Introduction
We stand at the end of the fifth chapter of Eicha, in the verses where the lamenter summarizes all the sorrow and destruction and arrives at the root of everything: the physical pain is not the primary issue, but rather the sin that caused it, and the desecration of Hashem's Name born from it. Three verses lie before us - "The crown of our head has fallen," "For this our heart was faint," and "For Mount Zion which lies desolate" - and we will examine them in light of the commentators and the words of Chazal.
"The Crown of Our Head Has Fallen" - The Crown of Torah That Fell
נָפְלָה עֲטֶרֶת רֹאשֵׁנוּ אוֹי־נָא לָנוּ כִּי חָטָאנוּ׃ - The crown of our head has fallen; woe unto us, for we have sinned.
An early commentary explains this based on the preceding verse: "Elders have ceased from the gate" - the elders, the Torah scholars and Torah luminaries, can no longer instruct and can no longer judge; the "gate" refers to the court of law, and the Beit Din was abolished. And what is the crown atop the head of the Jewish people? It is the holy Torah. Since we have no judges, no halachic authorities, and no righteous guides, the Torah is forgotten. Consequently: "Woe unto us, for we have sinned." As soon as there are no righteous teachers and halachic guides, stumbling into sin is inevitable, for there is no one to instruct us in the proper path, and through this we fell into sin and iniquity.
No More Wood and Stones Upon Which to Pour Wrath
The Lechem Dimah explains: until now, we saw that the Holy One, blessed be He, poured out His wrath upon wood and stone - He destroyed the Beit HaMikdash, and as a result of that destruction, the Jewish people were spared. But from here on, we no longer have a Beit HaMikdash that Hashem can destroy for our iniquities; the Beit HaMikdash has already been destroyed. Therefore, "Woe unto us, for we have sinned" - woe unto us from now on if we sin! Whatever could be taken from us has already been taken, and whatever could be seized as collateral has already been seized. "The crown of our head has fallen" - the Beit HaMikdash has been destroyed, and from now on there is no place left to cast wrath upon wood and stone. If we sin, the Holy One, blessed be He, will exact retribution from our very selves. "Woe unto us" - to us ourselves; we are the ones who will bear the blows.
Three Crowns: Torah, Kehunah, and Kingship
In the sefer Elon Bachut, it is explained that three things are called a crown (an atarah is synonymous with a keter): the crown of Torah, the crown of Kehunah (priesthood), and the crown of kingship. We have already explained the crown of Torah - "The crown of our head has fallen" refers to the holy Torah, and when there is no Torah, there is no halachic authority, and we stumble and fail to fulfill the mitzvot properly. As for the crown of Kehunah - Chazal said that a person never went to sleep in Jerusalem with a sin in his hand, because the morning Tamid offering atoned for the sins of the night, and the afternoon Tamid atoned for the sins of the day. Now that the Beit HaMikdash is destroyed and we have no Kehunah, who will shield us? "Woe unto us, for we have sinned." Not only that, but the priestly garments provided atonement: the Tzitz (forehead plate) worn by the Kohen Gadol effected appeasement, the Me'il (robe) effected appeasement, and the Choshen (breastplate) effected appeasement. Once the crown of Kehunah fell, who will atone for us?
The crown of kingship also brought atonement, as Chazal expound that the monarchy of Shaul served as an atonement for the entire Jewish nation, and as it is written: "When a ruler sins" - regarding which Chazal expounded: fortunate is the generation whose ruler seeks atonement for his sin and brings an offering. The bringing of that offering provides protection for the collective; fortunate is the generation whose ruler knows how to say, "I erred, and I must bring an offering to atone for my sins." Thus, "The crown of our head has fallen" encompasses three crowns - Torah, Kehunah, and kingship - and from now on, who will protect us?
What Are You Crying About?
