In the final section of chapter 3, the author of the lament no longer merely depicts the distress, but turns and pleads. He recalls the days when the Holy One, blessed be He, was close; he lays before the Master of the Universe the disgrace inflicted by the nations and the paradox of their hatred; and ultimately, he asks that the Holy One, blessed be He, repay them in kind. Let us follow the order of the verses, primarily according to the commentaries presented in the lesson.
קוֹלִי שָׁמָעְתָּ אַל־תַּעְלֵם אׇזְנְךָ לְרַוְחָתִי לְשַׁוְעָתִי׃ (נו) - You heard my voice; do not hide Your ear from my relief, from my cry. (56)
The Binyan David explains: "You heard my voice" - since in the day of distress I called out to You, as it says in the preceding verse, "I called upon Your Name, Hashem, from the lowest pit," and You answered and said to me, "Do not fear" - You reassure me and tell me not to be afraid. From this I understand that Hashem's love for us still endures, that the desire and will are still present. And if so, Master of the Universe, "do not hide Your ear" - do not conceal Your ear from granting me relief and from listening to the voice of my cry.
קָרַבְתָּ בְּיוֹם אֶקְרָאֶךָּ אָמַרְתָּ אַל־תִּירָא׃ (נז) - You drew near on the day I called You; You said, "Do not fear." (57)
The Akeidat Yitzchak is troubled by the plain meaning of the verse: Is this really our reality today? Is the Holy One, blessed be He, close to us and saying to us, "Do not fear"? It is quite the contrary - the author of the lament describes a state of decline and fall, where the Holy One, blessed be He, conceals His ear and, as it were, erects a barrier between us and Him. If so, how can he say, "You drew near on the day I called You; You said, 'Do not fear'"?
The Akeidat Yitzchak explains that the verse is not describing the present time; rather, the author of the lament longingly recalls the days of old and the golden eras of the Jewish people. Then it was "You drew near on the day I called You" - "before they call, I will answer" - and "You said, 'Do not fear.'" From this he learns that distance and closeness depend on me. That is, I understand that it was for my own good that You placed me in this lowest pit, so that I would call upon Your Name, and so that I would recognize that everything I received came as a result of the crooked path I walked.
And this is the meaning of the verse, "She has fallen, she shall no more rise, the virgin of Israel" - once she falls and reaches the lowest rung, there is no further fall after that fall. And that is what is stated here: "I called upon Your Name, Hashem, from the lowest pit" - when I am at the lowest rung, then certainly "do not hide Your ear from my relief, from my cry," for certainly from this point onward the Holy One, blessed be He, will not conceal His ear, but will bring me relief and hear my entire cry.
If so, Master of the Universe, we have a deed from antiquity. We have promises from of old, and we trust in those very mercies; therefore, I turn to You once again: since in the past, "on the day I called You" - even before I called, You had already drawn near, "and You said, 'Do not fear'" - I have One to hope for, I have what to anticipate, and now too we anticipate that same kind of salvation.
And one might add: if in the past "You drew near on the day I called You" and promised "Do not fear," today we are in a degraded state, and asking for such a level of closeness and reassurance would be far beyond expectations. I know that we are unworthy of this. But at the very least I ask, Master of the Universe, "do not hide Your ear from my relief, from my cry." At least let my voice reach You and do not conceal Your ear - in this alone there is already relief, even if we do not merit an immense salvation such as existed in earlier generations.
שָׁמַעְתָּ חֶרְפָּתָם יְהֹוָה כׇּל־מַחְשְׁבֹתָם עָלָי׃ (סא) - You have heard their taunt, Hashem, all their plots against me.
Here, the Congregation of Israel laments: Master of the Universe, on one hand, You see that the nations taunt and revile us. In simple terms, they say that the Jewish people are zero, refuse, worth nothing; they are 'human dust' and all the other epithets pinned on us. Yet on the other hand, "all their plots are against me" - and this is a paradox. For the very fact that all their thoughts and plots revolve around us shows that they know the greatness of Israel; they know that within the Jewish people lies something found in no other nation. This infuriates them and eats away at them, and because they cannot attain it, they strike at us.
It is enough to look at the numbers: approximately 25 percent of the world's Nobel Prize laureates are Jewish, while our share of the world's population is merely two-tenths of a percent - two out of every thousand. Twenty-five out of every hundred laureates are Jewish, whereas for every thousand non-Jews there are only two Jews. The Gentile cannot ignore that the Jew is an active force in the world, that the Jew has left his mark on the world. Part of their hatred stemmed from the fact that there were "too many Jews" in universities, in banking, in theaters, at every key crossroads - and they articulated this in 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion', alleging a Jewish plot to conquer the world. And as if that were not enough, go out and see what takes place with the Jewish lobby in the United States, steering the American administration wherever it wishes (even if weakened during the previous administration).
