Chapter 2 of Eicha is entirely a description of the Holy One, blessed be He’s own hand in the destruction: the enemy is not the primary agent; rather, the Holy One, blessed be He Himself abandoned, spurned, and delivered up. This time we will examine verse 7, which is one of the most painful and stirring verses in the entire Megillah - the verse describing the moment when the altar was abandoned, the Sanctuary was desolated, and the nations shouted exultantly inside the Heichal.
זָנַח אֲדֹנָי מִזְבְּחוֹ נִאֵר מִקְדָּשׁוֹ הִסְגִּיר בְּיַד אוֹיֵב חוֹמֹת אַרְמְנוֹתֶיהָ קוֹל נָתְנוּ בְבֵית יְהוָה כְּיוֹם מוֹעֵד׃ - The Lord has abandoned His altar, He has spurned His Sanctuary; He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy; they raised a shout in the House of Hashem as on the day of a festival.
Targum explains: "The Lord has abandoned His altar" - as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, caused His altar to be forgotten. "He spurned [ni'er] His Sanctuary" - He kicked at His Sanctuary. "He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy; they raised a shout in the House of Hashem as on the day of a festival" - the enemies raised a clamor in the Beit HaMikdash, like the sound that Israel used to raise on the festival of Pesach.
And the Akeidat Yitzchak adds: "The Lord has abandoned His altar" - for offerings are no longer brought upon it. "He spurned His Sanctuary" - it became a desolation. Simply speaking, "ni'er" is related to the word "arur", an accursed, desolate place. And to this another evil was added: "He has delivered the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy" - the walls of the palace, the Beit HaMikdash, were handed over to the enemies, and through this, "they raised a shout in the House of Hashem as on the day of a festival": the enemies who entered into the House of Hashem wrought destruction, shouted in celebration, and held festivities there, defiling and destroying, as on a festival day.
When was the time that the Beit HaMikdash operated at the highest intensity, at its absolute peak? Pesach. Every single individual arrived with their offering. We read of this in the Mishnayot of Pesachim - how on Erev Pesach three groups would enter, how they slaughtered, and how everything was meticulously organized. On Pesach, the Beit HaMikdash operated at the highest gear. This is what the Targum says: the enemies raised a clamor in the Temple just like the sound Israel made on the festival of Pesach. Such noise, contempt, and disgrace the nations made in the Beit HaMikdash.
This arouses tremendous anguish and grief. And in a certain sense, as the Akeidat Yitzchak also notes, this was worse than what happened to the Ten Tribes: the Ten Tribes at least did not see the gentiles prancing and carousing in His Heichal. Seeing the gentiles partying in the Sanctuary is an immense heartache. A place that was the Kodesh HaKodashim, a place where "an outsider who approaches shall be put to death," and to see the nations bringing in and committing the ultimate defilement there, as Titus did and as those before him did - that is an unmatched anguish.
On the words "The Lord has abandoned His altar," the Midrash offers a parable: To citizens of a province who set a banquet table for the king. They provoked him, and he bore with them. They angered the king, and the king was willing to tolerate it. Finally, the king said to them: "Do you provoke me only because of the table you set for me? Here it is, thrown back in your faces!" That is to say: Why do you allow yourself to show contempt for me? Because you feel, "I set a table for you, I did something for you," and you feel you have shares, that you are indispensable. So said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel: "Do you anger Me only because of the sacrifices? Here, take them back!" And that is the meaning of "The Lord has abandoned His altar."
And what does this mean? The people of Israel did not believe that destruction could ever come, for they reasoned: we are bringing sacrifices! And indeed Chazal say that as long as the Tamid offering was being sacrificed, the enemies were unable to breach the gates of Jerusalem. But the moment they hoisted up a pig instead of a lamb, the pig dug its hooves into the wall of Jerusalem, and the Land shook four hundred parasangs by four hundred parasangs. And that is what caused the wall of Jerusalem to fall and allowed Jerusalem to be conquered before them - that the sacrifices had ceased.
