Introduction
We are in Chapter 2 of Megillat Eicha, at the passage where the mourner depicts the horrors of the famine that struck Jerusalem during the destruction. After describing in the previous verse the young children and infants fainting in the city streets, our verse portrays their very dying - what they say, to whom, and at what moment. We will examine the plain meaning of the verse, followed by several homiletic and mussar insights offered on it.
לְאִמֹּתָם יֹאמְרוּ אַיֵּה דָּגָן וָיָיִן בְּהִתְעַטְּפָם כֶּחָלָל בִּרְחֹבוֹת עִיר בְּהִשְׁתַּפֵּךְ נַפְשָׁם אֶל חֵיק אִמֹּתָם׃ - They say to their mothers, "Where are grain and wine?" as they faint like the wounded in the open squares of the city, as their soul is poured out into their mothers' bosom.
Two Scenes in a Single Verse
The prophet depicts two scenes here. The first scene is that of the older children, those who still remember the days of plenty - the grain and the wine, the fine pastries and the choice aged wine they drank in times of abundance. Now, when the destruction and famine have arrived, they turn to their mothers and ask, "Where are grain and wine?" - we do not even have coarse bread, let alone grain and wine.
In contrast, there are the nursing infants. Infants do not know how to speak, and grain and wine certainly mean nothing to them. Regarding them, the conclusion of the verse states: "As their soul is poured out into their mothers' bosom" - they threw themselves into their mothers' laps to nurse, only to find that the mother had no milk to give them, and their souls poured out, dying in their mothers' embrace.
Rabbi Shem Tov adds an explanation: even as their souls were expiring, they were still murmuring, "Where are grain and wine?" because their mothers had no milk to nurse them. This connects the two parts of the verse: "They say to their mothers, 'Where are grain and wine?'" - when? "As their soul is poured out into their mothers' bosom." At the very moment their souls departed, they were still murmuring this plea.
In Elon Bachut, it is explained that this verse is a direct continuation of the preceding one: "As infant and nursling faint in the city squares" - these are the ones who suffered severe starvation and collapsed in the city streets, shriveling into themselves from the intensity of the hunger. From that terrible state, "they say to their mothers, 'Where are grain and wine?'" - crying out to their mothers: where is food with which we can satisfy our hunger?
Three Instances of "Where?" - "Where" Answering to "Where"
The phrasing "Where are grain and wine?" can be understood in the following way. In Yeshayahu 63, the Jewish people turn to the Master of the Universe and say: "Where are Your zeal and Your might?" Master of the Universe, how can You allow this to be done to us? Why do You not display divine zeal? Why do You not take vengeance upon the nations who oppress us so harshly?
And what is the response? The Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: Only now do you remember? In Yirmeyahu, chapter 2, it says: "The priests did not say, 'Where is Hashem?' and those who handle the Torah did not know Me; the shepherds transgressed against Me." This is "where" corresponding to "where": you ask, "Where is Your zeal?" - yet the priests did not say, "Where is Hashem?" and those who handle the Torah did not know Me, and the shepherds transgressed against Me. If so, what is the meaning of asking now, "Where are Your zeal and Your might?"
And what is the punishment? This is the third "where": "They say to their mothers, 'Where are grain and wine?'" Because you ask, "Where are Your zeal and Your might?" and the response is, "The priests did not say, 'Where is Hashem?'" the consequence is "Where are grain and wine?" - where is there food? There is not even basic grain and wine to consume.
"Le'umosam" - Where Is the Torah That Is Likened to Grain and Wine?
Another homiletic explanation (derech derash): Do not read "le'immotam" (to their mothers), but rather "le'umosam" (to their nation) - as if the ministering angels answer this nation, the Jewish people: "Where are grain and wine?" Where are the Torah and mitzvos that are likened to grain and wine? Before you ask, "Where are Your zeal and Your might?", I will ask you: Where are grain and wine?
For the Torah is called bread, as it says, "Come, partake of my bread," which corresponds to grain; and the Torah is also called wine, as it says, "and drink of the wine I have mixed." Thus, grain and wine symbolize the Torah. And against those who abandoned the Torah - "those who handle the Torah did not know Me," "the kohanim did not say, Where is Hashem?" - the angels, as it were, say to this nation: Where are grain and wine? Where is the Torah study that was supposed to protect you? Why did you not engage in Torah? As it is said, "Why was the land lost? - Because they abandoned My Torah." They did not value the Torah properly, and consequently, they ended up where they did.
