As we know, Eicha is written in an אתבש style. This means that the beginning corresponds with the end, the next part corresponds with the second to last part and so on. The beginning of the Megillah talks about the loneliness and so does the very end. The next part talks about the sadness brought by the loss of the people and the second to last part talks about the horribleness of the destruction. The Megillah proceeds with this style.
        If the corresponding parts were exactly the same then there wouldn't be any growth or development through the sefer so obviously they can't be exactly the same. For example section א:א-יא matches up with section ה:יז-כב , but they are not exactly the same, or else we would not see the process ירושלים goes through. In the first section ירושלים is lonely because all of her friends have abandon her. Later, as ירושלים grows and matures she is lonely because Hashem left her
        They are similar situations but as the sefer goes on, the situation progresses and changes, but keeps the same root.
        An established Jewish belief teaches us that the way the calender works is not like a straight line that keeps going forward as time goes on, but rather, time is like a spiral. For instance, each Shabbat is a week later than the one before but when you look at the weeks on a spiral they are in the same place but one comes after, on the next loop of the spiral. This gives each Shabbat the same sanctity as all the others but they proceed each other so you progress but come back to a similar place. To expand, each Wednesday you are in the place, but since there is time between each you go up a level on the spiral.
       These two ideas, of the אתבש of Eicha and the calender spiral, seem to work very well together. Just as you come back to the same spot of the spiral but on a new level, ירושלים has parallel thoughts from beginning to end but as she grows, the ideas develop.

Same spot or  idea, on a new level.       

        Often times you might find it difficult to connect to the megillah, parsha or something like that, but I think that some things in Eicha are easy to relate to especially because Yerushaliam is personified. Yerushaliam goes through a cycle of something bad happening similarly to how we do. We constantly do actions and behave in certain ways and it always helps to take a minute and think about why you are doing it to try and understand yourself. The way Yerushaliam goes through trauma can really make us see how we go through a similar process.
        Sometimes when we do something we don't necessarily understand it, but seeing the situation laid out in front of you, regarding someone else can really help you see.
        Looking at the stages Yerushaliam goes through I can definitely see myself going through almost the same process. Now that I have seen it in a situation that is not my own personal situation I recognize what I do. Because of this I have really been able to learn the megillah on a deeper level as I directly see how it connects to my life.

Looking at a Mitzvah More Closely

Every Purim we have a mitzvah to listen to Megillat Esther. When I heard that we would be learning that megillah, among others, this year, I got really excited to look deeper into the megillah itself. I was not only excited to look deeper into the meaning, but also into the "pshat" of the pesukim. All I have ever done is listen, now I feel that by reading it I am fulfilling a whole different mitzvah.

Last week we started the megillah by reading the first four perakim, and by just reading through it briefly I learned so much. I was sitting there focusing on every word, because we had to translate. I kept asking Mrs. Perl what different words meant, and she kept telling me that those were names of Achashverosh's officers. I would have never known that by listening to the megillah every year. Those names are a vital part of the megillah, and by reading, my knowledge of the book has grown.

Just from reading through the perakim, I learned so much more, and got a bigger insight into what is happening in the story thus far. I am given more characters, which gives me more perception on the book. This can teach us that diving into a book, that is normally a mitzvah to just listen to, can expand our understanding of that mitzvah with hands on learning.

 

Midrashim - forget everything you knew before

In class we brainstormed about what we know about Megillat Esther by filling out a "Think, Puzzle, Explore" chart. In my puzzle section, I wrote "Was the Vashti tail situation actually written in the megillah?". When I presented this question to the class, I got a big sigh of frustration from Mrs. Perl. Mrs. Perl told us that the story of Vashti growing a tail, breaking out in pimples, and thus being unable to attend the party is not written in the megillah but is really a midrash. This set the ball rolling. The class reacted in a chorus of "What?!?" and "My whole life is a lie!!!" and "Why did they teach us that in elementary school?"

