Introduction: A Lament for the Ruin of the Generation
We find ourselves in the heart of Chapter 5, amid the series of laments describing the degradation visited upon Israel during the Destruction. The verses before us are not merely a depiction of physical suffering, but of the collapse of societal order: princes are hanged, young men carry heavy loads, elders cease sitting at the gate, and joy itself turns into mourning. We will proceed through the verses in order and see how each verse uncovers another layer of the ruin.
"Princes were hung up by their hands" - When There Is No One to Turn To
שָׂרִים בְּיָדָם נִתְלוּ פְּנֵי זְקֵנִים לֹא נֶהְדָּרוּ׃ - Princes were hung up by their hands; the faces of elders were not honored.
Eicha Rabbah relates that a certain ruler would enter a city, seize its dignitaries, and hang them. The city's elders would come and plead with him not to hang them, but he refused to listen. This is the meaning of "Princes were hung up by their hands" - that tyrant would suspend the leaders by their hands, as the Targum renders: "itzteleivu", like someone suspended by the hands. "The faces of elders were not honored" - those elders who came to appeal to his heart to spare them and have mercy, he showed no respect for their age and rejected their appeals, acting with cruelty and utter disregard.
In Ahavat Tzion, this is explained as a measure-for-measure retribution: "The faces of elders were not honored" indicates that in Jerusalem, people did not respect the elders. We failed to fulfill "You shall honor the face of the elderly"; we did not show reverence to the judges, the elders, or the prophets, as it is written: "They mocked the messengers of God" - speaking against them and scorning them. Yirmiyahu himself says: "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who plucked out hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting" - illustrating the deep humiliation and abuse the prophets endured. Zechariah the prophet was stoned - "Should priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of Hashem?" - for rebuking them. And if the faces of elders were not honored, do not be surprised that the retribution is "Princes were hung up by their hands" - the enemy comes and punishes the leaders.
Ibn Ezra explains that this verse continues the previous one, "Women in Zion were ravished, maidens in the cities of Judah": if one might have expected the people of authority and distinction to rescue us from distress, no such hope remained, for "Princes were hung up by their hands" - the leaders were hanged by their hands, and consequently there was no one to turn to and no one to seek salvation from.
He also suggests an alternative interpretation connecting back to verse 8: "Servants ruled over us; there is none to deliver us from their hand." According to this, it does not mean that the princes were hanged by their hands, but rather that "princes by their hand" - by the hand of the servants - were hanged. Those very servants who ruled over us with no deliverer from their power were the ones who hanged the princes by their hands.
"Young men carried millstones" - The Burden of the Mill
בַּחוּרִים טְחוֹן נָשָׂאוּ וּנְעָרִים בָּעֵץ כָּשָׁלוּ׃ - Young men carried millstones, and youths stumbled under wood.
Rashi explains: When the enemies led them away in neck-chains, they placed millstones and heavy loads upon their shoulders to exhaust them. Anyone who has ever seen a millstone knows it is an extraordinarily heavy burden - two solid, massive stones, and even a small millstone is immensely heavy. The enemy saw them marching in chains without a burden and said: "Will they walk like this?" So he placed millstones on their necks along with other burdens. We have already noted earlier how they took Torah scrolls, turned them into sacks, ordered them filled with stones, and loaded them onto the shoulders of the exiles. All of this was designed to keep them from praying - so they would not pause for even a moment to plead for mercy, for if they stopped to pray for mercy, the Holy One, blessed be He, might relent and return them.
"And youths stumbled under wood" - they placed logs of wood upon their shoulders, and beneath the weight of the wood, their strength faltered. One might have thought they stumbled over wood that lay in their path as an obstacle, but that is not the plain meaning. Rashi explains: The term for stumbling (kishalon) denotes exhaustion and the sapping of strength - when you place a heavy load on someone's shoulders, you drain their stamina and they collapse. As it is written: "And Yehudah said: The strength of the burden-bearers has faltered," and similarly, "He has brought down my strength." Here too, "youths stumbled under wood" - under the sheer weight of the timber loaded upon their shoulders, they collapsed.
Chazal cite another explanation, which is also brought in Yefe Nof: in Babylonia there were no millstones, so when Nebuchadnezzar came up, he loaded the exiles with millstones and led them down. A millstone is a special kind of stone, and not just any stone is suitable for this - if you use an unsuitable stone, instead of ground wheat you will eat gravel, because the stone itself will erode and mix sand and gravel into the flour. You need a stone that will grind the wheat without eroding itself. In Babylonia, which was low-lying marshland and deep ground, such stone was nowhere to be found. Nebuchadnezzar therefore commanded that they bring millstones from the Land of Israel, and they loaded the exiles with millstones to carry with them to Babylonia. This is the meaning of "young men carried the mill" - they carried the millstones in order to use them.
