We end off Eichah with the pesukim
לָ֤מָּה לָנֶ֙צַח֙ תִּשְׁכָּחֵ֔נוּ תַּֽעַזְבֵ֖נוּ לְאֹ֥רֶךְ יָמִֽים
הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ הֹ׳ אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם
כִּ֚י אִם־מָאֹ֣ס מְאַסְתָּ֔נוּ קָצַ֥פְתָּ עָלֵ֖ינוּ עַד־מְאֹֽד
and then we repeat again
הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ הֹ׳ אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם
Why do we repeat the next to last pasuk again? The simple pshat is that we want to end on an uplifting note. Rav Teichtel in his derashos Mishnas Sachir offers a different explanation. The gemara in Brachos (7b) writes:
זמור לדוד בברחו מפני אבשלום בנו מזמור לדוד קינה לדוד מיבעי ליה אמר ר' שמעון בן אבישלום משל למה הדבר דומה לאדם שיצא עליו שטר חוב קודם שפרעו היה עצב לאחר שפרעו שמח אף כן דוד כיון שאמר לו הקב"ה הנני מקים עליך רעה מביתך היה עצב אמר שמא עבד או ממזר הוא דלא חייס עלי כיון דחזא דאבשלום הוא שמח משום הכי אמר מזמור
David said a mizmor of joy when he found out his punishment was not that he would have a child who is a mamzer or an eved, but rather than Avshalom his son would try to get rid of him.
This is why David was happy and saying a mizmor?! If his own flesh and blood was trying to do away with him, all the more reason he should be upset!
R' Yehonasan Eibshitz answers that there are two types of punishment. There is one type of punishment where Hashem simply turns his back on a person or on a nation, and fate has its way with them, and there is another type of punishment where Hashem himself intervenes to afflict the person or people who need to be taught a lesson. David haMelech was more troubled by the thought of the first punishment than the second. If he must suffer, he thought, let it be b'yad Hashem and let there at least still be a connection. Let it be b'yad Hashem so that what happens brings kaparah and is not simply happenstance.
When David saw that his own son rose against him, he realized that this is something unnatural, outside the bounds of what you would expect b'derech ha'teva. Mizmor l'David, he said, that Hashem has not tossed me to fate, but is still personally involved. If he is involved, everything that happens is a kaparah.
We beg Hashem to put aside our wrongdoings and return us to Him because we have been in galus so long, but maybe it's just our fate to be exiles, maybe that's just how history plays itself out. Maybe Hashem has turned his back on us and left us to the forces of teva, and our suffering has just been happenstance, not kaparah, not a result of leading to some final goal or redemption. What right do we have to demand הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ ? Says the navi, that can't be. כִּ֚י אִם־מָאֹ֣ס מְאַסְתָּ֔נוּ קָצַ֥פְתָּ עָלֵ֖ינוּ עַד־מְאֹֽד. The amount we have suffered עַד־מְאֹֽד is not normal, is beyond what any other people in history ever suffered or experienced. It cannot be simply derech ha'teva, but rather must be yad Hashem. Therefore, if it is yad Hashem, if everything we have gone through is for the sake of kaparah, we reiterate our request, and have every right to ask הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ הֹ׳ אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם.
I sincerely hope nobody in my kehilla reads your website.
ReplyDeleteYasher koach for ending my dithering about looking for a good, punchy, intro to Eicha tonight. It'll give poignant meaning to that last verse said together, and poignant is what we aim for.
It went over well, so thank you. Especially in light of October 7, when we were forced to realize that this is not a simple fight about land and autonomy. The unspeakable savagery followed by the shameless worldwide support for murdering Jews and destroying the State can only be understood as The Fight Between Good and Evil. It has to be yad Hashem, like Crooks in Butler.
DeleteI wonder what you mean "not that he would have a child who is a mamzer or an eved" I get that Nosson said רעה מביתך, but to think there was a chashash that he would have a child a mamzer?? Or that he would father an Eved? Technically possible to have a biological son that is an eved, since it's not misyacheis after him, but I do not want to believe that's the pshat. I think it means "from your household."
The weakness in the vort is that the simple pshat is that Dovid was relieved that it was Avshalom, because yes, he knew there was a threat to his life, but he also knew that more than likely Avshalom would try to find a way to coexist, which is what indeed happened, since he didn't take Achisofel's advice. So yes, having a son threaten your life is disheartening, but once you know there will be a threat to your life, it's good that it should be your son and not someone who naturally hates you and would kill you gleefully.