God's Lament At The Western Wall

A Psalm (Psalms 79:1-2): "O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy Temple; they have made Jerusalem into heaps; they have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the heavens," and so forth. Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He, for He remembers Jerusalem at every time and at every hour, yet before Him there is no injustice, nor forgetfulness, nor favoritism. And so it is explained in tradition by David, king of Israel, as it is said (Psalms 68:36): "You are awesome, O God, from Your sanctuaries; the God of Israel, He gives strength and might to the people," and so forth. And so it is explained in tradition by Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 10:20): "My tent is despoiled, and all my cords are snapped; my children have gone forth from me and are no more; there is none to spread my tent again, and to set up my curtains." As it were, He made Himself as though He had no power to save, Heaven forbid. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: These despoilers came and despoiled My city, and My house, and My Temple. And since Israel had been exiled, it was in the mind of the Holy One, blessed be He, not to restore Israel to their place again, until Rachel stood in prayer before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said before Him: Master of the Universe, remember on my behalf that I did not insist upon my own grievance, and moreover, that my husband labored for me seven years, and at the hour of my entering the wedding canopy they substituted my sister Leah, and I said nothing to Jacob, so that he would not distinguish between my voice and my sister's voice. Immediately the mercies of the Holy One, blessed be He, were stirred, and He swore to her, to Rachel, to restore her children to their place, as it is said (Jeremiah 31:15): "A voice is heard in Ramah," and so forth, "Rachel weeping for her children." Once Rabbi Tzadok entered the Temple and saw it in ruins. He said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, my Father who is in Heaven, You have destroyed Your city and burned Your Temple, and You sit at ease, tranquil and quiet! Immediately Rabbi Tzadok dozed off, and he saw the Holy One, blessed be He, standing in mourning, and the ministering angels lamenting after Him and saying: Woe for the faithful one, Jerusalem. And once again, Rabbi Nathan entered the Temple and found it in ruins, with one wall standing. He said: What is the nature of this wall? One said to him: I will show you. Immediately he took a ring and fixed it into that wall, and the ring kept going and coming, until he saw the Holy One, blessed be He, who was bowing down and rising up and standing and wailing over the destruction of the Temple and over Israel who had been exiled, as it is said (Zechariah 11:2): "Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, for the mighty are despoiled." And "cypress" here means none other than the Holy One, blessed be He, may His name be blessed and exalted forever and to all eternity. Come and see how abundant are the mercies of the Holy One, blessed be He, toward Israel forever. Even if all their days they had worshiped idols, yet when they perform even a slight repentance, He weeps over them at once. According to your own way you learn that in every generation, when the Holy One, blessed be He, finds righteous and pious people, He claps His two hands one against the other and places them against His heart and weeps over them, whether in secret or in the open. And why does He weep over them in secret? Because it is a disgrace for the lion to weep before the fox, and a disgrace for the king to weep before his servants, and a disgrace for the householder to weep before his laborers, as it is said (Jeremiah 13:17): "But if you will not hear it, My soul shall weep in secret places because of your pride, and my eye shall weep sorely, and run down with tears, because the flock of the LORD is taken captive." And moreover, the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself, in His glory, came down from the uppermost heaven of heavens, from the place of His greatness and His splendor and from the holiness of His great name, and He Himself raised a lament over them, as it is said (Isaiah 22:1, 12): "The burden of the Valley of Vision," and so forth, "And on that day the Lord, the LORD of hosts, called for weeping, and for mourning, and for baldness, and for girding with sackcloth." Another interpretation: "You shall surely weep in the night." A parable: to what may this be likened? To a king of flesh and blood whose wife and children sinned against him; he arose and thrust them out and expelled them from his house. And every single year he goes to the place where he had thrust them out, and bows down his full stature to the ground, and weeps. And were it not that Scripture is written, it would be impossible to say it, like a father who says in weeping, "Alas, my son," and like a hen that clucks over her chicks, as it is said (Isaiah 22:5): "For it is a day of trouble, and of trampling, and of perplexity to the Lord, the LORD of hosts, in the Valley of Vision, breaking down the wall," and so forth.