Welcome to the introduction of Aicha.

Yirmiahu wrote the book of Aicha. There are four main themes in Aicha.

one. Theological- repent what you did bad. G-d controls history.

two. Moral-Without commitments, and actions everything's meaningless. 

three. Political- Don't form an alliance with something.

four. Historical-"Gd is pulling the strings behind the scene" and how to survive in exile. 

The structure of Megiliot Aicha is that there are 22 letters in the alphabet and there's 22pesukim. The reason why it's like that because it show's you how everything connects. If you look at the word איכה is איך which means how and it indicates pain, it's like a wow, or a sign.


Aicha is a lot sadder then Kohelet. We read it on Tishabav. It's supposed to let us know that we did something bad and we have to realize that because we sinned.

Veterans Day and Eicha

    This week we finished the first perek of Eicha. To me, Eicha is very depressing. I thought Kohelet was sad, but Eicha made me realize Kohelet is happy and Eicha is really the one that is sad. The name Eicha translates to the word "How?" Just from that, you get a hint that it will not be the most joyful thing you will ever read. The first perek is divided into two parts. The first part of the perek, 1- 11, the narrator is talking. The narrator is talking about Yerushalayim and why she is so upset and lonely. The narrator starts off in passukim 1-4 talking about how Yerushalayim veiws herself. In passukim 5-11, the narrator describes his view on what is happening in Yerushalayim and what she did to make herself so lonely and sad. In the second part of the perek, passukim 11- 22, Yerushalyim herself is talking about how she is so lonely.
   
 In the first section spoken by the narrator, he describes that Yerushalayim caused the loneliness for herself. She did something to cause it. The other nations who were her friends became her enemies. She says that she has no one tom comfort her, she feels betrayed by her 'friends', and she blames her loneliness on her enemies. The narrator explains she thinks she is lonely because of her friends betraying her, but she is really lonely because of HER sins. The people living in the land sinned greatly and since they were her people, she was held accountable for not stopping them. This caused the destruction of the temple. The narrator explains that although she keeps on blaming others for her loneliness, the destruction was because of her. She did it all to herself.
In passuk 11, Yerushalyim starts talking, explaining her pain. She starts off by blaming Hashem saying that Hashem caused all of her pain and He was the reason of the destruction. In passuk 18 though, she hits a turning point and starts to think that her loneliness was because of her own sins. She comes to the realization that she was in pain because she rebelled against G-d. She realizes that she put all of her faith in her children and all they did was rebel and do bad. She finally has realized that the destruction was because of her. Yerushalayim wraps up perek 1 by realizing that her former friends were not good to her and not considered friends. She wants her friends to be punished in the future just like she had been punished.

This is the overall summary of what happened in perek 1. In perek 1 there are a bunch of pitiful adjectives to describe Yerushalayim. Sadness, lonely, widow, betrayed, suffering, and sinful are just a few. We learn that all Yerushalyim does is grieve about the past and cry. In class we learned that the essence of the ideas being conveyed in the first perek is that Yerushalayim is giving an emotional perspective of the aftermath of a huge tragedy, the destruction. In her emotional experience we see that Yerushalayim is basically paralyzed. She is so sad and bitter, she cannot get over it. To me, this is not the first time I have heard about someone being paralyzed after a traumatic incident, I also remember hearing about it on Veterans Day when Rabbi Stein gave us a presentation about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
According to PubMed Health (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001923/#adam_000925.disease.causes) The definition of PTSD is "A type of anxiety disorder. It can occur after you have gone through an extreme emotional trauma that involved the threat of injury or death." Although the definition is not completely fitting toward Yerushalayim, I thought it was pretty similar. Two symptoms of the disorder that were very close to Yerushalayim were  feeling detached and being emotionally numb and not caring about anything. On Veterans Day I clearly remember Rabbi Stein telling us that some soldiers brains are locked in traumatic experiences that took place in the army that either they are constantly depressed or they have random flashbacks and cannot get over it. I thought it was very fitting to talk about PTSD because to me it seems that Yerushalayim herself had a trauma ( The destruction of the temple and her children sinning) which led to her paralyzed mind almost seeming like she had this disorder. 

