The first chapter of Megillat Eicha depicts Jerusalem sitting alone, her weeping in the night, the betrayal of her lovers, and the exile of Judah. In the preceding verses, we saw that she "sighed and turned backward" - attempting to hide her face in utter shame. The verse before us continues this imagery and reveals that concealment was of no avail: her impurity was already exposed for all to see. In this lesson, we will delve into verse 9 through the explanations of the commentators and the Midrashim.
טֻמְאָתָהּ בְּשׁוּלֶיהָ לֹא זָכְרָה אַחֲרִיתָהּ וַתֵּרֶד פְּלָאִים אֵין מְנַחֵם לָהּ רְאֵה ה' אֶת־עׇנְיִי כִּי הִגְדִּיל אוֹיֵב׃ - Her filthiness was in her skirts; she did not consider her end, and she fell astonishingly; she has no comforter. See, Hashem, my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself.
Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas explains: turning backward to hide her face - as we saw in the previous verse - did not help her. Why? Because "her filthiness is in her skirts"; her impurity was clearly visible, and there was nothing here that could be concealed. This expression corresponds to what was said earlier, "therefore she has become like a niddah." A niddah refers to the discharge of impure blood, and this blood, as it were, stained the hem of her garments until she could no longer conceal her impurity. That is to say: her sins were already fully exposed and public, and it was impossible to hide them. "Therefore she has become like a niddah" - her sins were so blatant that everyone could clearly see she was like a niddah, whose impurity is evident externally.
When she sinned, she did not calculate: look at what will come of this in the end, what price I will have to pay. "She did not consider her end" - she did not remember that at the end of every supermarket aisle there is a cash register. She did not remember that this world is compared to a wedding feast, and in the end, the bill must be paid. When they sinned, they did not think about the consequences, and therefore "she fell astonishingly" - her fall was so drastic that everyone was astounded by it: How could this be? From such a lofty height to such a low depth, something that had never happened to any city.
Ibn Shu'eib similarly explains: she reached such a decline that even though her impurity was in her skirts - and everything was already exposed - she still did not consider her end. She should have realized: if my impurity is visible in my skirts, everyone will distance themselves from me; therefore, it is worthwhile for me to mend my ways and remove my impurity. Yet "she did not consider her end," and therefore "she fell astonishingly."
Rabbi Eliyahu de Vidas explains that we see all the circumstances of the Jewish people are astonishing wonders, both for good and for bad. They left Egypt with unprecedented miracles and wonders - the Ten Plagues and the Redemption. Afterward, they merited the Splitting of the Red Sea, a wonder never seen before. In the wilderness - the Clouds of Glory, the Well of Miriam, and the Manna, wonders the world had never witnessed. In the conquest of the Land - "Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon in the valley of Aijalon," and they succeeded in conquering the entire land, an unprecedented wonder. And when they settled in the Land, sinned, and angered Hashem, the downfall brought upon them by Nebuchadnezzar - and what followed when they were handed over to the attribute of strict justice and went into exile with intense grief and sorrow - was also something that had never happened before. This is the meaning of "she fell astonishingly": just as her ascent was miraculous, so too her descent was an astounding fall.
Because of this, "she has no comforter" - she cannot accept comfort. A person who was in an ordinary state and fell can be consoled. But someone who was at the very pinnacle, in the highest position, and plunged from there - it is exceedingly difficult to console him. And what could you tell him anyway? That everything will be fine? That he will become a billionaire again? When you plummet from the greatest height to the lowest depths, she has no comforter. When the fall is an astonishing plunge - "she fell astonishingly" - finding comfort is nearly impossible.
Some explain "va-tered" not as a descent, but rather from the language of "ve-yaradti al he-harim" (and I will lament upon the mountains), where the intention is an expression of mourning, and similarly "arid be-sichi ve-ahimah" (I will lament in my speech and groan), which is an expression of lamentation and grief. According to this explanation: her grief and lamentation were immense over having once stood at a tremendous height and fallen to such a low degree.
