imply that you have done nothing wrong? Didn't we just go through pesukim in perek aleph describing all the things that you most certainly did do wrong? What is going on here? Did she forget? Is Yerushalayim having a relapse of sorts? What do you think?

Happiness and Beauty Stems from the Inside

Has anyone ever told you that internal beauty and happiness is more important than external beauty and happiness. Well, I have and I personally live by that statement. It is not that any of us, aren't beautiful or happy on the outside, but I think that it is completely what is on the inside that counts more. If you have a happy and glowing personality, and not such a beautiful external appearance, I will most likely love you, because internal beauty makes a person.

Last week, we explored perek bet of Eicha, and took a closer look at Yerushalayim's internal struggle. Mrs. Perl pointed out that the difference about this destruction, is that Yerushalayim was destroyed from the inside out, not the wall in, like a usual destruction would happen. Her people were starved, and killed. The inside was angry and eventually empty. All that was left were the walls of the city, but nothing to fill them with.

When I heard this, all I could think of was that most of the people's sins before the city was destroyed, were internal. Meaning, they were punishing themselves by worshipping avodah zara, and listening to false prophet. They did it to themselves, they knew that they were sinning, but internally couldn't come to the point to admit to it, and that led them to destruction.

When people are ugly and regretful on the inside, but are too afraid to admit it, it can destroy them. Yerushalayim used to have so much internal beauty, but one thing went wrong, and the whole attitude of the city was turned upside down. We must be careful of what we do, because it can disrupt our internal beauty any point, even when we are least expecting it.

Internal Imbalance

I love it when Psych and Megillot collide. This past week in Psych, we learned all about emotions. This past week in Megillot, we learned פרק ב׳ of Eicha, in which G-d is portrayed as the excessively angry enemy of ירושלים. The descriptions of the manifestations of G-d's anger against the leadership of בני ישראל are so vivid that there's no denying that G-d was fed up with ירושלים. Of course, she doesn't realize this yet.

While I totally understand that there are some things that humans can't know or understand, there are definitely take-home lessons that can be learned from such incredibly extreme situations and emotions. Just for this moment, imagine that G-d is a person sitting in his psychiatrist's office (Lehavdil). The psychiatrist is the Dalai Lama. G-d tells the Dalai Lama that he gave בני ישראל so many chances to repent and they threw away all of their chances. After they threw away their final chance, G-d had so much anger bottled up inside that he had to let it out. For those in psychology, this is an example of the catharsis hypothesis. As we learned in psychology, studies have shown that letting off steam by acting aggressively actually makes your anger worse. In my own attempt to lower G-d's actions onto a level that I can understand, I imagine that G-d's anger was released in a way somewhat similar to what the catharsis hypothesis describes: letting out a little anger will lead to more and more aggression. As G-d is G-d, He was able to stop the active aggression in time. Now that he's sitting in Dr. Dalai Lama's office, and he's explaining his situation, Dr. Dalai Lama has a response.

According to Dr. Dalai Lama, anger is a form of energy that causes an internal energy imbalance and can block our view of reality. In order to face the problem, our method of solving it should be realistic. Our minds should be calm and we should look at the situation objectively. G-d would then say, "Okay, Doctor. Thanks for your help. I think I can calm down now." The end.

Now replace G-d in the psychiatrist's office with ירושלים. In the perek, G-d is portrayed as the most angry one, but the city herself seems pretty darn angry at G-d. If I were Dr. Dalai Lama, I would give her the same advice. This is the take-away lesson: don't let anger get the better of you so that you can calmly solve the problem. No souls leaving bodies necessary. Imagine what a better place the world would be if people followed this philosophy.

        At the beginning of Eicha, we see Yerushalayim talking a lot about all the horrible things that have happened to her. She has been destroyed and abandoned and has no one to comfort her. All the people have left and they are in exile. All the buildings, palaces, and walls have been torn down. Everything is gone and everything is over.
        When something like this happens, the person who it is happening to is not able to see the situation clearly. Obviously Yerushalayim is completely heartbroken and will take some time to really understand what has happened. The one thing she does not see at the beginning is that the destruction is a result of her sins. She blames G-d for everything that has happened.
        One Shabbos last year Rabbi Feighenbaum gave a class all about blaming others. He said that when something happens that isn't right our first thought is always, this can not be MY fault, its because someone else did something. Mainly this is because we don't want to think we can do something wrong becuase we think we are better than other people. When we start thinking reasonably we might find that this could have had something to do with what we did and maybe we don't always do everything right.  
        At first, Yerushalayim is very overwhelmed and looks for the best person to blame. Soon she will realize that she is at fault and got herself in this situation. Of course its easier to blame someone else but that still won't fix the situation.

Terrifying Imagery

I take back my thoughts from last perek- last perek was fine. Sure, it was pretty depressing or whatever, but it was generally okay. It didn't have anything too bad in it. The analogy of Sally and her friend worked perfectly; it was easy to relate to, and it had a few nice little lessons tied in there. Overall, I think that perek ended on a pretty good note.