It emerges, then, that the Holy One, blessed be He, says: You feel that as long as you offer sacrifices, the Master of the Universe can supposedly do nothing to you. Therefore, "He has abandoned His altar" - I will bring about a situation in which you can no longer offer sacrifices upon the altar, and then what will you place your trust in? How will you continue to do whatever your heart desires? This is like the parable mentioned earlier about the musician who played before the king while sinning against him, taking liberties because the king enjoyed his music. Eventually, he fought with someone who cut off his thumb, so he could no longer play before the king - and then the king punished him for all the crimes he had committed until then. So too here: You say, "I have sacrifices, I have an altar"? The Master of the Universe says: I will abolish your altar. Just like the citizens of that province who set a table before the king - do you take liberties because of the table? He overturned their table.
The holy Alshich wrote regarding "The Lord has abandoned His altar" that the altar is maziyach (removes), mezin (sustains), mechabev (endears), and mechaper (atones) - as the Gemara expounds the word mizbe'ach. What does maziyach mean? From the root meaning to shift or displace, as in "the breastplate shall not come loose [lo yizach] from the ephod." The altar would displace and remove harsh decrees from Israel. Mezin - it sustains the entire world through the merit of the sacrifices, for all divine bounty depends upon it. As the holy Or HaChaim says, and it was cited even before him: had the nations of the world known how much abundance and goodness the Beit HaMikdash bestows upon them, they would have stationed guards around it so that it would not be destroyed. Mechabev - it endears Israel to their Father in Heaven. And now that the daily Tamid offering has ceased and the altar is abandoned, we have lost and forfeited all these virtues.
Some explain that ni'er is related to burning. How so? Ni'er derives from or (fire/light) - He cast fire into it, which is another form of the root meaning to kindle or burn. This is the explanation of the RID.
The Rav of Garmaiza (the Rokei'ach) notes: "The Lord has abandoned, His altar" - there is a vertical dividing accent (paseik) between "the Lord" and "His altar." What does this come to teach us? As if the Holy One, blessed be He, placed a barrier between us and Himself, so as not to accept the sacrifices. Furthermore, this pause connects the verse to the preceding one:
וַיַּחְמֹס כַּגַּן שֻׂכּוֹ שִׁחֵת מֹעֲדוֹ שִׁכַּח יְהוָה בְּצִיּוֹן מוֹעֵד וְשַׁבָּת וַיִּנְאַץ בְּזַעַם אַפּוֹ מֶלֶךְ וְכֹהֵן׃ - "He has stripped His booth like a garden, destroyed His meeting place; the Lord has caused festival and Shabbat to be forgotten in Zion, and in His fierce anger spurned king and priest."
"And in His fierce anger spurned king and priest - the Lord has abandoned." The words "the Lord has abandoned" refer back to "king and priest," which is why there is a pause after it: to tell you that it was the king and the priest whom the Lord abandoned.
As a humorous aside, it has been noted how critical proper punctuation is: King Solomon says, "One woman among a thousand I have not found," yet on the other hand, he says, "Many daughters have done valiantly." So make up your mind - have you not found one in a thousand, or have many done valiantly? Rather, one could humorously punctuate the verse: "Many daughters have done valiantly, and you have surpassed them all - false!" And in a similar humorous vein, people say: as long as they are "daughters," girls in seminary, every one of them is outstanding, accomplished, and stellar - "Many daughters have done valiantly." But a "woman," after marriage - "one among a thousand I have not found." This, of course, is said purely in jest.
From here, from the phrase "as on the day of an appointed festival [mo'ed]," and from the verse "He summoned an appointed time [mo'ed] against me to shatter my young men," Chazal learn that Tisha B'Av is designated a mo'ed (festival). And this is not merely a name: among Sephardim, a halachic conclusion is drawn from it, and they do not recite Tachanun and nefilat apayim on Tisha B'Av, because Tisha B'Av is called a mo'ed. The Baladi Yemenites do recite it, but the Sephardim do not, for Tisha B'Av is called a mo'ed.
