Introduction: One Verse, a World of Explanations
Chapter 2 of Eicha describes the destruction not merely as an act of the enemy, but as an act of Heaven: "How has the Lord covered with a cloud in His anger." In this lesson, we will focus on just one verse - verse 3 - and explore the dozens of facets it contains. The phrase "He turned back His right hand" is one of the deepest expressions in the entire Megillah, and we will examine numerous ways to interpret it: as referring to the Holy One, Blessed be He; to the Jewish people; to Michael, the guardian angel of Israel; to the attribute of Chesed (loving-kindness); and even to the outflow of divine bounty.
גָּדַע בָּחֳרִי אַף כֹּל קֶרֶן יִשְׂרָאֵל, הֵשִׁיב אָחוֹר יְמִינוֹ מִפְּנֵי אוֹיֵב, וַיִּבְעַר בְּיַעֲקֹב כְּאֵשׁ לֶהָבָה אָכְלָה סָבִיב. - He severed in fierce anger all the horn of Israel; He turned back His right hand before the enemy, and He burned in Jacob like a flaming fire devouring all around.
Horn - An Expression of Greatness and Power
"He severed in fierce anger all the horn of Israel" - the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it were, cut off with the intensity of His anger, in "fierce anger", the entire horn of Israel. Everywhere in Scripture, "horn" expresses greatness: "and He shall raise the horn of His anointed," "his horn is exalted," "the horn of David Your servant flourish." Just as an animal gores enemies with its horn, so the horn symbolizes greatness and power. In His anger, the Holy One, Blessed be He, severed the entire horn of Israel, all of their glory.
"He turned back His right hand before the enemy" - we expect help from the Holy One, Blessed be He; we expect that with His right hand He will punish the enemies. But what does He do? He turns back His right hand, as it were hiding His right hand behind His back, doing nothing against the enemies. Consequently, "and He burned in Jacob like a flaming fire" - since the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not punish the enemies, fire burns among the people of Israel like a blazing flame, "devouring all around," consuming everything surrounding them.
"Lechem Dimah": The Right Hand of Israel, and the Fire of Internal Strife
The commentary Lechem Dimah explains differently: "He turned back his right hand" refers to the right hand of Israel. According to the first explanation, the Holy One, Blessed be He, withdraws His own right hand and does not protect us. But according to this interpretation, "his right hand" refers back to us: the Holy One, Blessed be He, turned back Israel's right hand so that they could not strike their enemies. Consequently, "outside, the sword bereaves" - the sword of the enemies, since Israel was unable to fight back against them.
And from within - this is the continuation of the verse: "and He burned in Jacob like a flaming fire" - the people of Israel within themselves. As recounted in Sefer Yosippon, three warring factions arose, and this was the fire of discord, a blazing flame that sparked internal fighting, which ultimately led to the downfall. How did they fall into the hands of the enemies? As a result of the internal discord that tore them apart.
Anyone who reads Sefer Yosippon will be horrified by the level of bloodshed that took place there. People would walk through the marketplace carrying short daggers, like small concealed knives; someone who held a grudge against an enemy and met him in the market would approach him, stab him in the belly or heart, and walk away as if nothing had happened. People would be walking and suddenly see someone collapse - what happened? By the time anyone reached him, no one even knew what occurred, and he was already dead. Chazal tell us that the three cardinal sins - idolatry, sexual immorality, and bloodshed - existed in the First Temple era; during the Second Temple era, however, there was internal strife, and the Sicarii among them, those who insisted on waging war against the enemy. We see, therefore, that it was not enough that Israel's right hand was turned back before the enemy coming from the outside; rather, "and He burned in Jacob" - from within, like a flaming fire, as internal dissension consumed us from the inside.
"Elon Bachut": The King Who Bound His Son's Hands
The Elon Bachut explains based on the Yalkut. Rabbi Elazar said: A parable of a king who became angry with his son and handed him over to his servant, but the servant trembled in fear of the prince. The servant wondered: Did he really hand him over to me to deal with? Can I possibly strike the king's son? He was terrified of him. What did the king do? He bound his son's hands and said to the servant: Now you may deal with him freely.
So too, Nevuchadnezzar was terrified: Shall I meddle with the Jewish people? Who knows what retribution I will receive for doing so! What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He bound the hands of Michael, as it is stated, "He withdrew His right hand in the face of the enemy." According to this explanation, "His right hand" refers to the angelic prince of Israel - we have seen one explanation referring to the Holy One, blessed be He, a second explanation referring to the Jewish people, and here it refers to Michael. Michael was their advocate, and therefore the enemies could not dominate them; what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? As it were, He bound his hands. And when Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, cannot advocate on our behalf - the enemies can easily overpower us.