"Elders have ceased from the gate" - Everyone Uprooted from His Calling
זְקֵנִים מִשַּׁעַר שָׁבָתוּ בַּחוּרִים מִנְּגִינָתָם׃ - Elders have ceased from the gate, young men from their music.
An early commentary explains: we saw earlier that "the faces of elders were not honored," and that backbreaking labor was imposed upon the youth - "young men carried the mill." What resulted from this? That no one was able to engage in his proper calling. The work of the elders is sitting in judgment. And "elders" here does not mean merely advanced in years, which is termed seivah - "You shall rise before the white-haired" speaks of an elderly person; but "and honor the face of an elder (zaken)" refers to a Torah scholar, zeh kanah chochmah (one who has acquired wisdom), an elder who sits in the yeshivah. And because the faces of elders were not honored, they could not sit in judgment - "they ceased from the gate," for the gate is the beit din. And the young men, who bore the millstones, ceased from their music, which is the song of the seven days of wedding feasts, and could not rejoice. Thus neither could do what was fitting for his station - neither the elder nor the young man.
The Parable of the Factory - Workers Who Lost Their Drive
The Dubno Maggid, in his work Kol Yaakov, explains this with a parable. A man owned a large factory that manufactured goods non-stop. Once, a fire broke out, and all the merchandise produced over a long period was burned. When the workers saw the fire in the warehouses, they began to slacken in their work and no longer labored with full vigor. The owner arrived; when he saw the burned merchandise his heart ached, but when he went into the plant and saw the melancholy that had overtaken the workers and their lack of productivity, he began to weep. They asked him: "Over the vast quantity of merchandise and the immense fortune you lost, you did not weep, and now you are weeping?" He told them: "When I saw the burned goods my heart was pained, but I thought: Baruch Hashem, the factory is running, the plant is operating as it should; within a month or two we will make up everything that was lost. But when I saw that the factory is not running, that the workers have lost their drive and the plant is not functioning properly, that was when I began to weep - for I realized that recovering from the loss will be extremely difficult, and the ruin is complete and absolute."
This is the meaning of "elders have ceased from the gate": there is certainly cause to grieve that the elders, judges, and sages ceased from the gate, but as sorrowful as that is, there is still hope - for the young men, the kids who will become he-goats, will form a new generation. But when one sees that "young men ceased from their music" - and their music is the melody of Torah, the song of Torah, engagement in Torah - over that it is fitting to weep and lament. For if there are no kids, there are no he-goats, and how can we ever restore what is lost and recover from the great fracture we suffered?
When There Is No Beit Din, There Is No Chuppah
The work Alon Bachut explains: since the courts were not in session, marriages naturally ceased as well. The Gemara teaches that a maiden marries on Wednesday because the batei din would sit on Thursdays, so that if there were a claim concerning virginity, the groom could come to beit din and the judges would rule immediately. Why was immediacy required? Because of the concern that if he did not come immediately, his anger would cool, and he might, Heaven forbid, live with a woman forbidden to him - for she may have committed adultery between eirusin and nisu'in and become forbidden to him. Therefore they would marry on Wednesday, Thursday night, and he could come to beit din the following morning. It follows that when there is no beit din, there are no weddings. This is the meaning of "elders have ceased from the gate," as those who sit at the gate are the judges, and consequently "young men from their music" - from their wedding canopy, for they too could not enter the chuppah when there was no beit din.
Ruin Upon Ruin: The Young Men Did Not Step Up
The work Tikkun Moshe explains: normally, when the elders pass away, the young men who follow fill their places. When the elders of the generation depart, young talents suddenly emerge, and great Torah scholars blossom and shine forth. Why? Because when there are no elders and no leadership, the youth take upon themselves: "In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man." Precisely those we never thought were ready or suited for leadership become leaders of the generation and take upon themselves the yoke of disseminating Torah. That is the usual course of events. But here, he explains, we were broken with ruin upon ruin: elders ceased from the gate, and the young men did not take their place. The youth did not step up to assume leadership; rather, the young men too ceased from their music - they, too, ceased from their study of Torah. What, then, would become of the next generation? Over this, it is truly fitting to lament.
