Moussar sur Les Lamentations 1:5

As a confirmation we need only look at Lamentations 3,31/32: כי אם הוגה ורחם. It should really have said וירחם, "He will pardon. "The plain meaning of the full verse is: "For the Lord does not reject forever, but first afflicts, then pardons (displays mercy) in His abundant kindness, for He does not willfully bring grief." The homiletical meaning is that the very הוגה is the cause of the רחמים.

It is this thought which Vayikra Rabbah quotes in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish when the latter saw in the words (11,9): את זה תאכלו a warning to the Jewish people that if "you merit it, you will consume the Gentile nations, if not, you will be consumed by them. In Vayikra Rabbah 13,5 we are told that the reference of the Torah to the גמל, "camel which is chewing the cud" in 11,4 is an allusion to the kingdom of Babylonia which praised the Lord. Nebuchadnezzar, as reported in Daniel 4,31, praised the Lord for giving him back his sanity. The Talmud also reports that this king once made a runner run for 4 miles after a scribe to retrieve a letter to King Chizkiyahu in which he had greeted the king before greeting G–d Almighty. He changed the form of address, realizing that it would be an insult if he mentioned G–d only in second place. In 11,5 the Torah uses extra words to describe that the שפן, daman, also chews the cud though it does not have split hooves. This is an allusion to the empire of the Medes whose king Cyrus praised the Lord as reported in Ezra 1,2. The reference of the Torah to the ארנבת, hare, in 11,6 which is similarly chewing the cud, and to which the Torah allots a whole verse, is an allusion to the Greek empire whose emperor Alexander the Great also paid homage to the Lord. The Talmud Yuma 69 reports how this emperor deferred to the High Priest Shimon Ha-Tzaddik, praising the Lord. When referring to the חזיר, pig, in 11,7, the Torah mentions that it does not chew the cud; it is an allusion to the Roman empire none of whose rulers paid homage to the Lord. Not only did the Romans not pay homage to G–d, but they blasphemed against Him, as we know from the sarcastic remark in Psalms 73,25: "Who is there for me in Heaven?" which is attributed to the Romans.

Details of this concept have been explained in a book called קולבוכים in its reference to Lamentations 5,11: נשים בציון ענו, "They have ravished women in Zion." [according to the interpretation now offered, the translation should be: "women have ravished Zion." Ed.] Clearly, even during the period of the destruction of the Holy Temple, there must have been numerous Torah scholars and pious people who tried to intercede on behalf of the Jewish people by means of their prayers. The reason their prayers did not reach Heaven was the presence of these two "women" referred to in Lamentations, who ענו "violated", or "held up" and "delayed" these prayers from reaching their destination. By doing this, the prediction referred to in Lamentation 3,8: שתם תפלתי,”He (G–d) shut out my prayer," was fulfilled. The author of קול בוכים explains that normally Machalat and Lilith are constantly at war with one another for they represent opposing forces. Machalat, as implied by her name represents dances, joy and happiness. All the happy-go-lucky scoffers who consider life one single long row of sensual pleasures derive their impetus from that "woman.". Lilith, on the other hand, also true to her name, represents melancholy, despair and the heretical views portrayed in the early chapters of Kohelet that all life is a futile, heart-breaking experience. As a result, these two "women" are in constant conflict with one another. This conflict benefits the prayers of Israel. As long as these two forces are engaged in feuding with each other they do not have the energy to concern themselves overly with the prayers of Israel and with their desire to interfere with these prayers. Our prayers can ascend to Heaven without undue interference. At the time of the destruction of the Holy Temple, however, they made a truce and thus shut out the prayers of Israel.