Introduction
We continue in Chapter 3 of Megillat Eicha, in the section where the lamenter depicts the barrier formed between Israel and their Father in Heaven: prayers that do not ascend, humiliation in the eyes of the nations, terror and flight, and weeping without respite. Yet specifically from this harsh depiction, a point of light emerges: the key that remains in our hands - tears.
"You Have Screened Yourself with a Cloud" - The Cloud That Separated
סַכּוֹתָה בֶעָנָן לָךְ מֵעֲבוֹר תְּפִלָּה׃ - You have screened Yourself with a cloud so that prayer cannot pass through.
The Lechem Dim'ah explains: Not only did the clouds fail to benefit us, they even caused us harm - they separated us from the Holy One, blessed be He. During the Exodus from Egypt, the Clouds of Glory stopped the catapult stones hurled at us by the enemies; the pillar of cloud shielded us from the heat by day, and the pillar of fire accompanied us at night. Here, however, the clouds operated in the opposite manner: "You have screened Yourself with a cloud so that prayer cannot pass through" - like a covering cloud that acts as an obstruction between us and our Father in Heaven, preventing our prayers from passing through. And this is what was said, that ever since the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, an iron wall has separated us from our Father in Heaven.
The Lechem Dim'ah further explains: When Israel departed from Egypt, the Holy One, blessed be He, had mercy upon us by virtue of prayer. "Then Phinehas stood up and prayed, and the plague was stayed"; how many times did Moshe, His chosen one, stand in the breach. Prayer was a tremendous and potent weapon against all troubles. Even at the splitting of the Red Sea, when Moshe cried out, he was told: "Why do you cry to Me? Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward." Yet today, "You have slain without pity," for "You have screened Yourself with a cloud so that prayer cannot pass through" - all the prayers we prayed did not ascend above; we cry out and are not answered.
"Sakkotah" Written Full and "Sakkotah" Written Defective
Let us examine an interesting textual detail. In verse 43 it says, "סַכּוֹתָה בָאַף וַתִּרְדְּפֵנוּ" - written full with a vav, whereas in verse 44 it says, "סַכּוֹתָה בֶעָנָן לָךְ" - written defectively without a vav. It is a well-known principle that plene spelling indicates completeness, while defective spelling indicates a deficiency. Similarly, "and the waters were a wall (חומה) to them" is written once plene and once defective, and our Sages expounded: Do not read chomah (wall) but chemah (wrath). The difference lies between those who entered the sea first out of faith and trust - regarding whom it is said, "And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them," written full, an actual wall; and those lacking faith who waited until it became dry ground and only then entered - "and they walked on dry land in the midst of the sea," regarding whom "chemah" is written defectively, as the sea raged against them to drown them. Likewise, "Sukkot" written full indicates four walls, while "Sukkot" written defectively indicates a single wall; Abigail's name was written defectively because she acted with a lack of modesty toward David; Ephron was written lacking a vav because he was tight-fisted, saying, "a land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me?"; and the Nesi'im (tribal leaders) were written defectively because they did not exert themselves initially to bring the shoham stones.
Accordingly, one can suggest here as well: "You have covered with anger and pursued us" is written full - a total screening, a complete barrier, as if the Holy One, blessed be He, concealed His face from us entirely: "You have slain without pity." By contrast, "You have screened Yourself with a cloud so that prayer cannot pass through" is written defectively - because this barrier is not absolute, for the gates of tears are never locked. The Holy One, blessed be He, still hears prayers that come with the power of tears, and therefore this screening is incomplete.
Midrash Shocher Tov: The Parable of the Scout and the Innkeeper
The Midrash states: "Why, Hashem, do You stand far off?" This is what Scripture says: "And it came to pass that just as He called and they would not hear." Rabbi Yochanan said: For three and a half years, the Shechinah stood upon the Mount of Olives and proclaimed, saying, "Seek Hashem while He may be found," yet they paid no attention. The Shechinah cries out and no one listens, as it is said, "I was sought by those who did not ask for Me" - I was available to those who did not seek Me.
