Chapter 5 of Eicha concludes with two requests that are the very essence of the lamentation: "Turn us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return; renew our days as of old," and immediately following it - "For if You have utterly rejected us, You have been exceedingly wrathful against us." Just two verses, yet mountains of explanations have been built upon them: what exactly are we asking for, who must initiate the repentance, and why comfort is tucked away precisely within the great wrath. Let us examine these matters in order.
הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ יְהֹוָה אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם׃ - Turn us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return; renew our days as of old.
One explanation: we lost five things, and we are asking to return to them as well. We stand after the destruction of the First Temple. Although the Second Temple was eventually built, five things that existed in the First were no longer present in it. Regarding this we plead: Master of the Universe, turn us back to You and we shall return - restore to us those five missing elements as well.
The source for this is in Chaggai 1:8: "Go up to the mountain and bring wood, and build the House, and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified [ve'ekavdah], said Hashem." It is read as ve'ekavdah, yet it is written ve'ekaved - missing the letter hei. The Gemara in Yoma 21b explains: Rav Shmuel bar Inia said, what is meant by what is written, "and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified" [ve'ekaved], why is it missing the letter hei? These are the five things that differed between the First Temple and the Second Temple, and they are: the Ark, the Ark cover, and the Keruvim (one); the heavenly fire (two); the Shechinah (three); Ruach HaKodesh [prophecy] (four); and the Urim VeTumim (five).
The Holy One, blessed be He, promises Israel that when they build the Temple - "and I will take pleasure in it," I will favor this House, "and I will be glorified," it will be an honored place in My eyes. And Chazal come and reveal what the omission of this letter alludes to. One might have thought: if five things are missing, it is not so terrible, as long as there is a Beit HaMikdash. To this, they tell us: no. Precisely these things are the essence. The Ark and the Keruvim - facing them we pray; this is the holiest place, the very heart of the Temple. The resting of the Shechinah, prophecy, the Urim VeTumim - this is the very core of the Beit HaMikdash. Through these things its grandeur and glory were manifest, and without them the glory is diminished: ve'ekaved and not ve'ekavdah, because the hei is missing, the five things are missing.
Based on this, Rabbi Nissim Dayan explains our verse: Yirmiyahu foresaw through Ruach HaKodesh that five things would be missing. Therefore, he petitions in stages - "Turn us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return," first and foremost that the Temple be rebuilt, even without the hei; and afterward "renew our days as of old" - just as in the First Temple, that the five things should also return, and then our restoration will be complete.
In the liturgy of our prayers, we recite "Turn us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return; renew our days as of old," and immediately following it, "Then the offering of Yehudah and Yerushalayim shall be pleasing to Hashem, as in days of old and as in former years." Eicha Rabbah links them directly: what is "renew our days as of old"? Just as it is written, "Then the offering of Yehudah and Yerushalayim shall be pleasing to Hashem, as in days of old and as in former years" - that we used to bring offerings and they were sweet and pleasing before Hashem.
The Ketav Sofer explains the connection: Moshe Rabbeinu turned to the Holy One, blessed be He, and said before Him - Master of the Universe, they will have neither a Mishkan nor a Temple, what will atone for them? Who will protect them and who will shield them? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: I take one righteous person and hold him as a pledge for them, atoning for all their sins. The righteous are the umbrella, the Iron Dome of the generation, and this is what Chazal meant when they said that the righteous are taken for the iniquity of the generation.
Yet while such a sacrifice indeed brings atonement, it is not truly desirable before Him, blessed be He. The passing of the righteous is grievous before the Holy One, blessed be He, and He feels great anguish when tzaddikim depart from this world. "Better is one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world than all the life of the World to Come," and the Holy One, blessed be He, said to David: "Better is a single day in Your courtyards" - than a thousand burnt offerings that Shlomo will sacrifice before Me. The Holy One, blessed be He, wants the tzaddik here; He does not want him taken up to Him. It turns out that we have atonement, but it is not the desired and optimal atonement before Him.
