Eikha: Theology and Human Suffering (Part II)
The Punishment |
Eikha: |
Devarim 28: |
Israel will not have respite (mano’ach) |
לא מצאה מנוח (א:ג) |
ולא יהיה מנוח לכף רגלך (כח:סה) |
Enemies will overtake Israel (hasig) |
כל רדפיה השיגוה (א:ג) |
ורדפוך והשיגוך עד השמדך (כח:מה) |
The enemy will be at the head (le-rosh) |
היו צריה לראש (א:ה) |
הוא יהיה לראש ואתה תהיה לזנב (כח:מד) ונתנך ה' לראש ולא לזנב (כח:יג) |
Israel’s children will go into captivity (halakh shevi) |
בתולתי ובחורי הלכו בשבי (א:יח) |
בנים ובנות... ילכו בשבי (כח:מא) |
Gates (sha’ar) and walls (choma) will no longer function protectively. |
חשב ה' להשחית חומה... ויאבל חל וחומה (ב:ח) טבעו בארץ שעריה (ב:ט) |
והצר לך בכל שעריך עד רדת חמתיך הגבהת... (כח:נב) |
Israel will spiral downward (teired) |
ותרד פלאים (א:ט) |
ואתה תרד מטה מטה (כח:מג) |
Israel’s king (melekh) will be exiled into the nations (goy). |
מלכה ושריה בגוים (ב:ט) |
יולך ה' אתך ואת מלכך אשר תקים עליך אל גוי אשר לא ידעת (כח:לו) |
Israel will be mocked and disparaged among the nations (ha-amim) |
סחי ומאוס תשימנו בקרב העמים (ג:מה)
|
והיית למשל ולשנינה בכל העמים אשר ינהגך ה' שמה (כח: לז) |
Parents will consume (akhal) their children, the fruit of their womb (peri) from hunger. |
אם תאכלנה נשים פרים, עללי טפחים (ב:כ) |
ואכלת פרי בטנך, בשר בניך ובנתיך (כח:נג) |
The enemy will not honor (lo yisa) elders (zaken) or priests and will not act graciously (lo yachon) to elders and youth (na’ar). |
פני כהנים לא נשאו זקנים לא חננו (ד:טז) נערים בעץ כשלו (ה:יג) |
גוי עז פנים אשר לא ישא פנים לזקן ונער לא יחן (כח:נ) |
The enemy will come, as swiftly as an eagle (nesher). |
קלים היו רדפינו מנשרי שמים (ד:יט) |
ישא ה' עליך גוי... כאשר ידאה הנשר (כח:מט) |
The phrase al tzvar (by our necks) describes Israel’s burdens and exhaustion. |
על צוארנו נרדפנו (ה:ה) |
ונתן על ברזל על צוארך (כח:מח) |
The rarity of some of the shared words and phrases strengthens the connection between these passages. The word mano’ach (Eikha 1:3 and Devarim 28:65), for example, appears outside of these passages only five times in the Bible. God and His people base their relationship on a covenant, a contractual agreement with mutual terms and obligations. Clearly outlined alongside the consequences, the conditions provide clear guidelines for the nation’s wellbeing. Although this does not erase the trauma and questions remain unresolved, the forewarning mitigates the theological disaster, the sense that the punishment is unexpected, disproportionate, and unfair. Perhaps the following verse references the biblical covenant:[6] God did that which He planned; He executed His word that He has commanded in days of old. (Eikha 2:17) As we will see, Eikha also subtly weaves references to prophetic rebukes and warnings throughout the book. In this way, Eikha further indicates that Israel bears responsibility for her catastrophic fall. Prophetic exhortations included predictions of impending disaster and even explicit cautionary threats of the fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the exile of Jerusalem’s inhabitants. Had Israel only listened to her prophets, she might have avoided this situation. We will encounter many of these prophetic references during the course of our study. These subtle allusions to previous biblical admonitions seem mired in hopeless defeat; it appears that Jerusalem has received her just desserts. Nevertheless, if we examine the passages more carefully, they actually convey an inspiring formula for rehabilitation. If the destruction of Jerusalem is a consequence of disobedience, then the situation is reversible; one only has to return to one’s own obligations to receive God’s blessings. Indeed, according to the Torah, God forges an eternal, immutable covenant with Israel. Punishments, even those that appear catastrophic on a national level, do not abrogate the covenant.[7] The reverse is true: punishments that mirror the covenantal stipulations affirm that the covenant remains in place, promising that Israel’s return to obedience will reverse the catastrophic punishments and repair the relationship between God and His nation. R. Akiva notes this message in the celebrated story of his astonishing reaction to the destruction of the second Temple: Rabban Gamliel, R. Elazar ben Azariah, R. Yehoshua and R. Akiva… were coming up to Jerusalem. When they arrived at Mount Scopus, they tore their clothes. When they arrived at the Temple Mount they saw a fox emerging from the Holy of Holies. They began to cry, but R. Akiva laughed [with joy]. They said to him, “Why do you laugh [with joy]?” He said to them, “Why are you crying?” They said, “This is the place about which it was said, ‘A foreigner who draws near shall die’ (Bamidbar 1:51). And now, foxes traverse it; shall we not cry?!” He said to them, “This is why I laugh [with joy]… The verse made the prophecy of Zechariah contingent upon the prophecy of Uriah. Uriah