Yerushalayim- a.k.a Dan Scott

         Moving from one cheerful story to the next, this week we said our final goodbyes to Kohelet as we started Eichah. Because Eichah happens to be 8 perakim shorter than Kohelet, we are learning each pasuk in depth. This week we flew through Perek Alef and got an in depth view of what Eichah is really about. As always, we learned some background of the Jewish people so as to really understand what was happening at the time. The final tribes of Yehuda were exiled and Yerushalayim was destroyed.
       
         The word "Eichah" itself can be broken down to give us a hint about the megillah's contents. It could be an elongated version of "Eich" - "How". A "how" laden with emotion, like a deep sigh filled with pain. Moving on to the actual pesukim, we can see how this idea can apply to the contents.

         Perek Alef is split into two halves- יא-כב and א-יא. The first half is narrated by the מקונן, or "the one who laments". This would be Yirmiyahu, who was the Navi at the time. The people had been ignoring his warnings of their impending doom, and now he is describing an objective view of the aftermath. He describes how Yerushalayim views herself and then his view of what is happening in Yerushalayim. The first four pesukim are narrated by Yirmiyahu, where he describes how he thinks Yerushalayim would describe herself. Apparently, he thinks she would describe herself to be lonely, betrayed by her friends, no one to comfort her, and exiled because of her enemies. She is in a terrible emotional state.

         The rest of the first half is Yirmiyahu's actual view on what is happening. He says that it's true that her enemies attacked, her children were exiled, her princes and officers were chased out, and all of her splendor and possessions were taken from her by the enemy who laughed at her, but it's because of her sins, not her enemies.

         In the next half of Perek Alef, a personified version of Yerushalayim gives a subjective description of what she is experiencing. In the first few pesukim, she blames G-d for her destruction and describes her utter despair and sorrow. She is terribly lonely because her friends abandoned her and she lost all of her people. As the perek moves on, she starts to recognize that maybe G-d was just in what He did and she takes responsibility for her sins. At the end of the perek, she realizes that those she thought were her friends betrayed her, and perhaps they should be punished as well.

         When recounting the details of what we learned this week, I couldn't help but think of One Tree Hill (of course). One of the protagonists in the show, Dan Scott, is who I thought of when seeing what happened to Yerushalayim. Like Yerushalayim, Dan Scott made many grave mistakes that made a huge impact on his relationships with his family and friends. In the begnning of the show, he is basically just a terrible human being. He is cruel, devious, and overbearing, especially to his sons, Nathan and Lucas.

         In later seasons, after many different twists and turns, Dan is left virtually alone as his family and friends abandon him. This is the point where he finally realizes that he is the one who brought this upon himself and he is overtaken by guilt. As the show progresses, so does Dan, as he tries desperately to mend his broken relationships. I always find it so interesting that we can apply the ideas of a megillah to modern day TV shows, and I believe it makes it easier to understand.

Yerushaliam's Anger

In the first Perek of Eicha, we here from the narrator, and then from Yerushaliam. Yerushaliam starts of furious and angry with G-d. He blames G-d for the destruction of her children, and seems to be yelling at G-d and saying that it is His fault that she is lonely and that her people are dying and suffering, because of Him. She even uses the analogy that G-d squashed her daughters like a wine presser. She then suddenly calms down, and speaks calmly to G-d. Because of this, she is able to recognize that it wasn't G-d's fault. She realizes that she sinned and this was a punishment, caused by her actions. she is even able to say, "Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, my innards burn, my heart is turned within me, for I have grievously rebelled;"

When something bad happens to us, it might be easy to blame the people around us. Before we can calm down, we might yell and say hateful things we wished we wouldn't, like what Yerushaliam said to G-d about the how He squashed her people. Instead of acting while we are angry, we need to first calm down, and then speak, because we might recognize, that the person you were going to blame, really had nothing to do with it, and it was not their fault. 

