Chapter 2 of Eicha continues its depiction of the destruction, and at this stage, the lamentation turns to the reaction of the onlookers: the passersby on one hand, and the enemies on the other. In verse 15, we saw the wayfarers clapping their hands and marveling in disbelief at the city's fate; and in verse 16, we hear the voice of the enemies themselves. We will explore this verse in detail, according to the commentators and the Midrashim.
פָּצוּ עָלַיִךְ פִּיהֶם כָּל אֹיְבַיִךְ, שָׁרְקוּ וַיַּחַרְקוּ שֵׁן, אָמְרוּ בִּלָּעְנוּ, אַךְ זֶה הַיּוֹם שֶׁקִּוִּינֻהוּ מָצָאנוּ רָאִינוּ׃ - All your enemies have opened their mouths wide against you; they hissed and gnashed their teeth; they said, "We have swallowed her up! Indeed, this is the day we hoped for; we have attained it, we have seen it!"
"All Your Enemies" - The Enmity Hidden in the Heart
An oyev (enemy) is one who hates secretly in his heart, unlike a soneh (foe) whose hatred is openly displayed. Enmity is harbored inside, deep within the heart. Until the destruction, these enemies concealed their hostility; but once they saw the ruin - "All your enemies have opened their mouths wide against you" - they opened their mouths to speak, unleashed the reins of their tongues, and revealed their hatred explicitly. Only then did all the hidden enemies reveal themselves, all those whose hatred had previously been unseen. This is how the author of Lechem Dim'ah explains it.
And this is always the way to know who is for us and who is for our adversaries. When a person is doing well, it is impossible to know, for when things go well, many people seek his company, many pose as his "friends," and many think to themselves: Perhaps some of his success will rub off on me. This proves nothing. The true test is: who stays with you when you fall. When everyone attacks you and stands against you - if you see people fleeing like rats from a sinking ship, it is a sign that such a person was never truly your friend, but only lingered as long as it paid off. As someone once put it: a battery-operated friend. When the battery runs out, the friendship runs out. He no longer has anything to gain from me, and immediately claims: "Who, him? A friend of mine? You've really exaggerated; we only chatted once in a while, don't associate him with me." He no longer has an interest - and that is the end of it.
Incidentally, this can also be observed on a communal level. Today the Chareidi public is under attack, and under every leafy tree every journalist and scribbler expresses himself in ever harsher terms. Suddenly everyone understands what is best for the Chareidi community; everyone knows how to redeem them from poverty, how to teach them core secular curriculum so they will not be miserable; after all, they supposedly do not know any better, so others must teach them and help them. One suggests putting them to work sweeping streets, while another graciously suggests drafting them to influence them. And it is precisely now that we can discern who is for us and who is for our adversaries: those who join hands with our detractors were clearly aligned with them all along; while those who come forward now to speak favorably of the community that studies Torah and observes mitzvot, those who truly care about the honor of Heaven - their true colors are revealed now. When times are good, there is no art to friendship; the real test is when times are difficult - then you know who is truly with you and who is against you.
The Enemies Versus the Passersby - The Explanation of the Akeidat Yitzchak
The Akeidat Yitzchak explains this verse in contrast to the preceding verse. In verse 15, we saw the wayfarers: "They hissed and wagged their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: 'Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?'" - they are astonished and grieved. In contrast, the enemies who caused the destruction come forward and say: We are not astonished, we are not hissing in shock, and we are not grieving at all. On the contrary - "We have swallowed her up," we were the ones who destroyed it! And not only do we not grieve, but we rejoice: "This is the day we hoped for; we have attained it, we have seen it!" At long last, our desire has been fulfilled. We wanted so desperately to destroy this place - so why are you hissing and shaking your heads? It is good that this happened, and the sooner the better. Thus, we have two perspectives: the passersby who grieve, and the destructive enemies who walk away joyous and pleased with themselves over the ruin of this beautiful city.