said, ‘Therefore, because of you Zion will be ploughed up like a field’ (Jeremiah 26:18). And Zechariah said, ‘Old men and old women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem’ (Zechariah 8:4). Until the [punitive] prophecy of Uriah was fulfilled, I was afraid that the [promising] prophecy of Zechariah would not be fulfilled. But now that the prophecy of Uriah was fulfilled, it is certain that the prophecy of Zechariah will be fulfilled!” They said to him, “Akiva, you have comforted us! Akiva, you have comforted us!” (Makkot 24b) R. Akiva regards the destruction of the Temple as an event that is part of the ongoing relationship between God and His nation, attesting to God’s ongoing involvement in His nation’s fate and future. God did not abandon Israel; rather, He consciously chastises His people, guiding them to behave properly. Ultimately, the fulfillment of a prophecy, even a punitive one, confirms the truth of the prophetic tradition. Implicit in punishment is the truth of biblical theology and the faith in a restored glory, an idea that has long provided comfort and strengthened belief in a hopeful future. Conclusion In this shiur and the previous one, I have presented three possible approaches to the elusive theology of Eikha. First, perhaps, we should not search for theology in the book, but rather examine it exclusively from the perspective of its emotional agenda. Eikha’s realistic portrayal of human experiences harnesses a range of emotions to describe Israel’s response to the catastrophe and fluctuating feelings toward God. Second, the lack of systematic theology may illustrate the uncertainty and ambiguity that accompany the bid to uncover God’s elusive nature. Third, we noted that entwined into the weave of the book’s construction, we can discern allusions to the tokhacha of Devarim 28 (and other prophetic admonitions), indicating that these events were forewarned, avoidable, and subject to change if Israel repents her errant ways. In spite of the abiding theological questions, remarkably, human faith does not evaporate due to the hardships. According to Eikha’s portrayal, in spite of the difficult questions, faith in God and His goodness remain steadfast (e.g. Eikha 3:21-22), even growing stronger and deepening. Israel’s continued endurance testifies to the resilience of faith that lies at the core of human existence.
[1] This disproportionate representation creates what Dobbs-Alsopp (Lamentations, p. 32) calls “a “qualitative disconnect between Judah’s sin and the superfluity of the punishment she received.” [2] See Tehillim 89:39-50 for a scathing presentation of the incomprehensibility of this event within the context of God’s promises. [3] Although Eikha refrains from enumerating specific sins, the book does make direct reference to sin. These mentions appear especially in chapter 1, which repeatedly references Jerusalem’s sins and rebellion (e.g. Eikha 1:5, 8, 14, 18, 20, 22). [4] Tokhacha literally means rebuke. This appellation appears to focus on the second half of the chapter (Devarim 28:15-68), which enumerates the punishments that God will bring upon the nation if they sin. The term tokhacha does not appear to take into account the first part of the chapter (Devarim 28:1-14), which lists the blessings that God will bestow upon the nation if they obey Him. Perhaps a more accurate title for the chapter is covenant, in which both parties enter a relationship with full cognizance of their respective obligations. The same pattern appears in the other chapter known by the term tokhacha (Vayikra 26). [5] Many have noted these allusions. See e.g. Albrektson, Studies, pp. 231-237; G. H. Cohn, Textual Tapestries: Explorations of the Five Megillot (Jerusalem: Maggid, 2016), pp. 243-246. [6] Interestingly, both Rashi and R. Yosef Kara refer to the covenant of Vayikra 26 in their explanation of this verse. The Targum on this verse refers generally to God’s words to Moshe, without specifying what they are. [7] This is unlike the Ancient Near Eastern Lamentation over the destruction of the city of Ur, which seems to adopt the fatalistic notion that a city’s destruction permanently seals its fate: “Why do you concern yourself with crying? The judgment uttered by the assembly cannot be reversed... Urim was indeed given kingship but it was not given an eternal reign. From time immemorial, since the Land was founded, until people multiplied, who has ever seen a reign of kingship that would take precedence forever? The reign of its kingship had been long indeed but had to exhaust itself. … Abandon your city… and accept the decree.” (Translation taken from Black, J.A., Cunningham, G., Ebeling, J., Flückiger-Hawker, E., Robson, E., Taylor, J., and Zólyomi, G., The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/), Oxford 1998–2006.)
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