I was going through my notes to do my איכה assessment and I realized something:
There has been foreshadowing since the very first פסוק that ירושלים has lost her connection with 'ה and that she will eventually want to get it back. It's pretty obvious that this would be true even without explicitly pointing it out, but the פסוקים do.
Pasuk Alef says "..עָם הָיְתָה כְּאַלְמָנָה רַבָּתִי בַגּוֹיִם..."- "... [she] is like a widow. She that was great among the nations..." We said that in Judaism, it’s like ‘ה is married to the Jewish people. ירושלים is like a widow in the sense the G-d is no longer connected to her, even though she is not actually a widow. It’s foreshadowing for the time later on when ירושלים will be ready to re-establish her connection with ‘ה- the one she has lost, but will desperately want to get back.
Interesting connection, Mi-rel. I remember discussing the "k'almana" wording early on in the first perek. For some reason, though, it always bugged me that we focused so much on the 'k' part of it. I mean, come on! Isn't this whole thing one big poem? Aren't all poems full of flowery language? Don't poems have similes? Why do we have to dwell on the fact that it uses a simile and not a metaphor?
ReplyDeleteBut, anyways, despite my biases, I see your point. Very thoughtful, Mi-rel.