Commentaire sur Les Lamentations 2:2

[Every] residence of Yaakov. The houses of Yaakov,⁵Referring to the exile of the ten tribes; and ‘the fortifications of the province of Yehudah’ refers to the exile of the Dovidic dynasty, and thereby ‘He desecrated the kingdom, etc.’ an expression of a dwelling place.⁶From the root נוה; referring to the 480 learning institutions in Yerusholayim. (Eichah Rabbah 2:4)

Razing them to the ground. He lowered them to the ground.

He has desecrated the kingdom and its princes. These are the Israelites, who were called, “a kingdom of kohanim.”⁷Shemos 19:6.

And its princes. Midrash Aggadah [states] that these are the heavenly princes⁸It cannot mean ordinary princes because they are included in the previously stated ‘the kingdom.’ (Sifsei Chachomim) [whose appointments] He changed. The one appointed over fire He appointed over water, and He changed all the appointees because there were among the wicked of Yisroel those who knew the Ineffable Name of God, and they relied that they could invoke the heavenly princes to save them from fire, water, and sword. But now, when he would invoke the prince of fire by his name, he would reply, “This dominion is not within my power,” and so all of them.