"Begin with My Sanctified Ones": The Righteous Who Did Not Protest
And what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He wished to save at least the righteous, as He instructed that angel to mark a tav on the foreheads of the worthy people - a tav of life (tichyeh), so that they would be spared. Then the Attribute of Justice prosecuted: How are these different from those? The Holy One, blessed be He, said: These are completely righteous, and those are completely wicked. The Attribute of Justice replied: Yes, but they could have protested and did not protest - and whoever does not protest is held accountable. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: But it is revealed to Me that even had they protested, the people would not have listened to them. The Attribute of Justice responded: It is revealed before You, but was it revealed to them? Could they have known that with certainty? No, and therefore, from their perspective, they were obligated to protest. In the wake of this, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: "And begin from My Sanctuary" (Umimikdashi tachallu) - do not read "from My Sanctuary" (Mimikdashi), but rather "from My sanctified ones" (Mimekudashai), specifically from those righteous individuals who were able to protest and did not protest.
And this is what Yirmiyahu laments: "He has cut off in fierce anger every horn of Israel." Who is the horn of Israel? Those who exalted our horn, those who advocated favorably on our behalf - this refers to the angel, as the Holy One, blessed be He, bound Michael's hands so that no one was left to advocate for them: "He withdrew His right hand in the face of the enemy." The tzaddikim could also no longer shield us. "He has cut off in fierce anger every horn of Israel" also alludes to the righteous, with whom the calamity began, because they ought to have protested and did not protest.
The Oath That Bound Avraham's Hands
The Lechem Dimah cites the words of Chazal in the introduction to Eichah: When the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to destroy the Beit HaMikdash, He said: As long as I am within it, the nations of the world cannot touch it. How, then, can it be destroyed? Rather, I will avert My eyes from it, and I will swear that I will not attend to it until the End of Days, and then the enemies will come and destroy it. "I will avert My eyes" means that I will not gaze upon it nor act to save it, thereby creating a condition in which the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash becomes possible. Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be He, swore by His right hand and turned it backward; this is what is written, "He withdrew His right hand in the face of the enemy" - and at that very moment, the enemies entered the sanctuary and burned it. Only at that moment, when He took that oath, were the enemies able to enter.
And why was an oath necessary? Because Avraham Avinu would plead concerning the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, for it was built in his merit. Where do we find the first identification of the site of the Beit HaMikdash? At the binding of Yitzchak, on Mount Moriah. It began with Avraham Avinu - Avraham called it "a mountain." This being so, the Holy One, blessed be He, knew that Avraham would, as it were, bind His hands and argue: Master of the Universe, is not the Beit HaMikdash in my merit? How can You destroy it? There was no alternative but to swear an oath, and through that oath Avraham could no longer intervene and attempt to alter the decree.
And this is "He withdrew His right hand": "His right hand" also alludes to the attribute of Chesed - Avraham Avinu, chesed, the "right arm." Avraham, who embodies chesed, would try to avert the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash; how does the Holy One, blessed be He, withdraw His right hand - chesed, Avraham - backward so that he cannot annul the decree? Through the oath. Once He swore, chesed, the right hand, Avraham, could no longer argue anything. It was sealed: this is a judicial decree accompanied by an oath, which cannot be rescinded. "He withdrew His right hand," and thus the decree was finalized.
"I Am with Him in Distress" - Bound Along with His Children
Chazal teach: When sins brought about consequence and the enemies entered Jerusalem, they seized the mighty warriors of Israel and bound their hands behind them. Here we have an additional explanation of "He withdrew His right hand" - the Holy One, blessed be He, brought the enemies here, and they turned the right hand of Israel's mighty warriors backward and bound them.
Furthermore, they taught: The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "I have stated, 'I am with him in distress' - can it be that My children are steeped in sorrow while I remain at ease?" As it were, He withdrew His right hand. This is an awe-inspiring Midrash: when the right hands of Israel's mighty warriors are bound behind them, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, as it were: I too shall bind My right hand behind Me. When the Jewish people suffer, what does the Shechinah say? "My head feels heavy to Me, My arm feels heavy to Me" - as it were, My head aches, My arm is sore. So too here: if the right hand of Israel's warriors is drawn back, the Holy One, blessed be He, likewise withdraws His right hand.
