Introduction: From Darkness into Darkness
Chapter 3 of Megillat Eicha opens in the singular: "I am the man who has seen affliction." The mourner depicts himself as a beaten prisoner, tossed and cast aside, and from here onward he leads us through escalating stages of suffering: from broken bones to the flesh and skin, from the pit into darkness, from walls to heavy chains, and from all these to the most agonizing of all - a prayer that is not heard. In this lesson, we will follow the order of verses 4 through 12, seeing how every detail in the description is exact, rather than mere poetic lamentation.
Verse 4: "He has worn away my flesh and my skin; He has broken my bones"
בִּלָּה בְשָׂרִי וְעוֹרִי, שִׁבַּר עַצְמוֹתָי׃ - He has worn away my flesh and my skin; He has broken my bones.
The Torat Chessed connects this verse to what preceded it: "Surely against me He turns His hand again and again all the day." Since the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, turns me over and over all day long, the skin and flesh naturally become worn down - "He has worn away my flesh and my skin." Nor is that all: take a person and roll him around repeatedly - what happens to his bones? "He has broken my bones." Both his skin is battered and his bones are broken.
The Lechem Dimah cites the homiletic teaching of Chazal: "My flesh" refers to the masses; "my skin" refers to the righteous, for the righteous shield and cover the nation just as skin protects the flesh; "my bones" refers to the strong and the mighty warriors. Jeremiah comes and laments: My Creator spared nothing. Not the general populace, not the righteous, and not the warriors - He wore away, battered, and destroyed everything.
The Ahavat Tzion notes a precision in the order: why does it say "my flesh and my skin," when normally, if a person takes a blow, the skin is injured first and only then the flesh? This points to a profound insight: our blow struck from within. The Holy One, blessed be He, dwells within the Jewish people, and although it appeared as if an enemy came from without, it was not merely an external foe; rather, the rot spread from inside. The problem began within us. This can be viewed from a collective perspective - discord that consumed the nation from within - or individually: for each and every person, the corruption began from within himself, and from within began the punishment.
This explains "He has broken my bones." When a bone breaks, what does it damage first, the flesh or the skin? Surely the flesh, as it pierces through the meat from the inside, and if left untreated, it continues tearing outward until it reaches the skin. This is what the verse conveys: know that the blow originated from within. When the root cause is broken bones, the flesh naturally deteriorates first - "He has worn away my flesh" - and only then "and my skin."
The sefer Alon Bachut explains this in light of Halachah: a broken bone does not render an animal a treifah as long as the majority of its flesh and skin remains intact; only when the majority of the flesh and skin is not intact does it become a treifah. Here, the mourner cries out: He has rendered me akin to a treifah. The broken bones brought about "He has worn away my flesh and my skin," meaning the majority of flesh and skin no longer remains intact. In this way, Scripture illustrates the severity of the strike and the intensity of the decree.
The sefer Chut Shel Chessed adds a parable: when a person is lame in both legs and placed in prison, there is no need to station heavy artillery over him to prevent escape - he is lame, where could he possibly hobble? Thus the mourner pleads: Master of the Universe, we have already undergone the point of confirmed destruction. A person whose "bones are broken" cannot move at all. What need is there, then, to build against me and surround me with "gall and travail," to place me "in dark places like those long dead," to erect fence upon fence "around me," and furthermore to make heavy my chain - the fetters upon my hands and feet?
Verse 5: "He has built against me and surrounded me with gall and travail"
בָּנָה עָלַי וַיַּקַּף רֹאשׁ וּתְלָאָה׃ - He has built against me and surrounded me with gall and travail.
The Torat Chesed explains that here the verse clarifies what constituted that darkness described earlier - through "He has built against me and encompassed me": He built around me and above me, encircling me, and it became "gall and travail" (rosh vetela'ah). Rashi explains rosh as hemlock and wormwood, bitter poisons - He surrounded me with poison and hardships. Rashi also cites a Midrash Aggadah: rosh (head or beginning) refers to Nebuchadnezzar, who exiled the exile of Jehoiachin, which was the first exile and is therefore called rosh; and tela'ah (travail and weariness) refers to Nebuzaradan, who delivered the finishing blow in the days of Zedekiah. At first rosh, and in the end, who exhausted me and drained all my strength - Nebuzaradan, who was a true tela'ah (weariness and affliction).
Verse 6: "He has placed me in dark places, like those long dead"
בְּמַחֲשַׁכִּים הוֹשִׁיבַנִי כְּמֵתֵי עוֹלָם׃ - He has placed me in dark places, like those long dead.
