Génesis 12:10 Midrash: Eikhah Rabbah, Ruth Rabbah, Sefer HaYashar (midrash) & Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael

“How does the greatly crowded city sit alone? She has become like a widow. Great among the nations, a princess among the states: She has become a vassal” (Lamentations 1:1).
“How [eikha] does…sit [alone].” Three prophesied with the term eikha: Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Moses said: “How [eikha] can I bear alone…” (Deuteronomy 1:12). Isaiah said: “How [eikha] did [the faithful city] become a harlot?” (Isaiah 1:21). Jeremiah said: “How [eikha] does [the greatly crowded city] sit alone?” Rabbi Levi said: This is analogous to a noblewoman who had three friends. One saw her in her tranquility, one saw her in her debauchery, and one saw her in her disgrace. So, Moses saw them in their glory and their tranquility and said: “How [eikha] can I bear alone your troubles?” Isaiah saw them in their debauchery and said: “How [eikha] did [the faithful city] become a harlot?” Jeremiah saw them in their disgrace and said: “How [eikha] does [the greatly crowded city] sit [alone]?”
They asked ben Azai, saying to him: ‘Our teacher, expound for us one matter from the scroll of Lamentations.’ He said to them: ‘Israel was exiled only after they denied the Unique One of the world, circumcision that was given after twenty generations, the Ten Commandments, the five books of the Torah; the numerical value of eikha.’¹Alef—the Unique One of the world; yod—the Ten Commandments; kaf—twenty generations; heh—five books of Moses.
Rabbi Levi said: Israel was exiled only after they denied the thirty-six instances of karet in the Torah and the Ten Commandments, the numerical value of “how does…sit solitary [eikha yasheva badad]?”²Eikha: Alef -1, yod – 10, kaf – 20, heh – 5 = 36. Badad: Beit – 2, dalet – 4, dalet – 4 = 10.
Rabbi Berekhya [said] in the name of Rabbi Avdimai of Haifa: [This is analogous] to a king who had a son. When he would perform his father’s will, [the king] would clothe him in fine silk, and when he would not perform his will, he would clothe him in the garments of an olive-press worker [badad]. So too Israel, as long as they would perform the will of the Holy One blessed be He, it is written: “I clothed you in embroidery” (Ezekiel 16:10). Rabbi Sima said: Purple garments. Onkelos translated: Embroidered garments. But when they do not perform the will of the Holy One blessed be He, He clothes them in the garments of olive-press workers. That is what is written: “How does…sit solitary [badad]?”
Rav Naḥman said that Shmuel said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: The Holy One blessed be He summoned the ministering angels and said to them: ‘A flesh and blood king, when a relative of his dies and he mourns, what does he typically do?’ They said to Him: ‘He hangs sackcloth on his entrance.’ He said to them: ‘I, too, will do so.’ That is what is written: “I clothe the heavens in blackness and I place sackcloth as their garment” (Isaiah 50:3). ‘A flesh and blood king, what [else] does he typically do?’ They said to Him: ‘He extinguishes the lamps.’ He said to them: ‘That is what I will do,’ as it is stated: “The sun and the moon darkened and the stars withdrew their shining” (Joel 4:15). ‘A flesh and blood king, what does he typically do?’ ‘He overturns the beds.’ ‘That is what I will do,’ as it is stated: “Until thrones were set in place and the Ancient One sat” (Daniel 7:9), [implying,] as it were, that they had been overturned.³Beds were a general term for anything one would sit on. The fact that the thrones, in this verse, were set in place, implies that previously they had been overturned as a sign of mourning. ‘A flesh and blood king, what does he typically do?’ ‘He walks barefoot.’ ‘That is what I will do,’ as it is stated: “His path is in tempest and in storm, and clouds are the dust of His feet” (Nahum 1:3). ‘A flesh and blood king, what does he typically do?’ ‘He rends his purple garments.’ ‘That is what I will do,’ as it is stated: “The Lord accomplished what He devised; He implemented [bitza] His statement [emrato]” (Lamentations 2:17). Rabbi Yaakov of Kefar Ḥanan explained it: What is bitza emrato? It is that He rent His purple garments.⁴The word rent, or tear, in Aramaic, biza, is similar to bitza. The word emrato is spelled the same as imrato, which in rabbinic parlance means the edge of one’s garment (Matnot Kehuna). ‘A flesh and blood king, what does he typically do?’ ‘He sits in silence.’ ‘That is what I will do,’ as it is stated: “Let him sit alone and be silent” (Lamentations 3:28). ‘A flesh and blood king, what does he typically do?’ ‘He sits and weeps.’ ‘That is what I will do,’ as it is stated: “The Lord, God of hosts, called on that day for weeping and for lamentation and for baldness” (Isaiah 22:12).
