Sefer Yirmiyahu, chapter 36. "And it was in the fourth year of Yehoyakim son of Yoshiyahu king of Yehudah, that this word came to Yirmiyahu from Hashem, saying." The chapter we are now learning is very, very relevant to the days in which we find ourselves, on the eve of Tisha B'Av. This chapter deals with Megillat Eichah and the way it came into being. It is worthwhile to follow the events so that we know how Megillat Eichah was formed and the stages it went through. The Megillat Eichah that we have today is essentially the finished product. The original product did not look the way we will see in our chapter. Let us see what stages it went through until it reached the scroll we have before us today, which as is well known was written by Yirmiyahu the prophet.
[Silence] Let us read it now. Hashem tells Yirmiyahu that this was in the fourth year of Yehoyakim son of Yoshiyahu. Was Yehoyakim a righteous man or a wicked one? Yehoyakim was greatly wicked. So much so that his skull went on rolling until it was burned in the days, in the time of the Talmud. He was a wicked king. So Hashem gives Yirmiyahu a prophecy. Take yourself a scroll of a book and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you concerning Yisrael and concerning Yehudah and concerning all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Yoshiyahu until this day. Take yourself a scroll of a book: a scroll means on parchment, that is called a scroll, a sheet. A scroll of a book. And on it, on this sheet, you shall write all the words that I have spoken to you concerning Yisrael and concerning Yehudah. Mention in this scroll all the evil events that I foretold would come upon Yisrael and Yehudah, both what has already come and what is still destined to come. Not everything had yet come to pass. There were things that only came about in the future; at the time he wrote these words there were things that had not yet been fulfilled. And all these things you shall write on the scroll of a book, from the days of Yoshiyahu until this day.
What is the purpose? "Perhaps the house of Yehudah will hear all the evil that I intend to do to them, so that they will return each man from his evil way, and I will forgive their iniquity and their sin." Perhaps when you set it down in this scroll, you will show and mention things that you said beforehand, and you will show them: behold, these things came to pass. Just as I said, so it was fulfilled. Perhaps this will bring them to understand that the future things you speak of are also destined to be fulfilled, and through this perhaps they will be aroused. So that they will return each man from his evil way, and I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. Hashem says: I do not desire the death of the one who dies, but rather his returning from his ways and living. He essentially wants to tell them that all this evil is not an end in itself; rather the purpose of the evil is to bring about the good, that they should repent, and then they will not need to go into exile.
"And Yirmiyahu called Baruch son of Neriyah, and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Yirmiyahu all the words of Hashem that He had spoken to him upon a scroll of a book." Yirmiyahu would speak the words from his mouth and Baruch would write. The Malbim says, and he brings this in the name of the Abarbanel, that Baruch was some sort of scholar who lived in the time of Yirmiyahu and who was a kind of assistant to Yirmiyahu, a helper to Yirmiyahu. We see him accompanying him for a long part of the way. Like Yirmiyahu's attendant, his aide, his helper. Yes, Baruch son of Neriyah. That was his name. [Silence] What? [Silence] I did not understand the question. [Silence] The Holy One, blessed be He, says: I do not desire that a person should die in the end. As is written concerning the dead one. There is a derash here, and there is a peshat. The derash is that the wicked in their lifetime are called dead. So Hashem says: I do not desire the death of the one who dies, the wicked dead one, I do not desire his total death. That is the derash. The peshat of the verse is "for the one who falls will fall from it," scripture called him by the name of his end. The one who falls, even though he has not yet fallen, is being told about the future, and scripture calls him one who falls. So too with "the death of the one who dies." The one whom you saw is dead, Hashem says I did not desire to put him to death. The death of the one who dies I do not desire. I would prefer that he not reach this state, but rather return from his ways and live.
The Malbim says, as I began to state in the name of the Abarbanel, that all the prophecies of Yirmiyahu, all of them, Yirmiyahu wrote himself, upon a book in his own language, in his own writing, in pure and clear language. This is not so regarding Megillat Eichah, says the Abarbanel; this was not written through prophecy but through ruach hakodesh (the holy spirit). Ruach hakodesh is one level lower than the level of prophecy. Therefore here he wanted to ease the work for him, and he told him: you will speak and Baruch will be the one to write. And therefore it is written "and Baruch read the words of Yirmiyahu." The Malbim says: if these had been words of prophecy, it should have been written "and Baruch read the words of Hashem." Why is it written "the words of Yirmiyahu"? Because these were not the words of Hashem like prophecy, but rather more in the category of ruach hakodesh. But do not misunderstand: both prophecy and ruach hakodesh are ultimately from Hashem. It is only because this is a lower level that it is more fitting to call them "the words of Yirmiyahu" and not "the words of Hashem."