"They Hissed" - The Fulfillment of Shlomo's Prophecy
The word sahrku ("they hissed") contains an allusion to the prophecy Hashem told King Shlomo. When Shlomo built the Beit HaMikdash, he was told that if Israel did not heed the voice of Hashem, "everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss," as related in I Kings. And now this has been fulfilled: "All your enemies have hissed and gnashed their teeth." As a sign of contempt, the enemies gnash their teeth against Jerusalem and destroy it. What the Holy One, Blessed is He, warned about back then is now coming to pass.
"They Said, 'We Have Swallowed Her Up'" - The Month Whose Constellation Is the Lion
The holy Alshich explains: The enemies deliberately chose the month of Av, whose astrological sign (mazal) is the lion (Leo). The lion swallows everything, and no beast can stand before it. Therefore, they said "We have swallowed her up" specifically in this month. They also knew that this time is predisposed to calamity, a time of distress - Tisha B'Av. This is the meaning of what they said: "Indeed, this is the day we hoped for" - behold, this is the day we hoped we would succeed in, and we did succeed. And why specifically this day? Because we knew it had been prone to calamity from time immemorial. Furthermore, "we have attained it, we have seen it" is phrased with a doublet: "we have attained it" in the First Temple, "we have seen it" in the Second Temple, since the Second Temple was also destroyed specifically on Tisha B'Av. They knew that this was the appointed day, and therefore targeted their actions toward it.
Why Did the Letter Peh Precede Ayin?
Let us note an interesting point that Chazal already highlight. The previous verse begins with Samech - "They clapped hands at you" (Safku alecha chapayim); our verse begins with Peh - "They opened their mouth against you" (Patzu alecha pihem); and the following verse begins with Ayin - "Hashem has done what He devised" (Asah Hashem asher zamam). According to the alphabetical order upon which Megillat Eicha is structured, Ayin should follow Samech, and Peh should follow Ayin. Yet here the letters are reversed: after "They clapped hands at you" (Samech), the text jumps to Peh - "They opened their mouth against you", and only then returns to Ayin - "Hashem has done what He devised". There are many explanations for this phenomenon.
1. Corresponding to the False Prophets - The Alshich
The holy Alshich explains: We have seen that the false prophets prophesied baseless things - "and envisioned for you vain visions and enticements". Corresponding to this, the enemies also opened their mouth about something they did not actually do, saying, "We have swallowed her up." Did you swallow her up? As we will see clearly in the next verse, the One who actually brought about the destruction is Hashem, Blessed be He; it was Him we angered, and He was the One who destroyed, whereas all the gentile did was "grind flour that was already ground." However, since you spoke prophecies of things you never saw, the gentile will likewise boast of deeds he never did. They said "We swallowed her up" - did you really swallow her? No. But did you actually see the prophecy? No, yet you spoke about what you did not see. If so, I too will speak about things I did not do. This is the meaning of "placing the Peh before the Ayin": they put their mouth (peh) before their eyes (ayin), uttering prophecies with their mouth that they never saw with their eyes. For a true prophet is called a "seer" (chozeh or ro'eh), as in "who sees the vision of the Almighty" - that is authentic prophecy; but if someone merely speaks without having seen, he is a false prophet. Therefore, to correspond with this, the letter Peh was placed before Ayin here as well.
2. Who Truly Burned the Beit HaMikdash?
In truth, they did not burn the Beit HaMikdash. As the Midrash records in Yalkut Shimoni on Yirmiyahu: The enemies sat and took counsel on how to burn the Beit HaMikdash, where to begin, and by what method. While they were still deliberating, four angels descended with four torches of fire in their hands, set fire to the four corners of the Heichal, and burned it. According to the Midrash, the ones who burned the Beit HaMikdash were angels; the hands of the gentiles did not touch or affect the Beit HaMikdash. And as we have explained previously, the Beit HaMikdash itself "went up in fire" - meaning it ascended to Heaven - and what the gentiles burned was merely an empty stone structure. One can understand the Midrash this way: the Midrash is not speaking of the physical, tangible building, which the gentiles may indeed have burned, but of its inner essence, its spiritual reality. Who burned that? We burned it with our sins, and for that, Hashem sent angels who burned it, as it were, with their own hands. All the gentile touched was what remained on the outside - ground flour, an empty outer shell, nothing. Thus, just as you spoke of things you did not see, so the gentiles boast of things they did not do, saying, "We burned it," when in reality it was burned by the ministering angels.