And why is it truly called a mo'ed (an appointed time / festival)? There is an entire discussion about the paradox of Tisha B'Av between mourning and joy, which is a subject in its own right. But consider a parable: A king had an only son and wanted to give him immense pleasure. What did he do? He built him a palace and furnished it with everything imaginable, equipping it in the finest manner: servants and attendants, exquisite furnishings, royal treasures, gardens, and orchards - everything in the most magnificent and exceptional way a king could possibly provide.
In time, the son was stricken with melancholy; he fell into depression and despair. Doctors and experts were summoned to examine what had happened to the young man, and it became clear that the very thing that had brought him immense joy was what plunged him into depression: an excess of pleasure had led him into a state of gloom and despondency. There was no remedy other than to bring him into a state of deprivation, to subject him to hardship, and only then would he return to his former self. What did the king do? He said: 'Return him to his previous state. Let him have only a single room; strip away all the fine, magnificent luxuries I built and provided for him, and place him in an unsightly building, in the worst possible place, such that anyone who sees him will say: Is this how the king's son lives?' And now, if someone comes and tells the king: 'My lord, I saw your son living in a squalid hovel' - will the king grieve, or will he rejoice? He will rejoice. For this is the way, and this is what will heal him and restore his well-being.
The analogy is clear: Initially, we were truly worthy of joy. The Holy One, blessed be He, built the Beit HaMikdash for us, and 'one who has not seen the building of Jerusalem has never seen a beautiful building in his life.' Even though this was said of Herod's building, the Beit HaMikdash built by Shlomo was many times greater than Herod's building - the majesty, splendor, and gold plating found throughout the Beit HaMikdash, craftsmanship of the highest order. There Hashem placed unique vessels, Kohanim in their service, and Levi'im on their platform with their songs and melodies, the servants of Hashem. Everything was of the highest caliber, just as the King of kings does for His cherished son. Yet the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that instead of offering thanks, praise, and glory, the Jewish people were committing sins and straying from the path. What did He do? He brought us to the ultimate sorrow, into a state of exile, as it says, 'And it shall be, that just as Hashem rejoiced over you to do good to you, so will Hashem rejoice over you' - in reverse, Heaven forbid.
This is the meaning of 'He summoned an appointed time (*mo'ed*) against me to crush my young men': in truth, this day possesses an aspect of a festival (*mo'ed*). The day on which He came 'to crush my young men' is like the king breaking his son - which is a day of joy for him, because through this he knows his son will be healed. So too with the Holy One, blessed be He: what He did is a day of joy, because through it comes the cure for the Jewish people.
To what can this be compared? To a doctor who administers medicine to a patient, and the patient says to him: 'It is bitter, it is revolting, it burns!' What does the doctor reply? 'That is a sign it is working. If it burns, it means it is taking effect, and you are on the right path.' But if the patient says: 'Listen, I don't feel a thing' - woe to him! Who knows? If they applied these potent remedies and there is no sensation and no pain, perhaps necrosis has already set in, and perhaps nothing more can be done. But if it burns, it is a sign that the flesh is still living, and the healing process has begun. Therefore, not only does the patient not resent the doctor - even though it burns and hurts him - but as he leaves, he leaves four hundred shekels and departs; he even pays him for the pain he inflicted!
From here we see that there is fundamentally joy here, stemming from the realization that this painful process is what heals me and brings me to completion. And this is the meaning of 'When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint within me (*alai*)' - 'within me / upon me' means that if I have anyone to resent, it is only myself, not the Holy One, blessed be He. For the Holy One, blessed be He, says: 'Now there is no choice; I must administer medicine to you, and medicine burns and hurts. Yet this medicine is good for you, because had I continued to let you rejoice and revel as before, you would have reached a catastrophic state - a state in which He would not have spent His wrath upon wood and stone, but, Heaven forbid, upon the Jewish people.' It turns out, then, that the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash is an appointed time (*mo'ed*): a day when the Holy One, blessed be He, applies a compress and heals us. If so, this time is truly worthy of being called a *mo'ed*.