"And Yirmiyahu commanded Baruch, saying: I am confined, I cannot come to the house of Hashem." "I am confined" means in prison. Yehoyakim had imprisoned Yirmiyahu. Although we saw that Tzidkiyahu imprisoned him in the courtyard of the guard, from here we understand that Yehoyakim also imprisoned him. Apparently it was a hobby of the kings back then to imprison Yirmiyahu, because Yirmiyahu was not likable. He was always saying bad things. The media did not love him. He was always saying bad things. They wanted him to say good things, that all would be well, to comfort the nation, to put on shows for them, to tell them things. You always only say it will be bad, it will not be good, there will be the war of Gog and Magog, it will be like this, Nevuchadnetzar will come. You rabbis always love to frighten. He imprisoned him in the prison.
"And you shall come and read from the scroll that you wrote from my mouth, the words of Hashem, in the ears of the people in the house of Hashem on a fast day, and also in the ears of all Yehudah who come from their cities you shall read them." He tells him: since I am imprisoned and confined, I do not have the ability to come and spread the matter among all the people. And the people must know. What good will it do that I write it? And it was not like today, where you publish a newspaper in a hundred, two hundred, three hundred thousand copies. In the past, if a person had a message, he had to take the scroll and read it in the ears of the people. They would bring some sort of trumpet, someone would come and open the scroll, read it, then move to the next street. Read the scroll again, move to the next street. Imagine how much was needed for a message to get through. Today you send an SMS message to four hundred people: there is a lecture tonight at such and such a time. Instantly four hundred people know. If you have tens of thousands of people, you send them an SMS or an email or I do not know what other way, and within a short time half the world and his wife can know what is going to happen. But in the past it was not like this. In the past you needed truly Sisyphean labor to go around one by one. Therefore he tells him: I am limited, I am in prison. You will need to go and read the scroll that you wrote from my mouth, the words of Hashem, in the ears of the people in the house of Hashem on a fast day.
What is "on a fast day"? What is meant by "on a fast day"? The simple explanation, says the Radak, is that it means a day of fasting. Tzom is a fast. But there is another explanation. Tzom, the Radak explains in the name of his father, what is the source of the word tzom? It is from the language of tzomet (junction). What does the word tzomet mean? What is tzomet hagidin (the junction of the sinews)? What does tzomet hagidin mean? A concentration. A concentration of many sinews is called a tzomet. A concentration of roads from many directions is called a tzomet. A tzomet is a concentration. So by the same measure, another example, notice: if I say nitzmat besaro (his flesh shrank), what does nitzmat mean? It concentrated, it contracted. It contracted and concentrated, correct? This is the concept of tzomet and of tzom. Therefore the word tzom expresses a concentration of people. Because what would they do in those times? How is it written there? "Call a tzom, gather an assembly," correct? That is to say, when they proclaim a tzom, the people would gather for prayer. That was the reality in their times. So when it is written here "on a fast day," it means on a day of concentration, on a day when the whole nation would gather at the synagogues or at the Beit HaMikdash. And then on that day he commands him: I ask that you read this in the ears of everyone. Since everyone will be there, you will not need to exert much effort to publicize the matter. If in that place two thousand people are gathered and you read before them, then, as the saying goes, a person has friends, and within two or three days it will reach all the people dwelling in the cities of Yehudah.
