Since I still have not finished Aicha and have not discussed the major ideas and lessons we take away from this depressing sefer, I'll share what I have taken away from the 3 and a half perakim I have learned so far.
Back when I was in class, we talked a lot about Hester Panim. During the destruction, both the Gever and Yerushalayim are angry with G-d. He will not listen to them. He is shutting out their prayers. There is no one to guide them, the pain and destruction seems arbitrary, and there is no escape from the suffering. Basically, life is pretty bad at this point. G-d is of no help to them and they can't understand why. After some soul searching, they both realize that they have sinned and this is all punishment for what they have done. Both Yerushalayim and the Gever see that there is still hope for their relationship with G-d and begin trying to reconnect with Him. The never restates his experiences at the end of perk gimmel, but this time accepts responsibility for what he did and wants G-d to be merciful. He begs G-d to end the hester panim and punish his enemies. Even Yerushalayim comes back to G-d after the Mekonan tells her to cry out to Him. They both want that relationship back that has been lost to them since G-d began hiding His face.
When we think of Hester Panim today, we commonly associate it with the Holocaust. One of the main theories of why the Holocaust occurred is because the Jews were sinning so G-d hid His face from us and allowed the world to continue on without His influence. He did not help us and that is why the Germans were able to do what they did. If you believe in that cause, then you can see how we should truly appreciate what G-d does for us everyday. If without His help and guidance, we would be vulnerable to that type of horror, then it must be that G-d does incredible things for us everyday without us even realizing it. Thats why it's so important that we daven and thank Him and maintain a close relationship with Him.
In Aicha, G-d does the same thing to the Jews. They had sinned excessively so G-d responded with Hester Panim. During the Hester Panim period, the Jews' enemies attacked, the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, and mothers were forced to resort to eating their own children. This is what happens when G-d is not watching over us and protecting us. The Gever and Yerushalyim see this and beg for G-d to end the Hester Panim and return to the people. They want to have a relationship with Him because they can now see how much He did for them before He turned away. Now that He is no longer helping and protecting them because of the sins they committed, they are suffering.
What I learn from all of this is that G-d makes small miracles for us everyday. He is constantly protecting us and guiding us through our everyday lives. When He turns away, we have trouble just surviving. We need to understand this so we have reason to thank G-d everyday in our tefillot and do what we can to keep a close relationship with Him so He never has a reason to hide His face from us again.
Interesting insight in this post, Alyssa. To me, Hester Panim is one of the scariest aspects of G-d. I have a lot of faith that G-d is there to protect us, but when something like the Holocaust happens, I tend to get confused and lose some faith. It's reassuring to know that G-d performs small miracles everyday and helps us make it through life, even during a time of Hester Panim. It's discouraging to know that there's so much evil in the world, but I know that this evil will only come to affect us if we anger G-d to the point of making him turn away from us.
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