She Weeps by Night and the Holy One Weeps by Day

Pesikta Rabbati 29:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"She weeps sorely in the night" (Lamentations 1:2). Let our master teach us: may the priests immerse themselves for their heave-offering on the Ninth of Av? Rabbi Chanina, the deputy high priest, said: the house of our God is worthy that one immersion be forfeited for its sake (Baraita, Taanit 13a). Needless to say, we must remember the destruction of the Temple, for the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let My right hand forget" (Psalms 137:5). And so Jeremiah says, "My soul earnestly remembers and is bowed down within me" (Lamentations 3:20). As it were, see what is written concerning the glory of the Holy One: "And the Lord, the LORD of hosts, called on that day to weeping and to lamentation" (Isaiah 22:12). So too, "Therefore I said, turn away from me; I will weep bitterly" (Isaiah 22:4). As it were, the Holy One said: just as it is below, so before Me there is weeping above, over what has come to pass, weeping before Me because I have abandoned My dwelling. Thus Rabbi Tanchuma opened: "Thus says the LORD, let my eyes run down with tears night and day and not cease" (Jeremiah 14:17). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: she weeps in the night, you weep in the night, and I weep day and night. Why? Because there is no sleep before Me, as it says, "Behold, He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps" (Psalms 121:4). Scripture did not reveal whether the prophet said "let my eyes run down with tears," but since it says "day and night," and a human being cannot weep day and night, this teaches that it speaks of the Holy One, before whom there is no sleep. "She weeps sorely" — why two weepings? Weeping over her slain, and weeping also over the famine that was there, when they ate the flesh of sons and daughters, as it says, "The hands of compassionate women boiled their own children" (Lamentations 4:10). Rabbi Yochanan said: just as the people of Zion ate the flesh of sons and daughters, so the women of Samaria ate the flesh of sons and daughters, as it is told of the famine in Samaria, when the king passed on the wall and a woman cried out, "Give your son that we may eat him" (2 Kings 6:25-29). Rabbi Yochanan said: in the first destruction and in the second, parents ate the flesh of sons and daughters, and over this Jeremiah lamented. Another interpretation: why two weepings? Weeping over Jerusalem and weeping over the rivers of Babylon. Another: she weeps over herself and weeps because Jeremiah departed from them, for he lightened the yoke from upon them. What did he do? He would place the iron collar upon his own neck, and Nebuzaradan would remove it, saying, "You are harming yourself, lest the king hear and rebuke me, for he commanded me, 'Take him and set your eyes upon him, and do him no harm'" (Jeremiah 39:12). The captors would drive the exiles, and when they saw Jeremiah among them they would slow their pace; therefore Jeremiah stayed with them, walking and weeping. Therefore, "she weeps sorely in the night." "How does she sit alone" (Lamentations 1:1). It is written, "Yet you did not call upon Me, O Jacob, for you grew weary of Me, O Israel" (Isaiah 43:22). When the idolatrous priest came to one of them and said, "The idol told me you are unwilling to offer it any of your children," the man would answer, "They are busy at their work; wait, I have a young son in school from whom I have no benefit — him I will offer," and at once he would take him; this is the meaning of "You took your sons whom you bore to Me" (Ezekiel 16:20). The Holy One said: for idols you offer your children and do not grow weary, yet of Me you grow weary, as it says, "you grew weary of Me, O Israel." Have I burdened you to bring Me peace-offerings? Only if one wishes to bring them. Have I wearied you with frankincense? I asked only a handful. "How does she sit alone" — all the world is astonished at her, asking, "Why has the land perished?" "And the LORD said, because they forsook My Torah" (Jeremiah 9:11-12).

Themes

MourningTemple DestructionDivine Compassion

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