What is the purpose? "Perhaps their supplication will fall before Hashem, and they will return each man from his evil way, for great is the anger and the wrath that Hashem has spoken concerning this people." Perhaps when they hear these words, their uncircumcised heart will be humbled and they will return to the Holy One, blessed be He, and plead over this very matter and repent. "And Baruch son of Neriyah did according to all that Yirmiyahu the prophet commanded him, to read in the book the words of Hashem in the house of Hashem." The Malbim says that in truth he did not do it immediately. The Malbim explains that Yirmiyahu commanded him in the fourth year of Yehoyakim, and he read it in the fifth year in the ninth month. What is the ninth month? The seventh is Tishrei, the ninth is Kislev, correct? He read it in the ninth month. And the reason for this, asks the Malbim: seemingly he should have said it already before. In the fourth year you were told, and you wait until the fifth year, until the month of Kislev, which is the ninth month? Rather the Malbim explains: because he had to do "according to all that Yirmiyahu commanded him," according to all the conditions, in the exact manner that he told him. And what did he tell him? Read the words of Hashem in the house of Hashem, and read it on a fast day. And there was no day of gathering of the people at the house of Hashem until this time, when they gathered also from the cities and it was possible to read it publicly. Therefore he read it only then. And this is the precision in the verse: "according to all that Yirmiyahu the prophet commanded him." Why did he delay it so much? Because he wanted to fulfill the command in its entirety, and the command was that the matter should be public. Why should he not read it before a small crowd and afterward before a few more and a few more? Is that not better than waiting a year and a half or two years? They would arrest him immediately. Very good. Very good. That is the answer. If he reads it before fifteen people here, on the spot they will arrest him, take the scroll, confiscate it, and then no one will know about it. Whereas if I seize the momentum when there are thousands of people here and I read it before them, then go ahead and arrest me. It is already publicized. Everyone already knows about it. Understood? If he had read it at first, they would have arrested him immediately and no one would have known about it.
"And it was in the fifth year of Yehoyakim son of Yoshiyahu king of Yehudah, in the ninth month, they proclaimed a fast before Hashem, all the people in Yerushalayim and all the people who came from the cities of Yehudah to Yerushalayim." They proclaimed a fast, as we said, and the people gathered. And here there were several advantages, as we said. First, they proclaimed a fast, and he had told him to read it on a fast day. Second, it was before Hashem. Third, all the people in Yerushalayim. Fourth, they also came from the cities of Yehudah. So here all the conditions were fulfilled to read the scroll in what may be called the most optimal manner, so that the maximum number of people would know and hear of the matter. And there is also an additional point in the very fact that it is a fast day: on a fast day a person is more open to receiving rebuke. It is a day of teshuvah, a day of closeness to Hashem, a day of desire for rectification. And then a person is more open to change.
"And Baruch read in the book the words of Yirmiyahu in the house of Hashem, in the chamber of Gemaryahu son of Shafan the scribe, in the upper courtyard, at the entrance of the new gate of the house of Hashem, in the ears of all the people." He read the words of Yirmiyahu, as we said, that it was through ruach hakodesh, yes? Therefore it is called "the words of Yirmiyahu" and not "the word of Hashem." "And Michayahu son of Gemaryahu son of Shafan heard all the words of Hashem from the book." He heard all the words of Hashem being read from the book. "And he went down to the king's house, to the chamber of the scribe, and behold, all the officers were sitting there: Elishama the scribe, and Delayahu son of Shemayahu, and Elnatan son of Achbor, and Gemaryahu son of Shafan, and Tzidkiyahu son of Chananyahu, and all the officers. And Michayahu told them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read in the book in the ears of the people. And all the officers sent to Baruch, Yehudi son of Netanyahu son of Shelemyahu son of Kushi, saying: the scroll that you read in the ears of the people, take it in your hand and go," meaning "and come," that is the meaning of "and go." "And Baruch son of Neriyahu took the scroll in his hand and came to them." They want, as they say, to hear the matter firsthand. They understand there is a message here. "And it was, when they heard all the words, they feared, each toward his fellow, and they said to Baruch: we must surely tell the king all these words." "They feared, each toward his fellow." The simple meaning is that each of them was afraid, and they said to him: these words must be told to the king. But there is another explanation that the Malbim gives regarding what is said, "they feared, each toward his fellow," meaning that they said it would be better for the king not to hear. But each of them was afraid, perhaps my fellow will tell it to the king, and then the king will come and say to me: ah, you did not come to tell me that such a prophecy occurred. You did not come to tell me that Baruch son of Neriyah said such things. So this is what is written, "they feared, each toward his fellow." Each was afraid of the other, lest he go and inform, and then we would suffer. But if they had all accepted upon themselves to be silent, to say we did not know, we did not hear, they would have preferred that. And so they said that therefore they must tell it.