The Ahavat Tziyon adds a profound insight. "The crown of our head has fallen" - the crown has fallen, the glory and stature of the Jewish people have fallen. But on the other hand, we also have the sins that brought this about. The question is: what is your lament about? If the lament is, "Ah, we once had honor, we possessed power, we stood in greatness" - that is a sign that you reside on a low level. But if our weeping and our grief are truly over the sins, that indicates you hold a high spiritual level. Therefore, the lamenter does not say, "Woe unto us, for we lost the crown of our head; where is our honor, where is our status?" but rather, "Woe unto us, for we have sinned." This reflects righteousness; it reflects a high spiritual stature, that the true pain is directed at what truly warrants weeping. As it is written: "Why should a living man complain, a man concerning his sins?" - a living person, what does he have to complain about? About his sins, about the iniquities within him. This is the meaning of "Woe unto us" - the woe is that we have sinned.
Chillul Hashem - The Greatest Loss
The Lechem Dim'ah explains further: "The crown of our head has fallen" refers to the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash, and in addition to the destruction itself, the sin of Chillul Hashem (desecration of God's Name) was added to our burden, and for this we grieve. For when the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed, we lost atonement for sins, we lost closeness to the Omnipresent, we lost many things - but on the other hand, we suffered a tremendous, vast loss, which is the terrible Chillul Hashem caused in the world. His Name, blessed be He, is desecrated: the moment a gentile enters and succeeds in laying hands upon the holy - as it is recounted that he slashed the Parochet (curtain) and blood came forth, and he believed he had killed Him, as if he had struck the Master of the World. What a terrible Chillul Hashem, and how much pain this warrants! And over this we grieve: "Woe to us, for we have sinned" - to whose account is this iniquity charged? Who bears the responsibility for the terrible Chillul Hashem that arose in the world? Through our sins, the Name of Heaven is desecrated; through our sins, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not shield His land, His city, and His House, and this Chillul Hashem is registered under our name. Over this, we must feel the deepest sorrow.
This point was discussed at length in the lesson on Parashat Masei, regarding how earlier generations grieved over the desecration of the Name of Heaven - that was the core pain. So we saw in the Book of Shmuel: thirty thousand men of Israel died in the battle against the Philistines, and Chophni and Pinchas died - yet which report caused Eli's neck to break? "Because the Ark of God had been captured." The Ark of God was captured - that was it, he could not bear it; he fell and broke his neck. And not only a great man like Eli, but also his daughter-in-law: she heard that thirty thousand had died, that her husband had died, that her father-in-law, the leader of the generation, had died, and she crouched in labor on the verge of death - and what did she name the child? "Ichavod." Why? "Because the Ark of God was captured, glory has departed from Israel." A child born into such a dreadful day, a day of such defeat, a day on which his father died, his mother died, and his grandfather, the leader of the generation, died - and despite all this, what was he meant to lament and remember all his life? "Ichavod, because the Ark of God was captured" - that there was a Chillul Hashem in the world. And that is what is written here: Over what do we lament? Over the terrible Chillul Hashem, that a gentile was able to lay his hand upon the Holy of Holies. It is utterly dreadful, and over this we weep: "Woe to us, for we have sinned."
If We Had Wept Just Once
The Sha'arei Chaim asks: When do we pay attention to "Woe to us, for we have sinned"? Only after "the crown of our head has fallen." In other words, had you wept just once beforehand, you would have solved the problem. It is written, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and also wept when we remembered Zion," and Yirmiyahu said to them: By my life, had you wept just once before you were exiled, you would not have gone into exile! But where did we weep? "By the rivers of Babylon, there" - there we sat, and there we wept. And that was already too late. This is what is written here: "The crown of our head has fallen" - and only then, "Woe to us, for we have sinned." Had you remembered before the crown of our head fell, it would not have fallen; but we only remembered to cry "woe" after it had already fallen.
"For this our heart was faint" - The Heart and the Eyes
עַל־זֶה הָיָה דָוֶה לִבֵּנוּ עַל־אֵלֶּה חָשְׁכוּ עֵינֵינוּ׃ - For this our heart was faint, for these our eyes grew dim.
This verse can be connected to the preceding one: "The crown of our head has fallen" - we lost the Crown of Torah, the Crown of Kehunah, and the Crown of Royalty; "Woe to us, for we have sinned" - through our sins the Name of Heaven was desecrated, and over this it is truly fitting to grieve and pause.