And when she sees that she has no helper and no comforter, she turns to Hashem and says: "See, Hashem, my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself." The author of Lechem Dim'ah notes: Notice that in the next verse it says "See, Hashem, and gaze", whereas here it says only "See." What is the difference between seeing (*re'iyah*) and gazing (*habbatah*)? Seeing is from close by, while gazing is from afar. If the Shechinah rests among us, we ask: "See." But if the Shechinah is no longer among us - for the Shechinah underwent ten exiles - we ask at least: "Gaze" - Master of the Universe, watch over us even from afar. And of course, this does not mean physically near or far, for the Holy One, Blessed is He, is everywhere; rather, "from close by" refers to individual divine providence (*hashgachah pratit*), and "from afar" refers to general divine providence (*hashgachah klalit*) - that even within general providence, Master of the Universe, please have pity and mercy upon us.
The book Binyan David offers a parable. A man sought to smuggle stolen goods - diamonds - and calculated that everywhere he went, guards would inspect and search his pockets. Wanting to board a ship without anyone discovering what he carried, he took crates of food with him. At the bottom of the crate he placed the diamonds, and on top of them all the food he would need for the voyage. A week passed, two weeks, a month, and he ate and ate, until the food was completely finished - and then the diamonds at the bottom of the crate were exposed, and they discovered that he had smuggled diamonds.
The lesson: the Jewish people sin, but they rely on the kindness of the early Patriarchs - we have the merit of the Patriarchs (*zechut avot*); the Holy One, Blessed is He, will suppress our iniquities and place them at the bottom, beneath the food, so they will not be seen. However, Chazal say that everything we "eat," we eat by virtue of the merit of the Patriarchs, and everything we have is through their merit. Eventually, a situation arises where you have consumed and consumed the merit of the Patriarchs, the food runs out - and then what lies beneath is exposed: the abundance of sins. This is the meaning of "she did not remember her end": she continues to accumulate sins, not remembering that a day will come when the sins at the bottom will be revealed. For she relies on the merit of the Patriarchs that covers it from above - but when one continues to commit more and more sins, on what do we subsist? On our own, we do not deserve anything, for we have sins; we are sustained only by the merit of the Patriarchs. Consequently, the merit of the Patriarchs runs out, the sins are exposed, and they must be accounted for. This is what is meant by "for the greatness of your iniquity your skirts are uncovered": through the abundance of our sins, since we did not perform mitzvot, we were unworthy of Hashem's kindness on our own merits, but only through the merit of the Patriarchs that shielded us. Once we consumed the merit of the Patriarchs, the skirts were inevitably uncovered, and what was hidden beneath the hem - the sins and iniquities - was laid bare.
The Akeidat Yitzchak explains "her impurity is in her skirts" in a different manner. When a person has something that disturbs and troubles him, it occupies his mind. In contrast, when there is something we do not want to think about - we suppress it. I know how things ought to be, I know I will pay a price for this, but I prefer not to think about it. That is repression. This is what the lamenter says: "Her impurity is in her skirts" - she shoves her sins to the margins of her thoughts. And where does this stem from? From "she did not remember her end."
To what may this be compared? To a diabetic who does not take care of himself and eats whatever he pleases. People say to him: Don't you know this will harm you? But he pushes it out of his mind. What can be said of him? "She did not remember her end." Don't you know that ultimately you will pay a heavy price? Don't you realize you are harming yourself and that these things accumulate? "Her impurity is in her skirts, she did not remember her end" - she does not consider what will ultimately come of what she is doing now, and "the end of the wicked is bad." Consequently, "she fell astoundingly": when the blow arrives, she asks in bewilderment, why? What happened? What did I do? Had we remembered all along what we were doing, we would have known that retribution was coming, and we would have prepared ourselves and understood our sin. But because "her impurity is in her skirts," relegated to the margins of her thoughts, she does not reflect upon it, but instead represses it. And then, "she fell astoundingly" - how did I fall so suddenly? Did you truly think you could fill the measure of guilt without paying a price? That is what astounds them.
And the even greater tragedy is "for the enemy has magnified himself": that the enemy felt he had accomplished this, that he was the hero. The enemy did not perceive that "her impurity is in her skirts"; he did not recognize that the Jewish people were paying the price for their sins, but rather walked away feeling that it was due to his own merit and power, and that the God of Israel was, as it were, weak and unable to turn back the battle at the gate. This is the most terrible trouble: not only did we falter and ruin our own standing, but the enemy emerged with the conviction that it was his own might that overcame us.