On the one hand, you claim that the Jews are zero, nothing, a lowly creature; on the other hand - do you have an explanation for how they manage to reach such heights? How are they so talented? How are so many of the world's greatest discoverers Jewish? The answer is that the Gentile operates from a paradox. And this paradox is constant when it comes to the Jewish people. When the Jew was wealthy, he was accused of taking over the world and the economy. When Jews were poor, they were parasites living off our backs. A rich Jew is no good to you, a poor Jew is no good to you. When Jews opposed wars, they were unpatriotic, caring nothing for their country. When Jews showed patriotism, Jews are dragging us into wars, Jews are warmongers. No matter what the Jew does or how he conducts himself, there will always be claims against him. Antisemitism is not something comprehensible to reason, nor is it logical.
They tell of a shepherd who was asked what kind of cows he had. He said: "I have two cows, very special ones." They asked him: "What can you tell us about them?" He replied: "The white cow produces an extraordinary amount of milk." They asked: "And the black one?" He said: "The black one as well." "The white cow is fat, its development is truly extraordinary." "And the black one?" "The black one as well." "The white cow is healthy..." "And the black one?" "The black one as well." They said to him: "Why do you constantly praise only the white one?" He answered: "Because the white one is my cow." They asked: "And the black one?" He said: "The black one as well."
In simple terms: when someone is a racist, when someone is an antisemite - do not search for reasons. He himself cannot explain it to you, nor can he offer any logic. Why seek to understand his mind? Hatred descended to the world in the wake of the giving of the Torah. And this is what the speaker of Kinot is saying: "You have heard their taunt, Hashem, all their plots against me" - they revile us as if we are absolute nothingness; and if so, why do you persecute me so relentlessly? One does not pursue nothingness so intently; one does not obsess over zero. Who cares about Africans in Rwanda? Who cares about two hundred thousand Syrians slaughtered by their ruler? When you are nothing, no one cares about you. And if you pursue me so relentlessly, it is a sign that I am something. So why do you constantly emphasize how much of a zero I am? It is an astonishing wonder. Antisemitism has no rationale.
שִׂפְתֵי קָמַי וְהֶגְיוֹנָם עָלַי כׇּל־הַיּוֹם׃ (סב) - The lips of my adversaries and their plotting against me all day long.
The Rav of Garmeiza (Rabbi Eleazar of Worms) explains: I am engaged in prayer, and what are they engaged in? In concocting harsh decrees and legislating laws against the Jewish people. Likewise, in the next verse, "Look upon their sitting down and their rising up" - I am engaged in reciting the Shema, "when you lie down and when you rise up," while at that very hour they are plotting to kill me.
We can further explain: the new antisemitism expresses itself primarily in words. We know that words are capable of killing, and we see the results as well. In Hitler's time, it all began with words, and we know how that ended. Today as well, everything proceeds through words: condemnations by the Security Council, the UN where time and again the central focus is Israel - injustices against Palestinians, genocide, apartheid, everything blamed on the Jews. It is as though the world has solved all its other problems, and all that remains for it is to solve 'the Jewish problem.'
And this is precisely what is written in the Torah: when the Jewish people are in exile, "And among those nations you shall find no ease, neither shall there be rest for the sole of your foot," and it is further said, "And you shall become a proverb and a byword (leshina)" among the nations. Rashi explains: "Leshina" - they will speak repeatedly of you. That is to say, wherever you are exiled, the nations will constantly talk about you; you will be the central topic, every news broadcast will open with the Jewish people, and you will be blamed for everything. They create an image of something demonic, frightening, and terrible. To this day, there are Gentiles who meet a Jew and look for horns, feeling his forehead: 'Do you really not have horns?' For to them, the Jew is the emissary of Satan in the world.
The story is told that the Chinese foreign minister once met with the Israeli ambassador and asked him, "How many of you are there in Israel?" He replied, "Around six million." The Chinese minister burst out laughing. The ambassador asked, "Why are you laughing?" He said, "Six million is a village in China! And China does not star in the news the way you do. People talk about you endlessly. In China, we conduct a census every few years - for us, six million is just the sampling error! You put yourself on the globe and you are invisible, the size of a pinhead, yet somehow everyone hears about you, and every news broadcast leads with you?" This is the meaning of "And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword" - people will constantly discuss you and talk about you. And this is what the verse says: "The lips of my adversaries and their thoughts against me all day long" - their thoughts are their musings and schemes; their lips are constantly grinding away, consumed exclusively with the Jewish issue, with the 'Jewish problem.'