The Lechem Dim'ah explains this based on the teaching of Chazal that four people are considered as dead: a pauper is considered as dead, a blind person is considered as dead, a leper (metzora) is considered as dead, and one who has no children is considered as dead. The lamenter says: The Holy One, blessed be He, brought all four upon me, rendering me "like those long dead."
Corresponding to poverty he said, "I am the man who has seen affliction (oni, which also connotes poverty)" - He already made me like a dead person. Corresponding to blindness: "He has led me and brought me into darkness and not light" - I was in darkness like a blind man; and in fact, Nebuchadnezzar literally blinded Zedekiah. Corresponding to leprosy: "He has worn away my flesh and my skin" - the skin became worn away from many afflictions, along with the breaking of bones that do not heal. And corresponding to childlessness: "He has built against me and encompassed me with gall and travail" - at first He blessed me with children, and then He cut down my children. Thus, all the troubles and misfortunes concerning which it is said "like those long dead" - the Holy One, blessed be He, brought them all upon me.
And Chazal say: "He has placed me in dark places" - this refers to Tisha B'Av. It is a day of darkness, which is why on this day people are careful not to turn on all the lights, but only a minimal amount of light. There were those who recited all the Kinot by the light of just a few candles in the synagogue. Today, the custom is generally to dim the lights, and toward the end of the Kinot, when announcing how many years have passed since the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, it is customary to turn off the lights completely and light only a single candle. It is a day that is entirely in the realm of darkness.
Verse 7: "He has walled me in, and I cannot escape"
גָּדַר בַּעֲדִי וְלֹא אֵצֵא, הִכְבִּיד נְחָשְׁתִּי׃ - He has walled me in, and I cannot escape; He has weighed down my chains.
The Lechem Dim'ah explains that here Jeremiah laments the length of the exile. "He has walled me in, and I cannot escape" - this represents the duration of time, the length of the exile: year after year, I do not emerge from it. And lest one think, it is a long exile, but perhaps not so terrible? The second half of the verse addresses this, speaking of the severity of the exile: "He has weighed down my chains" - the bronze that was placed as shackles upon the hands and feet was exceedingly heavy. It is not merely that the exile is endless in time, but that it is also crushing and painful.
The Lechem Dim'ah further explains according to the plain meaning (peshat) that the verse alludes to the siege laid against Jerusalem by the enemies: "He has walled me in" - the enemy besieged the city, and I could neither go out nor come in. Furthermore, the inhabitants themselves barricaded and bolted the gates of Jerusalem to prevent the enemy from entering, which in itself became a wall enclosing them from within.
The Akeidat Yitzchak explains this as a cumulative progression: After putting me in a pit, which corresponds to dark places, and after building a strong pillar over my head - "and encompassed me with a capstone" (veyaqef rosh) - and then placing an iron chain and hardship over my head, and seating me in darkness - I was "like those long dead," as if in a grave. For a dead person, even if he wanted to knock loudly, even if he called out to ask if anyone above hears, no one hears. And even if someone were to hear, he would flee immediately; no one would say, "Wait, I heard something down here, let us linger." Yet all this was still not enough; rather, "He has walled me in" - He erected a sturdy wall around me of heavy timbers or hewn stones, and He also weighed down my bronze chains. As if I were the most dangerous prisoner in the world, surrounded with every security measure conceivable so that it would never even occur to me to dare escape.
Verse 8: "Even when I cry out and plead, He shuts out my prayer"
גַּם כִּי אֶזְעַק וַאֲשַׁוֵּעַ, שָׂתַם תְּפִלָּתִי׃ - Even when I cry out and plead, He shuts out my prayer.
The Elon Bachut finds here an allusion to the oaths with which the Holy One, blessed be He, adjured the Jewish people when they went into exile. One oath was that they not ascend as a wall; the second oath was that they not rebel against the nations of the world. There is a work associated with the Satmar Rebbe regarding the 'Three Oaths' that addresses these oaths and the question concerning exiting the exile: is one permitted to take concrete actions to leave exile, or does doing so violate the oath not to ascend as a wall? These are two distinct oaths: first, do not leave exile before the appointed time, but depart only when Divine Providence requires it; second, even while in exile, do not rebel against the nations of the world - do not stage protests and do not attempt to show the nations that you possess independent power. An Egyptian may rebel against his leaders, but you have no permission to rebel against the king under whose authority you reside among the nations.
According to this, the verse 'He has walled me in so I cannot escape' is interpreted: it was not enough that He placed me in exile, but He also adjured me, walling me in with the very oath not to ascend as a wall. And corresponding to the second oath, that they not rebel against the governing authority, it says, 'He has weighted down my chain.' For had I possessed the right to speak out against the emperor, against the minister, or against the local king, perhaps I could have lightened the burden of exile. But when I am told to lower my head and not rebel, this makes the shackles even heavier. And not only am I forbidden to leave and forbidden to rebel, but 'even when I cry out and plead, He shuts out my prayer' - even when we cry out, our prayer is not accepted.
