I came across an interesting commentary on Megillas Eicha called אלון בכות, (Alon Bachus) originally printed 303 years ago. Rather than viewing Eicha as a Lamentation over destruction, he offers a commentary that views Eicha in a positive light.
The author, Rav Binyomin Vital, explains that we are taught that all the books of Tanach will have meaning in Messianic times as well. As those won't be time of remembering suffering, how will Megillas Eicha have meaning then? He answers that as we find the curses of Bilam were turned into blessings, (and the blessings themselves became curses), we see that words can have more than one meaning. So, too, the book of Eicha, full of sad news as it seems, can have a positive meaning as well.
In the interest of brevity, rather than translating his lengthy explanations of how he arrives at the positive spin on each pasuk, I will merely bring down the essence of how he sees each one.
א אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד, הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם--הָיְתָה, כְּאַלְמָנָה; רַבָּתִי בַגּוֹיִם, שָׂרָתִי בַּמְּדִינוֹת--הָיְתָה, לָמַס
Jerusalem of the future will be a thriving metropolis. The citizens of Jerusalem will wonder how it was ever possible that it could have been a small and nearly abandoned city in the past.
One of the purposes of exile was to gather up the sparks of holiness that had been scattered throughout Creation. One of the ways in which they are manifest is in the welcoming of Gerim, converts to the Jewish Nation. In future times, as all Jews return to Israel, these Gerim will join in the return as well. The people will then wonder how can it be that this multi-cultural center which has drawn to it people from so many nations, was once ignored like an unwanted widow? Jerusalem is now world renowned as an intellectual center to which other nations bring and share their knowledge.
What I found most fascinating about his commentary on this verse was how true this is today. Impossible to predict 300 years ago, or even one hundred years ago, today Israel is a modern , thriving, country with world-class cities. Besides for being the center of Torah, it is also one of the world-s foremost countries for medical and technological advances, with companies such as Intel and Microsoft investing there. CL
The author, Rav Binyomin Vital, explains that we are taught that all the books of Tanach will have meaning in Messianic times as well. As those won't be time of remembering suffering, how will Megillas Eicha have meaning then? He answers that as we find the curses of Bilam were turned into blessings, (and the blessings themselves became curses), we see that words can have more than one meaning. So, too, the book of Eicha, full of sad news as it seems, can have a positive meaning as well.
In the interest of brevity, rather than translating his lengthy explanations of how he arrives at the positive spin on each pasuk, I will merely bring down the essence of how he sees each one.
א אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד, הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם--הָיְתָה, כְּאַלְמָנָה; רַבָּתִי בַגּוֹיִם, שָׂרָתִי בַּמְּדִינוֹת--הָיְתָה, לָמַס
One of the purposes of exile was to gather up the sparks of holiness that had been scattered throughout Creation. One of the ways in which they are manifest is in the welcoming of Gerim, converts to the Jewish Nation. In future times, as all Jews return to Israel, these Gerim will join in the return as well. The people will then wonder how can it be that this multi-cultural center which has drawn to it people from so many nations, was once ignored like an unwanted widow? Jerusalem is now world renowned as an intellectual center to which other nations bring and share their knowledge.
What I found most fascinating about his commentary on this verse was how true this is today. Impossible to predict 300 years ago, or even one hundred years ago, today Israel is a modern , thriving, country with world-class cities. Besides for being the center of Torah, it is also one of the world-s foremost countries for medical and technological advances, with companies such as Intel and Microsoft investing there. CL
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