The author of Elon Bachut explains: The sacred stones of the Beit HaMikdash are hidden away on High. And what was delivered into the hand of the enemy? Only 'the walls of her palaces' - He did not deliver His sanctuary into the hand of the enemy. The stones, as explained earlier, are hidden on High. And as discussed previously, neither Titus nor anyone else had the power to damage the House of Hashem - 'You have ground flour that was already ground.' The stones themselves are up there on High, and what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He exchanged the stones for other stones, in order to deliver into the enemy's hand only 'the walls of her palaces.' For this reason, that place now in the hands of the enemies, the place ruined by their hands, is, fortunately for us, not the Beit HaMikdash itself.
Therefore, when people ask: How will the Beit HaMikdash descend built of fire? Where is it being built from? The answer is: It was taken from here intact, and it remains there on High. And how do we bring it down built of fire? Through our tears and our prayers - this is what rebuilds it right now on the spiritual plane, and then it will descend built of fire. Therefore, there is no need to fire missiles at the mosque there. When the Beit HaMikdash descends, it will crush everything; everything will turn to fine dust, 'and all wickedness will vanish like smoke, when You remove the dominion of tyranny from the earth' - in a single instant, everything will be nullified. Consequently, our role is solely to act on the spiritual plane: add another stone to the Beit HaMikdash on High, so that it may descend below and so that the Redemption may arrive. But on the physical plane, this is not how Redemption is brought about.
It is further explained, in light of what was mentioned: As long as sacrifices were being offered, the enemy could not enter. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? First, 'He rejected His altar,' then 'He spurned His sanctuary,' and only then 'He delivered into the hand of the enemy.' Once the altar was abandoned and there were no sacrifices, it was easy to deliver the Beit HaMikdash into the enemy's hands. But as long as sacrifices were being brought, it was impossible to surrender it to the enemy.
The author of Alon Bachut offers another explanation for "They made a noise in the house of the Lord as on the day of an appointed festival": this contains an allusion to Ammon and Moab. It is written that when they entered the Beit HaMikdash, they saw in the Holy of Holies that the Keruvim were intertwined with one another, and they burst into laughter like on a festival day - mocking us. They said: Behold these holy ones, whose blessing is a blessing and whose curse is a curse, the holy nation, and this is what they have in their inner treasuries and inner chambers - figures of a youth and a maiden, a boy and a girl intertwined with each other! To them, this was seen as a laughingstock, an object of ridicule, as something lacking modesty.
And what is meant by "as on the day of an appointed festival"? For it is taught that whenever the Jewish people would make the pilgrimage on the festivals, the Kohanim would show them the Keruvim intertwined with each other, showing them that the Jewish people were doing the will of the Omnipresent. The Keruvim intertwined with one another were a sign and wonder that Hashem took pleasure in them. But when their faces were turned toward the walls of the house, back to back, it was a sign that there was no peace in the home, that there was no peace between the Congregation of Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He. According to this, one can understand the verse:
תִּקְרָא כְיוֹם מוֹעֵד מְגוּרַי מִסָּבִיב וְלֹא הָיָה בְּיוֹם אַף יְהוָה פָּלִיט וְשָׂרִיד אֲשֶׁר טִפַּחְתִּי וְרִבִּיתִי אֹיְבִי כִלָּם׃ - "You have called, as on the day of an appointed festival, my terrors all around; and on the day of the Lord's anger there was neither refugee nor survivor; those whom I have dangled on my hands and raised, my enemy has consumed."
Ammon and Moab brought out the Keruvim, having seen them intertwined with each other "as on the day of an appointed festival": just as the Kohanim would reveal them on a festival day to show us the Keruvim intertwined, as a sign of Hashem's affection for us, so too did the nations - they brought out the Keruvim like on a festival day, mocking us, as it were, over what we had in our Holy of Holies.
