Introduction: The Conclusion of the Fourth Chapter
In the final section of chapter 4, the author of the lament shifts from describing the afflictions to soul-searching and consolation. He depicts the approaching end, the swiftness of the pursuers, the downfall of the leader upon whom they relied, and finally turns to Edom with words of rebuke and to the daughter of Zion with words of comfort. Let us follow the order of the verses.
They Hunted Our Steps - The End of Exile and the End of Our Days
צָדוּ צְעָדֵינוּ מִלֶּכֶת בִּרְחֹבֹתֵינוּ, קָרַב קִצֵּנוּ מָלְאוּ יָמֵינוּ כִּי־בָא קִצֵּנוּ׃ - They hunted our steps from walking in our streets; our end drew near, our days were full, for our end had come.
The author of Binyan David explains that here the mourner is lamenting that even though our designated end is near - the Babylonian exile was, after all, limited to seventy years and its duration was known - nevertheless, the days of our years are seventy years, or by reason of strength eighty years. Who knows if we will merit to see that end? One might say that the exile is limited to only seventy years, but how long is a person expected to live, two hundred years? Thus: our end drew near, our days were full, for our personal end has come. As soon as our days are full, our own lifespan has ended, and what benefit is the redemption to us if we will not be there to see it?
"Venoshantem" and the Two-Year Advancement
The Lechem Dim'ah explains the verse based on the words of Chazal: The Holy One, blessed be He, did a charity with Israel by exiling them two years before the numerical value of "venoshantem" (and you will have grown old). The gematria of venoshantem is 852, whereas we were exiled from the Land after 850 years. The Holy One, blessed be He, brought the exile two years earlier.
From here, as mentioned previously, we learn the principle of im hakolel (counting the word itself as one). In gematria calculations, an addition of one is not considered a substantial discrepancy, and 51 and 52 are considered equivalent values. There is a mystical explanation for this, while according to the simple understanding, a difference of one is negligible, and some say that one unites with the Master of the World, the "Aluph" of the universe, Who is One. Where is this hinted in the Torah? The Terumat HaDeshen cites a wonderful allusion: The Holy One, blessed be He, stretched the deadline to the latest possible moment, which was 852, the numerical value of "venoshantem". However, He did not want us to reach the count of "venoshantem ba'aretz" (and you will have grown old in the land) at all, for the continuation of the verse warns, "you shall utterly perish quickly." Therefore, He wished to bring forward the exile so that we would not be destroyed. And why did He advance it by two years rather than one? Because 851 and 852 are identical through the rule of im hakolel. For it to truly be a different gematria, there had to be a difference of two rather than one, and therefore the latest possible time was 850 years.
And this is the meaning of what is written: "And the Lord hastened the evil and brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous." Seemingly, these words are difficult to reconcile: If Hashem hastened to bring evil upon us, is that why He is called righteous? Certainly Hashem is always righteous, but that is hardly something to praise Him for in this context. Rather, because the Holy One, blessed be He, hastened to bring the calamity early, two years ahead of time, His righteousness was revealed through that very act. For He could have said: let us wait until the end, 850 years being the deadline, and then you will face retribution - Heaven protect us. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is righteous, and therefore He took care to advance the calamity by two years so that, Heaven forbid, we would not reach total destruction and annihilation.
And this is what Scripture says: "They hunted our steps from walking in our streets" - they constricted our steps before the time arrived. Why? Because "our end drew near, our days were full." Had our days been completed according to the count of "venoshantem", then woe to us, the final end would have arrived. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, ensured that we would not reach that point; our steps were hunted beforehand, and through this our ultimate end did not draw near and our days were not fulfilled, and we did not reach a state in which, Heaven forbid, the Holy One, blessed be He, would have to bring total annihilation.