"And they asked Baruch, saying: tell us now, how did you write all these words from his mouth?" That is to say, they want to know whether you wrote these words as Yirmiyahu spoke them from his mouth, in which case we must be very, very concerned about all the details written here, or whether Yirmiyahu spoke in a general manner and you, in your pictorial language, added and gave examples and elaborated and expanded, in which case we need not be so concerned about the details, because it is always possible to say that you got a little carried away or exaggerated a bit or gave a far-reaching interpretation to the things said from the mouth of Yirmiyahu. Therefore tell us, how did you write all these words from his mouth? Was it truly from his mouth? The Malbim explains that the officers in the time of Yehoyakim decided that there was no death penalty for Yirmiyahu for the prophecy itself, because he said it in the name of Hashem. But regarding the words of Baruch son of Neriyah they were in doubt. Perhaps Baruch son of Neriyah did indeed deserve a sentence of death. Why? Because perhaps you copied these words from what Yirmiyahu wrote without Hashem having sent you to copy them and publicize them. And then consequently you would be liable to death. For the prophet who comes and speaks in the name of Hashem that which Hashem did not command him, or whom He did not send to speak, is deserving of death. So it may well be that Yirmiyahu wrote it and you have now come and are spreading Yirmiyahu's own words, as though you received some message to spread the matter in the name of Hashem. And they also want to know whether you yourself added additional things here.
"And Baruch said to them: from his mouth he would call out to me all these words, and I would write on the book with ink." He tells them that they should not err. All these words he spoke to me from his mouth, that is, I wrote them word for word. And I write these words on the book with ink. That is to say, everything I wrote, I wrote it on the book with ink. What is the emphasis on "on the book with ink"? Do I care what you wrote with? What if you wrote it with paint and not with ink? What if you wrote it on a keyboard and not with ink? What difference does it make? Rather, we have a rule about how a Sefer Torah is written and how scrolls are written. Sifrei Torah and scrolls are written on the book with ink. "Book" means parchment. "With ink" means it must be ink made from gall-nuts. And if you did not write it this way, it does not have the status of sacred writings at all. In terms of its holiness, its level of holiness is much lower. With such a scroll one does not fulfill one's obligation. Even if you wrote all of it, say, in ink on paper or on tanned hide or on all sorts of things they used to write on back then, papyrus and the like, it is nothing. It must be on the book with ink. Therefore he tells them: know that this thing that I am reading to you is exactly like the Sefer Torah itself. Because how was the Sefer Torah written? Moshe would have the Holy One, blessed be He, dictate to him, and Moshe would write. Where? Upon a book with ink. So too here. Yirmiyahu would dictate and I would write from his mouth on the book with ink. That is to say, there is here precise writing, the transmission of the transmission without any lacking and without any addition, exactly as it was transmitted, and it has the status of sacred writings.
"And the officers said to Baruch: go, hide yourself, you and Yirmiyahu, and let no one know where you are." The Radak says: hide in the courtyard of the guard. And the reason is, lest the king's anger burn against you when he hears the words and he wants to harm you. Therefore go and hide in order to be saved from him. And let no one know, for if a person knows, he will go and inform the king, and then again you are in danger. Therefore hide in such a way that no one will know where you are. The Malbim says: they told him, go hide, you and Yirmiyahu. If he had said that he copied it from a book that Yirmiyahu wrote for himself, then in that case Yirmiyahu would not be liable to the king for what he writes as a memorandum for himself. But since he himself says that I copied the words from what Yirmiyahu wrote and commanded to be publicized, I acting as Yirmiyahu's emissary, in this, sir, you are also making Yirmiyahu's own head liable to the king. And Chazal say, in Sanhedrin 103, that Yehoyakim was wicked and his generation were righteous, and the opposite regarding Tzidkiyahu. For behold, you see that his generation wanted to save Yirmiyahu and the king Yehoyakim was wicked and wanted to kill him. And in the days of Tzidkiyahu it was the opposite: the officers wanted to kill him, and the one who saved him was the king.
