To a fascinating passage from the Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 470, a compilation of rabbinic commentary on the books of the Prophets, which explores this very feeling.
The story begins with Jeremiah. As he's parting ways with God, he asks four weighty questions: despising, rejection, abandonment, and forgetting. According to the text, he only gets answers to two. Imagine the prophet, witnessing the devastation of Jerusalem, bewildered and seeking answers. "Is it possible," he wonders, "that the Holy One will return to them after this?" He's like a friend pleading with a king on behalf of a beloved but disgraced queen. "If you intend to return to her," Jeremiah asks, "then treat her like a wife. If not, then divorce her!" He's essentially asking: "Have You truly rejected Judah? Has Your soul despised Zion?"
God's response is indirect. He tells Jeremiah to consult Moses, the teacher of all prophets. And what does Moses say? "But despite all this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not despise them nor will I reject them..." (Leviticus 26:44). So, Jeremiah gets answers about despising and rejection, but what about abandonment and forgetting?
This is where Zion, personified as a grieving woman, steps in. She sees that Jeremiah's questions about despising and rejection were answered, but the questions about abandonment and forgetting were not. So, she cries out, "The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me!" (Isaiah 49:14). But here's the twist: the verse repeats "The Lord." Why? Zion argues that even God's attributes of mercy, the very essence of "Lord, Lord, benevolent God, Who is compassionate and gracious..." (Exodus 34:6), have abandoned her. Ouch. That's a deep wound.
The Yalkut Shimoni offers several interpretations of Zion's lament. One suggests she feels like the forgotten gleanings left for the poor (Leviticus 23:22), cast aside and overlooked. Another sees her burdened with punishments, made "worth abandoning."
But God isn't having it. He rebukes Zion, calling her a "complainer, the son of a complainer!" He reminds her that even Adam complained about the woman He provided, and even Joseph, destined to be king of Egypt, questioned God's plan. Even the Israelites in the wilderness, despite being given heavenly food, grumbled about "rotten bread" (Numbers 21:5).
God points out that He's already removed powerful empires like Babylon, Maday (the Medes), and Greece. He was even preparing to remove the fourth kingdom (understood to be Rome) when Zion started complaining. It’s as if God is saying, "I'm working on it! Have a little faith!"
The text offers another layer: Zion accuses God of forgetting the praises her children sang at the sea after the Exodus: "The Eternal's strength..." (Exodus 15:2). It's a poignant reminder of past glories and present suffering.
The passage then presents a powerful analogy from R’ Elazar. Zion cries out: Even a man who takes a second wife remembers his first wife, but You have forgotten me! The Holy One replies to her – my daughter, I created twelve constellations in the firmament opposite the twelve tribes and for each constellation I created thirty troops, and for each troop I created thirty routes, and on each route I created thirty legions, and for each legion I created thirty camps, and for each camp I created thirty squares, and for each square I created three hundred and sixty-five stars like the number of the days of the solar calendar. All of these I created only for you, and you say ‘He has forgotten me, He has abandoned me?!’
Finally, God uses the most powerful image of all: "Shall a woman forget her sucking child (ulah)..." (Isaiah 49:15)? He vows never to forget the sacrifices (olot) and firstborns offered to Him. It's a promise of unwavering love and remembrance.
But Zion, still wrestling with her pain, pushes further. What about the Golden Calf? Will You forget that sin? God says He will. And then, she asks, what about the events at Mount Sinai? Will You forget the good things we did there? To which God responds, "I will not forget you."
So, what does this all mean? It seems to me that the Yalkut Shimoni isn't just about historical events. It's a deeply human exploration of faith, doubt, and the enduring, often turbulent, relationship between God and His people. It reminds us that even in our darkest moments, when we feel utterly forgotten, we are still seen, still loved, and still remembered. And maybe, just maybe, that's enough to keep us going.