And this is the connection: we ask, "Renew our days as of old" - that the Beit HaMikdash be rebuilt, and when it is rebuilt, what will atone for us? Not the death of tzaddikim, but the korbanot, bulls and rams and meal offerings. Then will truly be fulfilled, "Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasing to Hashem." For nowadays, the passing of a tzaddik is a sacrifice for the nation - but a sacrifice that is not pleasing before Hashem. We ask that the korbanot be as in the days of old: on the one hand atoning for us, and on the other hand pleasing before Him, may He be blessed, and not, Heaven forbid, human sacrifices.
The Rambam writes in Hilchot Teshuvah 2:1: What is complete teshuvah? One who has the opportunity to commit the transgression he previously committed, and it is within his power to do it, yet he desists and does not do it on account of teshuvah, neither out of fear nor out of lack of strength. Not because he does not feel like it or lacks desire - rather, the exact same thing presented itself before him, with the same lust and desire, and he overcame it. This is true strength, and this is a master of complete teshuvah. And this is what Shlomo said: "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth." And if he repented only in his old age, at a time when he is no longer capable of doing what he used to do, even though it is not the highest level of teshuvah - for there is no great accomplishment in repenting at such an age - it still avails him and he is considered a ba'al teshuvah. Thus, the primary excellence of teshuvah is when a person is at the peak of his strength and passion, yet still overcomes it.
The sefer Likkutei Batar Likkutei cites in the name of the author of Baruch MiBanim that this is the meaning of the verse. "Restore us to You, Hashem" - Master of the Universe, consider our teshuvah as the highest form of repentance, as though we returned truly all the way to You. And even though we no longer possess that same strength, and even though we no longer have the same ability to commit those sins - "renew our days as of old": judge us as though we repented in the days of old, during the days when our strength was still in our loins and we were capable of sinning. Even though we have grown weak, consider our repentance as reaching all the way to the Throne of Glory itself.
The Ketav Sofer explains the verse with a parable. A great king had a beloved and cherished minister, very close to him, and the minister rebelled against him. The king punished him, afflicted him, cast him into prison, and reduced him to a wretched, degraded state. The minister sent letters expressing remorse, pleading to be taken out of there and returned to the palace: "I am truly remorseful, my heart is truly broken within me." Does the king buy this remorse? Not necessarily. For when someone is being beaten, he is ready to say anything; when someone suffers afflictions, he is ready to say whatever the listener wants to hear, just so that the suffering will be removed. The king says: "I am not convinced that you truly regret your deeds; the blows are hurting you, and that is why you repent."
Time passed, and the king took pity, showing mercy and restoring him to his greatness. Then, once he was already back in his position, the minister came before the king and said: "I wish to tell you that I truly regret what I did back then; my heart aches and is broken within me. You showed me so much goodness, how could I have done such a thing to you?" The king said to him: "Now I know that your remorse is genuine. Now it is clear that this is not out of pressure, nor out of pain, nor because you were forced. You are regretting it when you do not have to; you have already returned to your post, and you seek to gain nothing through your remorse."
And the nimshal: when the Jewish people in exile ask for redemption, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, "Why do you want Mashiach? There is a threat from Iran, there are madmen in Gaza, there are missiles being fired at us, and therefore you cry out. Do you truly miss closeness to God? Does the exile of the Shechinah truly pain you? That is not what hurts you; there is pressure, and the pressure is distressing you, and that is why you ask for redemption."
A story is told of a man who came to an Admor and recounted his financial woes, concluding: "Rebbe, we urgently need Mashiach!" The Rebbe said to him: "The Mashiach you are waiting for will never come, and the Mashiach who will come is the one you never awaited." The man did not understand. The Rebbe explained: "You are waiting for a Mashiach to solve your financial problems; you are not truly awaiting the coming of Mashiach. And I am sorry to tell you - Mashiach does not come merely to resolve financial troubles. The Mashiach who arrives will magnify the honor of Heaven in the world, so that 'every creature shall know that You created him, and every formed entity shall understand that You formed it, and everything with the breath of life in its nostrils shall proclaim, Hashem, the God of Israel, is King, and His kingship rules over all.' That is a Mashiach you never awaited, because the honor of Heaven does not truly concern you; all that matters to you is that the bank overdraft should not weigh you down."