"And they came to the king to the courtyard, and they deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they told in the ears of the king all the words." They came to the king, to his courtyard, and they deposited the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, that is, they stored it there for the time being. And then they told the king all the message that had been transmitted by Baruch in the name of Yirmiyahu. "And the king sent Yehudi," that was his name, "to fetch the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and Yehudi read it in the ears of the king and in the ears of all the officers who stood beside the king." He reads the scroll before them, for the king too wanted to hear the entire scroll in all its details. "And the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with the brazier burning before him." The king was sitting in the winter house. Kings had a summer house and a winter house. A summer house was a place with a high ceiling and many windows. A winter house was a place with a lower ceiling and few windows so that the place would be less cold. There was also a brazier there in the winter house. In the summer house there were air conditioners, but in the winter house there was a brazier, yes? A burning brazier. What is an ach (brazier)? An oven, correct? From what language is it called ach? And is there a connection between ach (brazier) and ach (brother)? Well, indeed Chazal say that a brazier is called ach because these are logs that kindle one another in brotherhood, as it were, in brotherhood. One log kindles from its fellow. It is from the language of "we are brothers." [Silence] Eh? [Silence] Ah, that could also be. A person who touches the brazier says "ach!" He is startled, he gets burned. Yes. Let us add that; write it down, please. Yes. The Malbim says ach is from the language of "they grazed in the achu (meadow)." So says the Malbim. They dry the meadow grasses and kindle the fire in them with the logs. Achu could well be, according to the Malbim, that it means thorns, it means grasses. "They grazed in the achu" means among the grasses and thorns. So how would they kindle the fire? By means of the dry grasses, they would place them upon the logs and this kindles the fire. Therefore it is called ach, from the language of achu, the language of dry grasses.
"And it was, when Yehudi read three or four columns, he cut it with the scribe's knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed on the fire that was in the brazier." When he was reading before him two or three, three or four verses, meaning three and four verses, he would hear it, and not only was he not moved by the words, but he even took the scroll, cut it with the knife, with the blade, and threw it into the burning fire. As if to say, look what foolishness: if we burn the written scroll of the prophecy, the prophecy will not be fulfilled. Look what wickedness and what lack of understanding. Chazal say: they began to read before him "Eichah." Afterward they read before him "she surely weeps at night." Afterward the letter gimmel, "Yehudah has gone into exile from affliction." "The roads of Tzion mourn." Chazal say: at all of these he was not concerned. Harsh things are being said to him, and he was not concerned. Why? He said: I am king. I still rule over those who remain here. Nothing is written here yet about me. They reached the letter heh, and when he read "her adversaries have become the head," this is the fifth verse, and this is what is meant by "three or four columns": the fifth verse ignited him. "Her adversaries have become the head" - ah, I am not king. They will be the heads. This he could no longer accept. Immediately "he cut it with the scribe's knife." He cut it and sliced up the scroll to show that by this he was, as it were, coming to nullify the words and refusing to accept them.
"And they were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments, neither the king nor all his servants who heard all these words." They should have been concerned, they should have been afraid, they should have rent their garments. You hear of terrible distress and calamity from one who reads what is written in Megillat Eichah, terrible and dreadful things. The officers, we saw, were afraid. As we saw above, "they feared, each toward his fellow." And the officers also tried to prevent him from burning the scroll, as we will soon see. But the king and the officers with him were not concerned about anything. Chazal learn from here that if a person sees a Sefer Torah that is torn, he must rend his garments. From where do you know that a person must rend his garments over the tearing of a Sefer Torah? For here the prophet says "nor did they rend their garments." That is to say, it was an obligation upon us to rend our garments in such a situation. "And also Elnatan and Delayahu and Gemaryahu pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, but he did not listen to them." They tried to speak to his heart: do not burn the scroll, there is a prophecy here that must be taken seriously, but he did not listen to them.
"And the king commanded Yerachmeel son of the king, and Serayahu son of Azriel, and Shelemyahu son of Avdiel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Yirmiyahu the prophet, but Hashem hid them." The king commands all these men to go gather Yirmiyahu and Baruch the scribe. Why? He is not pleased with what they say and what they are spreading, and it causes him to be concerned and afraid that they will go and publicize it more and more and harm his kingdom and instill weakness in the heart of the people. As we saw, the kings greatly disliked the prophets for this very reason. Since the prophets, on some level, were frightening the people and would tell them: know that the enemy is near, you must make peace with the enemy, it is forbidden to rebel against him, Hashem made him king, and all things of this sort brought the kings to try to fight against the enemies, against the prophets, to try to nullify the words of the prophets. "But Hashem hid them." What does "but Hashem hid them" mean? The Metzudot says it means miraculously. The Radak says it may well be that He placed darkness around them. It may well be that He made darkness and gloom around them, and this caused them to be as though struck with blindness; they began to search for them and did not find them. Or that their power of sight was nullified. Hashem acted miraculously so that they could not seize them.
