Welcome back to another episode of NachDaily, with the 3rd perek of Eicha, Yirmiya’s lament about his own suffering. It should be mentioned that studying this Megilah is not to make us depressed, but to arouse deep feelings and longing for the Geulah. As I mentioned in my shiurim on Sefer Yirmiya, where there’s hate, there’s love. When someone you don’t care about cuts you off in traffic, it doesn’t mean much to you because you don’t have any connection with that person. If someone you love wrongs or slights you, however, you take it personally, perhaps becoming upset and angry. It’s important to understand that beneath the feelings of hate are feelings of love. The Meforshim explain that it was only out of Hashem’s love for us that He primarily poured His wrath upon “sticks and stones,” i.e., the Beis Hamikdash and Yerushalayim. He could have completely wiped out Am Yisrael. The perek contains 3 verses for each letter of the alpeh beis, making it the longest in the Megilah, with 66 pessukim. As we mentioned in the introduction, the original scroll that Yirmiya burned was rewritten. The Medrash Rabba cites this perek as one of the additions Yirmiya added to Megilas Eicha when it was rewritten by Baruch Ben Neriya. Here we get a very intimate and close glimpse into Yirmiya’s personal feelings and experiences. Yirmiya opens with a personal lament. “I am a man who has known of affliction.” He speaks to God, saying why have You turned me away? My skin feels worn out, He surrounded me with bitterness. Yirmiya explains feeling trapped and surrounded by darkness, his prayers unanswered. He feels as if Hashem is like a lion lurking to pounce on him. In verse 16 Yirmiya says, “He has ground my teeth on gravel.” Just the image of that makes one squirm. In verse 22, Yirmiya is trying to lift himself up from the ashes. “Chassdei Hashem ki lo samnu, ki lo chalu rachamav – God’s acts of kindness have not ceased, His mercies have not been exhausted.” How beautiful! Despite Yirmiya’s suffering, he musters up the strength to call on God’s mercy, looking beyond the suffering with a deeper knowledge of Hashem’s kindness. This is an inspiring message. We all suffer at different points in our lives. That’s part of how God created us. As we see here, even Yirmiya, the great Navi, is suffering, yet the knowledge that God’s kindness has never left us goes deeper than the suffering. This is what I like to call, “being okay with not being okay.” Yes, the pain is real, but we can be grounded by knowing that Hashem has never left us. Moving on the perek, Yirmiya affirms that God is good and he will wait patiently for Him. In passuk 31 he declares that “God does not reject us forever!” Yirmiya encouraged the nation to search and mend its ways, to do teshuva, return to God. He acknowledges that they were deserving of this punishment, but if they repent, things will get better for them. In verses 49 through 66, which end the perek, Yirmiya returns to crying from his pain and suffering. Yirmiya urges Hashem to pursue His enemies and pour His anger out them, and not Am Yisrael. May we merit bringing all of our words towards God in the way of Yirmiya Hanavi. Stay tuned to the next episode of NachDaily. Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.