Chazal teach: Had you merited, you would read, "For on this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you"; now that you have not merited, you read, "Her filthiness was in her skirts; she gave no thought to her end." Had we merited, Yom Kippur would have purified and cleansed us of all our sins. But because we did not merit, the sins continued to swell and accumulate, until the day of Tisha B'Av arrived - "her filthiness was in her skirts." For Yom Kippur was meant to atone for this defilement, as it says, "For on this day atonement shall be made for you," and "Hashem is the Mikveh of Israel" - before Whom do you purify yourselves, and Who purifies you? Your Father in Heaven. We were meant to be cleansed of all this. Yet because on Yom Kippur people did not prepare properly and did not do teshuvah for their deeds, we did not merit "for on this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse." And if you are not cleansed - "her filthiness was in her skirts," and a day will arrive when the hidden filth in the hems bursts forth, and for which, Heaven forbid, we will be held to account.
The sefer Alon Bachut explains that the sins of the Second Temple era were transgressions that a person treads underfoot with his heels. The Gemara relates: They asked Wisdom, they asked Prophecy - why was the land destroyed? But they were unable to answer, until a Heavenly voice emerged and declared, "Because they have forsaken My Torah." Why could they not answer? Because they were wise, understanding, and actively engaged in Torah study, and on the surface everything appeared wonderful. What, then, was the sin? Neglected sins at the margins, sins that a person treads underfoot. This is the meaning of "her filthiness was in her skirts." Therefore, when they asked the Sages, the elders, and the prophets, they could not identify it - these were sins relegated to the fringes. This was unlike the First Temple, when the sins were idolatry, forbidden relations, and bloodshed, which are severe and overt transgressions; rather, these were sins that a person tramples underfoot. Thus, "she gave no thought to her end, and she fell astonishingly" - her downfall was an astonishment in their eyes. For when sins are blatant, people know why punishment comes; but when they are subtle and concealed, everyone asks why the land was lost, and the downfall is astonishing to behold.
"Look, Hashem, upon my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself": The Satan elevates the stature of Israel in order to prosecute them, so that we are held accountable even for minor missteps. For if these were merely sins that a person treads underfoot, is that reason enough for such a severe indictment? Indeed it is, because accountability is calibrated to a person's stature. As Chazal taught, the Holy One, Blessed is He, is exacting with the righteous to a hairsbreadth. And just as we see regarding the Land of Israel, that if there are sinners within it, the Land vomits them out into exile - because the holier the place, the more exacting the standard - so too here: the Jewish people, by virtue of their lofty spiritual standing, were held to account even for sins that a person treads underfoot.
This explains the conclusion of the verse, and see how remarkable it is: "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself." How did the enemy - the Satan - succeed in prosecuting us over sins that a person treads underfoot? By arguing: "Master of the Universe, a nation as wondrous and holy as the Jewish people cannot be excused even for minor faults, due to the greatness of their stature!" Over this we plead: "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction" - that we are being held to account for sins that a person treads underfoot only because the enemy, the Satan, elevated us and made us out to be so great and extraordinary that it warranted prosecuting us even for small transgressions. Therefore, Master of the Universe, take pity and have mercy upon us!
The author of Lechem Dimah adds regarding the words "she fell astonishingly": Just as their ascent from the land of Egypt came about through wonders and miracles, so too their descent occurred through miraculous means. We find that the wall of Jerusalem sank on its own - each day, they witnessed the wall sinking a little more and a little more in a supernatural manner. This is the meaning of "and she fell" - what descended? The wall sank, "astonishingly," in a wondrous, supernatural way, so that the enemy could enter and conquer Jerusalem. And because our ascent had been miraculous, our descent was likewise supernatural.
Therefore, "she has no comforter." Why? Because if suffering comes through the natural course of events, one can still find consolation. But when catastrophe is supernatural, what does it demonstrate? That Hashem Himself delivered us into the hands of our enemies. How can one be comforted then? If the suffering is natural, a person says: Many people experience such misfortune; one day brings hardship, another brings joy. But if I see that the Holy One, Blessed is He, deliberately handed us over to the enemy, what comfort can there be? It is directly from Hashem. The supernatural nature of the punishment is itself the reason why "she has no comforter." "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself" - Hashem magnified the enemy, and because of this, the catastrophe is so devastating.
