Introduction: The Lament Over the Enemy's Triumph
Chapter 2 of Eicha continues to describe the destruction, and within the lamentation, the author reaches an especially agonizing point: not only have we fallen, but the enemy stands before us boasting. Verse 17 provides the answer to this, opening up several paths of Peshat and Remez, of Mussar and hidden consolation.
עָשָׂה יְהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר זָמָם, בִּצַּע אֶמְרָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה מִימֵי קֶדֶם, הָרַס וְלֹא חָמָל, וַיְשַׂמַּח עָלַיִךְ אוֹיֵב, הֵרִים קֶרֶן צָרָיִךְ. (ב, יז) - Hashem has done what He devised, He has fulfilled His word which He commanded in days of old; He tore down and did not spare, and He caused the enemy to rejoice over you, He exalted the horn of your adversaries. (2:17)
"Hashem Has Done" - Not My Power or the Might of My Hand
The previous verse described the nations boasting and saying, "We have swallowed her up." We, our strength, the might of our hand. To this, the prophet prefaces and declares: Do not be mistaken. "Hashem has done what He devised." You did not do this. "Were it not that their Rock sold them out, and Hashem delivered them up." You say: Look, I accomplished this with my own hands! How could it be with your hands? The Holy One, blessed be He, delivered them into your hands. "Did you take captive by your strength?" What part of this is yours? It is neither through your great power nor your capability, but because Hashem delivered them.
What Is "That Which He Devised"?
"Devised" (zamam) means that the matter had already been planned well in advance. This is what the Holy One, blessed be He, promised in the Torah: if this people rises up and strays after foreign gods, many evils and troubles will befall them. Yet even with all this, the Torah guarantees that there will be no total annihilation: "I thought I would scatter them, and erase their memory from mankind, were it not that I dreaded the wrath of the enemy," and as it is said in Yirmiyahu, "Yet I will not make a full end of you." There is a promise that Am Yisrael will never cease from being a nation before Him for all time, and in Hashem's kindness, He left us a remnant. Yet the events themselves fall under the category of "what He devised": the Holy One, blessed be He, announced them in advance, warning that if we stray from the path, retribution awaits.
According to this approach, "fulfilled His word (imrato)" comes from the root of speech (amira): He carried out His ancient statement, doing what He had told Moshe from days of old, that if your people stray from the path, they will face retribution.
"He Caused the Enemy to Rejoice Over You" - The Double Defeat
The Holy One, blessed be He, brought the enemy upon us through the deeds He executed against us, and the enemy rejoices over our troubles. This is far more painful. When a downfall occurs, the defeat is twofold: on the one hand, we are harmed, suffering, dead, and wounded. On the other hand, there is the morale defeat, where we appear diminished and the enemy appears triumphant. Beyond licking our own wounds, the enemy's glee rubs additional salt into them.
"A Dead Man He Killed" - Falling into the Hand of Hashem, Not the Enemy
In the sefer Torat Chessed, he explains: "Hashem has done what he devised," meaning that what the enemy devised to do, the Holy One, blessed be He, had already done beforehand, and "he killed a dead man" (gavra ketila ketal). According to this explanation that the true agent is the Holy One, blessed be He, "what he devised" does not refer to Hashem, but to the enemy: what the enemy devised, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, I have already done. He ground flour that was already ground; he killed a man who was already slain - for everything is ultimately our reckoning with the Creator.
Understand that this is always preferable: "Let us fall into the hand of Hashem, but into the hand of man let me not fall." It is better to fall into the hand of Hashem. After all, the accusation leveled against David was: "And Uriah the Hittite you killed with the sword of the children of Ammon." Notice the end of the verse - that is the crux. Even if he was liable to death, what was the grievance? The complaint was: if he deserved death, convene a court, judge him, and execute him. But why by the sword of the children of Ammon? Thus, there is a positive aspect here: Hashem did what the enemy plotted to do; we fell into the hand of Hashem and not into the hand of the defiled sword of the children of Ammon. In the sefer Mishnat HaGilgulim, this point is elaborated upon at length: what was so unique about the sword of the children of Ammon? It was engraved with a serpent, representing the Sitra Achra (the other side), causing severe spiritual damage to whoever died by it. Here, the same principle applies: we were delivered into the hand of Hashem. Do not think, enemy, that you did anything to me. You possess no power at all.