The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "Your plea for the coming of Mashiach is like the plea of the minister sitting in prison, who repents out of his troubles and suddenly seeks the king's honor." Knesset Yisrael comes and says: "Master of the Universe, that is very true. And therefore, this is our plea - 'Restore us to You, Hashem': bring us out of exile. You are right that within exile our cry is the cry of someone in pain, not the cry of one seeking the honor of the Shechinah. Bring us out of exile, and then - 'and we shall return.' When we return to being dignitaries and ministers, we will approach the King and say: 'We truly regret our evil deeds.' Then it will be clear that our repentance is genuine, and You will not suspect that we are doing this merely to alleviate our suffering, since everything is already good. Master of the Universe, when You restore us to You - You will see how we return, and how we return to Your service and truly perform Your will, with the sole intent of fulfilling Your commandments and not merely to be rid of decrees and troubles."
The sefer Baruch MiBanim notes that "kedem" (קדם) is an acronym for Kayin, David, and Menashe. And what is their common denominator? It hints that even a person who has stumbled into the most severe sins - the three cardinal sins: idolatry, forbidden relationships, and bloodshed - still has the ability to repent and renew his days. From whom do you learn this? From "kedem." Kayin sinned through bloodshed, and not just ordinary murder, but killing a third of the world, his brother Hevel - yet his repentance was accepted before Hashem. Thus, even if one shed blood in the most severe manner, there is room for his repentance to be accepted. King David - the sin concerning Batsheva, and ultimately it was said to him, "Your iniquity is removed and your sin atoned for"; thus, teshuvah is accepted even for forbidden relationships. Menashe - placed an idol in the Heichal and sinned excessively with idolatry, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, carved out an opening for him beneath the Throne of Glory and accepted his repentance. Therefore we say: Master of the Universe, even if we have sinned greatly and even if we have corrupted our ways severely - renew our days just as You renewed the days of "kedem," of Kayin, David, and Menashe, and bring about a positive change in our reality even though we have sinned so much.
כִּי אִם מָאֹס מְאַסְתָּנוּ קָצַפְתָּ עָלֵינוּ עַד מְאֹד׃ - Unless You have utterly rejected us, and are exceedingly angry with us.
This is the verse that concludes the Book of Eicha. The *Lechem Dim'ah* explains: We ask that the Holy One, blessed be He, renew our days as of old - and what is "as of old"? "As in the days of your coming out of the land of Egypt, I will show him marvelous things." And here there is an allusion to the two exiles: this present exile, in which it seems "Unless You have utterly rejected us," and the Babylonian exile, in which we saw "You have been exceedingly angry with us," where there were harsh and dreadful afflictions. For two thousand years now, the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, has not sought us out; and in the Babylonian exile there was terrible fury, horrific suffering, where women ate the fruit of their womb. Therefore, both concerning what You were wrathful toward us back then, and concerning how today You have seemingly rejected us - we plead: "Turn us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return," restore our state as of old, and do not be angry with us or reject us.
In Eicha Rabbah the Sages expounded: The Congregation of Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He - Master of the Universe, repentance is in Your hands: "Turn us back," everything depends on You, bring us back in teshuvah! The Holy One, blessed be He, replied to them: It is in your hands, it is your responsibility to return, as it is said, "Return to Me, and I will return to you." They said before Him: Master of the Universe, it is Yours, as it is said, "Restore us, O God of our salvation." Therefore it is said: "Turn us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return."
Is this a game of honor, arguing over who should start first? Rather, it is this: The Holy One, blessed be He, says - if I bring you back on My own, free will is compromised. Do I lack robots? Do I lack angels? Could I not compel you to do everything by force? But there is no value in that. The initiative must begin with you; there must be an opening: "Open for Me an entrance," there must be an arousal from below - "Return to Me, and I will return to you," so that free choice remains intact.
The Congregation of Israel comes and says: Master of the Universe, even making the initial start is too difficult for us. We do not even possess the strength to open that first doorway - "Let Your mercies speedily meet us, for we are brought very low." We are at such a low level that it is essential that the initiative come from You. And regarding this, the Congregation of Israel says: "Unless You have utterly rejected us, and are exceedingly angry with us" - had You punished us without hiding Your face, we would have been comforted; but now, when You have driven us away, it implies that You are exceedingly angry with us. And in a state where You completely hide Your face from us, even the very first step is hard for us. Therefore, take a step toward us: "Turn us back to You, Hashem," and then we will return - for the perceived rejection and wrath have created such a distance that we cannot imagine we are still able to draw near.