In fact, anyone who reflects on this will see that it contains a great deal of truth. In truth, they are right - not from their perspective, but from the true Torah perspective. The Gemara teaches that in the future to come, the nations of the world will come and say: We built bridges, we constructed bathhouses, we did such and such - and we did all this only for the sake of Israel. The Holy One, blessed be He, will say to them: Fools of the world! You did it for yourselves! Rabbi Chaim of Brisk makes a precise observation: Why does He call them "fools"? He should have called them "liars," for it is an outright lie to claim they did it for Israel! Rather, in the future to come, lying is impossible; it is the World of Truth, Alma deKeshot. At that time, when the nations come to receive reward, it will become clear to them that in truth, everything they did was indeed for Israel, because everything that exists in the world exists solely for the sake of Israel, and everything done here was done only for Israel. They will then argue: We invested so much money here, and it was all for Israel, so we deserve reward! The Holy One, blessed be He, does not call them liars, but rather says: It is true, you are correct, but you are fools - for had you only intended it for that purpose, how immense your reward would have been! Instead, your intentions were purely for your own benefit, and it is only retroactively that it turns out to have been for the good of Israel.
On this very foundation, one can understand our situation as well: the rampant antisemitism across the world, which blames the Jew for every conceivable ill, actually holds a grain of truth - though not from their vantage point. From the perspective of truth: when the Jewish people do the will of the Omnipresent, there is a Beit HaMikdash, and there is abundance and blessing for the entire world. The holy Or HaChaim writes that had the nations known how much good the Beit HaMikdash bestows upon them - not merely upon us, but upon them - they would have stationed guards around the Beit HaMikdash so that it would never be destroyed. If so, when there are troubles in the world, who is responsible? The Jews. In reality, there is an authentic truth behind this, except that with them it does not stem from truth, but from hatred, from the reality that "Esav hates Yaakov." We, however, must understand this from the standpoint of truth: when a non-Jew persecutes you, he is essentially signaling to you: you, the Jew, are held to a higher standard, and had you done more, the entire world would be elevated and reality would look entirely different. This demand is a genuine demand, and the gentile acts as "Ashur, the rod of My anger," whose purpose is to remind you where you faltered and what you must rectify.
שִׁבְתָּם וְקִימָתָם הַבִּיטָה אֲנִי מַנְגִּינָתָם׃ (סג) - Behold their sitting down and their rising up; I am their song. (63)
Master of the Universe, behold their sitting and their rising: when he goes to sleep and when he wakes in the morning, where is his mind all the time? "I am their song" - I am the reason for their rejoicing. The Lechem Dim'ah explains: whoever distresses Israel becomes a leader, and their entire joy comes solely at the expense of the Jew. He strikes the Jew - and he is pleased; he harms the Jew - and he rejoices.
Alternatively, "I am their song" can be understood in the way King David lamented about his persecutors, who would sit in taverns composing songs about him, songs of ridicule and scorn. Here too: they compose songs and tunes about me, poems about the Jewish people and the harm they supposedly inflict upon the world. As is well known, Goebbels' propaganda machine worked overtime to demonize the Jew, until it became clear to everyone that just as pesticides are used against roaches, gas chambers were meant for Jews - for if dealing with a species of parasitic and harmful pests, that is what must be done to them: crush and exterminate. When public opinion is thoroughly groomed, such ideas take root, and acting upon them poses no moral qualm. Master of the Universe, behold the well-oiled propaganda against me: "their sitting down and their rising up" - constantly against me; "I am their song" - about me they compose songs of mockery and derision.
תָּשִׁיב לָהֶם גְּמוּל יְהֹוָה כְּמַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם׃ (סד) - Render them recompense, Hashem, according to the work of their hands. (64)
The Lechem Dim'ah notes: every recompense (gemul) is inherently double the evil deed, as it is said, "For she has received from the hand of Hashem double for all her sins." Yet here, Knesset Yisrael pleads: Master of the Universe, it is enough for me if You render them recompense "according to the work of their hands" alone. I do not demand double; if only I may merit to see You repay them according to the work of their hands, even without doubling it.