One Accustomed to High Standards - The Fall Is Harder
In the sefer Afikei Yehudah, he addresses this difficulty: In a time of famine, people do not talk about wine; they talk about coarse bread. They do not talk about grain, which is fine bread, but about the bare minimum. And is this what they have to say - "Where are grain and wine?"
Rather, the higher a person's standard of living was, and the more stylishly he lived, the harsher his descent and fall. Someone who was always accustomed to eating black bread, if he is now forced to eat coarse bread, it is not terrible. But someone who ate only homemade artisanal croissants, and you suddenly force him to eat coarse bread, will say to you: I don't even know how to approach this; it is completely unchewable. Why? Because he is accustomed to high standards and is unable to lower himself from his former prestige.
And this is what the verse means: The young children - children, not the elderly - say, "Where are grain and wine?", meaning: we still remember the grain and the wine. This teaches you that the fall was instantaneous: just a moment ago they were still accustomed to grain and wine, and immediately - "Where are grain and wine?" And if you ask what connection children have to wine, he explains that young children were also given a taste of wine at Kiddush, just as we do today, and therefore it is fitting even for young children to say, "Where is the wine?"
The Final Request - The Words of the Ya'arot Devash
Yet one must still wonder: We are talking here about children fainting like wounded men in the city squares, pouring out their souls into their mothers' laps, in a state of terrible hunger, faint with starvation. A starving person does not look for champagne and caviar; he looks for dry bread - give him anything, just so he can survive. If so, how does it make sense that "They say to their mothers: Where are grain and wine?" Is that what interests them now, grain and wine?
Our Sages relate: There was once a pious man (chasid) who was handed over to an executioner (the king's officer) to be judged, and they brought him up to the gallows to execute him. Before his death, he asked to be given fatty meat and aged wine. They asked him what the meaning of this request was. And what was the idea behind a "last request" altogether? It was their way, as it were, to obtain forgiveness for taking a person's life: so that he would be satisfied in his final moments, having received something, and submit his soul to death. They asked him what he wanted, and he told them: fatty meat and fine wine.
I believe that Eichmann, may the name of the wicked rot, when they brought him here and asked what his last request was, also asked for fine wine. By the way, this was very common in those days: to request a farewell meal - a moment before I leave the world, let me enjoy something; what else can I enjoy? Bring a farewell meal so we can enjoy a moment before parting. There was one condemned man who asked for watermelon. They said to him: Watermelon? What is the matter with you, it's winter now! He answered them: Fine, I'm in no rush, we can wait; it doesn't have to be right now.
Returning to that pious man: they asked him, why are you seeking to indulge yourself a moment before your death? In another moment you will be food for the worms; are you worried that the worms won't have enough to eat? Why are you seeking pleasures now? He answered them with two reasons: First, a person is not permitted to harm himself, and if I can do good for myself, why not? And second, I accept the divine decree upon myself with joy, and just as one blesses over the good, so too one must bless over the bad.
Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz writes in Ya'arot Devash: So it was with these young children and infants. "They say to their mothers, 'Where is grain and wine?'" - a moment before their death, they asked: perhaps there is something here to eat for a proper meal, meat and wine, so that we may accept the judgment upon ourselves with joy? So that we can truly say: "I accept upon myself the judgment of Heaven, I make a meal for the will of Hashem; this is what Hashem desires, and over this I rejoice, and over this I make a feast."
In summary:
One short verse encapsulates all the terror of the famine: the older children ask their mother, "Where is grain and wine?" from their memory of the days of plenty, while the soul of the nursing infants pours out into the bosom of their mothers, who have nothing with which to nurse them - and some say they still murmured that very question at the moment the soul departed. Beyond the literal meaning, we learned several perspectives: "Where" (ayeh) corresponding to "where" - one who asked "Where is Your zeal?" was answered with "The Kohanim did not say, 'Where is Hashem?'" and his punishment is "Where is grain and wine?"; the angels ask the nation where is the grain and the wine, which represent the Torah, over whose abandonment the land was lost; the higher the accustomed standard, the harder the fall, and the young ones who had just tasted grain and wine fell all at once; and finally, in the words of the Ya'arot Devash, even in that terrifying hour they asked for a final meal so as to accept the divine judgment with joy - for just as one makes a blessing over the good, so one makes a blessing over the bad.