"From Walking in Our Streets" - Bittul Torah
The Lechem Dim'ah further explains: Why were our steps hunted? "From walking in our streets" - because we were neglecting the Torah and wandering in the streets. Had we been in the beit midrash there would have been no problem; the issue was "walking in our streets," wandering about the streets and shopping centers. Go to the beit midrash; what business do you have roaming the streets? That is what causes "our steps were hunted," allowing the enemies, Heaven forbid, to come and constrict our steps.
An End with No Set Date - Advantage and Disadvantage
The Lechem Dimah further explains that the verse refers back to the future redemption. For the exile of Egypt, four hundred years were decreed; for the Babylonian exile, seventy years; whereas for the future redemption, no fixed time was set at all. Is this good or not good? It is both good and not good. Good - because since no time was fixed, "Today, if you will listen to His voice." In the exile of Egypt, the allocated time had to elapse, and in the Babylonian exile, even had they repented it would not have availed, for seventy years were decreed to complete the desolations of Jerusalem. But in this exile, no fixed time was set, and if we do teshuvah today, we are redeemed today. However, there is also an Achilles' heel here: if we do not repent, the exile drags on and on, and after two thousand years, we are still in exile.
And this is "our end drew near" - for us today, the end is nearer than in the exile of Egypt or the Babylonian exile. There, the end was not near; they knew that seventy years remained, or that hundreds of years remained; the time was far off. But for us, one can bring the end near in a single moment, and therefore the demand upon us is much greater.
Then it continues: "Our days are fulfilled, for our end has come." For how long does the world exist? Six thousand years the world exists, and one thousand it is desolate ("shit alfei shanin ka'im alma vechad charuv") - six thousand years the world exists, and in the seventh millennium it is "desolate." The meaning of "desolate" is not destruction and ruin, but quite the opposite, though this is not the place to elaborate. But there is a deadline: it is impossible for the world to exist for more than six thousand years, corresponding to the six days of Creation. And we say: Master of the Universe, while it is true that "Today, if you will listen to His voice" we would be redeemed immediately, look where we have arrived - our days are almost fulfilled, and our end has already come. On one hand, this has an advantage, but on the other hand, we have already reached the final stage where there is no choice and the Jewish people must be redeemed.
Our Pursuers Were Swifter - The Cruelty of the Pursuers
קַלִּים הָיוּ רֹדְפֵינוּ מִנִּשְׁרֵי שָׁמָיִם, עַל־הֶהָרִים דְּלָקֻנוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר אָרְבוּ לָנוּ׃ - Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of heaven; they chased us upon the mountains, they ambushed us in the wilderness.
The Lechem Dimah describes here the cruelty of the pursuers. Normally in warfare, when an enemy pursues the opposing nation and a retreat and rout begins, he drives them away and is satisfied with that. But here, even after we fled and ran, they continued to pursue us and slaughter us. A person flees and climbs the mountains to escape - yet "they chased us upon the mountains," pursuing us even there. And lest you say they feared we might fortify ourselves there and fight back, in the wilderness there is no place to fortify oneself, a place with neither water nor shade, and yet "they ambushed us in the wilderness." This shows that it stemmed entirely from the malice of their hearts, and not from any genuine concern that we might harm them.
The Lechem Dimah further explains that there is an allusion here to the reversal of circumstances between the Exodus from Egypt and our departure from Jerusalem, over which the author laments an entire kinah regarding the contrast between them. When we left Egypt, the Amorites ambushed us in the wilderness between two mountains, hiding inside the caves and waiting for us to pass below in order to hurl stones and catapult missiles at us. What did the Holy One, Blessed be He, do? One mountain had protruding crags and the other had caves, and He brought the mountains together so that the crags entered the hollows, the very caves where the enemies hid, and only from the flowing blood did Israel realize the great calamity from which they had been saved, as hinted in the verses regarding the streams of Arnon. See, then, what miracles the Holy One, Blessed be He, performed for Israel in the mountains upon leaving Egypt; whereas now, not only do the mountains not protect us miraculously, but on the mountains themselves they captured us: "they chased us upon the mountains, they ambushed us in the wilderness." The very place where a miracle was once performed for us became the site of our downfall.