This is comparable to a scout who was traveling along the road. When darkness fell, he came upon an innkeeper. The innkeeper said to him: "Come inside, because of wild beasts and bandits." The scout said: "It is not the way of a scout to enter an inn - I travel with my pack, I do not seek lodgings." He walked on, and pitch-black night descended upon him. He returned to the innkeeper and pleaded with him to open up. The innkeeper said to him: "Did you not say, 'It is not the way of a scout to enter an inn'? I too say to you: It is not the way of an inn to open at night. When I offered, you did not want to enter, and now I cannot let you in."
Thus said the Holy One, Blessed is He, to Israel: When you had the opportunity to pray, you did not pray. "And it came to pass that just as He called and they did not hear," for three and a half years the Shechinah stood and called, "Seek Hashem when He may be found," and you did not listen. And now you come and say, "Why, Hashem, do You stand far off?" Now you complain, "You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through"? There were many opportunities for prayers to pass through; I waited, but you did not come.
"When I Wanted, You Did Not Want"
The Akeidat Yitzchak explains in this manner: the Jewish people could have prayed, and there was a time when prayer could have been accepted. And so it was with Moshe Rabbeinu as well. In Parashat Va'etchanan, Moshe offered 515 prayers, and the Holy One, Blessed is He, said to him: When I wanted, you did not want, and now when you want, I do not want. When the decree was issued, Moshe did not immediately stand up to pray; years passed after the sin of Mei Merivah and he did not pray, for he said to himself: I have always prayed and my prayer was answered; before the entrance into the Land I will tear the heavens open and Hashem will forgive me. The Holy One, Blessed is He, said to him: When I wanted, you did not want, and now that you want, I do not want. Likewise, when He appeared to him at the burning bush, it is said, "And Moshe hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God," yet in the end he requested, "Please show me Your glory." He said to him: I wanted to show you and you did not want; now that you want, I do not want - "And you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen."
This principle touches upon many areas of a person's life. The Holy One, Blessed is He, gives a person opportunities, and he does not take advantage of them. He says: I have time; why do I need to get married now, a millstone around my neck? I am thirty-two, let me enjoy life and afterwards I will get married. And later he searches with candles and falls into despair. The Holy One, Blessed is He, says to him: I have been waiting for you since age twenty and you had no time; do you think I work according to your clock? A time will come when you will want it and it will not help you. And that is what the Holy One, Blessed is He, is saying here: Since you did not pray at a time when you could have prayed, do not be surprised that the store is closed and the prayers have been stopped.
"Refuse and Scum" - Despised in the Eyes of the Nations
סְחִי וּמָאוֹס תְּשִׂימֵנוּ בְּקֶרֶב הָעַמִּים׃ - You have made us as refuse and scum in the midst of the nations.
Rashi explains: "Refuse and scum" - in the eyes of the nations we were like their vomit and mucus, which is the ultimate disgust. And the Rokeach, Rabbi Elazar of Worms, explains that sechi is something that is torn away, related to hesach hada'at (distraction) or detachment from one thing to another, similar to "and the breastplate shall not come loose (lo yizach)," meaning it will not depart or move. Sechi refers to something detached from the lung and expelled through the throat, phlegm and mucus.
The most repulsive thing to a person is to see vomit and phlegm. A person is disgusted by phlegm even more than by excrement; perhaps the smell of excrement is worse, but the disgust toward phlegm is immense, and when a person hears his fellow coughing up phlegm, it is exceedingly unpleasant. Therefore, on the verse, "For God shall bring every deed into judgment, concerning every hidden thing," Chazal say: This refers to one who spits in the public domain. A person walked down the street, spat and left behind what he left behind; another person came along, saw it, and was disgusted - and that is something you would never even know about. For such hidden matters there is an indictment against a person, and therefore one must examine his ways so as not to cause another to feel disgusted and repulsed.
And this is what the prophet says: We were like refuse and scum in the eyes of the nations. As we previously explained regarding those two women of ill repute who fought with each other, and one said to the other: You are as ugly as a Jewish woman! Eventually they reconciled, and she said to her: I forgive you for everything, but for saying that I am like a Jewish woman, I do not forgive. Behold to what extent the repulsion reached - there was nothing more despised than the name of Israel being applied to a person.