When Hashem's Wrath Overflows
The Gemara in Shabbat 33b states: When there are tzaddikim in the generation, the tzaddikim are seized for the iniquity of the generation; and if there are no tzaddikim in the generation - schoolchildren are seized. And this is what Yirmiyahu says: "I am full of the wrath of Hashem; I am weary with holding it in; pour it out upon the child in the street, and upon the assembly of young men together" (Yirmiyahu 6:11). And how do we know that the cup has overflowed? From "I am weary with holding it in" - it can no longer be contained; it is already spilling over. And how do we know it has spilled over? Because we see "pour it out upon the child in the street." If the wrath of Hashem is poured out upon the child in the street, it is a sign that it has overflowed its brim. For had it not overflowed, the tzaddikim would be seized for the sin of the generation and atone for it. But if we see that young children in the street begin to die, it is a sign that the tzaddikim no longer have the strength to protect, to absorb the wrath of Hashem, and to serve as our shield and buckler, because infants are seized only after the furious wrath of the Holy One, blessed be He, has been fully poured out upon the elders.
According to this, you can understand the verse: "Elders have ceased from the gate" - for the elders, the grief is not as great as it is for the youths. When an old man passes away, there is no immense weeping and no unbearable sorrow; one says: he was already ninety-five years old, most of his years had already passed, he practically needed a trailer just to carry his medical files and all the various ailments he was dragging around - he lived out his days. But "young men from their music" - in the middle of the song of his life he was cut down, taken in the prime of his youth, and that is truly painful.
And regarding this, the Midrash comments on the verse, "and behold, an olive leaf was torn off (taraf) in its mouth" (Bereishit 8:11): What is "taraf"? Taraf means killed, as in "Yosef is surely torn to pieces (tarof toraf)" (Bereishit 37:33). Although in its plain sense "taraf" refers to leaves (terafim), Chazal expound saraf as an expression of killing. And what is the connection? Chazal said: They said to Noach, had you left it, it would have grown into a great tree. You went and plucked the shoot, and do you know what you took away? A great tree could have grown from it. And that is "young men from their music" - they were cut down in their prime; a great tree could have emerged from them, and now they have been severed and silenced from the song of their lives.
"The joy of our heart has ceased" - When Even the Joy of Deliverance Stopped
שָׁבַת מְשׂוֹשׂ לִבֵּנוּ נֶהְפַּךְ לְאֵבֶל מְחֹלֵנוּ׃ - "The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning."
Chazal state in Eichah Rabbah (5:15): At first, when trouble came upon Israel, they would establish a rejoicing to commemorate deliverance from it. When the Sanhedrin was abolished, song ceased from the banquet houses, as it is stated, "They shall not drink wine with a song" (Yeshayahu 24:9). When both of these ceased - "The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning."
Let us explain this in the manner of the Yefeh Mareh: "They would establish a rejoicing to commemorate deliverance from it" means that the day on which the trouble was averted was established as a day of joy, a Yom Tov. And this explains what is written about Haman: Why did he say "to destroy, to slay, and to exterminate all Jews... in one day"? What was the rush? Give them a week so they can do the job thoroughly - why limit them to a single day? Rather, Haman said: I know these Jews; whenever there is a decree and in the end the decree is nullified, they establish a Yom Tov afterward. He said: At least if it does not work out in the end, let them have only one Yom Tov; he could not bear to grant them a full week of celebration. Imagine Haman up in Heaven having to hear seven days of Megillah reading and gragger-banging - he would never survive that! Therefore, he said: Kill them in one day, and at most, if it does not succeed, they will establish one Yom Tov and that will be the end of it. And so Israel did in earlier times: they would establish a day of rejoicing on the day they were saved from trouble, like Purim, or Purim Saragossa and the like - days of joy commemorating that day when there was a decree that was nullified.
"When the Sanhedrin was abolished, song ceased from the banquet houses" - the moment the Sanhedrin was abolished, there was profound sorrow, and they ceased singing in banquet houses. Not only that, but they also stopped establishing celebrations when a trouble was averted, due to the sheer abundance of troubles - could every single day become a Yom Tov? Almost every day would have required a Yom Tov for the troubles that arose and were averted! Furthermore, "the flesh of the dead does not feel" - we have become numb, so they ceased instituting new festive days. If so, once both of these ceased - both the rejoicing over the averting of troubles and the song in the banquet houses - "The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning": when they went out to dance, it was a dance of mourning, a dance without musical instruments.