Jeremiah asked the Holy One four things at the hour when he separated from Him, on two he received an answer and on two he did not. They are: despising, rejection, abandonment and forgetting. Since Jeremiah saw the outlandish judgments which He brought upon Jerusalem he stood astonished, saying: is it possible that the Holy One will return to them after this? Then he asked the Holy One about these four things. So it says at the end of the scroll of lamentations “Why do You forget us forever, forsake us so long?” (Lamentations 5:20) “For if You have utterly rejected us, You have been exceedingly wroth against us.” (Lamentations 5:22) This is like a king who had a matron who was very beloved to him. Because the matron knew that the king loved her too much she violated the king’s honor and transgressed his decrees. One time decreed upon her that his servants come and drag her by her hair. Her dear friend who was present stood astonished, and seeing this immediately ran to come before the king. He said to him: my master the king, tell me what you intend. If you intend to return to her, then a man should rule over his wife. If you do not intend to return to her, you should divorce her that she can go and marry another. So Jeremiah said before the Holy One: Master of the World! “Have You indeed rejected Judah? Has Your soul despised Zion?” (Jeremiah 14:19) If Your intention is to return to her “Why have You smitten us and we have no cure?” (ibid.) He replied: go to your teacher, and to the teacher of your teacher – Moshe, the teacher of all the prophets. This is what I said to him at the end of all the curses: “But despite all this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will not despise them nor will I reject them…” (Leviticus 26:44) Here we see that on two he received an answer and on two he did not. Since Zion saw that Jeremiah asked four things of the Holy One - despising, rejection, abandonment and forgetting – and that the Holy One answered him about despising and rejection but not about abandonment and forgetting, she began to make claims regarding the other two. “And Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’” (Isaiah 49:14) Another explanation. And Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and has forgotten me.’ The verse doesn’t say this, but rather ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’ Why does it say ‘the Lord and the Lord’? She said to Him: even the two attributes of mercy which are written about You “Lord, Lord, benevolent God, Who is compassionate and gracious…” (Exodus 34:6) have abandoned me and forgotten me. Another explanation. He forfeited me to all the nations, gleanings, forgotten sheaves and the corners of the fields as it says “When you reap the harvest of your Land…you shall leave these for the poor person and for the stranger.” (Leviticus 23:22) Another explanation. ‘The Lord has forsaken me (azavtani).’ He loaded me up with many punishments as it is written “You shall surely help along with him (azov ta’azov).” (Exodus 23:5) Another explanation. ‘The Lord has forsaken me.’ That is, made me worth abandoning, as it is written “…and the Lord shall pour out their vessels.” (Isaiah 3:17) This comes to teach that He hinted to their springs and they poured forth and they were sunk in blood and abandoned and they cast them away. The Holy One said to them: complainers the sons of complainers! I was engaged with the first man, in order to make him a helpmate, as it says “…I shall make him a helpmate opposite him,” (Genesis 2:18) and he complained about Me, “The woman whom You gave to be with me she gave me…” (Genesis 3:12) I was engaged with Yaakov’s son to make him king over Egypt, “Now Joseph was the ruler over the land…” (Genesis 42:6) and He complained before Me, saying “My way has been hidden from the Lord…” (Isaiah 40:27) Even his sons did the same in the wilderness! I was engaged in choosing for them an easy food like that which kings eat, so that not one of them should be seized by indigestion or diarrhea, and they complained before Me, saying “…and we are disgusted with this rotten bread.” (Numbers 21:5) So too Zion did to Me. I was engaged in removing the kingdoms from the world, haven’t I already removed Babylon, Maday and Greece? I was about to cause the fourth kingdom to pass away and she complained before Me, saying ‘You have abandoned me, You have forgotten me.’ Another explanation. Knesset Yisrael said before the Holy One: You have forgotten that might which my children mentioned before you at the sea “The Eternal's strength…” (Exodus 15:2) Another explanation. “And Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.’” (Isaiah 49:14) Forsaken is the same as forgotten! R’ Elazar said: Knesset Yisrael said before the Holy One – Master of the World! A man who marries another wife in addition to his first still remembers the actions of the first, but You have forsaken me. The Holy One replied to her – my daughter, I created twelve constellations in the firmament opposite the twelve tribes and for each constellation I created thirty troops, and for each troop I created thirty routes, and on each route I created thirty legions, and for each legion I created thirty camps, and for each camp I created thirty squares, and for each square I created three hundred and sixty-five stars like the number of the days of the solar calendar. All of these I created only for you, and you say ‘He has forgotten me, He has abandoned me?!’ “Shall a woman forget her sucking child (ulah)…” (Isaiah 49:15) I will never forget the burnt offerings (olot) and firstborns which you offered before Me. She said before Him - Master of the World! Since there is no forgetting before Your Holy Throne, maybe then You will not forget what I did with the Golden Calf? He replied to her – I will also forget this. She said before Him – Master of the World! Since there is forgetting before Your Holy Throne, maybe you will forget what I did at Mount Sinai? He said to her “I will not forget you.” (ibid.)
