Midrash su Lamentazioni 3:16
וַיַּגְרֵ֤ס בֶּֽחָצָץ֙ שִׁנָּ֔י הִכְפִּישַׁ֖נִי בָּאֵֽפֶר׃
Mi ha anche rotto i denti con pietre di ghiaia, mi ha fatto crogiolare nella cenere.
Eikhah Rabbah
“She weeps bitterly at night and her tears are on her cheeks; she has no comforter from all her lovers. All her allies have betrayed her, have become her enemies” (Lamentations 1:2).
“She weeps bitterly at night.” “My tears have been my bread day and night” (Psalms 42:4). Rabbi Aḥa and the Rabbis, Rabbi Aḥa says: Just as bread is constant, so, my tears are constant. The Rabbis say: Anyone who weeps does not eat, as it is stated: “She wept and did not eat” (I Samuel 1:7).
So the Holy One blessed be He said to Ezekiel: “You, son of man, prepare for yourself the tools of exile…” (Ezekiel 12:3). What are “the tools of exile”? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba and Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Ḥalafta, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: A leather flask, a rug, and a bowl. Each and every one of them must serve two purposes: One places flour in the leather flask and places it beneath his head; one eats and drinks from a bowl; a rug is for sitting and to sleep upon. Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Ḥalafta said: A container with four handles that holds everything. Therefore, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: “Ezekiel will be an example to you; in accordance with everything that he has done you will do…” (Ezekiel 24:22). But they did not do so, rather, when they were exiled, one came to knead his dough but did not know with what, and he would dig in the ground and make a hole. He would knead it in it, and pebbles would stick to their dough. When he would put it in his mouth, his teeth would become dull, to realize what is stated: “He broke my teeth” (Lamentations 3:16). But I did not take all this to heart.57The midrash speaks now from the perspective of Israel. When did I take it to heart? “When they say to me all day long: Where is your God?” (Psalms 42:4).
“She weeps bitterly at night.” “My tears have been my bread day and night” (Psalms 42:4). Rabbi Aḥa and the Rabbis, Rabbi Aḥa says: Just as bread is constant, so, my tears are constant. The Rabbis say: Anyone who weeps does not eat, as it is stated: “She wept and did not eat” (I Samuel 1:7).
So the Holy One blessed be He said to Ezekiel: “You, son of man, prepare for yourself the tools of exile…” (Ezekiel 12:3). What are “the tools of exile”? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba and Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Ḥalafta, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: A leather flask, a rug, and a bowl. Each and every one of them must serve two purposes: One places flour in the leather flask and places it beneath his head; one eats and drinks from a bowl; a rug is for sitting and to sleep upon. Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Ḥalafta said: A container with four handles that holds everything. Therefore, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: “Ezekiel will be an example to you; in accordance with everything that he has done you will do…” (Ezekiel 24:22). But they did not do so, rather, when they were exiled, one came to knead his dough but did not know with what, and he would dig in the ground and make a hole. He would knead it in it, and pebbles would stick to their dough. When he would put it in his mouth, his teeth would become dull, to realize what is stated: “He broke my teeth” (Lamentations 3:16). But I did not take all this to heart.57The midrash speaks now from the perspective of Israel. When did I take it to heart? “When they say to me all day long: Where is your God?” (Psalms 42:4).
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Eikhah Rabbah
“He has broken my teeth with gravel, covered me in ashes” (Lamentations 3:16).
“He has broken my teeth with gravel” – there was an incident involving the son of Rabbi Ḥananya ben Teradyon, who joined robbers and revealed their secret. They killed him and filled his mouth with dirt and pebbles. Three days later, [his body was found]. They placed him on a rope stretcher and sought to laud him in deference to his father, but he did not allow them to do so. He said to them: ‘Leave him, and I will speak about my son.’ He began and said: “I did not heed the voice of my instructors, and to my teachers I did not incline my ear. I was on the verge of complete degradation in the midst of an assembly and a congregation” (Proverbs 5:13–14). His mother read in his regard: “A foolish son is vexation to his father, and bitterness to the one who bore him” (Proverbs 17:25). His sister read in his regard: “Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel” (Proverbs 20:17).