"Imrato" as an Expression of a Garment: The Robe Engraved with the Martyred Sages
Chazal expound imrato not from the root of speech (amirah), but from the hem or border of a garment (imrah), and bitza means tearing: "He tore his royal robe." The sefer Alon Bachut explains: when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, He enwrapped Himself, as it were, in a garment of light, and engraved upon this robe were all the souls of the righteous who were destined to be martyred for the sanctification of Hashem's Name. This is the garment in which the Holy One, blessed be He, wraps Himself. Had He been wearing this robe at the time of the Destruction, the sin of Israel would have been atoned for through it. What did He do? "He tore His garment" (bitza imrato) - He tore the garment from upon Himself. For through this garment, the Holy One, blessed be He, remembers: "Their lifeblood bespattered My garments" - the blood of the righteous is, as it were, upon My garments, and I do not forget it for a moment; "Though I cleanse their blood, I will not cleanse" - for their blood, I do not pardon. When He wears such a garment, it is impossible to forget it. How, then, did the Destruction occur? "He tore His garment" - He tore it and removed it from Himself, and only then could the calamity strike. For had the garment remained upon Him, as it were, He would not have allowed the Beit HaMikdash to be destroyed.
The Tunic of "Az" and the Allusion of "Asher Zamam"
The Rokeach cites in the name of the ancient Midrash Avkir: when Israel sang the Song at the Sea, the Holy One, blessed be He, donned a tunic woven with every occurrence of "Az" ("then") in the Torah and the Prophets: "Then (Az) sang Moshe," "Then (Az) the maiden shall rejoice in dance," "Then (Az) the lame shall leap like a deer." And at the Destruction of the Temple, "He tore His garment" - He tore His royal mantle, tearing this very robe. This is hinted at here: "Asher Zamam" (אֲשֶׁר זָמָם) forms the acronym Az (אז), signifying that Hashem severed and tore the garment upon which Az was inscribed. For Az consistently expresses a yearning for the future, for the Redemption, for the coming of Mashiach, and for the World to Come: "Then (Az) our mouths will be filled with laughter." Homiletically, one might say that all divine providential dealings normally align with what is destined to occur toward the ultimate Redemption; yet at that moment, the Holy One, blessed be He, tore the garment and said: Now they deserve punishment. Look not at the future, but at the situation as it stands right now.
"Do Not Rejoice when Your Enemy Falls" - So Why Did They Not Fall?
The Alon Bachut offers a wonderful explanation here. Scripture states: "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let your heart not be glad when he stumbles, lest Hashem see it and it displease Him, and He turn away His anger from him." When one gloats over the downfall of his fellow, the Holy One, blessed be He, removes His wrath from the enemy and redirects it onto the one who rejoiced. If so, the nations who rejoiced over our downfall should have fallen! How is it that they gloated at our ruin and Hashem did not bring them down? This is what the verse laments: "He caused the enemy to rejoice over you" - and the expected consequence should have been their collapse; yet instead, "He exalted the horn of your adversaries." Tragedy upon tragedy! If the bee that stung me were to die, I might find some consolation. But when I see that the bee that stung me only gains greater strength, it is far more agonizing. Not only did the enemy rejoice, but Hashem further exalted his horn.
Why Hashem Exalted the Horn of the Adversaries
In the sefer Ahavat Tziyon, it is explained that "He exalted the horn of your adversaries" means that the Holy One, blessed be He, placed the entire world into the hands of Nevuchadnezzar. And why specifically into the hands of a prominent empire? As discussed previously, whenever the Holy One, blessed be He, delivers Israel into enemy hands, He does not deliver them to a lowly nation, but to a distinguished world power - and "whoever persecutes Israel becomes head" - so that we do not suffer the indignity of falling before an ignoble nation. To say that a ragtag guerrilla militia subdued the State of Israel would be a profound disgrace. But if a superpower subdues it, what would one expect? What is our size compared to theirs? There is simply no comparison. So too here: the Holy One, blessed be He, exalted the horn of the adversaries so that He could exact retribution from the people of Israel without the added degradation of falling before an insignificant nation.
And notice what transpired here: the enemy is gratified twice over. First, because he strikes us, and second, because he himself is made great - since in order to strike us, he had to be elevated, as it were. "He exalted the horn of your adversaries" led to "He caused the enemy to rejoice over you." The enemy is convinced this was done for his sake: "How wonderful, Hashem loves me! Look how He elevated me!" Fool - He did not elevate you for your own sake, but solely to spare the people of Israel utter humiliation.
