Megillot II. Class 5. Lamentations 5

(1) Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us;
Behold, and see our disgrace!

(2) Our heritage has passed to aliens,
Our homes to strangers.

(3) We have become orphans, fatherless;
Our mothers are like widows.

(4) We must pay to drink our own water,
Obtain our own kindling at a price.

(5) We are hotly pursued;
Exhausted, we are given no rest.

(6) We hold out a hand to Egypt;
To Assyria, for our fill of bread.

(7) Our fathers sinned and are no more;
And we must bear their guilt.

(8) Slaves are ruling over us,
With none to rescue us from them.

(9) We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
Because of the sword of the wilderness.

(10) Our skin glows like an oven,
With the fever of famine.

(11) They have ravished women in Zion,
Maidens in the towns of Judah.

(12) Princes have been hanged by them;
No respect has been shown to elders.

(13) Young men must carry millstones,
And youths stagger under loads of wood.

(14) The old men are gone from the gate,
The young men from their music.

(15) Gone is the joy of our hearts;
Our dancing is turned into mourning.

(16) The crown has fallen from our head;
Woe to us that we have sinned!

(17) Because of this our hearts are sick,
Because of these our eyes are dimmed:

(18) Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate;
Jackals [or foxes] prowl over it.

(19) But You, O LORD, are enthroned forever,
Your throne endures through the ages.

(20) Why have You forgotten us utterly,
Forsaken us for all time?

(21) Take us back, O LORD, to Yourself,
And let us come back;
Renew our days as of old!

(22) For truly, You have rejected us,
Bitterly raged against us.

In the synagogue, verse 21 is read again:
Take us back, O LORD, to Yourself,
And let us come back;
Renew our days as of old!

(1) Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us;
Behold, and see our disgrace! (2) Our heritage has passed to aliens,
Our homes to strangers. (3) We have become orphans, fatherless;
Our mothers are like widows. (4) We must pay to drink our own water,
Obtain our own kindling at a price. (5) We are hotly pursued;
Exhausted, we are given no rest. (6) We hold out a hand to Egypt;
To Assyria, for our fill of bread. (7) Our fathers sinned and are no more;
And we must bear their guilt.

(8) Slaves are ruling over us,
With none to rescue us from them. (9) We get our bread at the peril of our lives,
Because of the sword of the wilderness. (10) Our skin glows like an oven,
With the fever of famine. (11) They have ravished women in Zion,
Maidens in the towns of Judah. (12) Princes have been hanged by them;
No respect has been shown to elders. (13) Young men must carry millstones,
And youths stagger under loads of wood. (14) The old men are gone from the gate,
The young men from their music. (15) Gone is the joy of our hearts;
Our dancing is turned into mourning. (16) The crown has fallen from our head;
Woe to us that we have sinned!

(15) Gone is the joy of our hearts;
Our dancing is turned into mourning.

Gone - this refers to the cessation of Temple sacrifices.

(25) You, O mortal, take note: On the day that I take their stronghold from them, their pride and joy, the delight of their eyes and the longing of their hearts—their sons and daughters—

(17) Because of this our hearts are sick,
Because of these our eyes are dimmed: (18) Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate;
Jackals [or foxes] prowl over it.

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(19) But You, O LORD, are enthroned forever,
Your throne endures through the ages. (20) Why have You forgotten us utterly,
Forsaken us for all time? (21) Take us back, O LORD, to Yourself,
And let us come back;
Renew our days as of old! (22) For truly, You have rejected us,
Bitterly raged against us.

Take us back, O LORD, to Yourself,
And let us come back;
Renew our days as of old!

(17) Because of this our hearts are sick,
Because of these our eyes are dimmed:

(18) Because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate;
Jackals [or foxes] prowl over it.

The Gemara relates another incident involving those Sages. On another occasion they [Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabbi Akiva] were ascending to Jerusalem after the destruction of the Temple. When they arrived at Mount Scopus and saw the site of the Temple, they rent their garments in mourning, in keeping with halakhic practice. When they arrived at the Temple Mount, they saw a fox that emerged from the site of the Holy of Holies.

They began weeping, and Rabbi Akiva was laughing. They said to him: For what reason are you laughing? Rabbi Akiva said to them: For what reason are you weeping? They said to him: This is the place concerning which it is written: “And the non-priest who approaches shall die” (Numbers 1:51), and now foxes walk in it; and shall we not weep?