The Shock of Reality

Well my friends, after finishing Kohelet, we are now studying Eicha. Eicha, otherwise known as the Book of Lamentations was written by Yirmiyahu, the prophet who reprimanded Yehudah for their Avodah Zarah, immorality, lack of Tzedek U'Mishpat, and warned them that if they didn't change their ways, they would be exiled and the Beit Hamikdash would be destroyed. Eicha describes tragedy from the aspect of loneliness, oppression, and suffering the people experienced. Essentially, it's a raw and emotional cry exclaiming, "Why? What? How did this happen?!"

The first Perek of Eicha is split into two parts. The first, composed of Pesukim 1-11, is told from the objective perspective of Yirmiyahu, the Mekonen,or narrator. The second offers a personified Yerushalyaim, providing her subjective depiction of what she experienced.

The first section of Perek Aleph, comprised of Pesukim 1-4, begins with the harsh reality of the abandoned Yerushalayim. The city that once teemed with people is all alone (badad), a result of Yerushalayim's actions. She is like a widow; however, the relationship between G-d and the people is still intact. She had been a princess among nations and now she has become a vassal. She cried at night and the tears were stuck to her cheeks. No one was there to comfort her from her lovers. All of her friends betrayed her and became her enemies. The narrator tells us here that Yerushalayim blames her exile not on her own actions, but on the fact that her enemies pursued her. The paths of Zion are mourning because no one is passing through them to celebrate the once lively holidays, the gates are desolate, the priests sigh, the maidens grieve, and the city is bitter.

In the second section, comprised of Pesukim 5-11,  the narrator describes his view of what occurred. Yerushalayim's enemies have gotten ahead but it is because G-d punished her for her sins. This is why her children were sent into exile, not because of her enemies betraying her! All the splendor of Yerushalayim has been diminished. Her enemies attacked, the princes/officers were chased out, and all of her majesty and possession have been seized by her so called "friends" who laughed at her. However, there was a reason for this. Yerushalayim sinned greatly and all who used to hold her in high regard now mock her. Everything is a result of her sins.

Perek Aleph, Pesukim 11-22, offer the perspective of Yerushalayim. "Look Hashem at me for I have become worthless. No one will ever see greater pain than was inflicted on me by G-d on the day of his anger. G-d sent a fire that destroyed me and made me desolate and faint. G-d caused my sins to be a burden around my neck," she weeps. Yerushalayim blames G-d for her suffering and the destruction. She emphasizes her pain. However, there is a change in emotion. Yerushalyaim begins to mourn the loss of her people. No one was there to comfort her. But, she acknowledges that G-d is pulling the strings and she rebelled against G-d. "G-d is righteous and just because I rebelled against his words," she declares, thus taking responsibility for her actions. She put her faith in her lovers instead of G-d and all her priests/elders died.

One of the major themes of Perek Aleph is the "shock of reality" that quite literally hits Yerushalyaim. She feels it as a major blow, losing her people and splendor. Yerushalyaim is utterly alone and she recognizes this. This amazement and surprise towards reality is really apparent here. Yerushalayim knew she would ultimately be destroyed if the people didn't change their ways. They were warned constantly by Yeshayahu and Yirmiyahu, who even endured harsh punishments in order to help the people return to G-d and restore Tzedek U'Mishpat. But the people didn't change. And therefore, the punishment could not be averted. So why is Yerushalyaim so upset?

Well, as aforementioned, this strike of reality blinds her. Yerushalyaim sees all the sins she committed. She knows that the destruction came as a result of her transgressions. But the reality she sees renders her completely alone and "shocked." The concept of loneliness and no one to comfort her takes precedence throughout the entire perek. However, only once she steps back from the amazement she feels and accepts this reality can she truly admit her sins. And this she does, after realizing that the destruction that seemed to never have the potential to arrive has torn through the city.