לָמָּה לָנֶצַח תִּשְׁכָּחֵנוּ תַּעַזְבֵנוּ לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים׃ - Why do You forget us forever, and forsake us for so long a time?
Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin explains the sequence of verses. The Holy One, blessed be He, certainly desires to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash, but He awaits our return in teshuvah first; whereas we request that the Temple be built first, and then we will return. And seemingly, the Master of the Universe is in the right, for it was we who destroyed the Temple through our sins, and therefore the obligation to rebuild it rests upon us.
However, we have an established halachah. Two people dwell in a single building, one in the lower house and the other in the upper story above it, and the owner of the lower house caused damage, leading to the collapse of both the house and the upper story. The owner of the upper story says to the owner of the house: Let us rebuild, I need a place to live. The owner of the house replies: I have no money. What does the owner of the upper story do? He goes ahead and rebuilds the lower house and lives in it. And if the owner of the house comes and says to him, "You are living in my house" - he answers him: Until you come to your senses and decide to rebuild your house, I am not willing to rebuild both the house and the upper story together; I lack the funds for that. I have enough money to build myself a home - I will build the ground floor and reside in it, and when you raise the money and reimburse me for my expenses, I will build my upper story and move up into it, and you will enter your house.
The heavenly Beit HaMikdash corresponds directly to the earthly Beit HaMikdash - this is akin to an upper story above the ground-floor house. And we come and say before Him: Master of the Universe, we are too weak to build the house, we have no funds, we are spiritually bankrupt, and it is beyond our strength to rebuild the Temple. Therefore, this is our plea - let the owner of the upper story rebuild the ground floor and dwell in it, according to the halachah. Let the Holy One, blessed be He, build the house down here below and dwell within it, and afterward we will repay His expenses, meaning we will build the upper story - through prayers, sacrifices, and teshuvah. And this is the meaning of "Turn us back [Hashiveinu] to You, Hashem" - first You build the house below, "and we shall return [ve-nashuvah]" - and then we will return the expenses, and the heavenly Beit HaMikdash and the heavenly Jerusalem will also be built.
Because the final verse concludes on a painful note, it is customary to repeat and conclude with the preceding verse, "Bring us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return; renew our days as of old," in order to conclude on a positive note. The sefer Mateh Yehudah, by Rabbi Yehudah Lazarov, explains: Two kinds of men divorce their wives. There is one who divorces because he found something unchaste in her (ervat davar), and there is one who divorces because he has grown tired of her and found her distasteful. What is the difference between them? One who found something unchaste in her is forbidden to keep her; the Torah commands him to divorce her, and he is forbidden to live with her at all. But one who merely felt distaste for her - on the contrary, every effort is made to bring peace to the home and reconcile them, and if he takes her back, he fulfills the mitzvah of remarrying his divorced wife.
The prophet Yirmiyahu comes and laments: Master of the Universe, why did You divorce us? "For if You have utterly rejected us" - it was not because You found something unchaste in us, but out of distaste, because of our corrupt deeds. And if the entire issue is merely distaste, then on the contrary - there is every reason to restore marital peace, every reason to "renew our days as of old," to rebuild the home and return to the state of closeness to God that once was.
The Netziv explains the verse, and this is also the approach of the Malbim: When a servant sins against his master, angers him, fails to perform his duties, defies his master's commands, and even acts out of spite, two paths lie before the master. One option is to keep the servant and discipline him so that he works properly. Such was the practice in those days, when a slave held the status of an animal, and when he misbehaved, he was beaten and chastised. The second option is to say: This servant is troublesome, I have no desire for him; let us get rid of him and sell him quickly.
What is the difference between the two? In the first case, he disciplines the servant precisely because he values him and wants him to function properly again. In the second case, the opposite is true: he will not lay a hand on him to harm him, for if you break his arm or leg, how will you sell him? On the contrary, he will look after him and groom him, since tomorrow he must present him in the slave market, and he needs him to appear healthy, robust, and capable of work. He might even give him extra food to make him fit for sale, as he has no use for him whatsoever and intends to be rid of him.
