By the Rivers of Babylon the Holy One Wept With Them

Pesikta Rabbati 28:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in its midst we hung our harps" (Psalms 137:1-2). This is what was said by Jeremiah the prophet: "My tent is despoiled and all my cords are snapped" (Jeremiah 10:20). Against whom was this verse spoken? Jeremiah said it against Israel, yet he also said it concerning the Holy One, blessed be He. For at the hour Israel was exiled and the Temple was destroyed and the Sanhedrin uprooted, the Holy One, blessed be He, wept over them in bitterness of soul and took up a lament for them, saying, "My tent is despoiled," and the enemies entered and plundered My sanctuary, and I sit silent. "Tent" means nothing other than the Temple, as it says, "the tent He set among men" (Psalms 78:60). "And all my cords are snapped" refers to the Sanhedrin, which is to the world as cords are to a tent; just as a tent cannot stand except by its cords, so, were it not for the elders sitting in the Great Sanhedrin who fix the festivals and intercalate the years and the months and permit the permitted and forbid the forbidden and settle the world, the world could not endure even one hour. "My sons have gone forth from me and are no more" (Jeremiah 10:20). But are not Israel still alive in the world? Rather, the meaning is that they no longer keep the festivals properly as they were commanded at Sinai. When they were exiled, the nations were astonished at the sight of them, their faces blackened like the bottom of a pot, and they said, "Is this the city of which they said, the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?" (Lamentations 2:15). At that hour they justified the judgment upon themselves and said, "Far be it from the Holy One to render judgment without justice." Israel answered, "Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me" (Song of Songs 1:6); my own deeds caused this, for I forsook the Holy One and went after sun and moon, and my mother's sons, my false prophets, were the ones who drove me to this sorrow. Another interpretation: "There we sat down and weep." This teaches that they had no rest from the time they left the Land of Israel until they reached the Euphrates. Why did Israel weep by the rivers of Babylon? Rabbi Yochanan said: the Euphrates killed more of Israel than the wicked Nebuchadnezzar did, for while they dwelt in the Land they drank only rainwater and spring water, but when they were exiled to Babylon they drank the water of the Euphrates and many died of it. Moreover, the wicked Nebuchadnezzar sat in a ship with all his nobles amid every kind of music, while the kings of Judah were cast in iron chains and marched naked along the riverbank. When he saw them walking without burdens, he ordered loads placed upon their shoulders until their stature was bent. At that hour all Israel cried out in weeping until their cry rose to the heights. Rabbi Acha bar Abba said: at that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, sought to return the whole world to chaos and void, saying, "All that I created, I created only for these." Rabbi Tachlifa bar Kruya said: at that hour all the ministering angels entered and stood before the Holy One and said, "Master of the world, the world and all that fills it is Yours; is it not enough that You have destroyed Your dwelling below, that You would also destroy Your dwelling above?" He said to them: do I need comforting? Am I flesh and blood that I should need your consolations? Their consolations, He said, are an offense before Me. Go down and remove the burden from My sons. Not the angels alone went down, but the Holy One Himself bore the burden with them, for were the matter not written, it could not be said: "For your sake I was sent to Babylon" (Isaiah 43:14). Rabbi Yitzchak expounded: "Upon the willows in its midst we hung our harps." When the captors said, "Stand and sing before our idol as you sang in the Temple," Israel answered, "Had we sung in our own place, we would not have been exiled; now how shall we sing before an idol?" At that hour the Holy One swore a complete oath, as it were bringing it upon Himself: "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let My right hand forget" (Psalms 137:5). The Holy One took His hand and turned it behind Him when Israel was exiled, as it says, "He drew His right hand back before the enemy" (Lamentations 2:3). They said in the name of Abaye: joy is destined to come on the Ninth of Av, for they fixed mourning upon it now, but the Holy One is destined to make it a festival, as it says, "I will turn their mourning into joy" (Jeremiah 31:13).

Themes

ExileMourningDivine Compassion

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