We learned: Whenever it is the meal of the ninth of Av,28The last meal before the ninth of Av. it is prohibited to eat meat, to drink wine, to eat two cooked items, to wash, and to anoint oneself. Whenever it is not the meal of the ninth of Av, it is permitted to eat meat, to drink wine, and to eat two cooked items. Rav, after he would eat his fill of food, would take one small piece of bread, place ashes on it, and say: This is the meal of the ninth of Av, to fulfill what is stated: “He has broken my teeth with gravel, covered me in ashes.”
“My soul has forsaken peace; I have forgotten goodness” (Lamentations 3:17).
“My soul has forsaken peace; I have forgotten goodness” – Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei said in the name of Rabbi Ḥananya son of Rabbi Abbahu: There was an incident involving a woman who took her son to a baker in Caesarea. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’ He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for five years, and I will teach him five hundred species of wheat.’29How to distinguish between the different species, and how best to use each one. How many species of wheat are there? Rabbi Aḥa said: With Minit wheat they are unquantifiable.30Minit is a type of wheat mentioned in Ezekiel 27:17. The Rabbis say: There are five hundred species of wheat, equivalent to the numerical value of Minit.31Mem – 40; nun – 50; yod – 10; tav – 400 = 500 Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yonatan were sitting and counting them, and they got to sixty.
In addition, Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei said: There was an incident involving a certain woman who took her son to a certain chef. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’ He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for five years, and I will teach him one hundred types of eggs.’32One hundred dishes that can be prepared with eggs. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] heard and said: We have not seen that there is such goodness in the world. Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta heard and said: We have not heard that there is such goodness in the world.33We have never seen or heard that there is such a range of foods to benefit from. These statements relate to the end of the verse: “I have forgotten goodness.”
Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira went to Netzivin on the day before the great fast.34Yom Kippur He ate and finished.35He ate his fill and stopped eating even though the fast had not yet begun. The Exilarch heard and came to him. He said to him: ‘Heed my request, my Master.’36Please come eat the meal before the fast with me. He said to him: ‘I have already eaten and finished.’ He said to him: ‘Heed my request, my Master, so they will not say that he did not regard him at all to expend any effort on his behalf.’37The Exilarch asked Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira to join him, if only so that it not appear as though Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira was disrespecting him. He went with him. When he went, he said to his servant: ‘My son, a dish that you bring us once, do not bring it to us another time.’ While they were eating, he brought before them eighty cooked dishes. He ate one loaf with each dish and one cup from each barrel. [The Exilarch] said to him: ‘My Master, after you ate and finished, we brought eighty dishes before you; with each dish, my Master ate one loaf, and from each barrel, my Master drank one cup.’38The Exilarch was saying to Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira that he must have still been hungry, and therefore the Exilarch had benefited him. [Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira] said: ‘Why do they call it39The body nafsha? Because the more it is given, the more it expands [nefisha].’
Rabbi Abbahu went to Basra and was received by Yosei “the head.” They brought before him eighty types of birds’ brains.40Eighty dishes prepared with birds’ brains. He said to him: ‘Do not be angry, my Master, as the hunt was insufficient.’ They called him Yosei “the head” because all of his food was only birds’ brains.
Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great went to the south and was received by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. They brought before him twenty-four cooked dishes. [Rabbi Ḥiyya] said to him: ‘What do you do on Shabbat?’ He said to him: ‘We double them.’ Sometime later, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came to Tiberias and was received by Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great. He gave drachmas to the disciples of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi and said to them: ‘Go provide for your Master as he is accustomed.’41Rabbi Ḥiyya himself could not prepare an adequate feast for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.
Rabbi Yitzḥak ben Rabbi Eliezer knew how to prepare meals according to the number of days in the solar year. When he had the means, he would do so.42He would prepare a different meal each day. When he did not have the means, he would take seeds and count them, so that he would not forget them.43He would eat the seeds individually, and associate the dishes to the corresponding number of seeds, so that he would not be included in the curse mentioned in the verse, “I have forgotten goodness” (Midrash HaMevo’ar). These stories are related in the midrash in order to accentuate the troubles that have occurred and which have caused the goodness that was found in previous times to be forgotten.