Another matter: Eikha, Jeremiah said to them: ‘What did you see in idol worship that you are so enthusiastic to follow it? If it had a mouth to engage in debate, we would have said this.⁵We would have proven the falseness of idolatry and the idols themselves would have had to concur. The word eikha is being interpreted as two words: Ei, ka, “if…this” (Etz Yosef). Instead, we will speak of it and we will speak of Him.’ We will speak of it, “So said the Lord: Do not learn the way of the nations, and from the signs of the heavens do not be frightened, though the nations are frightened by them” (Jeremiah 10:2). We will speak of Him: “Tell them this: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall vanish from the earth and from under these heavens. [He makes the earth with His might]” (Jeremiah 10:11–12). “The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the one who forms everything, and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance, the Lord of hosts is His name” (Jeremiah 10:16).
Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: The term eikha is nothing other than an expression of reproof. That is what is written: “How [eikha] can you say: We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us...”? (Jeremiah 8:8). Rabbi Neḥemya says: The term eikha is nothing other than an expression of lamentation. That is what is written: “The Lord God called to the man, and said to him: Where are you [ayeka]?” (Genesis 3:9), woe are you [oy lekha]. When was the scroll of Lamentations composed? Rabbi Yehuda says: It was composed in the days of Yehoyakim.⁶This was before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This is consistent with Rabbi Yehuda’s view that the term eikha is a term of reproof. In his view, Lamentations, or Eikha, was composed as a warning before the destruction. Rabbi Neḥemya said to him: ‘Does one weep over the dead before he dies? Rather, when was it composed? After the destruction of the Temple. This is its solution: “How [eikha] does…sit solitary?”’⁷This phrase implies that Jerusalem was already desolate.

“There was a famine in the land.” Ten famines came to the world. One during the days of Adam; one during the days of Lemekh; one during the days of Abraham; one during the days of Isaac; one during the days of Jacob; one during the days of Elijah; one during the days of Elisha; one during the days of David; one during the days when the judges judged; and one that is yet progressing and coming to the world.
One during the days of Adam, as it is stated: “Accursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17); one during the days of Lemekh, as it is stated: “From the ground that the Lord had cursed” (Genesis 5:29); one during the days of Abraham, as it is stated: “There was famine in the land and Abram descended to Egypt” (Genesis 12:10); one during the days of Isaac: “There was a famine in the land, beside the first famine” (Genesis 26:1); one during the days of Jacob, as it is stated: “For these two years there has been famine in the land” (Genesis 45:6); one during the days of Elijah, as it is stated: “There will not be dew or rain these years, except by my word” (I Kings 17:1); one during the days of Elisha, as it is stated: “There was a great famine in Samaria” (II Kings 6:25); one during the days of David, as it is stated: “There was a famine during the days of David, three years” (II Samuel 21:1); one during the days when the judges judged, as it is stated: “There was a famine in the land” (Ruth 1:1); and one that is advancing upon the world, as it is written: “I will send famine in the land, not famine for bread, not thirst for water” (Amos 8:11).
Rabbi Huna in the name of Rabbi Shmuel: It would have been appropriate for the main manifestation of them³⁹The years of famine during the days of David. to have been during the days of Saul, and it was not appropriate for them to have been during the days of David. [But] because Saul was an offshoot of a sycamore tree,⁴⁰The sycamore tree is frail. and would have been unable to withstand it, the Holy One blessed be He transferred it and brought it to David, who is the offshoot of an olive tree⁴¹The olive tree is sturdy. and [he] was able to withstand it. A parable says: Shila sinned and Yoḥana⁴²Generic names of that period. pays for it? So, all of them did not come upon lowly people, but rather upon mighty people who could withstand them. Rabbi Ḥiyya in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar: [It is analogous] to a glazier who had a basket filled with cups of cut glass. When he sought to hang his basket, he would bring a peg, hammer it [into the wall,] and then hang his basket. So, all of them did not come upon lowly people, but rather to mighty people. Rabbi Berekhya would read in reference to them:⁴³David’s generation. “He gives strength to the weary” (Isaiah 40:29).