Welcome to Aicha

Okay, Aicha. I'm not going to lie, I'm not super excited to write these next few blog posts but I'll power through them. Disclaimer: They probably won't be full of any happiness or positivity. Anyway, here's #1 of Aicha blog posts 2014:

Reading through Aicha is not the most fun thing you could ever do. It makes Kohelet look like a roller coaster ride. It's sad and negative and maybe it's because of the whole "Sally" story but Yerushalayim starts to sound pretty annoying after she goes on and on about her loneliness for 22 pasukim. The city is lonely and all of her people have left her, and she makes sure that G-d knows that. At first, she is angry. Her friends betrayed her and are now her enemies. She has no one to comfort her and G-d is the one who afflicted all of this pain onto her. The Mekonan (Yirmiahu) gives the objective account. He's kindof like our insider who's telling us how it actually is. He says that Yerushalayim sinned and it was her actions that caused all of this to happen. Now her enemies laugh at her and Yerushalayim won't stop crying. Her cheeks are even wet with tears. During the first part she is angry with G-d and feels lonely because her "friends" have abandoned her. During the second part she still blames G-d for the excessive punishment He afflicted onto her and is sad because there is no one to comfort her. Eventually she admits to having rebelled and realizes why this is happening to her. All of this is passim 1-20.

Honestly, during all of those pasukim, I was bored. I even stopped taking notes (even though I usually try since the people around me prefer to write a novel every class) because it just seemed like every pasuk was saying the exact same thing. Every once in a while there would be a pasuk that would indicate that she reached a new stage in her grieving process, but other than that, I was tired of hearing from this seemingly sad and lonely and annoying woman. I understand that it was an extremely sad and depressing time in our history but Aicha makes Yerushalayim seem like that old woman who just cries about her past all day and you just want to tell her to stop and move on.

The first place that I saw that she was not come immature girl like Sally who is crying because she was mean and that drove away her friends was in pasukim 21-22. She says that her enemies are glad to see her in pain and she asks G-d to "let them be like [her]." She asks G-d to punish her enemies like He has punished her. At first it seems like this is an immature request. It's like Sally is fighting with her former friends and she is the one who gets caught. After she gets her punishment she tells her principal that she understands why she's being punished but her friends should be punished as well. If she's going down, then she's taking all of them with her. That is one way to look at it. In fact, that is probably how I'd view it if I was reading this on my own. In class we talked about a different approach to this request. If Sally's friends were to forgive her and take her back, being the immature little girl she is, she'd probably go back to them without a second thought. People want to be liked. They want to have friends. They want to feel special. All the time you see people get hurt by their "friends" or their boyfriend/girlfriend but as soon as they get the option to go back, they run back into it. This is the problem that abused women face. They keep running back into an unhealthy relationship as soon as their boyfriend/husband wants them back. This is unhealthy and immature. You must be able to see the different between what is good for you and what is healthy and what is only dragging you down.

Yerushalayim is able to realize that these "friends" are not good for her. They led her astray and caused her to sin. She asks G-d to punish them because she knows that she will never take them back and they are the ones that caused all of this pain and destruction on Bnei Yisrael by causing her to sin.

It takes a while, but these two pasukim show us that there is more to Yerushalayim than just wet cheeks and loneliness. I have a feeling there's still much more crying and sadness left so I'll just stay strong and try to get through it.

The Ending

      As we reach the ending of Kohelet we are seeing what the final speeches of the characters are. In the end the Chacham tells everyone that fools are running the world and that people should listen to him. then Yirai Elokim tells that everyone is going to judged for their actions. The Nehene says that there is no order in the world , but if you realize that G-d is in control you can find order. Lastly the Amal says that the world can't be perfect but if I have wealth, power, and wisdom i can make the world a better place.
This can relate to problems that people in the world face in the world everyday. There may be fools in the word but we can turn them in to educated people as we try to do everyday. Another example is yi may be judged , but that is why we choose to do the right things. In addition, You can find control if you realize G-d is there. Lastly, the world may not be perfect but always try your best. These tips are things we teach everyday and relate to throughout our lives.