תִּתֵּן לָהֶם מְגִנַּת־לֵב תַּאֲלָתְךָ לָהֶם׃ (סה) - "Give them anguish of heart, Your curse upon them." (65)
The Torat Chessed explains: Since all their thoughts are to harm me, the Congregation of Israel asks that You repay them according to the work of their hands and give them meginat lev - that is, sorrow in their heart, corresponding to all their thoughts against me. Since all the thoughts of their heart all day long are about how to cause me pain, let them experience sorrow corresponding to the sorrow they plan to inflict upon me. According to this, meginat derives from the language of grief and sorrow (yagon).
Rashi does not accept this interpretation, explaining instead that meginat lev is related to magen (a shield) - denoting a covering or blockage of the heart, distress and sighing that enclose the heart like a shield. His reasoning is that the letter nun in yagon is not part of the root. Just as in sason (joy), whose root is shin-shin, and in shimamon (desolation), whose root is shin-mem-mem - the nun is an added letter. Therefore, one cannot derive meginat lev from yagon, because such a grammatical form is incorrect; it should have been yegonat lev. For this reason, Rashi explains it from the root of magen. This is also implied by Ibn Ezra, who notes that some consider the dagesh in the nun to be supplementary and that the word derives from the root of magen, following the noun pattern of akhilah, in the sense of covering and protection ("defending and delivering").
He continues: "Your curse (ta'alatecha) upon them." The Torat Chessed says: Bring upon them all the curses (alot) written in the Book of the Torah, as it says, "And the Lord your God will put all these curses upon your enemies" - apply Your curses to them. Rashi, by contrast, explains ta'alatecha as related to no'alu sarei Tzoan ("the princes of Zoan have become foolish") - which the Targum renders as itpashu, referring to foolishness (ivvelet), that they were turned into fools. That is: give them a blockage of the heart, and make them foolish and confounded.
Another explanation: "Give them meginat lev" corresponds to what we saw in the previous verse, "I am their song (manginatam)" - a wordplay: in place of their song (manginatam), give them their sorrow (meginatam); instead of the mocking song they made of me, let there be grief in their hearts. Furthermore, the Lechem Dim'ah explains: "Your ta'alah upon them" - the distress that You feel, so to speak, in sharing the suffering of Israel, cast that very distress upon them. Why should You suffer? Rather, bring suffering upon them, and in doing so, rescue us from that anguish so that You too will no longer grieve over it.
According to this interpretation, we must examine the linguistic root of ta'alatecha, for it cannot derive from curses (alot) nor from foolishness (no'alu). It is very likely that ta'alatecha is an anagram for tla'atecha ("Your hardship"), through letter transposition, just like keves and kesev, or salmah and simlah; and tla'ah denotes tribulation and sorrow. In other words: Master of the Universe, the tribulation that You bear, place it upon them. For when a Jew suffers, what does the Shechinah say? "My head hurts, My arm hurts" - the Shechinah is in exile and grieves with us. Therefore, Master of the Universe, the grief You feel on account of Israel's plight - turn it upon the nations, and consequently Israel will cease to suffer and the Shechinah will cease to suffer as well.
תִּרְדֹּף בְּאַף וְתַשְׁמִידֵם מִתַּחַת שְׁמֵי יְהֹוָה׃ (סו) - "Pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord." (66)
The holy Alshich explains: "From under the heavens of the Lord" - so that they will have no foothold even in heaven, as it is said, "Though you set your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down." Even if you ascend very high, says the Holy One, Blessed be He, I will bring you down from there and bring you low. And this is what we ask: Pursue them in anger and destroy them - even if they have reached great heights, bring them down from under the heavens of the Lord and lay them low.
The Akeidat Yitzchak explains: Earlier we saw, "You have covered Yourself with anger and pursued us," followed by, "You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that prayer cannot pass through" - from that very anger and wrath, a canopy and a barrier were formed, so that our prayers no longer ascended above. Concerning this, the author pleads: That very same anger, the wrath that caused the barrier - use it to "pursue them in anger and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord," leaving them no remnant among the nations.
The conclusion of Chapter 3 is a prayer from the depths of the pit: the author recalls the days when "You drew near on the day I called You," and asks that at the very least, God's ear will not be hidden from his cry. He sets before the Master of the Universe the paradox of antisemitism - that they deride us as nothing, yet simultaneously "all their thoughts are against me" - a hatred that has no rational explanation, yet contains a kernel of truth: a demand upon the Jew to rise higher, for the welfare of the entire world depends upon him. Finally, he asks for retribution against the enemies - even without a double measure - that sorrow be placed in their hearts in return for the mocking songs they composed about us, and that the very same wrath that stood as a barrier between us and our Father in Heaven be turned toward pursuing and destroying them from under the heavens of the Lord.