“I have forgotten goodness” – Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: This is washing one’s hands and feet after the bathhouse.44Even this simple pleasure has become impossible and has been forgotten due to the suffering of the Jewish people.
“I said: My strength and my expectation have perished from the Lord” (Lamentations 3:18).
“I said: My strength and my expectation have perished from the Lord” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “I said: My strength [and my expectation] have perished.”45Israel had thought there was no hope of salvation, but in fact salvation will come.
“He has broken my teeth with gravel” – there was an incident involving the son of Rabbi Ḥananya ben Teradyon, who joined robbers and revealed their secret. They killed him and filled his mouth with dirt and pebbles. Three days later, [his body was found]. They placed him on a rope stretcher and sought to laud him in deference to his father, but he did not allow them to do so. He said to them: ‘Leave him, and I will speak about my son.’ He began and said: “I did not heed the voice of my instructors, and to my teachers I did not incline my ear. I was on the verge of complete degradation in the midst of an assembly and a congregation” (Proverbs 5:13–14). His mother read in his regard: “A foolish son is vexation to his father, and bitterness to the one who bore him” (Proverbs 17:25). His sister read in his regard: “Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel” (Proverbs 20:17).
We learned: Whenever it is the meal of the ninth of Av,28The last meal before the ninth of Av. it is prohibited to eat meat, to drink wine, to eat two cooked items, to wash, and to anoint oneself. Whenever it is not the meal of the ninth of Av, it is permitted to eat meat, to drink wine, and to eat two cooked items. Rav, after he would eat his fill of food, would take one small piece of bread, place ashes on it, and say: This is the meal of the ninth of Av, to fulfill what is stated: “He has broken my teeth with gravel, covered me in ashes.”
“My soul has forsaken peace; I have forgotten goodness” (Lamentations 3:17).
“My soul has forsaken peace; I have forgotten goodness” – Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei said in the name of Rabbi Ḥananya son of Rabbi Abbahu: There was an incident involving a woman who took her son to a baker in Caesarea. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’ He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for five years, and I will teach him five hundred species of wheat.’29How to distinguish between the different species, and how best to use each one. How many species of wheat are there? Rabbi Aḥa said: With Minit wheat they are unquantifiable.30Minit is a type of wheat mentioned in Ezekiel 27:17. The Rabbis say: There are five hundred species of wheat, equivalent to the numerical value of Minit.31Mem – 40; nun – 50; yod – 10; tav – 400 = 500 Rabbi Ḥanina and Rabbi Yonatan were sitting and counting them, and they got to sixty.
In addition, Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Yosei said: There was an incident involving a certain woman who took her son to a certain chef. She said to him: ‘Teach my son a craft.’ He said to her: ‘Let him stay with me for five years, and I will teach him one hundred types of eggs.’32One hundred dishes that can be prepared with eggs. Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] heard and said: We have not seen that there is such goodness in the world. Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta heard and said: We have not heard that there is such goodness in the world.33We have never seen or heard that there is such a range of foods to benefit from. These statements relate to the end of the verse: “I have forgotten goodness.”
Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira went to Netzivin on the day before the great fast.34Yom Kippur He ate and finished.35He ate his fill and stopped eating even though the fast had not yet begun. The Exilarch heard and came to him. He said to him: ‘Heed my request, my Master.’36Please come eat the meal before the fast with me. He said to him: ‘I have already eaten and finished.’ He said to him: ‘Heed my request, my Master, so they will not say that he did not regard him at all to expend any effort on his behalf.’37The Exilarch asked Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira to join him, if only so that it not appear as though Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira was disrespecting him. He went with him. When he went, he said to his servant: ‘My son, a dish that you bring us once, do not bring it to us another time.’ While they were eating, he brought before them eighty cooked dishes. He ate one loaf with each dish and one cup from each barrel. [The Exilarch] said to him: ‘My Master, after you ate and finished, we brought eighty dishes before you; with each dish, my Master ate one loaf, and from each barrel, my Master drank one cup.’38The Exilarch was saying to Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira that he must have still been hungry, and therefore the Exilarch had benefited him. [Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira] said: ‘Why do they call it39The body nafsha? Because the more it is given, the more it expands [nefisha].’