Bending the Bow: The Intensity of the Blow
There is another explanation of "He withdrew His right hand," along the lines of "He set His right hand like an adversary." To explain: their practice was to shoot with a bow, and when one wants to shoot, one grasps the arrow along with the bowstring and draws it backward - this is "He drew His right hand back." The more one draws back the string, the further the arrow flies. The prophet wishes to describe the magnitude of the blow: the Holy One, blessed be He, drew back His right hand with all His might. Consequently, because the blow was so severe, "before the enemy, and He burned in Jacob like a flaming fire devouring all around" - when there is such a powerful pull of the bowstring, it inevitably burns like a flaming fire and consumes everything.
Ten Horns That Were Removed
Our Sages say in the Midrash: There are ten horns - of Abraham, of Isaac, of Joseph, of Moses, of Torah, of Kehunah (priesthood), of Leviyah (the Levites), of prophecy, of the Beit HaMikdash, and of Israel; and some say also the horn of Mashiach. For each of these, there are supporting verses. "Horns," as we explained, signify greatness and power - "He lifts the horn of His people." Israel possessed ten types of horns and greatness.
All of them were set upon the head of Israel. What does "set upon their head" mean? It is a symbolic expression: we have Torah - that is a horn upon our head with which we gore the enemies. We have Abraham - another horn upon our head with which we can gore the enemies. And so it is with each and every one of these things; each is a merit and a source of strength through which to overcome our enemies. Ten such horns were placed upon our heads, as it were, through which we could triumph over our foes. But once they sinned, these were taken from them. This is the meaning of "He has cut off in fierce anger every horn of Israel": had even one horn remained, we could have still fought against the enemies with it; but all the horns, all the powers with which we could defend ourselves, the Holy One, blessed be He, took from us, leaving nothing of them behind. And when Israel possesses no horn, God forbid, the enemies are able to come and conquer us.
Horn and Flask: Why the Horn Specifically Was Cut Off
The Gemara states that Saul and Jehu were anointed from a flask (pach), and therefore their kingship did not endure. A "flask" refers to an earthenware flask, and earthenware is fragile - "like a broken potsherd" - and therefore their kingship broke and did not endure. In contrast, King David and King Solomon were anointed from a horn (keren): the anointing oil was placed inside the horn, and with it David and Solomon were anointed, and therefore their kingship endured. This is what is mentioned in Hannah's song, "My horn is exalted in Hashem" - our Sages say: "'My horn is exalted,' and not 'my flask is exalted.'" Through whom was her horn exalted? Through Samuel, for Samuel was the one who anointed David and Solomon; "my horn is exalted," because through him the kings of the House of David were anointed with a horn.
The horn thus symbolizes the strength, power, and enduring existence of the Jewish people. Why? First, the word keren is associated with endurance. Second, a horn is used for goring, alluding to striking down adversaries. But the primary reason is that horn is an extremely sturdy material, unlike earthenware, which shatters at the slightest touch and sometimes even cracks on its own. If a horn falls, at most it might crack, but it will not crumble to pieces like a shattered, crumbling flask.
Based on this, Rav Aryeh Leib Zinz, author of Melo HaOmer, explains: see what the Holy One, blessed be He, cut off here - even the horn itself! The horn represents strength, the horn indicates enduring existence; but because there was fierce anger, we reached a state where even the horn of Israel was cut off.
The Alshich: Divine Flow from the Front and Flow from Behind
"He withdrew His right hand before the enemy." We saw earlier the Midrash stating that when the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to destroy the Beit HaMikdash, He said: As long as I am inside it, the enemies cannot touch it. Immediately, the Holy One, blessed be He, swore and turned backward; this is what is written, "He withdrew His right hand before the enemy." The Holy One, blessed be He, knew that if His right hand remained there, the enemies would not be able to harm it, and therefore He drew His right hand back. And who draws back his right hand? One who says, as it were: I will not strike, I will not act, my right hand is behind me, I am taking no action at all. And that is what allowed the enemies to enter and conquer the Beit HaMikdash.
The holy Alshich explains: The attribute of Chesed (loving-kindness) of the Holy One, blessed be He, His goodness and mercy, never ceases even when the Jewish people sin - for were it not so, surely no remnant or survivor would have remained of us in exile. Rather, His attribute of mercy stands by us: "Yet even so, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly and break My covenant with them." Even when the Jewish people are in a degraded state, even when they deserve punishment, the Holy One, blessed be He, still treats us with the attribute of mercy. Even so, says the Alshich, note that there is a difference in the divine flow of the Holy One, blessed be He, between before the destruction and after the destruction.