The Akeidat Yitzchak reverses the sequence of cause and effect: why did the Holy One, blessed be He, do all this - 'He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship,' 'He has made me dwell in darkness,' 'He has walled me in so I cannot escape,' 'He has weighted down my chain'? The reason is found in our verse. When there is someone you do not wish to hear, you lock him deep inside, shutting doors and windows and doing everything possible just so you will not hear him. As it were, this distancing was designed so that He would not have to hear the prayer, so that 'even when I cry out and plead,' He would not need to hear my cry.
The meaning of this is that had the Shechinah heard the voice of Israel's prayer, reality would have changed. And how does the Holy One, blessed be He, prevent the prayer from having an effect? By having 'walled me in.' This is what is stated later in the chapter: 'You have screened Yourself with a cloud so that prayer cannot pass through' - as it were, He screened Himself with a cloud so that the prayer would not ascend, for had it ascended, it would have had an effect; prayer possesses real power to influence. Therefore, He blocked it well in advance. This is also what Chazal said: from the day the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, an iron barrier was placed between Israel and their Father in Heaven - that very barrier, that very cloud, preventing our prayers from being accepted.
There is yet another explanation for the depth of this lament: the prayer of a poor person possesses immense stature, as it says, 'A prayer of the afflicted when he is faint and pours out his plea before Hashem' - this is the most sublime prayer, when a person prays out of distress, out of poverty, and out of hardship, and the Holy One, blessed be He, does not turn such a prayer away empty-handed. We also find this regarding Yishmael: Hagar wept, yet the verse says, 'And God heard the voice of the lad,' on which Rashi explains: from here we learn that the prayer of a sick person for himself is more effective than the prayer of others for him. Why? Because the sick person weeps from the depth of his heart; no one prays with all his heart quite like a person in the midst of his suffering. Yet here, even though 'He has weighted down my chain' and we endure harsh suffering - meaning that according to this principle, our prayer should have been accepted - and even though crying out is so powerful that it can tear up a person's harsh decree, and I cry out and plead, nevertheless, 'He shuts out my prayer'; my crying out and pleading have availed me nothing.
Verse 9: "גָּדַר דְּרָכַי בְּגָזִית נְתִיבֹתַי עִוָּה" - "He has walled in my ways with hewn stone; He has twisted my paths"
גָּדַר דְּרָכַי בְּגָזִית, נְתִיבֹתַי עִוָּה׃ - He has walled in my ways with hewn stone, He has twisted my paths.
He did not stop at all this, but even walled with hewn stone and twisted the roads and paths leading to the prison. To appreciate the precision of the wording, one must understand the difference between a derech (road) and a nativ (path), as explained several times in the study of the Malbim, particularly in Sefer Mishlei: a derech is a public thoroughfare, whereas a nativ is a pathway branching off from the main road that leads to the destinations of individuals.
According to this: 'He has walled in my ways with hewn stone' - hewn stones block the main road, making it impassable. What does one do in such a situation? One travels by alternative routes, through winding side-paths, similar to a bypass road or the Burma Road. Regarding this, the verse states, 'He has twisted my paths' - He distorted the side-paths as well. One turns onto another path only to find a mound of earth; he tries yet another path and finds the road broken up and ruined, with no way to cross. This means there is no way out of this situation: there is no main road and not even a bypass road; it is impossible to escape the distress into which we have been thrust.
In Elon Bachut, the author cites in the name of Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz: in the Beit HaMikdash, even the prayers of individuals were accepted, as seen in the prayer of Shlomo. King Shlomo stood before the Holy One, blessed be He, and prayed that regarding any prayer and supplication made in this House, when a person spreads his hands toward this House, 'may You hear in Heaven.' That is, there was a special virtue whereby anyone praying in the Beit HaMikdash had his prayer answered. Today, however, 'He has walled in my ways with hewn stone.' Chazal taught that from the day the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, the gates of prayer were locked, as it says, 'Even when I cry out and plead, He shuts out my prayer,' and from the day the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, an iron wall was erected between Israel and their Father in Heaven. Chazal express this as an iron wall, while the prophet expresses it as stone - and this is 'He has walled in my ways with hewn stone.'
