Each Shabbat as we read the Haftorah, we can find a connecting theme that links it to that week’s Torah portion, illustrating why it was chosen to be read on that particular Shabbat. This Shabbat, in addition to reading to Parashat Devarim, we also read a special Haftarah for which the Shabbat is given a special name, Shabbat Hazon (Shabbat of Vision), named for Isaiah’s prophetic vision in foretelling the destruction of the Temple. There is an extra ordinary link between the two as they also share a commonality with the upcoming observance of Tisha B’Av – the Ninth of Av, on which we read from Megilat Eicha, the Book of Lamentations. According to the tradition, it was Tisha B’Av on which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, sending our people into exile and completely changing the fabric of Jewish life.
In an amazing way, the link between Parashat Devarim, the Haftarah of Hazon and Tisha B’av, exists in one word – EICHA, - how could it be’ In the Torah Reading, Moses says “EICHA esah levadi – how can I bear the burden alone?” In the Haftorah, Isaiah says “EICHA haita l’zonah – How has the city become as a harlot?”, and in the book of Eicha, read on Tisha B’Av, the prophet Jeremiah says “EICHA yashva badad – How has she (Jerusalem) sat alone?”
In each case, EICHA comes as an echo of disappointment, sadness and lamentation. EICHA is both a question and exclamation, expressing the contrast between what was previously and what each one is currently witnessing. Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah all three serve the Jewish people as a prophet, seeking a better tomorrow for the collective community and people, but forced in the moment to acknowledge, in the short term, the failings of their people, and perhaps even their own leadership efforts. And in each, it is as if through their weeping, they wail “Woe unto me and to us for all that has gone bad…” How is it that we ended up here, and why is this happening to me and to us???? How is it that as the people traveled to the Promised Land, things went so awry that Moses can no longer manage on his own? And how is it that the city of Isaiah’s time, once a city of faithfulness is crumbling as people turn towards prostitution and harlotry? And, how is it that things fall apart to such an extreme that Jeremiah sees Jerusalem as desolate and empty of the Jews who once inhabited the beautiful city?
Three different sets of circumstances – each resulting in the same outcry – Eicha - how is it that we have ended up here? Yet, each is its own expression of grief and disbelief, resulting in very different reactions. After weeping, Moses responds pragmatically; he appoints representatives of each of the tribes to help him govern the people and restore justice amongst the people. Isaiah, in his weeping of EICHA, issues a loud wake up call to the people, warning them to take heed and change their ways to avoid destruction and catastrophe that will surely come from their actions. In his lamenting, he portrays a sense of optimism and encouragement that the situation can turn itself around if only the people find their way back. Jeremiah, on the other hand, stands defeated and devastated as he mourns the loss of Jerusalem, the city of Gold, the city of so much promise.. The loss is so monumental that all he can do is simply weep and cry out.
Our own experience is not so very different than that of the prophets of our past generations. At times, life’s challenges leave us crying out the lament of ‘Woe is to me/us – How did I/we end up in this place?’ Sometimes, we react practically, seeking solutions to solve the problem; other times, our challenging moments pierce through the our barriers, reminding us that the power is in our own hands to turn back – to act immediately to save ourselves from further heartache and disappointment; and still other times, our response is simply to cry – to mourn or grieve that which we have lost and lament over our own struggles. And, we know that when we really think about it, our own cries often come from a place of deep loneliness and isolation – when we feel separate from those around us, from the hope and prosperity that supposedly continues to exist. Is it possible, then, that Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah felt similar loneliness and isolation in their times?
Remarkably, however, the tradition includes a fourth use of the word made up of the same letters – aleph, yud, chaf, heh. In the beginning of the Book of Genesis, the Torah recounts the experience of human development through Adam and Eve. After eating from the Tree of Knowledge and hearing the divine decree that they shall live outside the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve run in an attempt to hide from God. God calls out to Adam using this same spelling, which we would assume is read EICHA – How could it be? Although it uses the same letters as the other three cases, in this case the pronunciation is AYEKA – where are you?
Of course God knows where Adam is, but God, like our three prophets is lamenting over what has become of the original plan for Adam and Eve. So, God asks Adam – where are you? Where are you morally? Is there a relationship between your present state and your actions? Is there anything you could have done to avoid this happening? Now that it has happened, what are you going to do with it? It is not simply a lamentation, but an invitation to accept responsibility, to grow and learn from one’s own actions.
Sometimes there is a connection between our choices/actions and that which happens to us. EICHA calls upon us to look in the mirror and accept responsibility for our actions. How will we answer the lamenting cries of the questions: ‘How could this be’? Where am I? Where was I as this was happening? What motivated me to act as I did? Are there ways I change my behavior to invite a different outcome? Sometimes, however, there may not be a direct connection between our actions and our suffering and the cry of EICHA truly is a cry of grief and despair. Hard pressed as we may be to rationalize the pain, when we have finished wailing, we still need to confront the challenges of moving on and finding meaning in our lives and even in our suffering.
Fortunately, we have Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and most importantly our faith in God to help us transcend adversity and help us answer the call of AYEKA – where are you?
Shabbat Shalom.