The Elon Bachut explains: "For this our heart was faint" - referring to the Beis HaMikdash, for the Beis HaMikdash is called the "heart," as it is the heart of Israel, the place toward which the heart of Israel turns. When a person is abroad outside the Land of Israel, toward where does he pray? Toward the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, the Beis HaMikdash. Everyone directs their heart toward the Beis HaMikdash and toward the Holy of Holies. "For this our heart was faint" - over that which is called "heart," which is the Beis HaMikdash. "For these our eyes grew dim" - referring to the Sanhedrin, who were called the "eyes of the congregation." Daved is an expression of pain - our heart aches.
According to an additional approach: "For this our heart was faint" - over all the physical tribulations we witnessed, over the suffering, the blows, and the physical afflictions; over these the heart aches, over these one cries "woe." But over the spiritual destruction - which corresponds to "Because of Mount Zion which lies desolate," that we lack the Beis HaMikdash, we lack closeness to God, we lack the ability to merit Ruach HaKodesh (Divine inspiration) in the holy place - over this, "our eyes grew dim." And what is the meaning of "our eyes grew dim"? That we are unable to see. We are incapable of containing, understanding, and digesting the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash and the spiritual loss.
And unfortunately, this remains the human condition to this day. A person who misses a tefillah - well, perhaps a small pinch in the heart. But a person who loses fifty shekels will think about it for a long time afterward.
Let It Hurt Like a Hundred Shekels
A story is told of a man who came to Rav Shteinman and confessed that he had stumbled into certain sins, may Hashem protect us. The Rav gave him several measures for rectification: to abstain from eating meat, to refrain from doing this and that. The man asked him: "Kavod HaRav, if I do all this, will I be forgiven?" Rav Shteinman asked him: "Tell me, have you ever lost a thousand shekels? Forget a thousand - have you ever lost a hundred shekels?" The man answered, "Yes." He asked: "And did it hurt?" He replied, "Yes." Rav Shteinman told him: "If, after all these rectifications, you hurt over the sin you stumbled into as much as you hurt when you lost a hundred shekels - then you will be forgiven."
Consider how striking this is. A person who lost a hundred shekels - what truly happened? Yet he dwells on it, devoting his thoughts to it: how was I cheated, why did he not give me the right change, how did he get away with it? It causes him pain. A hundred shekels, he did not lose a house, yet it hurts nevertheless. Regarding this, the verse says: "For this our heart has become faint" - over troubles, afflictions, and material losses, over these the heart aches. "Over these our eyes have dimmed" - over having lost closeness to God, over having lost the holy Shechinah, our eyes have grown dim: we do not see, we do not comprehend, we do not grasp what we have lost.
Who Will Pity You, O Jerusalem?
And over this, Yirmiyahu laments: "For who will pity you, O Jerusalem, and who will console you?" Who truly pities Jerusalem? Who truly mourns for her? Who genuinely feels real pain and sorrow over the fact that we lack the Beit HaMikdash? Yet over this it is truly fitting to grieve. As is explained regarding the verse, "Why has the son of Yishai not come to the meal, neither yesterday nor today?" - why has Mashiach ben David not arrived, neither yesterday nor today? After all, we have been praying for thousands of years! But all our prayers are "to the meal" (el halechem, for bread) - livelihood, health, success, being accepted for a job, successfully marrying off our children, advancing financially. These comprise all our requests - concerning physical sustenance. This is what is meant: over material matters - "our heart has become faint"; but over spiritual matters, over Mount Zion which lies desolate - merely "our eyes have dimmed"; our eyes are darkened, blind to what we have lost.
The Connection Between the Eye and the Heart
The Chut Shel Chessed explains the connection between "our heart has become faint" and "our eyes have dimmed." The Gemara states that the blood vessels of the eyes depend upon the heart - a remarkable insight showing that the eyes share a vital bond with the heart. It is even more fascinating that this physical configuration actually forms the shape of the letter Ayin (ע): if one traces a vessel from the right eye and a vessel from the left eye, curving both downward toward the heart, the resulting form is precisely the letter Ayin, which itself signifies the eye. Thus, the eyes possess vessels connecting them directly to the heart, so whatever affects the eye impacts the heart, and vice versa. So too here: "For this our heart has become faint," and when the heart aches, it directly affects the eyes as well - and consequently, "over these our eyes have dimmed."