Rabbi Akiva said to them: That is why I am laughing, as it is written, when God revealed the future to the prophet Isaiah: “And I will take to Me faithful witnesses to attest: Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah” (Isaiah 8:2). Now what is the connection between Uriah and Zechariah? He clarifies the difficulty: Uriah prophesied during the First Temple period, and Zechariah prophesied during the Second Temple period, as he was among those who returned to Zion from Babylonia. Rather, the verse established that fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah is dependent on fulfillment of the prophecy of Uriah. In the prophecy of Uriah it is written: “Therefore, for your sake Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become rubble, and the Temple Mount as the high places of a forest” (Micah 3:12), where foxes are found. There is a rabbinic tradition that this was prophesied by Uriah. In the prophecy of Zechariah it is written: “There shall yet be elderly men and elderly women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem” (Zechariah 8:4).

Until the prophecy of Uriah with regard to the destruction of the city was fulfilled I was afraid that the prophecy of Zechariah would not be fulfilled, as the two prophecies are linked. Now that the prophecy of Uriah was fulfilled, it is evident that the prophecy of Zechariah remains valid. The Gemara adds: The Sages said to him, employing this formulation: Akiva, you have comforted us; Akiva, you have comforted us.

Remember, LORD, what has occurred to us, Alas! Look and see our disgrace. Alas! what has occurred to us.

Our property has been handed over to strangers, Alas! Our homes to foreigners. Alas! what has occurred to us.

We have become orphans without a father. Alas! Our mothers mourn in the month of Av. Alas! what has occurred to us.

...

א. Then, for our sins, the Sanctuary was destroyed, and for our violations, the Temple building was burnt.

ב. On Earth, they gathered to her, compiling a eulogy. And the host of the Heavens raised a lament.

ח. The sun got dark and the moon blackened, and stars and constellations gathered their moans.

ט. First the ram (Aries) cried with a bitter soul for the fact that his lambs were brought to slaughter.

י. A wail was sounded by the bull (Taurus) among the heights, because we were allHow long..."

My eyelids flow with water, dripping tears. / I weep bitterly for the murdered of Speyer. / It happened on the eighth day of the second month [Iyar] on the day of rest. / "Rest" was transposed to "tempest" destructive. / Handsome youths and dignified elders were killed. / They assembled, all agreeing to be martyred, / testifying to the unity of God's name, courageously. / Mighty men, who do His bidding speedily. / My priests and my young men, all ten expired. In my bitter agony and grief, I will compose a dirge. / Holy congregations! Their massacre I remember today. /

The community of Worms, special and unique. / Giants of the earth, innocent and pure! / Twice, they sanctified the One Name in awe, / cleansed once on the twenty-third of the month Ziv [Iyar], / And on [the first day of) the third month [Sivan], as they chanted Hallel, / they made a pact to be martyred for the love [of God]. / I will moan for them with a torrent of tears of woe, / all deserving to be endowed with majestic crowns!

And upon the great of the wonderful community of Mainz, / swifter than eagles and stronger than lions, / they too consented in unison to sanctify the awesome One Name. / For them, I will scream a piercing scream with bitter soul, / as if for the destruction of both Temples, razed today, / and for the destruction of minor temples [synagogues] and study halls of Torah! On the third day of the third month [Sivan], these were added to my sorrow and curse. / That month was transformed into one of agony and trouble / on the day the Law was given, when I hoped to be spared in her merit. / On the very day she was given, she departed. / Gone back on high to her original home, / with her "containers" and her "pouches," those who searched her and studied her. / Her disciples and her students in darkness as in light!

Take this to heart, and compose a bitter eulogy. / Their murder is worthy of mourning and placing ash, / equal to the burning of the House of our God, the porch and the Palace, / because it is improper to add a day of breach and conflagration, / and wrong to advance the date; rather, to postpone it. / Therefore, today [Tisha B'Av], I will arouse my grief / and lament, and wail, and cry with bitter soul, / with sighs weighing heavily from dawn to dusk,

“Zion, wilt thou not ask if peace's wing / Shadows the captives that ensue thy peace / Left lonely from thine ancient shepherding? Lo! west and east and north and south — world-wide / All those from far and near, without surcease / Salute thee: Peace and Peace from every side." (Translation from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_Halevi)

(2) Remember and may all Israel grieve. Your voice will be heard on high

(3) For Germany has destroyed our people in the terrible days of the war’s wrath,

(4) with cruel and terrible deaths, by starvation and thirst.

(5) Do not forget for all generations,until we merit consolation.