Why the Tetragrammaton Is Used Rather Than the Name Adonut
In light of this, note a precise detail in the verse: it would have seemed appropriate to write "Hashem [Adonai] has done," yet in reality the Tetragrammaton (the four-letter Name of Hashem) is written. The distinction is well known: the Name of Adonut denotes strict judgment (Din), whereas the Tetragrammaton (Havayah) embodies the attribute of loving-kindness and mercy (Chesed and Rachamim). Here, because exalting the horn of the adversaries was ultimately for our benefit - to ensure that we would not fall into the hands of a lowly nation - it contains an element of loving-kindness and mercy, and therefore the Tetragrammaton is used. By contrast, elsewhere throughout the Megillah, the Name of Adonut is used, because those verses speak of judgment rather than mercy.
"Emrato" with a Segol - An Allusion to the Three Batei HaMikdash
Another grammatical insight: the vocalization is "emrato" with a segol - three dots - alluding to the three Batei HaMikdash: two that were destroyed, and the third that will never fall. Accordingly, "He has thrown down and not pitied": "He has thrown down" refers to the First Temple, while "and not pitied" refers to the Second Temple, as in, "Raze it, raze it, to its very foundation." "He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you" refers to Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the First Temple. "He has exalted the horn of your adversaries" refers to the Second Temple, as Chazal taught: Tyre was filled only through the ruin of Jerusalem. When Jerusalem was destroyed, the horn of your adversaries was exalted.
The Alshich: "What He Plotted" Rather than "What He Spoke"
The author of the lament mourns here that the Holy One, blessed be He, carried out not only what was written in the Torah, but also what He had merely plotted and was never written down - existing solely in thought. Therefore, the holy Alshich explains: it does not say, "Hashem has done what He spoke," for "what He spoke" refers to what is written in the Torah; rather, it says, "what He plotted," meaning that, as it were, He did even more than He had spoken, fulfilling upon us even that which was only conceived in thought.
Then the Ruach HaKodesh comes and responds: You are mistaken. "He has cut off His word" [bitza emrato] - and bitza is related to breaking or dividing into two, like breaking bread [betzi'at hapat]. That is to say, not only did He not do more than He spoke, but even what He spoke He did not carry out in full, but only half of it. For what does the Torah state? "Also every illness and every plague that is not written in the book of this Torah, Hashem will bring upon you until you are destroyed." Had He fulfilled everything He commanded from days of old, not a single remnant or survivor would have remained among the enemies of Israel [a euphemism for Israel itself]. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, "broke His word" - He executed only half, and that is why Israel endures.
Berit Avraham: The Attribute of Justice that Initially Rose in Thought
Rabbi Avraham of Zbarav, author of the Berit Avraham, cites Rashi in Bereishit: initially, it arose in His thought to create the world with the attribute of strict justice, which is why the name Elokim, denoting strict justice, is used throughout Creation. Afterwards, it says, "on the day Hashem Elokim made earth and heaven," because He saw that the world could not endure through strict justice alone, so He joined the attribute of mercy with it - the Four-Letter Name of Hashem - so that the world might survive. Concerning this, the prophet laments: Come and see that at the time of the destruction, the Holy One, blessed be He, acted toward us with pure strict justice, not as He intended after Creation to blend it with mercy, but as arose in His thought beforehand, when there was only justice. This is the meaning of "Hashem has done what He plotted": His original thought to run the world with strict justice - that is what He executed, exacting retribution from us through strict justice.
Based on this, we can also understand the well-known episode regarding Rabbi Akiva. When the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moshe the Torah of Rabbi Akiva, Moshe pleaded: "You have shown me his Torah; show me his reward." He showed him his flesh being raked with iron combs. Moshe was horrified and said: "Is this Torah and this its reward?" Hashem said to him: "Silence! So it arose in thought before Me." Everyone wonders about the meaning of this phrase, which sounds like "Do not ask questions" - a perplexing response for the Holy One, blessed be He, to give Moshe. In truth, this is a precise answer: there are great tzaddikim who can exist even in a reality where the world operates according to the original plan, under strict justice, and in such a state, the slightest deviation incurs a severe penalty. The Holy One, blessed be He, told him: Rabbi Akiva is one of those individuals; so it arose in thought before Me to create the entire world through strict justice, and Rabbi Akiva lives according to that primordial thought. Here, too, we lament: Master of the Universe, "Hashem has done what He plotted" - He executed judgment upon us according to what He initially plotted.
Birkat Shimon: "Bitza" in the Sense of Compromise
In Birkat Shimon, he cites the Midrash Tanchuma on Parashat Re'eh: When Israel sinned, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I stipulated with them that I would bring curses upon them, but I know they have no strength to endure them; rather, I will make a compromise with them. This is the meaning of "He has bitza His word" - He made a settlement [bitzua], that is, a compromise, with them.