In the sefer Ahavat Tzion, it is explained that here too the words are set in contrast to the Exodus from Egypt. For at the Exodus from Egypt it is said, "And I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Me," whereas at the Destruction the exact opposite occurred: "Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of heaven." When we left Egypt, we were swift as the eagles of heaven; but when we rebelled against the word of Hashem, the enemies were swift as the eagles of heaven.
The Incident of Trajan in Eichah Rabbah
In Eichah Rabbah on Chapter 4, a story is recounted concerning Trajan, "may his bones be crushed" - a derogatory epithet our Sages give to an intensely wicked figure ("shechik atzamot," or in Aramaic "shechik tamya"). His wife gave birth on the night of Tisha B'Av, and on that night all of Israel were mourning, sitting on the ground and reciting kinot. On Chanukah, the child died. Israel said: Shall we light Chanukah candles or not? For candles are always a symbol of joy, and people might say that the Jews are rejoicing over the misfortune of that wicked man. They said: Let us light, and whatever is destined to come upon us will come. They lit the candles.
Slanderers went and told Trajan's wife: "Those Jews mourned when you gave birth, and when the child died, they lit candles." She sent a letter to her husband: "Instead of conquering the barbarians, come and conquer these Jews who have rebelled against you." He boarded a ship, expecting the voyage to take ten days, but the wind brought him in five days, in a supernatural manner. He arrived and found them studying the verse: "Hashem will bring upon you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down." He said to them: "I am that eagle, for I expected to arrive in ten days and came in five." His legions surrounded them and killed them. He then said to the women: "Submit to my legions, or else I will do to you as I did to the men." They answered him: "Do to us as you did to them" - meaning, kill us, for we will not obey you to commit a transgression. Immediately his legions surrounded them and killed them, and the blood of these mingled with the blood of those, and the blood surged forth until it reached the Cyprus River, all the way to Cyprus.
Therefore it says, "Our pursuers were swifter" - and notice that the word is spelled defectively without a vav, hinting that even they themselves did not imagine arriving in such a short time; within the time it would take to travel halfway, they had already arrived. This indicates that the defeat was not natural, and when a downfall is unnatural, it is a sign of heavenly punishment. One cannot dismiss it by saying, "It is merely a worldly coincidence," which is the mindset of "if you walk with Me with casual indifference (keri)." After all, you see that naturally this should not happen - that an army covers in five days a distance meant to take ten. The Holy One, blessed be He, orchestrated their arrival; our sins trapped us, and that is what caused them to overcome us in so brief a time.
Another explanation of "Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of heaven" is that they overcame us even when we were stationed on the high mountains. After all, whoever holds the high ground always possesses a strategic advantage, and we know how difficult battles on elevated terrain like the Golan Heights or Beaufort were to conquer. Yet here, notice that even this advantage did not work in our favor, for "they chased us on the mountains." They were like the eagles of heaven, and for an eagle, a mountain is no obstacle; in an instant, it is there. All of this proves that everything was from Hashem, and our sins brought it about.
The Breath of Our Nostrils, the Anointed of Hashem - The Fall of the Leader
רוּחַ אַפֵּינוּ מְשִׁיחַ ה' נִלְכַּד בִּשְׁחִיתוֹתָם, אֲשֶׁר אָמַרְנוּ בְּצִלּוֹ נִחְיֶה בַגּוֹיִם׃ - The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem, was captured in their traps, of whom we said, "Under his shadow we shall live among the nations."
Our Sages state that this verse refers to Yoshiyahu. Why is he called "the anointed of Hashem"? The simple explanation is that he was anointed with oil and was king. But the sefer Alon Bachut offers another explanation: Yirmiyahu went and brought back the Ten Tribes, and Yoshiyahu ruled over them. Thus, he was a prototype of the Mashiach, for Mashiach is destined to gather the dispersed of His nation Israel and reign over them all, since Mashiach will assemble everyone, including the Ten Tribes. Although there is a dispute among the Sages as to whether the Ten Tribes will return in the future, we hold that they will indeed return.