We proceeded to launch into a conversation about midrashim in general. The story of Avraham finding G-d through looking at the sun and the stars popped into my mind. I started thinking back to my Bereishit class - had we skipped over that story in the Chumash? Mrs. Perl explained that that too, was a midrash. "But it's such a beautiful story!" I thought. How could it just be "made up"? And what else had I learned in my years of day school that were not actually in the text, but were midrashim? How much do I have confused? 

First, and very importantly, as Mrs. Perl pointed out, midrashim aren't there as a way of confusing us, and they are not just made up stories that popped into some guy's head which he decided to write down. Rather, midrashim serve as a way of teaching us valuable lessons through stories. And not all midrashim are untrue. Some have historical context to them that suggest they have truth to it. Then there's the question of why we are mainly taught Chumash through midrashim if it is only going to confuse us? As children, only looking at the stories in the Chumash through the text would, honestly, not be that exciting. Sometimes the text leaves you hanging, leaves you with questions because only half of the puzzle has been put together. Midrashim paint the picture that the text can't illustrate on its own. It adds an element of excitement and wonder to the Chumash. Don't throw out your Little Midrash Says just yet!

These ideas continued to flow through my mind through this weekend. (I was thinking about Torah outside of school- can you imagine?!) I wanted to explain these fascinating ideas to Hannah Leigh, so I asked her a question: "Hannah Leigh, name me any one thing you know about the Chumash." 

(HLM: Why? Leave me alone. Me: Just do it.) "Okay.. Avraham"

"What about him?"

"He discovered G-d."

"How?"

"He looked at the sky."

I was first amazed that she thought of the exact same example as me, but that's beside the point. I then proceeded to explain everything we had discussed in class to my sister. "Isn't that cool??!!!" I exclaimed. I received something along the lines of "yeah" or "okay". (Love ya, HLM). 

These ideas contained to invade my thoughts as I went to Rabbi Lennon's weekly CJET class Shabbos morning. When I found a chance to jump in, I explained my fascination over the idea of midrashim and the idea that I had been assuming things incorrectly for the longest time. I managed to get him totally off topic, but I think it was worth it. Rabbi Lennon said something that I really liked. He said that we were taught all these midrashim in elementary school, and now our high school selves are faced with a questioning of what we had previously known. He said that what makes Judaism special is that this dilemma will occur throughout our entire lives. We will constantly question what we had learned before as we delve more into Judaism. And that's okay - that's what makes this religion exciting. 

With Purim approaching, we are going to learn megillat Ester. This megilla, unlike Kohelet and Eicha, tell a story. This story explains why we celebrate Purim. Before we can begin the megilla, we had some questions. We thought of many like how were Estar and Mordechi related, when did this story happen, what was this whole Vashti and the tail thing, and which Persian king is Achashvarosh? We took a look back through history to answer two of these questions: when did this story happen and which Persian king is Achashvarosh?

We looked at many sources and the dates seemed to contradict. Yermiyahu said the people would be under Babylonian rule for 70 years, but it seems this overlaps with another 70 years. Those 70 years were from the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash until the second Beit HaMaikdash had been completed. By the end of our discussion, we still could not know for sure. Achashvarosh was either Cambyses or Xerxes. We concluded that if Achashvarosh was Xerxes, it would be worse for the Jews. They would have gotten comfortable in Persia, because after all they would be they for 70 years. But because of that they would have stayed instead of going to Isreal when the Beit HaMikdash was complete.    

Everyone knows that the Purim story is supposed to be fun and celebratory. We shake the graggers, say certain pesukim in unison, and sing afterwards. The Megilah even has a fun tune when it is being read. Purim is supposed to be a time of happiness and simcha. This week as we have been learning the historical background of Esther, I realized that although what happened in the Purim story is there to bring happiness and joy to the Jewish people , maybe there was a reason the story took place. 

