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The verse calls them "the precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold" (Lamentations 4:2). According to Gittin 58a, the Jewish children taken captive to Rome after the Temple's ...
Reish Lakish was a bandit. He was also, according to Bava Metzia 84a, one of the most physically imposing men alive—a gladiator, a highwayman, a man who lived by violence. Then he ...
Eikha Rabbah: A midrash (Jewish rabbinic literature) on the Book of Lamentations (Eikha). It is also called Eikha Rabati, Aggadat Eikha, or Midrash Kinot. In the Tosefta (supplemen...
The destruction of Jerusalem did not end when the Temple burned. In the years that followed, the Romans hunted down the children of the sages, enslaving some, executing others, sca...
Destruction of Bet Tur. Gittin, f. 57 a. Sanhedrin (the supreme rabbinic court), f. 17 b. Rosh Hashana, f. 18 b. Taanit, 26 b, 29 a. Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) Taa...
Three Clever Tricks. Midr. Lament. I. Lament. R. I § 4. Yalk. Sip. IV, p. 86. Maase Buch No. 187. Helvicus, Historien, I, ch. 21, p. 91. Grunbaum, Jiid. Dtsch. Chrest. p. 428. Tend...
Joseph was brought down to Egypt (Genesis 39:1). Lamentations gives the frame: "Good is the man who sits alone and is silent, for he will bear the yoke upon himself. He will put hi...
Jeremiah wrote the Book of Lamentations as an alphabetical curse — each verse beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, a devastation so systematic it marched from Ale...
Rabbi Pinhas said in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: There were four hundred and eighty synagogues in Jerusalem before the destruction. The number came from a single verse — "filled wit...
“All your enemies opened their mouths wide against you; they whistled and gnashed teeth, they said: We have demolished! Indeed, this is the day for which we hoped; we found, we saw...
“The Lord accomplished what He devised: He implemented His statement that He commanded from the days of old; He destroyed and had no compassion. He caused the enemy to rejoice over...
“Lad and elder lay on the ground in the streets, my young women and my young men fell by the sword. You killed on the day of Your wrath, You slaughtered, had no compassion” (Lament...
“He is like a bear in ambush to me, a lion in hiding” (Lamentations 3:10).“He is like a bear in ambush to me” – this is Nebuchadnezzar. “A lion in hiding” – this is Nevuzaradan. Al...
“To subdue under his feet all the prisoners of the earth” (Lamentations 3:34).“To subdue under his feet…” – this is Nebuchadnezzar, in whose regard it is written: “[And everywhere]...
“All our enemies have opened their mouth against us” (Lamentations 3:46).“[All our enemies] have opened [patzu] their mouth against us” – why does peh come before ayin?74The verses...
“My enemies hunted me like a bird, without cause. They bound my life in the pit, and cast stones at me” (Lamentations 3:52–53).“My enemies hunted me like a bird, without cause. The...
“I called Your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit” (Lamentations 3:55).“I called Your name, Lord, from the depths of the pit” – this is Joseph, this is Jeremiah, this is Daniel...
“You heard their taunt, Lord, all their thoughts about me. The lips of those who rise against me and their thoughts are against me all day. Look at their sitting and their rising; ...
“Even jackals take out a breast, nurse their pups; the daughter of my people has become cruel, like ostriches in the wilderness” (Lamentations 4:3).“Even jackals take out a breast,...
Wealthy families who once dined on aged wine and fine bread ended up rummaging through garbage heaps for food. Eikhah Rabbah, a 5th-century CE midrash (rabbinic interpretive commen...
“Her nazirites were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their appearance was ruddier than gems, their form, a sapphire” (Lamentations 4:7).“Her nazirites were purer than snow,” for ...
“Their countenance is blacker than coal, they are not recognized in the streets; their skin is shriveled on their bones, it has become dry as wood” (Lamentations 4:8).“Their counte...
“The blind wandered in the streets, having been sullied with blood, so that one could not touch their garments” (Lamentations 4:14).“The blind wandered in the streets.” The blind a...
“The attention of the Lord has divided them; He will not continue to look at them. They did not respect priests and were not gracious to elders” (Lamentations 4:16).“The attention ...
“Be glad and rejoice, daughter of Edom, who resides in the land of Utz: the cup will pass to you too; you will get drunk, and you will be overturned” (Lamentations 4:21).“Be glad a...
“Our water we drank for money; our wood comes at a price” (Lamentations 5:4).“Our water we drank for money.” One time, the tormentors entered and took their bread, their wine, thei...
“Our fathers have sinned, and are no more; and we have suffered their iniquities” (Lamentations 5:7).“Our fathers have sinned, and are no more.” The Holy One blessed be He said to ...
“Servants rule over us; there is no deliverer from their hand” (Lamentations 5:8).“Servants rule over us,” this is Egypt.11They descend from Ham, who was cursed by Noah that his de...
“Our skin burns like an oven due to fear of famine” (Lamentations 5:10).“Our skin burns like an oven.” Two amora’im, one said: Like those sun-withered dates; and one said: Like an ...
“Princes were hanged by their hand; the elders were not shown deference” (Lamentations 5:12).“Princes were hanged by their hand.” There was a government steward who entered the cit...
“The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music” (Lamentations 5:14).“The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their music.” They ceased playi...
“The crown of our head has fallen; woe to us, for we have sinned” (Lamentations 5:16).“The crown of our head has fallen.” Rabbi Yirmeya of Shavshav took an olive branch crown and t...
“For You have despised us, You have been exceedingly angry with us” (Lamentations 5:22).“For You have despised us, You have been exceedingly angry with us.” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish...
Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: The Holy One blessed be He said to them, to Israel: You wept and said: “We have become orphans, fatherless” (Lamentations 5:3). By yo...
That feeling isn't exactly new. to a fascinating interpretation of a very famous moment: God calling out to Adam after he ate from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. We a...
His master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph (Gen. 38:7). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that indulge ...
(Lev. 17:3:) “If any single person from the House of Israel slaughters.” R. Aqiva says, “When Israel was in the desert, they would slaughter cattle by stabbing and eat them; but he...
(Numb. 25:2:) “And they invited the people to the sacrifices for their gods.” Thus they (i.e., daughters of Moab) were going by the counsel of Balaam, as stated (in Numb. 31:16), “...
And you say, "I shall eat meat" (Deuteronomy 12:20): Rabbi Eliezer beRabbi Yehoshua said, "From here you learn that a man should not acquire a litra of meat until he consults with ...