"And the word of Hashem came to Yirmiyahu, after the king burned the scroll and the words that Baruch wrote from the mouth of Yirmiyahu, saying." After the king burned the scroll and the words, the Radak says: do not say that he burned only the sheets of the scroll, rather it tells you: not only the sheets, meaning what surrounds the writing, but also the writing itself. Because Chazal say a person who sees a Sefer Torah being burned must make two rendings: one over the parchment, the very hide, which is holy, and one over the writing. As it is written, "the scroll and the words," that is, there is a doubling here. The king burned both of them, and then Hashem gives Yirmiyahu a prophecy. "Again take yourself another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll that Yehoyakim king of Yehudah burned." When he wrote the first scroll, he wrote it without a copy. He tells him: now sit and start again. Write the entire scroll anew. "And concerning Yehoyakim king of Yehudah you shall say: thus says Hashem, you burned this scroll, saying: why did you write on it, saying: the king of Bavel will surely come and destroy this land and cause man and beast to cease from it." You, Yehoyakim, burned this scroll because it was hard for you, you were not pleased that I wrote that the king of Bavel would come and destroy the land and cause man and beast to cease. Therefore "thus says Hashem concerning Yehoyakim king of Yehudah: he shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his corpse shall be cast out to the heat by day and to the frost by night." Thus Hashem gives Yirmiyahu a prophecy concerning Yehoyakim. He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, yes? Yehoyachin reigned only three months. His son reigned only three months. That is not called sitting on the throne of David. And his corpse shall be cast out to the heat by day and to the frost by night. As we saw that he would not be buried after his death, and we saw that his skull was cast like dung upon the face of the field until the time of the Sages. It is brought that one of the Sages one day found this skull and brought it to his home and wrapped it in silks. For on this skull was written "this and one more." And he said: it is not fitting that the skull of a king should be disgraced this way. We are speaking of a thousand years, perhaps even more, after the time of Yehoyakim. Still his skull was like dung upon the face of the field. The Gemara relates that his wife came home and suddenly saw that her husband had in his closet, that he reveals skeletons in his closet, that he has a skull inside the closet. What is this? She became stressed. A skull in the closet? Unpleasant. A woman today would faint. She went to ask the neighbors. So the neighbor tells her: ah, he took it and wrapped it in expensive cloth like this and covered it, surely this is his first wife and it is hard for him to part from her. So he took her skull and put it in safekeeping. Like this? I will help him part from her. She took the skull, says the Gemara, and threw it into the brazier, into the oven, and burned it. And this is what was said of him, of Yehoyakim, "this and one more." It was fulfilled in him, besides "dragged and cast out," that he would be cast like dung upon the face of the field, another matter was also fulfilled in him, that he would be burned. One can say that this is also measure for measure. You burned the scroll of the word of Hashem, and his own skull would be burned.
"And I will visit upon him and upon his seed and upon his servants their iniquity, and I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim and upon the men of Yehudah all the evil that I have spoken concerning them, but they did not listen." I will visit upon them all the evil that they were not willing to hear, so that they should not think that by burning the scroll they would thereby nullify the evil; rather everything will come upon them. And not only that. "And Yirmiyahu took another scroll and gave it to Baruch son of Neriyahu the scribe, and he wrote on it from the mouth of Yirmiyahu all the words of the book that Yehoyakim king of Yehudah burned in the fire, and there were added to them many words like these." What is "and there were added to them"? The Gemara says Rabbi Chama bar Rabbi Chanina and Rav disagreed on the matter. One said "and there were added to them" is the chapter "Eichah has He clouded in His anger." "Words" is "Eichah, how the gold has grown dim." "Many" is "Remember, Hashem, what has befallen us." "Like these" is "I am the man who has seen affliction," correct? So say Chazal. There is another opinion that says "and there were added to them" is only the chapter "I am the man." Yes? That is to say, on the first scroll there was already written "Eichah has she sat," "Eichah has He clouded," "Eichah how the gold has grown dim," and what was added to them is only "I am the man." And "there were added to them words like these" is "I am the man," which is three verses for each and every letter. "Many" is the mention of the name of Hashem. Either way, what is clear is that the scroll was more limited in its origin. What we have in Megillat Eichah today, five chapters, these are additional chapters as a result of Yehoyakim's burning of the scroll. Had the scroll not been burned, we would have had one chapter, or four according to another opinion, but not five chapters. Some say four were added, some say one chapter was added. Either way, the scroll was supposed to be shorter. Only through his deed were many more words like these added to the scroll.