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.
I find it so interesting that you were able to draw a parallel between Jerusalem's situation and Jaycee Dugard's 18-year disappearance. I also very much agree with your conclusion. If you keep on building your relationship with G-d to help guide you as you grieve, then you will, G-d-willing, get an answer to your prayers. There's no need to throw out the baby with the bathwater here.
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