Yet there is also comfort in this, and we have already discussed it: "You have made us as refuse and scum in the midst of the nations" is for our benefit, because when we are despised in their eyes, we remain distant from them. In every place where the non-Jews drew us close, we only suffered for it: wherever there was emancipation, the Haskalah devoured everything voraciously, whereas in places where they distanced us, such as in Arab lands, they preserved their Judaism. And we have already related that the Baal Shem Tov was once walking with his disciples and saw a priest say to the young seminarians: Let us distance ourselves from the Jews, lest while they speak a drop of spittle fly upon us and defile us. They then moved away from them. The Baal Shem Tov said to his disciples: See how much kindness the Holy One, Blessed is He, performs for us, that the non-Jew distances himself from us. We were supposed to distance ourselves in this way, and since we failed to do so, the Holy One, Blessed is He, saw to it that the non-Jew would flee from us. When the non-Jew distances himself from you, it is for your benefit. But if you do not maintain the proper distance on your own, a situation arises, Heaven forbid, where the non-Jew distances you in the harshest manner: "You have made us as refuse and scum in the midst of the nations."
"They Have Opened Their Mouths Wide Against Us" - Money and Propaganda
פָּצוּ עָלֵינוּ פִּיהֶם כׇּל אֹיְבֵינוּ׃ - All our enemies have opened their mouths wide against us.
The author of the lament says: Although we were so repulsive in their eyes, our money they devoured with a hearty appetite. "They have opened their mouths against us" - they opened their mouths to swallow our wealth. We have seen this throughout history: the Jew was repulsive in the eyes of the gentile, but his money was not repulsive at all - money has no scent, and the gentile always plotted how to acquire the Jew's wealth. Thus explains the Lechem Dim'ah.
Another explanation: "They have opened their mouths against us" refers to the venomous words that the enemies speak against us to justify their wickedness. This has always been the foolish way of the nations - so it was with Titus, so with Hadrian, and so in cursed Germany, where there was a propaganda minister whose job was to delegitimize the Jewish people and depict Jews as cockroaches. And if they are cockroaches, the way to get rid of them is with insecticide and gas. They created an image of Jews as parasites, dirty people, subhumans, and naturally a fertile ground was laid to carry out the Final Solution upon them. "They have opened their mouths against us" - and once they opened their mouths wide against us with degradation and contempt, they could subsequently do whatever entered their minds.
Let us note the order: The previous letter was Samech - "You have made us filth and refuse", now comes Pei - "They have opened their mouths against us", and only then Ayin - "My eye pours down and will not cease". Here too, the letter Pei precedes Ayin, as explained earlier in the previous chapter, and based on that same principle here as well.
"Terror and the Pit" - Fleeing from Terror, Falling into the Pit
פַּחַד וָפַחַת הָיָה לָנוּ הַשֵּׁאת וְהַשָּׁבֶר׃ - Terror and the pit have come upon us, desolation and destruction.
The Lechem Dim'ah explains: At the time of the Destruction, we suffered two calamities. "Desolation" (ha-she'eit) - from the root of desolation and waste, for all the cities became desolate and ruined. "And destruction" (ha-shever) - that the pride of our strength was broken, the glory of our monarchy and our Holy Temple. And now in exile, added to the desolation and destruction are also "terror and the pit," for we live in constant terror. "Pit" (pachat) is a pitfall, and "terror" (pachad) is dread and fear - and we fear the pit: the moment they were pursued, they fled without knowing where, falling into pits and traps. "He who flees from the terror shall fall into the pit," as Jeremiah states in chapter 48.
The Lechem Dim'ah further states: In addition to the pit into which we fell, we also lived in perpetual terror, and this is "desolation" - the disaster of the pit, "and destruction" - the heartbreak caused by terror. We found ourselves in a dreadful state, where not only did we endure terror and the pit, but this brought us to ruin and crisis.
The Alon Bachut explains that this alludes to the decrees of the wicked Hadrian. The Midrash relates that he stationed three garrisons: one in Chamata, one in Kefar Lekitya, and one in Beit El of Judea, saying: Whoever flees from this side will be captured on that side. He would send out heralds announcing: Wherever there is a Jew, let him come forward, for the king wishes to grant him a gift. The Jews were ensnared by this, and this is what is meant by "Ephraim has become like a silly dove, without understanding". Thus Hadrian created a double trap: on the one hand, enticement, and on the other hand, three garrisons - whoever escaped the first was caught by the second, and whoever escaped the second was caught by the third. This is "terror and the pit": at first, out of terror, we hid, and ultimately, when we heard that he showed us a smiling face and was distributing gifts, he lured us out with gentle words and cast us into the pit. From the terror into the pit.