This is what is stated later: "What shall I bear witness for you, to what shall I liken you, and to what shall I compare you, that I may comfort you?" With a natural catastrophe, one can tell a person: Just as this happened to you, it happened to others as well; take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. Had a tsunami swept over you that also engulfed several other countries, you might find solace knowing that the calamity struck others too. Here, however, because the blow was directed specifically at us - for Hashem magnified the enemy - the prophet laments: What can I testify for you, to whom can I liken you, to whom can I compare your punishment in order to comfort you? I would offer you consolation, but since there is no one comparable to you, "for your ruin is as vast as the sea; who can heal you?" Your ruin is as boundless as the sea, an unprecedented devastation that no one else has ever suffered; who, then, can heal you, and who can comfort you?
The holy Alshich explains tum'atah v'shuleha ("her filthiness was in her skirts") based on the teaching that King Yoshiyahu was worthy of being the Mashiach - "The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem, was captured in their traps." Our Sages say that he made a mistake. What was his error? He believed he could confront the enemies and refuse to permit Egypt to pass through our land, for we were righteous, and whenever the Jewish people are righteous, the Torah promises, "and a sword shall not pass through your land" - not even a sword of peace. But he did not realize that his generation was not genuinely fine: outwardly his generation appeared righteous, but inwardly they were far from it.
And what did they do? Our Sages recount that he would send inspectors to verify that there was no idolatry in Eretz Yisrael, and they would go from house to house inspecting. They would enter a home - both doors swinging open - search the entire house, and then leave, closing the doors behind them. But the idol was engraved on the inside of the doors! When the inspectors entered, the door was open flush against the wall, so they could not see what was there; and when they left and shut the doors, the idol was once again visible on the inside of their front door. "He did not know that his generation was not genuinely fine." This is the meaning of "her filthiness was in her skirts" - in the margins and hidden corners she concealed her idolatry, her idols, behind the door and behind the mezuzah. "She remembered not her end" - she did not consider what the ultimate outcome would be. Well, if Yoshiyahu's eyes cannot see, so be it; but does the Eye Above not see? Does the Holy One, Blessed is He, not see what you have inside your home? Therefore, "she plunged down astonishingly."
And because of this, even when exile came, its reason was not openly evident, and therefore "she has no comforter." Yet we plead, "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself" - the enemy thinks, "My power and the might of my hand," confident that Hashem did not bring all this about. Therefore, Master of the Universe: it is true that we are unworthy; we were indeed not upright and not as we should have been. But what will You do for Your Name that is desecrated among the nations? For when the enemies come and strike us, they are certain it is because they are righteous and we are wicked, and that their idols have triumphed over the God of Israel. If so, Master of the Universe, not for our sake, but act for the sake of Your Name desecrated among the nations. "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself" - and since the enemy has thereby magnified his own power, from that perspective it is fitting to spare us and have mercy upon us, even though we ourselves are not deserving.
"She plunged down astonishingly (pela'im)" - how many years have we now been in exile? Nearly two thousand years. The Rokeach, Rabbeinu Elazar of Worms, teaches: Do not read pela'im ("astonishingly"), but rather alpayim ("two thousand"), as they share the very same Hebrew letters. This teaches that for two thousand years, still "she has no comforter" - Menachem has not yet arrived, and Menachem is the Mashiach. "She plunged down two thousand, she has no comforter." And these words were written some seven hundred years ago: see the wonder of this, that already then he foresaw that we would reach two thousand years of exile and still not be redeemed.
It is brought in Eicha Rabbah: Our Sages stated that we find that the passing of the righteous is more difficult before the Holy One, Blessed is He, than the ninety-eight reproofs of the Tochachah, and more than the destruction of the Temple. In the reproofs it is written, "Then Hashem will make your plagues extraordinary (ve-hifla)" - one wonder. In the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash it is written, "She plunged down astonishingly (pela'im)" - two wonders. But regarding the passing of the righteous it is written, "Therefore, behold, I will continue to perform wonders among this people, a wonder and a marvel (hafle va-fele)" - three wonders, wonder upon wonder upon wonder. And why? "For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden."
These three afflictions actually come for Israel's ultimate benefit. The blows that the Holy One, Blessed is He, delivers are meant to save the Jewish people from total destruction, to rescue us from a state in which the Holy One, Blessed is He, would have to vent His full fury upon us: during the destruction of the Temple, He poured out His wrath upon wood and stone; the reproofs and tribulations serve to cleanse our iniquities; and the death of the righteous - "the righteous is taken away from the evil to come" - by taking one righteous person, Hashem protects an entire nation. Yet despite all this, the passing of the righteous is the harshest of all. Why? Because as long as the righteous are in this world, they increase Torah, increase mitzvot, and protect us. We have already explained that "the righteous is taken away from the evil" bears multiple meanings: one meaning is that the Holy One, Blessed is He, does not wish to bring a devastating decree, so He takes the tzaddik and thereby sweetens the judgment so it will not strike with full force. A second meaning is that the tzaddik is taken so that he will not entreat on our behalf to be spared from the decree.
