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When Zion's Children Went Into Exile, God Went With Them

Sanhedrin and priestly watches leave without the Presence. When Zion's children march into captivity, the Divine Presence goes with them.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. What Splendor Meant When It Left
  2. Princes Like Deer Without Pasture
  3. The Cloud of Wrath
  4. The Presence on the Road

The infants went first into the road of captivity, small feet and borrowed strength, and the air over Zion changed. "Her infants are led into captivity before the adversary" (Lamentations 1:5). A mother tried to turn a child back toward a gate that no longer opened for return. Behind them the city still had walls for a little while longer. Behind them the study halls and the watches of the priests still emptied in other columns. None of those columns pulled heaven out of its seat the way the children did.

When Zion's Children Went Into Exile, God Went With Them Click for full size

Rabbi Yehuda said to look carefully. The Sanhedrin (Israel's high court of sages) was exiled, and the Divine Presence did not go with them. The priestly watches were exiled, and the Divine Presence did not go with them. When the children were exiled, the Divine Presence was exiled with them. Then the verse landed like a door closing: "Gone from the daughter of Zion is all her splendor" (Lamentations 1:6).

What Splendor Meant When It Left

The word hadar, splendor, took many bodies before it took the smallest ones. Some heard in it the Holy One clothed in glory (Psalms 104:1). Some heard the Sanhedrin, who dress Torah in practical force and sit until the law finds a verdict. Some heard scholars, the aged faces a people must rise to honor (Leviticus 19:32). Some heard the priestly watches praising in the splendor of holiness (2 Chronicles 20:21). Each reading named a loss. Only one reading moved God out of the city.

When the sages left, Zion still held a Presence that refused their road. Scrolls were rolled and carried. Benches stood empty. Heaven did not stand up. When the priests left, the same. Incense smoke thinned. Courses of service broke. Heaven still sat. When the children left, the Presence stood up. The daughter of Zion lost her portion and her glory in a single file of small captives. "The Lord is my lot and my portion" (Psalms 16:5) became a portion walking east under a foreign spear.

Mothers reached and missed. A child dropped a wooden toy in the dust and could not turn back. The pursuer did not wait. A sandal strap broke and no one stopped the line long enough to fix it.

Princes Like Deer Without Pasture

"Her princes are like deer that have not found pasture; they went powerless before the pursuer" (Lamentations 1:6). Deer should find green. These found none. Soft once, they had been likened to sheep that graze in quiet folds. Hard hunger and hard roads turned them to deer that run and find no grass, legs still fast, strength already gone. Ribs showed under cloth that had been fine in another season.

They went before the pursuer without power. Rank did not feed them. Memory of a throne room did not feed them. The same road that took the children took the men who once decided cases and commanded watches. Dust rose around ankles that had known marble. No one on that road looked like a prince by the second night. A man who had sealed documents with wax now sealed his mouth against thirst.

A deer that finds no pasture still runs. Running is not the same as living. Zion watched her heights thin into flight without rest, and the pursuer did not need to sprint to keep them.

The Cloud of Wrath

"How the Lord has clouded the daughter of Zion in His wrath. He cast the splendor of Israel from the heavens to the earth" (Lamentations 2:1). The congregation of Israel answered from inside the cloud. Once Israel had been the terror of others. Chieftains of Edom had been terrified (Exodus 15:15). Courtiers had hurried to bring Haman when fear ran the other way (Esther 6:14). Now the terror turned around and stayed on Israel's own neck.

Rabbi Aḥa pictured a pillar segment rolling through a plaza until it struck a rock and stopped against it. Wrath rolled until it hit Israel and remained adjacent, heavy, unmoving. "Your wrath weighs upon me" (Psalms 88:8). Not a storm that passes. A weight that chooses a resting place and settles its bulk there. Noble ones who might have carried redemption were scattered like wind. Salvation that might have stood still passed like cloud. The day of wrath did not remember the footstool. Heaven's splendor hit earth and broke into exile dust.

Shofar (the ram's horn blown as a signal) and shouting, once tools for taking a land under Joshua, now marked the reverse under Jeremiah the priest-prophet: a people removed the way other nations had been removed (Deuteronomy 8:20). Same horns. Same noise. Opposite direction. The cloud did not lift when the march began.

The Presence on the Road

God did not stay in an empty sanctuary to nurse a pure reputation. When the children marched, the Presence marched. That is the hard mercy inside the dirge. Splendor gone from Zion means splendor not abandoned to the enemy as ownerless light. It means the Glory chose the weaker column and left marble for dust.

