Midrash sobre Lamentaciones 4:20

“The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was captured in their traps; of whom we said: In his shade we will live among the nations” (Lamentations 4:20).
“The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord,” Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] and Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei were sitting and studying the scrolls of Lamentations on Shabbat, the day before the ninth of Av, toward nightfall. They left one alphabetical acrostic. They said: We will go out⁵⁷They went to eat the third meal on Shabbat before the fast. and finish it tomorrow. When Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] ascended to his house, he stumbled and hurt his finger. He said in his regard: “There are many maladies for the wicked” (Psalms 32:10). Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei said to him: Had we not been engaged in this matter, I would have said this; now, all the more so: “The breath of our nostrils…”⁵⁸Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi had implied that his suffering was due to his own sins. Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei interpreted the verse in Lamentations (4:20) they had just studied as indicating that the leader of the generation can suffer due to the sins of the people of the generation, as “their traps [beshḥitotam]” can be translated as “due to their corruption,” referring to Israel. Thus, he said that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi had been injured due to the sins of the generation.
When Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] entered his house, he placed a dry sponge on his wound and tied a reed over it on the outside. Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei said: We learned three matters from him: The sponge does not heal, but rather, it protects the wound;⁵⁹If it would heal it would be forbidden to place it on the wound on Shabbat, due to the rabbinic prohibition of applying medicine on Shabbat. a reed in the house is prepared;⁶⁰It is not muktze. and one may read the sacred Writings only from the afternoon onward,⁶¹The Rabbis prohibited reading from the books of Writings on Shabbat (see Mishna Shabbat 16:1) so that people would not become engrossed in reading them and fail to attend the public lecture that the Sages would conduct on Shabbat. This prohibition expired in the afternoon, by which time the lecture would be finished. This is proven from the fact that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi did not have enough time in the afternoon to finish studying Lamentations. however one may study its midrash and expound the verses. If it was necessary to check and read the verse, one may bring it and read.
Shmuel said: Any shard of earthenware,⁶²A shard that broke from a vessel before Shabbat is not muktze because it may be used to cover another small vessel. Rabbi Ze’eira said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel: The stopper of a barrel and a shard, it is permitted to handle them on Shabbat. If one cast them into the garbage dump, it is prohibited to handle them on Shabbat.
“But one who trusts in the Lord, kindness envelops him” (Psalms 32:10). Rabbi Elazar of Basra and Rabbi Tanḥum in the name of Rabbi Aḥa said: Even one who is wicked but he repented, the Holy One blessed be He accepts him, as it is stated: “But one who trusts in the Lord, kindness envelops him.”

Six people were similar to the first man, and they were all slain. They were: Samson with his might, and he was slain; Saul with his stature, and he was slain; Asahel with his swiftness, and he was slain; Josiah with his nostrils, and he was slain through his nostrils; Zedekiah with his eyes, and he was slain through his eyes; Absalom with his hair, and he was killed through his hair. Absalom was a mighty hero in battle, and his sword was bound upon his loins. Why || did he not draw his sword and cut the hair of his head, and get down? But he saw that Gehinnom was open beneath him, and he said: It is better for me to hang by my hair and not to descend into the fire; therefore he was hanging, as it is said, "Behold, I saw Absalom hanging in an oak" (2 Sam. 18:10).