Thus we can understand why the death of the righteous is the most severe of all: by taking the tzaddik from us, the one who would pray on our behalf is also removed from us, and there is no misfortune greater than this. For even though the destruction of the Temple, the curses, and the afflictions were meant to discipline us, bring us to repentance, and rectify us, and the death of the righteous is likewise intended to rectify us, in the death of the righteous there is an added dimension of punishment - that the tzaddik will no longer pray for us. The result is that the punishments we receive, Heaven forbid, are far harsher and far more terrible.
The sefer Palgei Mayim explains: Keneset Yisrael pleads, Master of the Universe, have pity and mercy upon us, "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction!" And why? "For the enemy has magnified himself" - in accordance with the explanation we have presented, that the enemy boasts that this was accomplished by his own hand.
And in the sefer Ahavat Tziyon, this is explained homiletically: "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself." Yaakov said, "Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esav" - from the days of Esav we have known that when someone calls us "my brother," we must keep our distance. All of this "brother" talk troubles us deeply; we know this kind of "brotherhood," where right before they take off your head, you are their "brother." And this is what we are saying: if the enemy magnifies the Jewish people, if he grants us equality, a grave danger lies here.
When the Chasam Sofer was told that Napoleon had granted emancipation and equal rights to the Jews, he began to weep. Why? He said: Who knows where this will lead the Jewish people, who knows how far they will deteriorate because of it. When the gentile embraces us, that is the most terrible trouble of all. The place where the Jewish people were embraced the most was Germany, and the catastrophic results were not long in coming.
If so, Keneset Yisrael says to the Holy One, blessed be He: "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself" - the enemy's magnifying of me is itself my affliction. The fact that he magnified me and elevated me with equal rights is my misery, because through this we sink deeper and deeper into sin. Why? Because it is good for me here, it is good for me in Europe, it is good for me in the exile, and I need neither redemption nor Eretz Yisrael. Indeed, the earliest Reformers, who still prayed, erased from the prayer, "And to Yerushalayim Your city return in mercy" - why return to Yerushalayim when things are wonderful in Berlin? Until the tyrant arose and showed them where they truly needed to return, and showed them just how "good" they really had it. And that is what is meant here: "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction" - the great affliction and immense suffering came "because the enemy magnified," because the enemy elevated my status and granted me equal rights, and that brought about all the calamities.
The sefer Yayin HaRoke'ach further cites an allusion here to the death of Gedalyah ben Achikam, which dealt the final blow to the remnant of survivors remaining in Eretz Yisrael. "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself [higdil]" - the word higdil (הגדיל) shares the same letters as Gedalyah (גדליה). This hints that through this, even the remnant left behind was uprooted and exiled from the Land, and with the murder of Gedalyah ben Achikam, the settlement in Eretz Yisrael was completely decimated.
Verse 9 reveals the root of the downfall: "Her uncleanness was in her hems" - the impurity that can no longer be concealed, or alternatively, the sins that were pushed to the margins of thought, those transgressions that a person tramples underfoot without paying heed. "She did not consider her end" - she failed to reckon with the ultimate consequence, just as she forgot that the merit of the Avot shielding her would eventually run out, exposing what lay beneath. And because of this, "she fell miraculously": just as the rise of Yisrael was miraculous, so too was the descent; therefore, "she has no comforter," for the calamity came directly from Hashem's hand and cannot be compared to any other. Hence the cry: "Look, Hashem, upon my affliction, for the enemy has magnified himself" - whether because the enemy boasts of his power and thereby desecrates the Name of Heaven, or because the Satan elevates us in order to prosecute us even for minor misdeeds, or because the very embrace of the enemy is itself our affliction. From here emerges the lesson for our generation: to remember the end, not to repress it, and to utilize Yom Kippur for purification, so that we never arrive at "her uncleanness in her hems," and may we merit the coming of the Comforter speedily in our days.