"Zeh" - The Twelve Tribes
Another explanation focuses on the word zeh ("this"): zeh has the numerical value (gematria) of twelve. Likewise, the angel said to Yosef regarding his brothers, "They have journeyed from this (mizeh)" - your brothers have removed themselves from brotherhood; they no longer count you as a brother, they are no longer twelve, having detached themselves from zeh. According to this, "For this (zeh) our heart has become faint" refers to the twelve tribes who went into exile. When the tribes were exiled, the Shechinah lamented over them. This is the Shechinah's profound pain and sorrow for her children who are no more, mourning that her sons were exiled from their Father's table.
"Foxes Prowled Over It"
עַל הַר־צִיּוֹן שֶׁשָּׁמֵם שׁוּעָלִים הִלְּכוּ־בוֹ׃ - Over Mount Zion which lies desolate, foxes prowled upon it.
An early commentary notes: "Foxes prowled upon it" - foxes do not typically roam freely except in ruins and abandoned places. Thus the sorrow continually resurfaces, renews itself, and unfolds before our eyes: a place so utterly ruined that foxes freely roam within it.
The Alon Bachut adds: "Foxes" alludes to the nations. The Holy One, blessed be He, administered three oaths: He adjured the Jewish people not to ascend as a wall - meaning they should not rebel against the nations nor forcefully hasten the end of days - and He adjured the nations, "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem," not to oppress the Jewish people excessively. Tragically, the nations violated this oath and acted like a fox. For it is written of the fox that it moves backward - and this is remarkable, for no other animal has the ability to move in reverse; only the fox. Other animals can move only forward.
By the way, it is said that after the Six-Day War, many jokes circulated about the Egyptian army, who fled leaving behind even their shoes. One joke went that they ordered tanks from the Russians, and in the technical specifications requested four reverse gears and one forward gear, because they were constantly retreating. The Russians asked them: "Why do you need one forward gear?" They replied: "In case we are attacked from behind." Yet after all those jokes, we were struck, Heaven protect us, by the Yom Kippur War, and no one prepared properly because of all the jokes about what they were capable of - and unfortunately, it was a very, very unpleasant surprise.
To return to our subject: the fox is the only animal capable of traveling in reverse. Where do we see this? With Shimshon (Samson). When Shimshon punished the Philistines, he did so with three hundred foxes whose tails he tied together and set ablaze. What was the specific significance of the fox? Chazal say: Let the fox, which steps backwards, come and punish the nation that went back on its word - for the Philistines had promised him his wife and then reneged, giving her to his companion. Is that how you act? Going back on what you promised? Then I will send against you a creature that also goes backwards - the fox. And so it is here: you, the nations, went back on your word; the Holy One, blessed be He, adjured you, and you swore not to oppress the people of Israel excessively. Therefore, when Rabbi Akiva saw a fox emerging from the Holy of Holies, he rejoiced, for he saw that the day of judgment for these "foxes" was near, and the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to exact retribution from those who went backwards like a fox. We mourn over "Mount Zion, which lies desolate; foxes prowl over it," while Rabbi Akiva laughs.
"Akiva, You Have Comforted Us"
The Gemara recounts: It once happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Akiva were ascending to Jerusalem. When they reached Mount Scopus, they tore their garments. When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the Holy of Holies. They began to weep, while Rabbi Akiva laughed. They said to him: "Akiva, why are you laughing?" He replied: "Why are you weeping?" - a Jew answers a question with a question. They said to him: "A place regarding which it is written, 'and an outsider who approaches shall be put to death,' and now it is fulfilled regarding it, 'For Mount Zion, which lies desolate; foxes prowl over it' - and shall we not weep? The Kohen Gadol entered the Holy of Holies only once a year, and if he lacked the requisite spiritual refinement, Heaven spare us, they would pull him out by a chain - and here a fox enters?"