"Streams of Water Run Down My Eye"
פַּלְגֵי מַיִם תֵּרַד עֵינִי עַל שֶׁבֶר בַּת עַמִּי׃ - Streams of water run down my eye over the destruction of the daughter of my people.
The Lechem Dim'ah says: The Congregation of Israel says that despite all this, every single day I weep over the destruction of the daughter of my people, over the loss of our glory, for it was in the wake of this that all the evils continuing to befall us to this day were drawn upon us. When the Jewish people were in their splendor, their pride, and their glory, our horn was exalted and the enemies feared us. But once the Jewish people were broken and suffering, every outcast and degenerate comes along and strikes us mercilessly.
"My Eye Pours Down" - The Key Left in Our Hands
עֵינִי נִגְּרָה וְלֹא תִדְמֶה מֵאֵין הֲפֻגוֹת׃ - My eye pours forth and does not cease, without any respite.
The Akeidat Yitzchak explains: Even though we saw earlier, "You screened Yourself with a cloud so prayer could not pass through," meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, placed a cloud as a partition between us and Him so that prayers would not ascend, and an iron barrier separated Israel from their Father in Heaven - we still have great hope. For Chazal taught: Even though the gates of prayer were locked, the gates of tears were not locked. And incidentally, if they were never locked, why are there gates there at all? It is said in the name of the Brisker Rav: The gates are there against crocodile tears, insincere tears. For false tears, it is good that there are gates; but against genuine weeping, against heartfelt pleas and true tears, the gates of tears were never locked.
Therefore he says: "My eye pours forth and does not cease." Since the gates of tears were not locked, whereas regarding the gates of prayer - "You screened Yourself with a cloud" - what is left for me to do? What is the only key still in our hands? "My eye sheds streams of water" - we will shed tears, and through this the Holy One, blessed be He, will have mercy on us. And this leads to the next verse:
עַד יַשְׁקִיף וְיֵרֶא יְהֹוָה מִשָּׁמָיִם׃ - Until the Lord looks down and sees from heaven.
Until when will my eye pour forth? Until the Lord looks down and sees our plight from heaven. When we weep, the gates are not locked, and this is the path through which we can still take action and evoke Divine mercy.
Another explanation is offered in Lechem Dim'ah: "Pours forth" (niggrah) is from the language of flowing water, as water streams continuously from my eye. And "without any respite" is not a description of the eye, but the reason for the weeping: "My eye pours forth and does not cease" - my eye is never still, tears constantly stream from it. And what is the reason? "Without any respite" - there is no letup in the harsh decrees, no rest from the enemies, no moment when one can calm down even slightly. Therefore, my eye weeps without ceasing.
Yet another explanation: "Without any respite" is an allusion to the destruction of the Second Temple, regarding which the end of the exile was not made known to us. An extra measure of affection was removed from the earlier generations, say Chazal, but the end of their exile was revealed to them - seventy years of Babylonian exile. In contrast, in the exile of the Second Temple, two thousand years have already passed and the end is not known to us. Therefore, the weeping is without respite. Until when? "Until the Lord looks down and sees from heaven," because we do not know when the wondrous end will arrive, when the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to reveal Himself to us. Had I known when, there would be respite: in another seventy years redemption will arrive. But when one does not know when, the eye weeps and weeps without ceasing, without any respite.
In summary:
In this passage, the author describes the ultimate distance: a screening cloud blocking prayer, the humiliation of being "filth and refuse" in the eyes of the nations, open mouths gaping to swallow our wealth and defame our name, panic and the pit that plunged us from trap to pit, and the ruin from which all our troubles stemmed. Yet there is both rebuke and comfort here. Rebuke - "When I desired, you did not desire," meaning that a person must never squander the opportunity the Holy One, blessed be He, grants him, lest he find the gates locked. And comfort - that the screening over prayer was written defectively, because the gates of tears were never locked. This is the key remaining in our hands: "My eye pours forth and does not cease" - until the Lord looks down and sees from heaven.