Not only that, but 'He has twisted my paths.' The holy Alshich explains: the Holy One, blessed be He, possesses, as it were, paths - short routes for receiving penitents. This is like what we saw regarding Menashe, for whom the Holy One, blessed be He, carved an opening beneath the Throne of Glory. For had Menashe been required to do teshuvah through the standard route, all the days of his life would not have sufficed. Instead, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: I have a short path, an expedited path. The Almighty has special paths through which He accepts repentance even when it is not performed according to all the standard rules and parameters, but rather in a single moment - just as we see that 'there is one who acquires his world in a single hour.' Here, however, not only is prayer not accepted, but He has also twisted the short paths for receiving penitents, so that we are blocked from doing teshuvah through that route. Certainly, the path of repentance still exists - the longer path - but the reality we enjoyed until now is no longer, because our deeds were corrupted.
Verse 10: "A bear lying in wait is He to me, a lion in secret places"
דֹּב אֹרֵב הוּא לִי, אֲרִי בְּמִסְתָּרִים׃ - A bear lying in wait is He to me, a lion in secret places.
The Lechem Dimah explains that the author of the lamentation describes the enemy here as a bear. In truth, these verses can be interpreted as referring both to the enemy and to the Holy One, Blessed be He, and both are one and the same - for the enemy possesses no independent power, but is merely a staff, the rod of the Almighty's wrath. Therefore, one can say "What the enemy did to me" or "What the Holy One, Blessed be He, did to me," because one addresses the direct source, which is the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who sent the enemy here.
The enemy was like an ambushing bear, and for whom does he lie in wait? For the Jewish people, who are compared to a lion. Similarly, the Sanctuary (Heichal) is called "Ariel" because it resembled a lion, as did the Altar. Anyone looking at the Sanctuary from above would see that it was narrow in the back and wide in the front, and this was how the entire Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies were built; so too is the body of a crouching lion - narrow in the rear and wide in the front. According to this, the verse is explained: "A bear lying in wait is He to me" - to me, who am a lion. Naturally, who prevails, a lion or a bear? Certainly the lion prevails; the lion pursues the bear, and the bear flees. Yet here the natural order was overturned: the bear lies in wait for me, while I, the lion, instead of pursuing him, am in hiding. This hints at how clear it was that Hashem delivered them into his hand: "Were it not that their Rock had sold them, and Hashem had delivered them up."
The holy Alshich explains the verse in another way: it is known that the kings of Media did not want to issue decrees against Israel until they calculated the appointed time of the redemption, and this was the error common to all of them. They calculated seventy years from the destruction of Jerusalem, at which point Belshazzar brought out the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash and made a feast - but he miscalculated, as has been explained at length previously. Thus they calculated the end of the exile: he knew that there was an appointed time for redemption, and sought to know when he could begin celebrating. When, in his estimation, the time of redemption arrived and they were not redeemed, he said: they will never be redeemed again, and now I can do as I please. He brought out the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash and began drinking, and on that very night - "on that night Belshazzar was killed": "Mene, Mene, Tekel, u-Pharsin," and he was slain that night. One who wishes may study this at length in the lessons on the Book of Daniel.
In contrast to Media, the children of Edom calculated nothing and did not wait a single moment, for in this exile the end was not revealed. Therefore, they have no concern over how much to torment or until when, or whether there will be an end or not. This is "A bear lying in wait is He to me" - this refers to Media and Persia, of whom it is said that they were lumbering like a bear; they lie in wait, watching and anticipating to see if the seventy years have passed, so they can then begin celebrating over the Jewish people, bring out the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash, and do with them as they please. "A lion in secret places," however, refers to the kingdom of Edom, which immediately decrees its decrees, because the end of the exile is in hiding ("bemistarim"). In the Book of Daniel it is said that the words are closed up and sealed, and no one knows the appointed end; and since it is hidden away, the lion does not fear the end, knowing nothing of its nearness.
The Akeidat Yitzchak explains differently: even when I was inside the prison, even when I was in hiding, I found no relief and could not rest my head in peace, because I still dreaded the terror of judgment. This is like a criminal put in prison - at least in one respect he is protected, for those who wish to assassinate him cannot reach him. To be sure, his criminal peers may be in prison with him, but nevertheless there is some protection, and he is less exposed to outside dangers. But here the mourner says: that was not my reality. "A bear lying in wait is He to me" from the outside, while I am as if imprisoned - and lest one say that in prison I had rest? Even there I fear the lion, that is, the trial. Like a person held in detention awaiting sentencing, not knowing whether he will be condemned to death or hard labor. Thus, sitting in prison provides no protection at all, for even in secret places I still fear the lion.