However, Yoshiyahu "was captured in their traps," and with this our hope was lost, for we had said, "Under his shadow we shall live among the nations." "Under his shadow" refers to his spiritual umbrella - that Yoshiyahu, being a righteous king, would shield us. Ultimately, however, we saw that his shadow lacked the power to protect, for the sins of the people had multiplied and his merits were insufficient to shield them. We have already mentioned that they were worshipping idols in secret: when Yoshiyahu's officers opened the doors to search for idols, the idol was hanging behind the door on the inside, and opening the door concealed it. They searched the entire house and found nothing, but when they left and shut the door behind them, the idol was once again exposed. Thus, the people - as Chazal phrase it - were not fitting for their generation; the generation was not upright.
The phrase "under his shadow" always implies a spiritual canopy. We find this similarly with Moshe Rabbeinu: when he wanted to know if the inhabitants of the land possessed merits, he asked, "Is there a tree (eitz) in it or not?" Chazal and Rashi explain this to mean: Is there a righteous person worthy of shielding his generation like a tree? Thus, shade like that of a tree signifies protection. We have previously explained that this was an allusion to Iyov, "There was a man in the land of Utz" - do not read eitz (tree), but Utz. It turns out that we assumed his merits would protect us, but our hopes were dashed.
The sefer Binyan David explains that Scripture refers to the death of Yoshiyahu when it says, "And I will cause the sun to set at noon." What is the sun at noon? Just as the sun at midday is at the peak of its strength and brilliance, so too Yoshiyahu completed everything he needed to rectify and departed from the world at the pinnacle of his vigor and perfection. We have already discussed the death of Yoshiyahu, which occurred after the king of Egypt requested passage through the Land of Israel, telling him, "It is not against you today." But Yoshiyahu relied upon the promise, "and no sword shall pass through your land," which the Sages interpret to include even a sword of peace. He was confident that his generation was righteous and that he could therefore oppose him and succeed. However, he erred in his assessment of his generation, not knowing that his generation was hypocritical and corrupt. When the king of Egypt entered, Yoshiyahu went out to battle him even though the Egyptian king had no desire to fight him. Seeing that Yoshiyahu was waging war, the king of Egypt retaliated fiercely, and Yoshiyahu was slain - they pierced his heart with spears, riddling his body like a sieve. Over him, Yirmiyahu lamented, "The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem, was captured in their traps."
Why Was He Captured? Because They Relied on His Shadow
Another explanation: The reason he was captured in their corrupt pits was that they did not repent and harbored sins, which led to his downfall. And why did they not repent of their corrupt ways and mend their deeds? The answer lies at the end of the verse, which provides the reason for its beginning: "of whom we said, 'Under his shadow we shall live among the nations.'" They thought: We have someone to protect us; we do not need to be so righteous and exert ourselves in repentance, for we have a righteous king and Hashem will not bring calamity upon him. It all stemmed from depending on "under his shadow we shall live among the nations."
This is akin to the story told in the Gemara regarding the thuggish neighbors of Rabbi Zeira. As long as Rabbi Zeira was alive, they thought: There is nothing to worry about, Rabbi Zeira is here. We have an Iron Dome protecting us, intercepting everything with one hundred percent accuracy - even better than an Iron Dome. The Gemara relates that as long as he lived, they did not repent, but when he passed away, they repented. Why? Because they asked themselves, "Who will protect us now and who will watch over us?" Finding themselves completely exposed, they resolved to repent. So it was here as well: he was trapped in their corrupt ways because we said, "Under his shadow we shall live among the nations" - he will protect us, so there is no rush to repent. We were mistaken; his merits were insufficient to shield them against the sheer weight of all their sins, and their sins tipped the scale.