Rabbi Abbahu went to Basra and was received by Yosei “the head.” They brought before him eighty types of birds’ brains.40Eighty dishes prepared with birds’ brains. He said to him: ‘Do not be angry, my Master, as the hunt was insufficient.’ They called him Yosei “the head” because all of his food was only birds’ brains.
Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great went to the south and was received by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. They brought before him twenty-four cooked dishes. [Rabbi Ḥiyya] said to him: ‘What do you do on Shabbat?’ He said to him: ‘We double them.’ Sometime later, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi came to Tiberias and was received by Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great. He gave drachmas to the disciples of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi and said to them: ‘Go provide for your Master as he is accustomed.’41Rabbi Ḥiyya himself could not prepare an adequate feast for Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi.
Rabbi Yitzḥak ben Rabbi Eliezer knew how to prepare meals according to the number of days in the solar year. When he had the means, he would do so.42He would prepare a different meal each day. When he did not have the means, he would take seeds and count them, so that he would not forget them.43He would eat the seeds individually, and associate the dishes to the corresponding number of seeds, so that he would not be included in the curse mentioned in the verse, “I have forgotten goodness” (Midrash HaMevo’ar). These stories are related in the midrash in order to accentuate the troubles that have occurred and which have caused the goodness that was found in previous times to be forgotten.
“I have forgotten goodness” – Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: This is washing one’s hands and feet after the bathhouse.44Even this simple pleasure has become impossible and has been forgotten due to the suffering of the Jewish people.
“I said: My strength and my expectation have perished from the Lord” (Lamentations 3:18).
“I said: My strength and my expectation have perished from the Lord” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: After the Holy One blessed be He despairs of the righteous in this world, He then has mercy on them. That is what is written: “I said: My strength [and my expectation] have perished.”45Israel had thought there was no hope of salvation, but in fact salvation will come.
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Midrash Tanchuma Buber
Another interpretation: SO HE DROVE OUT (WYGRSH): < The Holy One did so > since because of him the Temple was destroyed.70Cf. Gen. R. 21:8. Thus it is stated (in Lam. 3:16): HE ALSO HAS BROKEN (WYGRS) MY TEETH WITH GRAVEL STONES; HE HAS MADE ME WALLOW IN ASHES.
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Pesikta Rabbati
... Teach us o teacher: toward where should one who prays orient his heart? This is what our Rabbis taught: one should orient his heart toward the place of the Holy of Holies (Berachot 4:5). R’ Eliezer ben Yaakov says: if one is praying outside of the land, he should orient his heart to the land of Israel. If one is praying within the land of Israel, he should orient his heart to Jerusalem. If one is praying in Jerusalem, he should orient his heart to the Holy Temple. If one is praying in the Holy Temple, he should orient his heart to the Holy of Holies. R’ Avin the Levi said: “our neck is like the Tower of David, built as a model (talpiyot)…” (Song of Songs 4:4) What does talpiyot mean? The hill (tel) toward which all turns (peniyot) are directed. And after all this praise, it is written “Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire consume your cedars.” (Zechariah 11:1) And so too they said “He has hurled fire into my bones…” (Lamentations 1:13) Israel said to Him: Master of the World! How long will it be like this? Did You not write in Your Torah “…the one who ignited the fire shall surely pay” (Exodus 22:5)? And You are the one who ignited the fire, as it says “From above He has hurled fire into my bones…” (Lamentations 1:13) You need to rebuild it and to console us, not at the hands of an angel but You in Your glory. The Holy One said to them: by your life, so I will do! As it says “The Lord is the builder of Jerusalem; He will gather the outcasts of Israel.” (Psalms 147:2) And I am the one who consoles you. From where do we learn this? From that which they read in the prophets “I, yea I am He Who consoles you…” (Isaiah 51:12)
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