A child stumbled on a root. Someone lifted the child and kept walking. The Presence did not take a separate carriage. Courts and watches could leave without dragging heaven along. Infants could not. Heaven would not keep a seat that preferred institutions to the small bodies that once filled courtyards with noise and sticky hands and questions no sage had scheduled.

Behind them the Temple mount cooled. Ahead of them a foreign road heated under noon. Between those temperatures walked a people and a Presence that had left its footstool rather than lose the children alone. Princes ran like starved deer. Scholars and priests had already gone in other lines. The verse that names lost splendor names, in the same breath, a love that follows the least protected file into captivity and does not turn back to sit on marble while the young are led away.

Zion's daughter stood stripped. Her cloud was wrath. Her company, even then, was God. The road took both, and the city kept neither the children nor the light that refused to stay without them. At dusk the line still moved. A child slept against a shoulder. The Presence did not peel away when the singing stopped and only the shuffle of feet remained.

ExileShechinahZionChildrenEikhah RabbahLamentations
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The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Eikhah Rabbah 1:33Eikhah Rabbah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022 · CC-BY

“Gone from the daughter of Zion is all her splendor. Her princes are like deer that have not found pasture; they went powerless before the pursuer” (Lamentations 1:6)“Gone from the daughter [mibat] of Zion.” Min bat is written. Rabbi Aḥa said: We have one fine portion; that is the Holy One blessed be He, as it is written in His regard: “The Lord is my lot [menat ḥelki] and my portion” (Psalms 16:5). “All its splendor,” this is the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “You are clothed in glory and splendor” (Psalms 104:1).119Thus, when the children were exiled (Lamentations 1:5), God was exiled too, as it were, as implied in (Lamentations 1:6). Alternatively, “all its splendor,” this is the Sanhedrin, as it is written: “Might and splendor are her garments” (Proverbs 31:25).120This is stated regarding the Torah. Since it is the Sanhedrin who interpret the Torah and translates it into practical terms, they are the ones who clothe Torah in glory and splendor. The term splendor in Lamentations can therefore also be interpreted as referring to the Sanhedrin. Alternatively, “all its splendor [hadarah],” these are Torah scholars, as it is written: “You shall rise before the aged and honor [vehadarta] the presence of a sage” (Leviticus 19:32). Alternatively, “all its splendor,” these are the priestly watches, as it is written: “Praising with the splendor of holiness” (II Chronicles 20:21). Alternatively, “all its splendor,” these are the children. Rabbi Yehuda said: Come and see how dear children are before the Holy One blessed be He. The Sanhedrin was exiled, but the Divine Presence was not exiled with them. The priestly watches were exiled, but the Divine Presence was not exiled with them. When the children were exiled, the Divine Presence was exiled with them. That is what is written: “Her infants are led into captivity before the adversary.” Immediately, “gone from the daughter of Zion is all her splendor.”“Her princes are like deer [that have not found pasture].”121Pasture is typically associated with sheep, not deer. Rabbi Yehuda said: When they are soft they are likened to sheep, as it is stated: “The sheep will graze as in their pasture” (Isaiah 5:17). When they are rigid they are likened to deer, as it is stated: “Her princes are like deer.”Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Abba and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua [said]: Just as these deer turn their faces away from one another during a heat wave,122They race directly to a water source with no consideration for any other deer. so too the prominent among Israel would see a matter of transgression and would turn their faces away from it. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘A time will come when I will do so to you.’“They went powerless before the pursuer.” Rabbi Azarya said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon: When Israel performs the will of the Omnipresent, they add strength to the power on high, just as it says: “With God we will triumph” (Psalms 60:14). When Israel does not perform the will of the Omnipresent, they, as it were, exhaust the great power on high, as it is written: “You abandoned the Rock that begot you” (Deuteronomy 32:18). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon [said] in the name of Rabbi Levi ben Rabbi Tarfon: When Israel performs the will of the Holy One blessed be He, they add strength to the power on high, just as it says: “Now, please, let the power of the Lord be great” (Numbers 14:17). When Israel does not perform the will of the Holy One blessed be He, they, as it were, exhaust the great power on high, and they, too, go “powerless before the pursuer.”Rabbi Huna, Rabbi Aḥa, and Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, and the Rabbis in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: A person would say to his counterpart in Jerusalem: ‘Read one Bible column to me,’ and he would say to him: ‘I do not have the strength.’ ‘Teach me one chapter of Mishna,” and he would say to him: ‘I do not have the strength.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘A time will come and I will do so to you.’“They went powerless before the pursuer [rodef].” Rabbi Aḥa said: Just as Israel was exiled only by a full-fledged pursuer, so, they will be redeemed only with a full-fledged redeemer, as it is written: “A redeemer [goel] will come to Zion” (Isaiah 59:20), it is written full.123The Hebrew word is written with a vav, just as the word rodef in the verse in Lamentations is written with a vav, despite the fact that both could have been written without the vav.