Additionally, there is an allusion here to Shaul, whose generation was troubled, full of slanderers and informers (delatorin). In truth, Shaul himself encouraged this, as he said, "and none of you reveals to my ear" - asking why men were siding with David and no one came to inform him. There is also an allusion here to Mashiach ben Yosef, regarding whom it is written that he will be slain by Gog and Magog, and Gog is Edom. That is why immediately following "The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem, was captured in their traps," the next verse says, "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom," for those who will kill Mashiach ben Yosef will be the Edomites, who belong to the forces of Gog and Magog.
A Lamentation for the Generations: When the Leader Is Eliminated
The sefer Shaarei Chaim notes that this is a lamentation for all generations. Throughout history, whenever the oppressors of Israel see that the Jewish people have a savior and leader, someone who can lead them to repentance and the rectification of their ways, they immediately plot against him and afflict him, so that the people of Israel will lose their confidence and have no one to rely upon. We have witnessed this throughout all generations, as the wicked kingdom has always targeted the leaders. The Nazis, may their names and memory be erased, the very first people they dealt with were the rabbis and leaders; their goal was to humiliate and break the people, and they constantly hunted the great figures upon whom we leaned.
This is what the lamenter says: 'The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of Hashem, was captured in their pits' - why do the nations persecute him? 'Of whom we said, in his shadow we shall live among the nations.' The Gentile knows that as long as the tzaddik lives, we have hope, we have what to anticipate, and we will have the fortitude to persevere. But the moment the leader dies, they scatter. And so we find that when the people of Israel fled following the death of Achav, the prophet said, 'These have no master' - there is no king, the king died in battle, and consequently a people without a master flees. And likewise, 'Every man did that which was right in his own eyes' - when? 'In those days there was no king in Israel.'
In truth, we have adopted these methods: whenever a leadership rises and begins to stir up unrest in the field, we launch a missile at it and send it to a world that is entirely evil, to the place it deserves. But the problem is that we forget that our issue is not with them; our issue is with the Master of the World, and our problems with Him must be resolved, not with that person in the north or the south. As discussed, eliminating one usually brings someone worse: the one who preceded Nasrallah was like a poodle compared to the Rottweiler who followed him, bringing the organization to capabilities of which his predecessor had not attained even a tenth. Eliminating one head of the snake does not necessarily guarantee that the next reality will be better, and at times a far worse and more dangerous head emerges. This does not mean one should not eliminate them - they all deserve elimination - but one must realize that this is not the ultimate direction, nor is it the correct address. Resolve your issues with the Master of the World, and then you will see how all problems are solved, quite literally: we will be rid of them. But to think that an external solution will end everything is like a patient suffering from a fatal internal disease asking the doctor for an ointment because a rash has appeared on his body. How will the ointment help you? The rash is merely a symptom of what is occurring inside. The same is true of external solutions to eradicate terror: striking, invading, bombing - they must be struck and struck with absolute force, but to think that this will solve the problem is utter naivety, for one is misreading the map and failing to understand against Whom the war is truly being fought.
Rejoice and Be Glad, O Daughter of Edom
שִׂישִׂי וְשִׂמְחִי בַּת־אֱדוֹם יוֹשֶׁבֶת בְּאֶרֶץ עוּץ, גַּם־עָלַיִךְ תַּעֲבָר־כּוֹס תִּשְׁכְּרִי וְתִתְעָרִי׃ - Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, who dwells in the land of Utz; to you as well the cup shall pass, you shall become drunk and expose yourself.
The Lechem Dimah explains that here the lamenter addresses Edom and says to her: Rejoice and be glad in yourself, in your wisdom, in your military stratagems, and in your might. But know that in the end, the cup will pass over you as well and you will become drunk, meaning that all your wisdom and all your might will be confounded and swallowed up like a drunkard. 'And expose yourself' (vetit'ari) - related to 'Raze it, raze it (aru aru), down to its foundation' (Tehillim 137:7), meaning that its foundations will be undermined to the very bottom.