He said to them: "That is precisely why I am laughing, and that is why I rejoice. For it is written, 'And I called to Myself faithful witnesses: Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah' - as recorded in Yeshayahu, chapter 8. But what does Uriah have to do with Zechariah? Uriah lived during the First Temple, while Zechariah lived during the Second Temple; what connection is there between them? Rather, Scripture linked the prophecy of Zechariah to the prophecy of Uriah. Regarding Uriah it is written, 'Therefore, on your account, Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, and the Temple Mount like the high places of a forest' - a very harsh prophecy, which appears in Micah. And regarding Zechariah it is written, 'Old men and old women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem.' Until the prophecy of Uriah was fulfilled, I feared lest the prophecy of Zechariah might not be fulfilled. Now that the prophecy of Uriah has been fulfilled, with a fox emerging from the Holy of Holies, it is certain that the prophecy of Zechariah will be fulfilled, and old men and old women will yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem." They said to him: "Akiva, you have comforted us; Akiva, you have comforted us."
If Such Is Given to Those Who Anger Him, How Much More So to Those Who Do His Will
Another episode is recounted: It once happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, and Rabbi Akiva were entering Rome, and they heard the uproar of the crowds of Rome from Puteoli - the name of a place - at a distance of one hundred and twenty mil. They could hear the bustling marketplace of Rome from such a great distance. They began to weep, while Rabbi Akiva laughed. They said to him: "Akiva, we are weeping and you are laughing?" He replied: "And why did you weep?" - like a good Jew, he answers with a question. They said to him: "Shall we not weep? The gentiles worship idols and dwell in tranquility; there is the sound of laughter and celebration, the roar of a nation dwelling in peace, while the footstool of our God has been consumed by fire and become a dwelling place for the beasts of the field, where foxes prowl - and shall we not weep?" He said to them: "That is precisely why I am laughing. If such is given to those who anger Him, how much more so to those who do His will! If the Holy One, blessed be He, has bestowed so much upon those who provoke Him, what awaits those who do His will?"
This is similar to what is written by David: "You have placed joy in my heart from the time their grain and wine increased." Should one really rejoice that the gentiles have abundance? The Dubno Maggid offers a parable: People were invited to the wedding celebration of the son of one of the wealthiest men in the land. As they approached the venue, the first thing they saw was the wealthy man's kennel, where they saw waiters tossing steaks to the dogs. They immediately began to rejoice. They were asked: "Why are you so joyful?" They replied: "If the dogs are eating steaks, what awaits the guests in just a little while? What gourmet delicacies must be waiting for us!"
Regarding this, King David says: "You have placed joy in my heart from the time their grain and wine increased." When I see the gentile dwelling in tranquility, their grain and their wine abounding, and despite all their wickedness, corruption, and transgressions they have it so good - what joy! Who knows what awaits us in the main course? Who knows what the Holy One, blessed be He, will yet bestow upon us? This is the meaning of: That is why I laugh; if such is given to those who anger Him, how much more so to those who do His will. Who knows what the Holy One, blessed be He, has designated and will grant us!
In Summary:
"The crown has fallen from our head" - the crown of Torah, the crown of Kehunah, and the crown of kingship have fallen; there is no halachic authority to instruct, no atonement, and no communal protection. From now on, once the divine wrath has already been poured out upon wood and stones, woe unto us if we sin. The true lament is not over the lost glory but "that we have sinned" - and above all over the terrible Chilul Hashem (desecration of God's Name) caused in the world, as in "The glory has departed, for the Ark of God was captured." "For this our heart grew faint" - over the material afflictions the heart aches, but "for these our eyes grew dim" - over the spiritual loss, over the departure of the Shechinah, we fail to see and grasp at all. Had we wept a single weep at the right time, we would not have been exiled. Even so, "foxes prowled over it" is itself the foundation of comfort: once the prophecy of destruction was fulfilled, it is certain that the prophecy of redemption will be fulfilled - and if such is given to those who anger Him, how much more so to those who do His will.