The Proud Daughters of Zion and the Judgment That Came

"And Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me" (Isaiah 49:14). The Assembly of Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the worlds, have You forgotten that strength my children proclaimed before You at the sea, "the LORD is my strength and song" (Exodus 15:2)? Another interpretation of "the LORD has forsaken me" [azavani]: like the forgotten sheaf, as it is said, "you shall leave [ta'azov] them for the poor and the stranger" (Leviticus 19:10). Another: the LORD leaves me exposed before the eyes of the nations of the world. Rabbi Hanina interpreted the verse of the daughters of Zion themselves: "The LORD says, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks" (Isaiah 3:16). "Because the daughters of Zion are haughty"—they walked with arrogance. "And walk with outstretched necks"—when one of them adorned herself, she would tilt her neck this way and that to show off her jewelry. "And wanton eyes"—Rabbi Nisa of Caesarea said they painted their eyes with red dye; Resh Lakish said with red eye-paint. "Walking and mincing as they go"—when one was tall she would bring two short women and walk between them so she would seem to float above them; when one was short she would wear thick clogs and walk between two short women so she would look young. "And making a tinkling with their feet" (Isaiah 3:16)—Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said one of them would draw the shape of a dragon on her sandal. The Rabbis said one of them would take a bladder of a hen, fill it with balsam, and place it between her heel and her sandal; when she reached a group of young men she would stamp on it so it burst, and the scent would spread among them and stir desire in them like a serpent's venom. The Holy One, blessed be He, would say to Jeremiah: Jeremiah, what are these doing here? Let them be exiled from here. Jeremiah would go about among them and say: My daughters, repent before the enemies come upon you. And what would they say? "Let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we may see it" (Isaiah 5:19)—a duke will see me and take me for a wife, a prefect will see me and take me for a wife. "And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it" (Isaiah 5:19)—that we may know on whose word it stands, ours or His. When the sins caused it and the enemies entered Jerusalem, the daughters went out before them adorned like harlots; a duke saw one and took her for a wife and seated her in his chariot, a prefect saw one and took her for a wife and seated her in his chariot. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: His word stood and Mine did not stand? What did He do to them? Rabbi Elazar said: He struck them with leprosy, as it is written, "the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the daughters of Zion" (Isaiah 3:17); sapahat means nothing but leprosy, as it is said, "for a rising, and for a scab [sapahat], and for a bright spot" (Leviticus 14:56). Rabbi Dosa bar Hanina said: He raised lice upon their heads in colonies. Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said: He made them into bound maidservants—that is, their mothers were enslaved. Rabbi Berekhiah, Halfo bar Zavud in the name of Rabbi Yassa: it is written sippeah—He guarded their families [mishpehoteihem] so that holy seed would not mingle with the people of the lands. Even so they did not turn back. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I know that the nations of the world do not abstain from issue or from leprosy; what did He do to them? "And the LORD will lay bare their secret parts" (Isaiah 3:17). What is "will lay bare"? The Holy One gave a sign to their fountains, and they flowed with blood, and it filled his chariot with blood; when one of them saw this, he would pierce her with a sword and cast her beneath his chariot, and the chariot passed over her and cut her in two, and they said to one another, Turn aside from them, they are unclean. This is what the prophet rebukes them, saying, "Depart, unclean! they cried to them; depart, depart" (Lamentations 4:15). Rabbi Hanina bar Pappa and Rabbi Simon: Rabbi Hanina bar Pappa said: Israel was not exiled until they spurned the Holy One. And Rabbi Simon said: They were not exiled until they became, as it were, masters who could command the Holy One [by their insolence].