Hopefully with that introduction you can begin to understand the utter horror I felt when going over the second perek. Nothing from the first perek prepared me for what would be written in the second perek. There were 9 long, consecutive pessukim that described in vivid detail just how angry and destructive God was. I mean, god wasn't just angry- God was abusive. God wasn't just mad at them- God was their enemy. God wanted to get back at them with fire and brimstone. There's punishing people for what they did wrong in a manner that makes sense... and then there's this, which goes beyond punishment into the realm of the evil and remorseless. At some point a line was crossed and after God crossed that line, nothing was off limits. I was going to pick a passuk to copy and paste but it's literally any passuk from 1-9 in perek 2. Like look- this is passuk 5: "The Lord is become as an enemy, He hath swallowed up Israel; He hath swallowed up all her palaces, He hath destroyed his strongholds; and He hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and moaning. " Wasn't God supposed to be on their team? How did God turn into the enemy and then just leave them there mourning and moaning? To me, God in this perek is a mix between Godzilla and a destructively abusive husband. This scares me. It makes me uncomfortable; it makes me queasy. It makes me uncomfortable with the notion of forgiving God for making the people feel like this. I can't seem to think that they could have done something that terrible to make themselves feel this kind of terror. I guess the reason why I think of 'abusive husband' is because this is juxtaposed right before all this imagery with women and children. So first you have phrases like "he hath slain all that were pleasant in the eye" (2:4), and then you have young, fainting, innocent children asking their mothers where the corn is. Maybe I'm just super sensitive about these things, but my first reaction to all this is a husband who is angry at his wife and chooses, not just to leave her, but to destroy her, both physically and mentally, taking everything she has, before he storms out and never comes back again. What do you guys think? Am I exaggerating by thinking this? What do you think about the angry God portrayed in this perek? Do you think the Yerushalayim got what she deserved? 

It's really hard for me to imagine that anyone deserves to go through something like that. I don't care how much she's exaggerating, if even an ounce of it is true, it sounds terrible. And the narrator must agree, because he tries to comfort her at the beginning. He understands. I don't understand, though, to be honest. 

Another Eicha blog, another Charlie Brown comic. This picture doesn't anything to do with the above post, really, but it has to do with what we've learned as a whole. Where has Yerushalayim gone wrong? 

Dear Yerushalayim, Don't Give Up. Sincerely, Yirmiahu

Well, I made it through another perek. We've moved on from sadness and loneliness to anger and fury. The mekonan goes through quite a few pasukim to tell us exactly how angry G-d was. He is angry at the leaders who have misled the people and He first directs His anger at the most important parts of the city and then makes his way to the outer parts. G-d is depicted here as cruel and vengeful. The people mourn and He continues to destroy. It is like He is the enemy. This entire perk makes G-d look pretty bad. In pasukim 11-12, Yerushalayim is distraught because even the infants are dying. She asks how G-d could kill such innocent babies. They have done nothing wrong and do not deserve to be punished. This adds to this ruthless image of G-d that this perek has been illustrating till now. Yerushalayim says she can no longer cry. She is the past that point--she is at the lowest level.

Then the Mekonan steps back in and first acknowledges the pain and suffering that Yerushalayim is going through. Then in pasukim 18-19, he gives her some advice. He tells her to cry out to G-d. She must show Him that she wants a relationship. If she just stops crying, it's like she is done with G-d. She must pour her heart out to Him and try to connect again. She must pray on behalf of her innocent children. She must show some emotion. She can't just give up. She cried the entire time in perek aleph--her cheeks were wet with tears and now she has just stopped. This simple act of holding back the emotions, of stopping the crying shows that she is not connecting to G-d and might even not want it anymore. This is where she has really gone wrong.

This perek was alright, but these last 2 pasukim (kind of like how I felt about the last perek) are the interesting ones. The mekonan is telling her that yes, what she has gone through has been traumatic and she is in a very bad place, but she cannot give up. She must pray and cry and show emotion so G-d knows that she still cares. This is practical advice that the Mekonan is giving. It reminds me of missing persons cases. I'm probably just thinking about them because of the recent Jacoby case, but it still is a good comparison. When a child is kidnapped, it usually takes years before they are found again, if they are ever found. The issue with these kinds of investigations is that they do take a lot of time, and after a few years families begin to give up. After all, it's hard not to when you've been searching for someone for 5+ years. The worst thing a family can do, though, is give up. Once they stop trying and stop showing their emotions/care is when they lose most of their chances to find the child. Jaycee Lee Dugard was missing for 18 years. Her family never gave up. There were always missing persons ads with her face on it or signs around California asking if you saw her. Although it took close to 2 decades, their efforts were successful. The family kept crying in a sense. They never stopped trying to put an end to their suffering.

Yerushalayim should learn from this. Although it took the Dugard family 18 years, their cries were answered. If Yerushalayim would continue to cry and try to make a connection with G-d and find a way to get through this traumatic experience, she could save these innocent infants and although it could take a while, her city can be restored to its former glory.