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Eikhah Rabbah 2:1Eikhah Rabbah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022 · CC-BY

“How the Lord has clouded the daughter of Zion in His wrath. He cast the splendor of Israel from the heavens to the earth, and did not remember His footstool on the day of His wrath” (Lamentations 2:1).“Terror [balahot] overwhelms me” (Job 30:15). Rabbi Ḥanina said: The congregation of Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: In the past, it was I [Israel] who would terrify others, just as it says: “They hastened [vayavhilu] to bring Haman” (Esther 6:14). And another verse says: “I will render you a terror and you will be no more” (Ezekiel 26:21).1This verse is directed to Tyre, as punishment to their actions toward Israel. And it says: “Then the chieftains of Edom were terrified” (Exodus 15:15). Now it has been reversed against me. Rabbi Aḥa said: [This is analogous] to a segment of a pillar that was rolling through a plaza, and it collided with a rock and remained adjacent to it. So, “Your wrath weighs upon me” (Psalms 88:8).2The point is that when God’s wrath, which inflicts terror, came upon Israel, it remained with Israel. “It pursues my virtue [nedivati] like the wind” (Job 30:15), people who are noble minded [nedivim] and are worthy to have redemption come through them, You scatter them like the wind. “And like a cloud, my salvation passes” (Job 30:15), people who are noble minded and are worthy to have salvation come through them, You divert them and cause them to pass like clouds, as it is stated: “How the Lord has clouded the daughter of Zion in His wrath.” And it is written: “Like the nations that the Lord is eliminating from before you [so you will be eliminated]” (Deuteronomy 8:20). Say that just as those were with a priest and a prophet, so, too, these were with a priest and a prophet.3The elimination of the Canaanite nations began with the destruction of Jericho in a process led by priests and by Joshua, a prophet (see Joshua chapter 6). Similarly, Israel’s exile was foretold by Jeremiah, who was both a prophet and a priest (Etz Yosef). Just like those, it was with a shofar and shouting, so, too, these were with a shofar and shouting. And just as these were fourteen, as it is stated: “The Dinites, and the Afaresatekhites, the Tarpelites, the Afaresites, the Arkevites, the Babylonians, the Shushankhites, the Dehites, the Elamites, and the rest of the nations whom the great and honored Asenapar exiled” (Ezra 4:9–10),4The phrase “the rest of the nations” refers to an additional five nations mentioned in (II Kings 17:24). These fourteen nations were exiled from their homelands and resettled in Samaria by Sennacherib of Assyria. They were all who remained of the nations that he conquered. say that these, too, were fourteen, as it is written: “On that day, his fortified cities will be like the abandoned forest and the treetop [haamir] that they abandoned” (Isaiah 17:9). What is haamir? It is as stated.5The midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) interprets the word haamir to mean “as stated [haamur],” meaning that the remnant will be as stated earlier in that passage: “There shall be left in it gleanings, as at the beating of an olive tree, two or three berries in the uppermost bough, four or five in the branches of the fruitful tree” (Isaiah 17:6). The verse mentions two, three, four, and five, which equal a total of fourteen. This is an expression of the fact that the remnant will be small in number (Etz Yosef). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon said: As it is stated in the Torah: “Like the nations that the Lord is eliminating from before you [so you will be eliminated]” (Deuteronomy 8:20). Say that just as these were with the collapse of the wall, as it is written: “The wall collapsed in its place” (Joshua 6:20), these, too, were with the collapse of the wall.6See Eikha Rabba, Prologue, 30, where it is asserted that during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem the wall around the city sank two and a half handbreadths per day until the enemies were able to enter the city. Just as these were with thickets [avim], as it is written: “They go into thickets [be’avim]…and into the rocks” (Jeremiah 4:29),7In the context of the midrash, this is referring to the destruction of other nations. However, the verse in Jeremiah is actually stated regarding the destruction of Israel. Some suggest that since it has been established that the destruction of each is parallel, this verse implies that the destruction of the nations of the world will also be in this manner (Maharzu). Some suggest that the text be emended such that the citation is from (Isaiah 19:1) rather than from (Jeremiah 4:29) (Etz Yosef). these, too, were with avim, “how the Lord has clouded [ya’iv]…in His wrath.”

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