This week we learned that the Purim story took place after the second Beit Hamikdash had already been built and the Jewish people were allowed to be in Yerushaliam. So..

What are the Jewish people doing in Shushan?????

Maybe the Purim story was a wake-up call for the people who remained in Persia instead of returning to Yerushaliam. Before the Purim story, there were a few Naviim that told the Jewish people that they could return to Yerushaliam and Hashem would then return to them. If the people were still in Shushan, they clearly did not have enough motivation to push them to Yerushaliam. Maybe the scare of Haman destroying the people was done to give the Jews a reason to leave Persia and go to a place where they would not face persectution, Yerushaliam. Maybe Hashem's name is not mentioned, because instead of Him telling the people they should go back and He would return to them, he was hiding his face from them and not helping them so they would be scared and want to return to Yerushaliam. 

Esther vs. Eicha- What Happened??

         With Purim coming up, it's only appropriate that we should be beginning Megillas Esther in Megillot. However, before diving directly into the text, it's important to recognize the background information, as it could change our perspective of the entire story. As always, getting a new packet in Mrs. Perl's class is an exhilarating experience, and this week we finished the packet of background information.

         We read through different sources from Yirmiyahu, Zachariah, Chaggai, and Ezra that helped us understand where the Jews were at this time and what year this story actually took place in. In order to get a clearer view of what was going on, Mrs. Perl graciously provided us with a timeline of the events that took place. It seems that in 608 B.C.E, Babylonia was coming to power, and Yirmiyahu prophecized that they would be in power for 70 years, evidently THE 70 years of exile for the Jews. The Jews were being punished for not listening to Hashem. Yirmiyahu added that the 70 year exile would end with the destruction of the Babylonian empire, which in fact, took place 70 years later in 538 B.C.E, when the Persian empire took over.

          In between those years, we see that there was the exile of the officers to Babylonia and the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and the exile of the rest of the people. In 597 B.C.E, Hashem tells the people that after the 70 years of Babylonian rule, if they will go back to Him, then He will come back to them and bring them back to the land. In 538 B.C.E, when Persia takes over, the Jews are given a chance to return to Hashem, as Cyrus the Great, the ruler of Persia at the time, allowed the Jews to return and rebuild the Beis Hamikdash, but many do not return and decide to stay in Babylon, where they are comfortable.

          While Yirmiyahu believed the 70 years was the reign of Babylonia over the Jews, Zachariah believed that the 70 years was the time between the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and the rebuilding of the second one. Zachariah received a prophecy from Hashem in the 2nd year of Darius, in which Hashem tells Zachariah that He wants to end the 70 years (implying that it is indeed the time between the Beis Hamikdash being destroyed and the rebuilding, because Babylonia had already been destroyed) and complete the Beis Hamikdash. Later, Zachariah also prophecizes that the people will have an "איש יהודי" who leads them back to Yerushalayim.

          This wording, saying that an "איש יהודי" would come to gather the Jews, is highly significant. When looking through Tanach, you would see that those words, "איש יהודי", are only repeated ONE TIME. They are used in Megillas Esther to describe Mordechai! However, it is difficult to know if Mordechai really was THE "איש יהודי", because the Jews were not gathered and brought back to Yerushalayim, which is what stalled the rebuilding of the second Beis Hamikdash.

          This background information reminded of the megillah that we just finished learning, Megillas Eicha. Eicha takes place soon after the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and the exile of the rest of the people. It seems like Esther takes place a while after the destruction, though Chazal and others argue about exactly when it takes place. Either way, it seems like in Esther the people are quite comfortable in secular society. This makes me upset, because at the end of Eicha, we learned that the people had recognized that their sins had caused their own destruction and they wanted a renewed relationship with G-d. Now, in Esther, it seems like the Jews have lost their patience for G-d. They were remorseful for a minute, and then they went right back to secular society. Am I the only one who feels upset by this?