This can also be applied to America, which allowed itself to remain on the sidelines until they suddenly realized that the war was also against them, culminating in the two towers that were their pride being razed in the sense of 'Raze it, raze it, down to its foundation.' Perhaps that is why the expression is doubled, 'aru aru', corresponding to the two. In any event, this conveys the understanding that greatness and honor do not endure forever, and whoever is on top today will ultimately be punished and brought to account.
He further explains: the fall will not happen all at once. First, 'you shall become drunk' (tishkeri), drinking the cup of poison to its dregs, and afterward 'expose yourself' (vetit'ari), emptying out completely until not a single inhabitant remains. According to this explanation, tit'ari is from the language of 'and she emptied her pitcher' (vate'ar kadah - Bereishit 24:20), to pour out from the pitcher, meaning that she will be emptied of her inhabitants. This is a prophecy concerning Edom: on the one hand, she will drink the cup of poison, and in the next stage, she will be emptied of her inhabitants.
The Final Request
It is also possible that there is an allusion here to what was customary in their times, where a person condemned to death was granted a final request. We find this in the Gemara, and it is cited in the sefarim that they would offer a final request so that the condemned would be appeased and forgive them for his execution, and typically they would request a good meal or a bottle of fine wine.
The Gemara relates that Reish Lakish once encountered the Lyddians, and they captured him and said to him: A final request, what do you want? He said to them: A watermelon. They said to him: What watermelon? It is the beginning of winter now! He said to them: If so, let us wait; I am not rushing you. In the end, Reish Lakish told them: My final request is to take a sack and strike each of you once on the head with it. They thought: Fine, that is a minor matter. They agreed - and it is a wonder how they agreed; evidently they were not very clever. Reish Lakish tied them up, placed a stone inside the sack, and struck each one on the head. They thought it was merely an empty sack, but in reality there was a heavy stone inside. One of them gritted his teeth in pain, so Reish Lakish said to him: Why are you grinning? You deserve two more! And in this way he eliminated them. There is an extensive explanation for this incident, and whoever wishes may consult Mishnat HaGilgulim, where the connection between Reish Lakish and the Lyddians is explained, as there was an entire tikun and reincarnation involved that Reish Lakish sought to rectify, but that is not our subject here.
And according to this, "the cup shall pass through unto you as well": rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, your end is near, and what is done before the end? You are granted a final wish. If you still have time left, rejoice in it and make your final request, for in the end the axe will fall upon you as well, and you too will drink the cup of poison, become drunk, and uncover yourself. This is like the custom of always granting something good before an execution.
"Your Iniquity Is Ended, Daughter of Zion" - The Consolation
תַּם־עֲוֺנֵךְ בַּת־צִיּוֹן לֹא יוֹסִיף לְהַגְלוֹתֵךְ, פָּקַד עֲוֺנֵךְ בַּת־אֱדוֹם גִּלָּה עַל־חַטֹּאתָיִךְ׃ - The punishment of your iniquity is ended, O daughter of Zion, He will no more carry you away into exile; He will visit your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, He will uncover your sins.
The Targum states: After this your iniquity will be completed, and the daughter of Zion is destined to be redeemed through King Messiah and Eliyahu, and Hashem will no longer exile you. The prophet here consoles the Jewish people, telling them that the primary sin that caused the exile - which is the sin of neglecting Torah study (bittul Torah) - has ended. For today, the Jewish people engage in Torah study amid sorrow and hardship, even as kollel stipends have been slashed, and Am Yisrael toil in Torah with tremendous self-sacrifice (mesirut nefesh). If so, this sin has been rectified, and whoever upholds the Torah in poverty will ultimately uphold it in wealth.