Furthermore, on a festival day Israel's sins were atoned for, which is why the Keruvim were intertwined with each other. Now, when it was seemingly a time of wrath, on the day of His fierce anger, the Keruvim should have had their faces turned toward the walls. There are several explanations for this, as discussed earlier: some say it is because one who sets out on a journey must take leave of his wife, and the Jewish people were in the position of embarking on a journey into exile, so the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, visited us with affection before departing. Another explanation is that the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to show us: come and see, everything I have brought upon you is a poultice, a healing bandage, an appointed time, intended for your ultimate good.
This is what the verse means by "You have called as on the day of an appointed festival": know that just as on a festival day you see the Keruvim intertwined - and what does that signify? That Hashem desires us, loves us, and is close to us. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: even at a time when My face shows anger, even when I pour out fury upon you, know that it comes from a loving heart. Because I desire you and care for you, I preserve you through this path, for otherwise, God forbid, the Jewish people would reach utter ruin. Just as the intertwined Keruvim on a festival day are a good omen, so too here, it is a sign for good.
The Lechem Dim'ah explains "They made a noise in the house of the Lord as on the day of an appointed festival" from another perspective. Chazal teach that when the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, Hashem, may He be blessed, came to His house with all His ministering angels, and called for Avraham as well. They gathered group by group, and each group delivered a eulogy with wailing sounds, until the noise swelled like the sounds of joy at Simchat Beit HaSho'evah - except that now it was the voice of mourning and wailing. This is the meaning of "You have called as on the day of an appointed festival." Earlier we explained that this refers to the enemies who cheered and rejoiced in His Sanctuary as on a festival day, but here it refers to the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself: calling out in every manner of lament and weeping, He and the entire Heavenly Entourage, grieving over the plight of the Jewish people. Just as on a festival day there was the joy of Simchat Beit HaSho'evah and celebration in the Beit HaMikdash, so now our dancing has turned into mourning, becoming a time of sorrow, grief, and sounds of lament from the Holy One, blessed be He.
The Rav of Worms notes a precise detail: the verse states, "He delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces" (chomot armenoteha), and the word chomot is written defectively - chet, vav, mem, tav, without the second vav. What does this allusion convey? Chomat is singular, while chomot is plural, and the missing vav hints that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not deliver all of the walls into their hands. Which wall was never handed over to them? The Western Wall. This is what the text alludes to: He delivered them - but not all of them. Ultimately, a portion remained, which is the remnant of our Beit HaMikdash, the place where we pour out our whispered prayers, and from which the Shechinah has never departed.
Rabbi Moshe Almosnino, in his work Yedei Moshe, explains: it is human nature that when a person lives in a particular place, especially if he resided there for a prolonged period and experienced good times and success there, even if he ultimately departs and relocates elsewhere, he will always retain sentimental feelings toward it. A bond always remains; he does not forget it completely. Fond memories, childhood recollections, linger, and he remains connected to that place.
Seemingly, this is how it should have been with the destruction of the Temple. Even if the Holy One, blessed be He, decreed to destroy the House and burn the Beit HaMikdash, it would have been fitting that there still remain for Him a fond memory of this House, that He remember us favorably as the place where Israel served Hashem, at least during the good years, as the place where the Shechinah rested. There should have been, so to speak, sentimental feelings toward this place. And over this the prophet laments: "Hashem spurned His altar, He abhorred His Sanctuary" - the Holy One, blessed be He, abandoned His House, and not only abandoned it, but as the Targum phrases it, "He kicked His Sanctuary," a very harsh expression.
And not only this. Even if a person despises his home, says the Yedei Moshe, it is still unthinkable that he would personally deliver it into the hands of his enemies. A person who comes to despise his house loathes it and walks away, abandoning it. But here, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not stop at that; rather, He Himself "delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces" - handing over the House where the bond with the Jewish people had existed, the House toward which there should have remained a warm corner in the heart.