The Netziv of Volozhin says: We come before the Holy One, blessed be He, and say: Master of the Universe, what do You intend to do with us? If You intend to sell us - if "You have utterly rejected us" and want nothing to do with us - do not strike us; a servant who is being sold is not beaten. But if I see that You do strike us, it is a sign that You desire us and wish to set us straight, for a servant whom the master wishes to keep is beaten so that he will follow the right path. Either way, it cannot be both: if "You have utterly rejected us," why have You "been exceedingly wrathful against us"? Rather, from the blows themselves we learn that You have not truly rejected us. And if so, the immediate plea is: "Renew our days as of old," bring us back to You - for the purpose is to set us straight, not merely to cause us suffering.
It is told that Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev would use this verse to advocate on behalf of Israel, as cited in the sefer Birkat Chaim: Master of the Universe, if You have rejected us as though we were entirely wicked people deserving of rejection, why have You "been exceedingly wrathful against us"? After all, the Holy One, blessed be He, is exacting with the righteous to a hairsbreadth. And with whom is He wrathful to such an exacting degree, "exceedingly"? With the righteous! Rabbi Levi Yitzchak therefore argued: I do not understand what is taking place here. If "You have utterly rejected us," You are judging us as wicked; but if so, why are You being so exacting with us, as if we were righteous? One is not so exacting with the wicked; only with the righteous is He wrathful "exceedingly," holding them accountable to a hairsbreadth. And if we are not on the level of the righteous, why must Your wrath reflect the ultimate rigor of strict justice?
The sefer Ahavat Tzion explains: When we say that the wrath is "exceedingly," it means that amid such fierce wrath, we have no words to speak. That is why the plea is, "Bring us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return." Sometimes a person needs to ask forgiveness from his fellow, but he is terrified of the encounter itself. He knows that the other person is seething with anger and dreads what he might do the moment he sees him. So too we say: Master of the Universe, "Bring us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return" - and why? Because "You have been exceedingly wrathful against us," leaving us without the ability to speak, too ashamed even to approach. But if that person whom I wronged were to pick up the phone and call me, I would immediately be put at ease; then I could ask for forgiveness, appease him, and strive to make amends. As long as I dread the encounter, knowing he is exceedingly furious with me, how can I repent? Therefore: "Bring us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return," precisely because You have been exceedingly wrathful against us.
The Binah L'Ittim explains: Master of the Universe, we are certain that You have not utterly rejected us. And why? Because had You truly rejected us, You would have struck us down. Yet whom did the Holy One, blessed be He, strike? The Beit HaMikdash. Upon what did He expend His wrath? Upon wood and stone. This itself demonstrates that He desires us. From this comes our strength and resilience: "For if You have utterly rejected us" - had You truly rejected us, Your wrath would have consumed us; but since I see that Your wrath was directed not against us, but against the Beit HaMikdash, expending Your fury upon wood and stone - this is proof that You have not truly rejected us. The proof is clear: the wood and stones were destroyed, while the Jewish people still live and endure.
It can also be explained in this way: "For if You have utterly rejected us" - Master of the Universe, You have already "been exceedingly angry with us." That is to say, if we owed a debt, we have already settled the account. If You rejected us - through the great wrath You poured out upon us, we have already paid that debt. Therefore, we plead: "Turn us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return." Having already paid our debt in full, having drained the cup of suffering to its very dregs - in this state, Master of the Universe, turn us back to You and we shall return, for we have already paid the price.
Chapter 5 concludes with two requests that are filled entirely with hope: "Turn us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return; renew our days as of old" - that the five things missing in the Second Temple be restored to us, that atonement be achieved through sacrifices rather than the departure of the righteous, that our teshuvah be counted as the ideal repentance of the days of our strength, and that we return out of love rather than merely under the pressure of exile; and "For if You have utterly rejected us, You have been exceedingly angry with us" - in which our Sages found profound comfort: mere revulsion can be followed by reconciliation; beatings are a sign that the master still desires his servant; extreme wrath indicates that Hashem holds us to exacting scrutiny as a righteous nation; and expending His fury upon wood and stones proves that the Jewish people live and endure - and in any event, the debt has already been paid. May it be the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, to redeem us with an everlasting redemption, say "enough" to our suffering, return the children to their borders, and send our righteous Mashiach speedily in our days, Amen. "Turn us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return; renew our days as of old." Completed and concluded.