There is an additional allusion in these two verses: "Dov oreiv hu li ari bemistarim" and "Derachai sorer... samani shomem" - both open with the letter Dalet and conclude with the letter Mem, spelling "dam" (blood), teaching that the enemy seeks nothing other than Jewish blood. That is his entire focus. Throughout the generations, the enemies sought our blood; they claimed that we sought their blood and slaughtered children for matzot, but in reality, those who demanded our blood and drank our blood throughout history were the nations.
Verse 11: "He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate"
דְּרָכַי סוֹרֵר וַיְפַשְּׁחֵנִי, שָׂמַנִי שֹׁמֵם׃ - He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate.
Rashi explains that "sorer" is related to "sirim" - thorns, as in the verse, "For as the crackling of thorns (sirim) under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool." And what does a fool have to do with thorns? A fool is empty, and he is like a thorn. We also find this in Yotam's parable, where he compared Avimelech to the bramble in the desert. This is what the verse means by "He has turned aside (sorer) my ways" - I wish to travel along the road, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, scatters thorns and briars upon it, until I was forced to take wide strides (lefasei'ach).
And what is the meaning of "vayefashecheini"? When there are thorns, a person spreads his legs and takes wide strides to pass through. "Lefashei'ach" is like two branches that are not cut apart, but rather torn apart by force - and so it is with widening one's stride. Others explain "vayefashecheini" as related to "vayeshasefeini" (and he tore me apart), meaning that the gentile tore me apart, that is, slit my throat, which is also an act of ripping open by force.
The Torat Chaim explains: "He tore me in pieces" (vayefashcheni) - first He wounded me, and through the wound and the blood, the lion and the bear scent the flesh and arrive from afar, and thereby "He has made me desolate" (samani shomem) - I became like a wasteland. It is well known that animals can smell blood and flesh from a distance: an eagle can spot a carcass from an immense distance, and the Gemara says it can see a carcass in Babylonia from the Land of Israel. So too the shark, which can smell blood from more than a kilometer away in the water and comes - for so the Holy One, blessed be He, imprinted in its nature. And so it was here as well: first He wounded me, so that the nations would arrive through this, scenting blood and flesh, and come to strike me.
Verse 12: "He has bent His bow and set me as a mark for the arrow"
דָּרַךְ קַשְׁתּוֹ וַיַּצִּיבֵנִי, כַּמַּטָּרָא לַחֵץ׃ - He has bent His bow and set me as a mark for the arrow.
The Torat Chessed notes with precision: it does not say "a target" (matarah), but "like a target" (kamatarah). For had He made me an actual target, He would have shot a single arrow at me and the matter would be finished. But He placed me "like a target" - for prolonged torment.
This is comparable to the gladiators in ancient times: part of their "pleasure" was watching how the lion tormented those people who were thrown into the arena. There were people sentenced to death, and they would bring them into the arena and let the lion torment them. If they gave them any means of defense, it was not out of mercy, but rather so that it would not end too quickly, for the crowds would protest: Three minutes and the lion has already finished his meal? They wanted to see blood, they wanted "action", much like the weapons given in Spanish bullfighting. And it is horrific: to watch a person gripped by mortal terror, fighting for his life, while the lion slowly overpowers him.
So too, we see a cat playing with a mouse: it bats at it, strikes its head, lets it run, chases it, and strikes again - this is sheer torment. This is what the verse is saying: I was not a target for an arrow, for had I been a target, one strike and it would be over; rather, I was "like a target", like ducks in a shooting gallery: running from place to place, and they shoot it in the wing, and shoot it in the leg. Through this, the suffering is compounded far more, as I became a laughingstock in their eyes and their taunting song all day long. So too with the Germans, may their name and memory be blotted out - part of their sadistic pleasure was watching the Jew flee and struggle for his life; this was part of the humiliation into which they plunged the Jewish people.
In summary:
In these verses, the author of the lament describes a deliberate, progressive descent: the blow begins from within - "He broke my bones", and spreads from there to the flesh and the skin; from there to the siege-works and enclosures, to the darkness of the pit, and to the heavy chains. And the climax is not in the physical pain, but in "He shut out my prayer" - that everything was constructed so that prayer would not penetrate, "You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that prayer cannot pass through", like the iron partition erected since the day the Temple was destroyed. Even the main highway was walled in with hewn stone, and even the short bypaths through which the Holy One, blessed be He, receives those who repent were twisted. The enemy - a bear lying in wait on one side and a lion in hiding on the other - is nothing other than the rod of the Almighty's wrath, whose entire purpose is to seek the blood of Israel and make us not a "target" of a single strike, but "like a target", a laughingstock and a taunting song all day. Yet from this very dread description arises the lesson: the blow began from within, and therefore the rectification must also begin from there.