Rabbi Berekhya in the name of Rabbi Ḥelbo: Two [famines]⁴⁴That of Lemekh occurred while Adam was still alive. came during the days of Adam.⁴⁵In the parallel text of this midrash found in Bereishit Rabba 25:3 it says ‘Abraham’ instead of ‘Adam.’ Rav Huna in the name of Rav Aḥa: One was during the days of Abraham, and one was during the days of Lemekh. The famine that was during the days of Elijah was due to a drought. One year it produced [a harvest] and the other year it did not produce. But the famine during the days of Elisha was due to [economic] panic, as it is stated: “Until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty of silver” (II Kings 6:25). [Regarding] the famine that came during the days that the judges judged, Rabbi Huna in the name of Rabbi Dosa: They were forty-two se’a⁴⁶A measure of dry volume roughly equivalent to 8 liters. and they became forty-one se’a.⁴⁷The reference is to the amount of produce that could be purchased for one sela. Some commentators suggest that the text should be read: they were [sold] at a rate of two se’a [per sela] and became one se’a [per sela]. See Etz Yosef. But is it not taught: A person may not depart to outside the Land of Israel until two se’a⁴⁸Of wheat. are bought for a shekel?⁴⁹The reference is to the biblical shekel, which is the equivalent of the rabbinic sela. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: When is that so? It is when one cannot find anything [else] to buy. But if he can find [other food] to buy, even [at] one se’a for a shekel, a Jew may not leave the Land of Israel.⁵⁰Elimelekh was punished because his decision to leave the Land of Israel was not justified. But is it not taught: During a time of pestilence, a time of war, gather everyone inside, but during a time of famine, scatter? Why was Elimelekh punished? It is because he sank the hearts of Israel.
[It is analogous] to a prominent person who lived in a province, and the residents of the province would depend upon him, and would say that if drought years would come, he could provide food for the province for ten years. When a drought year came, his maidservant went out, and went into the market with her basket in her hand. The residents of the province said: This is the one who we relied upon, that if there would be a drought he could support us for ten years? His maidservant is standing in the market with her basket in her hand! So, Elimelekh was one of the prominent residents of the province, and one of the leaders of the generation. When the years of famine arrived, he said: ‘Now, all Israel will come around to my door, this one with his basket and that one with his basket.’ He arose and fled from them; that is what is written: “A man of Bethlehem of Judah went.”

Rabbi Abba bar Kahana began: “Raise your voice, Bat-Galim, [listen, Layish; destitute is Anatot]” (Isaiah 10:30). Isaiah said to Israel: Instead of reciting songs and psalms before idols, raise your voice in words of Torah, raise your voice in synagogues. “Bat-Galim” – just as these waves [galim] are conspicuous in the sea, so their ancestors were conspicuous in the world.
Another matter: “Bat-Galim” (Isaiah 10:30) – bat golim, daughter of exiles: daughter of Abraham, the one of whom it is written: “There was a famine in the land and Abram descended to Egypt [to reside there]” (Genesis 12:10); daughter of Isaac, of whom it is written: “Isaac went to Avimelekh, king of the Philistines, to Gerar” (Genesis 26:1); daughter of Jacob, of whom it is written: “He went to Padan Aram” (Genesis 28:5). “Listen” (Isaiah 10:30), listen to My commandments, listen to words of Torah, listen to words of prophecy, listen to perform acts of righteousness and good deeds.
“Layish [Laisha]” (Isaiah 10:30) – and if not, laisha,¹This is one of the biblical terms for lion. the lion will ascend upon you. This is the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, in whose regard it is written: “The lion has ascended from its lair” (Jeremiah 4:7). “Destitute [is Anatot]” (Isaiah 10:30) – destitute of righteous individuals, destitute of prophecy, destitute of mitzvot and good deeds. “Anatot” – and if not,²If you do not listen to all these warnings. “Anatot,” – that resident of Anatot will come and prophesy in your regard, as it is written: “The words of Jeremiah son of Ḥilkiyahu, of the priests who were in Anatot…” (Jeremiah 1:1). When the punishment arrived, he lamented over them, eikha.³Eikha means “how,” and is the opening word of the book of Lamentations, which begins: “How does the city that was full of people sit solitary?” (Lamentations 1:1). Eikha is also the Hebrew name of the book of Lamentations. The prologue to Eikha Rabba records how different Sages would begin their study of Lamentations. They would often begin by expounding a verse that in their view encapsulated the essence of the book, before beginning with the first verse. Thus, many of these introductions conclude with the word eikha, which is used as an expression of lamentation, as well as a reference to Lamentations 1:1 and a transition from the Sage’s introduction to his actual recitation or study of Lamentations (see Etz Yosef).