3. Practicing What One Preaches - The Sha'arei Chaim
The sefer Sha'arei Chaim offers a homiletic insight: One who teaches Torah to others must first practice it himself and only then teach, so that he is one who "preaches well and fulfills well." It is untenable for someone to say, "One must keep Shabbat," while he desecrates Shabbat, or "One must be careful with lashon hara," while he speaks lashon hara freely, and so on in every matter. He must practice what he preaches; if he merely speaks and does not fulfill, it is disgraceful. This is the meaning of "putting the Peh before the Ayin": they spoke with their mouth (peh) what was not seen with the eye (ayin). The scholar would tell others what to do, yet the listener looked and did not see the scholar doing so himself. You say it is forbidden to steal - and you steal; you say it is forbidden to speak lashon hara - and you speak it. This is "they spoke with their mouth what they did not see with their eyes": the people hear from you how one ought to act, but see that your own conduct is the very opposite.
4. Corresponding to the Sin of the Spies
Another explanation for why the author of the lamentations places Peh before Ayin: because of the sin of the Spies (meraglim). It is similarly said of them that they spoke with their mouth what they did not see with their eyes - they gave exaggerated, terrifying descriptions of the Land and of the dire situation there, yet it was all fabrication, as is known. So too here: the enemies opened their mouth against us before "Hashem has done what He devised." You placed Peh before Ayin - so too the gentile anticipates and describes what he will do even before Hashem has carried it out.
5. Bodily Desires Before Spiritual Attainment - The Elon Bachut
The sefer Elon Bachut explains: "They put Peh before Ayin" - they pursued only physical desires, the cravings for food and drink, rather than longing for spiritual attainment. Spiritual attainment is termed "eye" (ayin), as it is said, "For eye to eye they shall see when Hashem returns to Zion"; whereas "mouth" (peh) represents the physical realm, what a person consumes. And they put Peh before Ayin. For it is recounted of the generation of the destruction that they drank from basins of wine, had special goblets, and immersed themselves in taverns and in the worldly cravings and pleasures of this world. Instead of occupying yourself with spirituality, you gave precedence to pursuing physical gratification.
6. Equating the Small with the Great
This can also be explained in light of the statement of Chazal in Shabbat 119b: "Jerusalem was destroyed only because the small and the great were equated." The simple meaning is that people did not treat the elder or great person with respect; there was no honor shown to a Torah scholar, but rather the small was treated the same as the great. One can suggest that this is what placing Peh before Ayin alludes to: in the standard alphabetical order, Ayin comes first and then Peh, with Peh representing an additional rung above Ayin, a level beyond it. Yet the lamentation places Peh before Ayin - alluding that in your midst as well, the small and the great were treated as equals and you inverted the proper order. Instead of the small followed by the great, you disrupted the hierarchy; consequently, here too the order was disrupted, placing Peh before Ayin.
7. Corruption of Justice and False Testimony
Furthermore, one can explain this based on the words of Chazal in the Tanchuma: "Jerusalem was destroyed only because of the corruption of justice." What is the corruption of justice? It means that people perverted justice, and part of perverting justice is false testimony - testifying with one's mouth (peh) to what one did not see with one's eyes (ayin). This is what is hinted at here: Do you know why Jerusalem was destroyed? Peh preceded Ayin. You placed the mouth before the sight of the eyes; you testified without first seeing the facts - which is false testimony. Therefore, the verse places Peh before Ayin here to hint at this matter.