Let us examine this concept. From the outset, there is a mitzvah for a judge to arrange a settlement [bitzua], which is a compromise [pesharah], derived from livtzo'a, to divide into two. Two parties come to court, and before saying "let justice pierce the mountain," the judge hears the claims and suggests: "You claim this, and you claim that; let us reach a compromise, and you will pay him such-and-such." Such an outcome is preferable. Today, in fact, all rabbinical courts effect compromises. What the batei din do is not strict Torah law [din Torah mamash], but rather close to Torah law, for several reasons explained in the past, falling more under the category of compromise. This is also why the parties sign an agreement beforehand accepting and confirming the compromise reached by the judge, which under civil law is termed arbitration or mediation.
Based on this, Birkat Shimon explains the verse: "If there be for him an angel, an advocate, one among a thousand, to declare man's uprightness, then He is gracious to him and says: Redeem him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom." Chazal state that a single advocate out of a thousand suffices - meaning that the entire deed is overwhelmingly negative and 999 angels prosecute, while there is only a tiny, microscopic merit that even a space telescope could not detect, and yet, "Redeem him from going down to the pit." People wonder: Where have we ever heard of such a thing, and what logic is there in it? After all, the rule is always to follow the majority, and 999 argue for guilt!
However, in Torah law we follow the majority, which is why a Beit Din cannot have an even number of judges: there must be three, twenty-three, or seventy-one, so that there can be a majority ruling. But in a compromise (peshara), as explained by Tosafot in Sanhedrin 6a, we do not follow the majority. If the judges sat and decided on a compromise, even if twenty judges agreed and one says that this is not justice and the compromise is unfair, a compromise cannot be enacted. Even if seventy said yes and one said no, it cannot be enacted. A compromise requires the consent of the entire court and all parties. And according to this, it is wonderfully understood: had the Holy One, blessed be He, judged man according to strict justice, he could not endure. Therefore, as the Midrash says, He makes a compromise with them, and this is the meaning of "bitzua" (compromise). And in a compromise, everyone must agree. If there is even one advocate among a thousand who argues for merit, there is no longer unanimous agreement to condemn, and that single advocate who does not agree to the compromise is sufficient to invoke, "Redeem him from going down to the pit." In strict judgment, a majority finding guilt would have been enough, but here it is a matter of compromise.
Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz: Hashem Cut the Verse in Half
Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz, in Alon Bachut, explains that the lamenter here argues that the Holy One, blessed be He, acted toward us contrary to His usual way. After all, it is written: "When your enemy falls, do not rejoice, and when he stumbles, let your heart not be glad, lest Hashem see it and it displease Him, and He turn away His anger from him": when someone rejoices over the downfall of his enemy, the Holy One, blessed be He, removes His wrath from the enemy and directs it toward the one who rejoiced - and the nature of this divine conduct has been explained elsewhere. If so, what should have happened? That He remove and turn His wrath away from us, for the lamenter testifies, "The enemy rejoiced over you" - the enemies rejoiced over our downfall! Yet despite this, "He raised high the horn of your adversaries." Instead of our horn being raised and their horn falling, their horn was raised.
And according to this, one can also explain the beginning of the verse. "He has carried out (batza) His word which He commanded in days of old" refers to this very verse. Its first half: "When your enemy falls, do not rejoice, and when he stumbles, let your heart not be glad" - and this indeed came to pass, as the enemy rejoiced over our downfall. But the second half, "lest Hashem see it and it displease Him, and He turn away His anger from him," He did not carry out. It turns out that "He severed (batza) His word" - He cut in half the utterance He had spoken from days of old, for had He fulfilled the entire verse, He would have also fulfilled "and He turn away His anger from him," bringing His wrath upon the enemies of Israel.
In summary: A single verse, "Hashem has done what He devised," contains within it the entire lamentation and the entire consolation. It strips the pride from the enemy's mouth, for it was not his own power that accomplished this, but rather Hashem delivered us into his hands; moreover, whatever the enemy devised had already been executed by the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, and it is better to fall into the hand of Hashem than into the hand of man. It reveals that the garment engraved with the martyrs of the realm was torn, as it were, so that the calamity could come, and that the horn of the adversaries was raised only so that we would not fall into the hands of a lowly nation, which is why the Name of Mercy is written here. And it reveals that even what He commanded in days of old was not carried out in full, but rather He "compromised" (bitza) - cutting it in half and moderating - for in a compromise, a single advocate among a thousand is enough to save us. This is the great consolation within the destruction: judgment was executed, but it was executed by the hand of our Father in Heaven, and embedded within it is the promise that He will not make a complete end of us.