All the more so regarding "He will no more carry you away into exile," for the primary reason for the exile was the sin of neglecting Torah, as the Gemara states: "Why was the Land destroyed? Because they have forsaken My Torah." And as the holy Or HaChaim explains, Moshe Rabbeinu does not want to come and redeem a people idle from Torah; the core matter is that they immerse themselves in Torah study. By way of homiletical hint (remez), one may say that the word *tam* (תם - ended) forms the acronym for *Torat Moshe* (תורת משה - the Torah of Moses): since you have now returned to the Torah of Moses, sitting and laboring in Torah, the iniquity is naturally accomplished, and "He will no more exile you" - the time has already arrived to redeem the Jewish people.
"He Will Visit Your Iniquity, Daughter of Edom" - Standing at the Crossroads
The book *Alon Bachut* explains based on Chazal: When the wicked Nebuchadnezzar came to destroy Jerusalem, the Yalkut Shimoni on Ovadiah recounts that the wicked Esau came and stood at the crossroads at a distance of a mil, which is what is meant in Ovadiah: "On the day that you stood aloof." He said to himself: Here I stand. If Israel prevails, I will tell them, "I came to help you" - how fortunate that I arrived, after all I am already here nearby and came to assist, and thank God you did not need me. But if the Babylonians prevail, I will turn around and slaughter Israel and aid the Babylonians. In short, an opportunist who constantly looks for what pays and what he will gain, holding no regard for covenants or commitments. The Holy Spirit cries out: "Do not stand at the crossway" - do not linger in the middle without taking a side. And this is what Ovadiah says: "How is Esau searched out, his hidden things revealed!" - the secrets of his heart were laid bare, his wicked scheme was finally exposed.
And this is what is stated here: "The punishment of your iniquity is ended, O daughter of Zion, He will no more exile you," whereas regarding Edom, which seemingly takes no side: "He will visit your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, He will uncover your sins." This is regrettably the reality we see today, where the daughter of Edom poses as neutral, repeatedly offering herself as a mediator between us and the Palestinians. Yet we know Edom, and how red she is with blood. And we know that Europe has long ceased to be simply a domain of Edom; it is becoming a land of Ishmael and a continent of Ishmael, and if it is not yet clearly seen, it is only a matter of time. Every Ishmaelite there has eight or ten children, while Europeans have decreed self-destruction upon themselves, with barely one child born to every two adults, meaning that with each generation they diminish by fifty percent. Hence their pervasive "political correctness" toward the Ishmaelite dilemma surrounding them; France attempts to wage a rearguard battle by banning the burqa and the like, but it is already too late, as militant elements steadily conquer every corner, and police officers fear to confront them. Ultimately, the Holy One, blessed be He, will exact retribution from them as they deserve for their feigned neutrality, for we know where such neutrality leads and how saturated European soil is with Jewish blood. Concerning this it is said, "He will visit your iniquity, O daughter of Edom" - the Holy One, blessed be He, will ultimately expose their true face, "He will uncover your sins," and exact just retribution from them, speedily in our days, Amen.
Summary:
The conclusion of Chapter 4 teaches us three things. First, that even within the greatest concealment, the attribute of righteousness of the Holy One, blessed be He, is at work, having advanced the exile by two years so that we would not reach the threshold of "and you shall have remained long" (*ve-noshantem*) and face total destruction. Second, that the downfall itself - the swiftness of the pursuers, the mountains that were once places of miracles becoming sites of defeat, and the fall of Yoshiyahu, "the breath of our nostrils" - all bears witness that this was no mere coincidence but the hand of Hashem, and that relying on the protective shadow of a tzaddik without repentance cannot endure. And third, that the lamentation concludes with consolation: Edom, who stood aloof and gloated over our misfortune, is destined to drink the cup of poison and be stripped bare, whereas the daughter of Zion, whose iniquity has already ended through her return to the Torah of Moses and her devotion to Torah amid poverty, will no longer be exiled by Hashem. And the primary message: the address for resolving our tribulations is not the enemy surrounding us, but our reckoning with the Master of the Universe, and from there salvation will come, speedily in our days, Amen.