Furthermore: even if an unnatural thing were to occur, that He would indeed deliver this House into the hands of the foe, He surely would not permit a situation in which the enemy could say, "I took this by the might of my hand, I took it by my strength because I overcame Him." What does that mean? I gave this to you! I despised it and gave it to you, and you still come and boast that it was by your own power? This is just like what the Palestinians say today: "We subdued the State of Israel, Gush Katif is ours, the Gaza envelope settlements are in our hands." They do not view it as the State of Israel ceding territory for the sake of peace; rather, they say, "We defeated them, they yielded to our might and strength, they had no choice." Force is the only language they understand.
If so, even if the Holy One, blessed be He, had already surrendered His Sanctuary, to come and hear the enemies declare, "We are stronger than the Master of the Universe, and therefore we took it by our own might" - this is an unprecedented disgrace, which He seemingly would never tolerate. And on this it says: Come and see that even this disgrace was added here - "they raised their voice in the House of Hashem as on a festival day." They let out shouts of triumph and sounds of jubilation, as if to say: We conquered, we achieved, we prevailed; they set their signs as signs, blood emerged from the parochet (curtain), we overcame Him - as if they had killed the Holy One, blessed be He. Here, we would expect that this would surely arouse divine wrath, that here the Holy One, blessed be He, would no longer remain silent. Yet look, all of these things befell us: He spurned His altar, He abhorred His Sanctuary, He delivered His House and the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy, and even though "they raised their voice in the House of Hashem as on a festival day," He seemingly does not react to them, allowing them to cheer there as though they had managed by their own power to overcome the Master of the Universe.
What immense lamentation lies in these words, a lamentation meant to arouse us: "Why has Hashem done so to this land?" Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, bring about something so utterly inconceivable? This shows that our sins, too, were truly beyond nature - irrational, defying comprehension - and therefore there was no choice but to bring a punishment that defies comprehension.
Rabbi Yishmael de Uceda, in the book Lechem Dim'ah, cites the words of Chazal: When Israel performed the will of the Omnipresent, the fire would crouch upon the altar in the form of a lion; but when they sinned and did not perform the will of the Omnipresent, the fire would crouch in the form of a dog - for the dog is a degraded animal, whereas the lion is one of the faces of the Heavenly Chariot.
And this is what the verse means. At first, "Hashem spurned His altar": when the Holy One, blessed be He, showed fire in the form of a dog upon the altar, He showed that He had spurned His altar - the sacrifices were no longer pleasing before Him, and the consuming fire was like a dog rather than a lion. Yet they were still offering sacrifices, meaning there was still fire and there was still an altar. But when they did not repent and continued to sin, "He abhorred His Sanctuary": He kicked it away completely, invalidated the Beit HaMikdash, and the daily Tamid offering ceased. And when even this did not avail, and they saw that He abhorred His Sanctuary yet still did not repent, "He delivered into the hand of the enemy": Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged Jerusalem, and then they were already handed over into his grasp. At that point, the outcries and the sounds of weeping - "There we sat down and wept" - no longer availed; it was already too late.
Verse 7 leads us through three stages of downfall: "Hashem spurned His altar" - the cessation of the sacrifices, which used to avert harsh decrees, sustain the world, and endear Israel to their Father; "He abhorred His Sanctuary" - the desolation and, so to speak, the kicking away of the House; and "He delivered into the hand of the enemy" - for only after the sacrifices ceased could the enemy enter, and even then, only the outer walls were surrendered, while the sacred stones were hidden away on High and one wall remained for us, the Western Wall. And "they raised their voice in the House of Hashem as on a festival day" is the height of disgrace: the mocking shouts of the nations and of Ammon and Moab in the Sanctuary, in place of the joyful voices of Israel on Pesach - contrasted with the lamenting voice of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Heavenly retinue. Even so, "You have called as on a festival day": the Cherubim clinging to one another even on the day of wrath teach us that everything stems from a loving heart, like a burning medicine for which the patient is grateful - "When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint within me"; the grievance is against ourselves, not Him, and the path to rebuilding the House is through tears and prayers, on the spiritual plane, until it descends fully built in fire, speedily in our days.