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
Shani, this is a wonderful blog post. It was it a great summary of what we learned this past week. When we learn about something so long ago it is kind of hard to really take it into consideration and apply it to our lives. You never really think that people today deal with these sorts of problems. I think it is very important that we recognize that these similar types of issues still go on today and you did an amazing job doing so.
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