Let us preface this with a Kabbalistic concept, which one does not need to delve deeply into Kabbalah to understand. The higher spiritual flows, the emanations of the holy Partzufim and Sefirot, can manifest in several dimensions. The highest level is called "panim b'panim" (face to face): the flow from Ze'ir Anpin - the lower six Sefirot - to Nukva, the Sefirah of Malchut, takes place face to face, and all divine abundance is received in the optimal manner. When we speak of an abundance of panim b'panim, it means that the flow arrives in complete perfection, reflecting the deep affection between the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah, and the bond with the Jewish people.
By contrast, there is flow that is "face-to-back": the recipient, Malchut, faces outward while its back is turned toward the Holy One, toward the six Sefirot, toward Ze'eir Anpin. In such a case, the flow is incomplete; it is received only by way of the back, and this is a deficient flow rather than a face-to-face transmission. And if it is "back-to-back" - as the Kabbalists say - this is a state where almost no divine bounty is transmitted at all, as both Partzufim turn their backs to one another.
The Alshich explains: Once we understand this principle, observe what happened here. In the era of the Beit HaMikdash, the divine flow was face-to-face, which is hinted at by the Keruvim - for the Beit HaMikdash represents a face-to-face transmission. But after Israel went into exile, we became like the nations: the nations receive flow from face to back, not through the face but through the back, an inferior and diminished flow. Transmission through the back is worse for another reason as well, for the Klipot draw their sustenance from the back; the impure forces and the husks nourish themselves from the dimension of the back. Thus, when the flow comes through the back, an opening is created for the Klipot and the forces of impurity to receive from that very bounty.
This is what is meant here by "He withdrew His right hand": "His right hand" is the attribute of Chesed. Hashem is always bestowing, always giving; Hashem swore by His right hand, pledging and swearing that loving-kindness will never end or cease. What happened, then? Hashem turned His right hand backward. The very bounty that we were meant to receive through the aspect of the right - the right is Chesed, whereas the left is Gevurah - instead of giving it to us face-to-face, which would have meant receiving the flow in its completeness with no possibility for the outside forces to draw sustenance from it, the Holy One withdrew His right hand backward, delivering the Chesed through the aspect of the back. Through this, the nations came and were able to feed off that bounty as well, and the flow was not received properly - and this is what allowed the nations to come and destroy the Beit HaMikdash.
The Oath to the Western Wall
Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz adds: Even after the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, some measure of the Shechinah's sanctity still remained in that place. This is just as Chazal say regarding synagogues, that even in their desolation their sanctity remains upon them and it is forbidden to treat them with disrespect, as the Gemara states in Masechet Megillah - their holiness endures. So too we find regarding the destroyed Beit HaMikdash, that the Shechinah still lingered there. And where? At the Western Wall. The Shechinah has never departed from the Western Wall, as Chazal expound on the verse, "Behold, this one stands behind our wall" - the Holy One swore an oath to the Western Wall that the Shechinah would never depart from it.
This is a wonder of wonders. Jerusalem was conquered twelve times, utterly devastated with not a stone left upon a stone; Turnus Rufus plowed over the Sanctuary - yet the Western Wall stands as a silent witness to that ancient oath sworn by the Holy One, that it would never be destroyed. Can anyone produce such testimony from any other nation, from any other prophecy, written two thousand years ago and fulfilled to the letter? Here it is explicitly written for us: the Holy One swore to the Western Wall that it would never be destroyed. And if one should claim that what is seen above is not the original wall - excavations have gone deep below and revealed it; look down forty meters beneath, and you see the original wall. Here is the Western Wall, which David began to build and which was subsequently continued, to which the Holy One swore that it would never be destroyed, and it still stands today as a silent witness to that ancient prophecy.
In Summary:
A single verse - "He hacked off in fierce wrath every horn of Israel; He withdrew His right hand before the enemy" - contains an entire universe. "Horn" denotes greatness and power, and ten horns rested upon our head, all of which were taken away due to our sins; even the horn, which is strong and signifies permanence, was hacked away. And "He withdrew His right hand" is expounded in every direction: Hashem's right hand that withheld retribution from the enemy; the right hand of Israel that was bound, with the sword from without and the fire of discord within; the right hand of Michael, the guardian angel of Israel, that was shackled; the attribute of Chesed, embodied by Avraham, which was arrested by an oath; the drawing of the bow with full force; and even the divine flow that was reversed from face to back, until the external forces were able to draw sustenance from it. From all this we also learned the obligation of protest - "and begin with My holy ones" - as well as the consolation: that even in the midst of destruction, the Shechinah never departed from the Western Wall, and it stands to this day as living testimony to the oath of the Holy One.