8. "Na'aseh VeNishma" - Placing Peh Before Ayin in a Positive Way
In the name of the holy Shelah, it is noted that the Jewish people placed Peh before Ayin in a positive sense at Mount Sinai. For they said "Na'aseh" (we will do) first. Would someone normally agree immediately? Come and see first what is being offered to you! Yet they said: No, even before I have seen anything, before there is any ayin (sight), while I still see nothing, I declare immediately with my mouth (peh) that I am prepared to do. This is placing peh before ayin. If the letter had been an ear (alluding to hearing), there would be no difficulty, but since the letter is ayin (the eye), it is explained homiletically: they spoke with their mouth before seeing with their eyes. You have not yet seen which mitzvot Hashem wishes to give you, yet even before seeing what Hashem will say, I accept. Mouth before eye. There, it was in a positive way, whereas here, at the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, Peh preceded Ayin in a negative way.
"Ach Zeh HaYom" - Twenty-One Days
And then the nations say, "We have swallowed them up; surely this is the day we looked forward to, we have found it, we have seen it." What is "Ach" (אך)? In gematria, it equals twenty-one. And how many days are there between the straits (Bein HaMetzarim)? Twenty-one days. These are the days they longed to see - the days of "Ach" between the Seventeenth of Tammuz and Tisha B'Av.
"We Have Swallowed" - Ourselves
The gentiles know that a day will come when the Holy One, blessed is He, will exact retribution from them for everything they did to the Jewish people. They know that all their joy will turn into grief, and that through their actions they are essentially harming themselves. A story is told about the righteous convert, Count Potocki (the Ger Tzedek of Vilna): when the priests took him to his execution, to the stake, they said to him, "We know that right now we are laughing at you, but up above you will laugh at us and take vengeance upon us." He replied to them, "What you are saying seems ridiculous to me. I remember that when I was a child, I used to build sandcastles, and a mean-spirited friend would come and destroy them. I told myself: When I grow up, I will show him; I will possess status and power, and then I will take revenge on him for everything he did to me. Do you think that when I grew up, I did anything? When I grew up, I realized they were just sandcastles - what was there even to talk about? When you are an adult, you do not pay attention to such petty things. Do you think that up above in Heaven, you will occupy my thoughts, that I will be thinking about you? Will someone who is privileged up above to gaze upon the Shechinah as one who died for the sanctification of Hashem's Name be thinking about how to get even with some priest? That means nothing to me at all."
A person in this world can be like that priest: he goes and commits evil while knowing that in the end he is destined to be punished for it. This is the meaning of "they said, 'We have swallowed them up'" - whom have we swallowed? Ourselves. The nations who torment the Jewish people say, "We have swallowed": I know that I am bringing about my own ruin, but that does not deter me or make me stop. For "surely this is the day we looked forward to, we have found it, we have seen it" - this is the day I awaited so eagerly to take vengeance against the Jewish people. True, one will pay for it, but I will have one day of pleasure, and that is enough for me. I know that in the end I am swallowing myself, I know it will bring about my downfall, but the main thing is that right now I did it and succeeded; even if it is only today, it is enough for me, it gives me satisfaction, and afterwards let happen what will. This is the meaning of "Ach": they know that all of their "we have swallowed" is only "ach zeh hayom" (only this day), and afterwards - woe, we have swallowed ourselves, afterwards I will be ruined. Like a bee that stings knowing that by doing so it loses its life, yet stings anyway and dies anyway. So it is with the enemy nations. Anyone who wishes can see this clearly among the Ishmaelites: they have no qualms about committing suicide and perpetrating the most heinous atrocities, even knowing they stand to lose. They think: I know this is only for now, but nevertheless I am willing, on that condition.