"Vulgarity in Song" - When There Is No One to Stand in the Breach
In the sefer Sha'arei Chaim, an interpretation is cited in a homiletic vein. The Midrash comments on "The joy of our heart has ceased": Rav Chisda said, initially, when the fear of the Sanhedrin was upon Israel, they would not utter vulgar words in song. When the Sanhedrin existed, they guarded and preserved modesty, and they would not utter vulgarity in song. And we all know that song often becomes a vehicle of expression for all kinds of base content - lewd songs, frivolous songs, love songs, and all forms of abomination, all woven into songs. They possessed very sophisticated poetry, with fixed meters and grammatical precision, like Arabic poetry and similar styles, and consequently, when composing verses of song, all sorts of insinuated vulgarity would slip in. But as long as the Sanhedrin existed, they stood in the breach and built a protective fence; and once the Sanhedrin was abolished, people began uttering vulgar words in song.
And in a homiletic vein, the Midrash is explained: When the Sanhedrin held sway, no person dared to glorify and praise the deeds of the wicked who commit vile acts. That is, "they would not utter a vile matter in song" - they would not allow songs of praise to be sung for people who commit vile deeds, or to laud those who act contrary to the Torah. But when the power of the Sanhedrin was nullified, people began uttering vile matters in song - amidst their singing they would praise the deeds of the wicked and extol dishonorable people, and this is called uttering a vile matter in song. It emerges that the abolition of the Sanhedrin is connected to "Elders have ceased from the gate": elders ceased from the gate and the Sanhedrin was abolished, and consequently, "The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning" - the dancing, which was meant to be a song of praise and glory to Hashem as in the days of the Sanhedrin, turned into mourning. For what kind of songs were sung? Either songs containing vulgarity, or songs extolling evildoers.
The Heart of Israel and Simchat Beit HaSho'evah
The Elon Bachut explains that the Sanhedrin was called the heart of Israel, as it is written, "for it has reached your heart" - referring to the Sanhedrin. And this is what the verse means: since "elders have ceased from the gate," and the elders are those who sat in the Chamber of Hewn Stone (Lishkat HaGazit), at the gate of the Beit HaMikdash - as long as there were elders, as long as there was a Sanhedrin, and as long as the Beit HaMikdash stood, they rejoiced in Simchat Beit HaSho'evah. But once they ceased from the gate, the Sanhedrin was exiled, and the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed, inevitably "our dance has turned into mourning." Where is the dance we once danced and rejoiced in - "one who has not seen the Simchat Beit HaSho'evah has never seen joy in his life"! But because elders have ceased from the gate, young men have also ceased from their music, and consequently the joy of our heart has ceased: what was always a cause for rejoicing, in which we always danced and celebrated, meriting to draw handfuls of Ruach HaKodesh, has turned into mourning.
"Any House Where Music Is Played Will Ultimately Be Destroyed"
The Rav of Worms offers another explanation: "Our dance has turned into mourning" hints at what Chazal taught in Tractate Sotah, that any house where music is played will ultimately be destroyed. That is to say, if there is dancing (machol), it will turn into mourning. "Any house where music is played" refers to excessive celebration after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, when the Sages decreed against musical instruments; yet they celebrate with excessive revelry, showing no concern for mourning after the Churban - measure for measure, their house will be destroyed. This is the meaning of mecholenu ("our dance"): a place where dancing was held, or perhaps from the word chalilim (flutes), playing flutes - in any event, a place of rejoicing that Chazal prohibited after the destruction will ultimately turn into mourning, as that place is ruined.
In Summary:
The verses before us describe the collapse of an entire system: princes are hanged and there is no one to turn to, and before that, "the faces of elders were not honored" - for the humiliation of the prophets and the Sages is what brought about the blow; the young men collapse under the burden of millstones and heavy logs of wood, leaving them without even a moment to pray; the elders have ceased from the gate and from justice, and the young men have ceased from their music - from Torah and from the wedding canopy. And this is the heart of the lament: not only what was burned, but that the entire engine ceased to function, that the younger generation did not take up leadership, that the kids did not grow into he-goats. Hence, "The joy of our heart has ceased; our dance has turned into mourning" - even the joy of rescue has come to an end, song has been defiled with vulgarity and the praise of the wicked, and the Simchat Beit HaSho'evah has been silenced. Over this it is truly fitting to mourn - and out of this lamentation, we pray for the renewal of the heart of Israel, that the elders return to the gate and the young men to their music.