"They Gnash Their Teeth" - The Enemies' Disappointment
Gnashing of teeth usually expresses an unfulfilled aspiration, a hope that failed to materialize. A person sees something and gnashes his teeth: he thought things would turn out differently, but they turned out the opposite, and he is powerless to do anything about it. There is a verse in Tehillim: "He will gnash his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked will perish" - he has a craving, he wants something, but he melts away and gnashes his teeth, his desire perishes, and he does not get what he sought. Thus, gnashing of teeth expresses an unfulfilled aspiration and yearning.
The Chida writes in *Nachal Eshkol* in the name of the holy Ari, and the Alshich cites this as well, that this is the explanation here. The prophet speaks mockingly to the nations: they had an aspiration, but that aspiration was not fulfilled. What did they want? To destroy the Beit HaMikdash, to burn it down with their own hands. And what did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? "From on high He sent down fire," as we saw in chapter 1, verse 13. Who destroyed the Beit HaMikdash? The Holy One, blessed be He. When the nations arrived at the Beit HaMikdash, it became clear to them: you have merely ground flour that was already ground. And over this they gnashed their teeth - a bitter disappointment: I thought I was the one destroying it, and it turns out someone burned it before me; someone beat me to it.
This is akin to what is known among soldiers who keep cyanide ready in case they are captured or taken to be executed, as Barazani and his comrade did in the Acre prison - taking their own lives moments beforehand. And what does this achieve? Without passing judgment on them, there is a clear psychological motive: not simply fear of torture, since they were to be executed immediately, but rather the mindset of "You will not kill me; I will not give you the satisfaction of killing me." Similarly, one of the condemned men at the Nuremberg trials committed suicide; and so too Hitler, according to the accounts that he committed suicide - took his own life so as not to grant anyone else the satisfaction of putting a bullet through his head or placing him on trial. With King Shaul, it was further motivated by preventing abuse and humiliation at their hands, as well as preserving the honor of the monarchy. In any case, we see that people have a fundamental drive not to grant the enemy the pleasure of destroying them.
And this pleasure was stripped away from the nations. They thought: we will act, we will burn it down - and suddenly it became clear that they were grinding flour that was already ground. "From on high He sent down fire"; the enemy arrives and suddenly finds the Beit HaMikdash already blazing. They were denied the vengeance they had planned to exact. And when a person harbors a lust that cannot be fulfilled - "they whistled and gnashed their teeth," they gnash their teeth in frustration.
This is what the prophet means by: "Your enemies whistled and gnashed their teeth" - they met with bitter disappointment. "They said: We have swallowed her up": true, we destroyed the Beit HaMikdash, but "this is the day we hoped for," the day we awaited so eagerly to destroy with our own hands - "we have found, we have seen": we arrived, and suddenly found and saw that the deed was already done on its own. Suddenly the enemy finds that on the very day he had anticipated so deeply - he has already found and seen that even without his hand touching it, he is merely grinding ground flour and burning an already-burned Sanctuary. The deed was accomplished on its own. This was the primary source of their fury and the gnashing of their teeth: the enemy thought he would be the one to do it, and suddenly discovers that it was never in his power at all; rather, this was a reckoning between us and the Holy One, blessed be He, and He is the One who burned our Sanctuary and spent His wrath upon wood and stone.
In summary: Verse 16 depicts the moment the enemies revealed their true colors: an enmity long harbored in the heart bursts forth at the hour of destruction, just as friends and foes are truly tested in moments of crisis. The enemies boast, "we have swallowed her up," rejoicing over the month of Leo and celebrating the day they had longed for since antiquity. The placement of *peh* before *ayin* hints at the sins that brought about the destruction - false prophets who spoke of what they had not seen, preachers who failed to practice what they taught, the sin of the Spies, prioritizing physical desire over spiritual perception, equating the small with the great, and false testimony perverting justice - in contrast to "we will do and we will hear," where Israel placed the mouth before the eye in a holy, elevated manner. Ultimately, the boast of "we have swallowed her up" leads to the nations swallowing themselves, and even the pleasure they sought was denied them: their own hands did not destroy the House; rather, fire was sent from on high, and they merely ground flour that was already ground - and over this they gnashed their teeth.