Churban As Severed Connection

איכה ישבה בדד

"How does she sit in solitude" (Eichah 1:1).

The piece opens with the opening words of Megillas Eichah, the lament over the destruction of Yerushalayim.

כי עיקר שמחת בנ"י בירושלים להיותה דבוק בשורש העליון כמ"ש שמחתי באומרים לי כו' הבנוי' כעיר שחוברה לה כו'

For the essence of the joy of Bnei Yisrael is in Yerushalayim, because she is bound to the supernal root, as it is written, "I rejoiced when they said to me, let us go to the House of Hashem" (Tehillim 122:1), about which it is said, "the built-up Yerushalayim, like a city that is joined together" (Tehillim 122:3).

The true joy of Bnei Yisrael flows from Yerushalayim because the city connects them to their supernal source, as the verses in Tehillim describe a city that unites and binds together.

ובשעת החורבן נעשה פירוד בין הדביקים

But at the time of the Churban, a separation was made between those who had been bound together.

The Churban was essentially a rupture: it tore apart the bond that had united Bnei Yisrael with their root above.

וז"ש איכה היתה לזונה קרי' נאמנה

And this is the meaning of, "How has she become like a harlot, the faithful city" (Yeshayah 1:21).

The Sfas Emes brings the verse from Yeshayah calling the once-faithful city a harlot, reading it as describing this very rupture.

פי' אמונה היא המשכה

The explanation: emunah (faithfulness) is a drawing-down and connection.

He explains that emunah means a continuous drawing-down — a living connection between the city and its source.

מה שירושלים היתה נמשכת ודבוקה בשורשה ועתה היתה לזונה ונכרתת מדביקות

Yerushalayim used to be drawn after and bound to her root, and now she has become like a harlot, severed from her dveikus.

Yerushalayim once channeled and clung to her root, but at the Churban that connection was cut, which is what "became like a harlot" means.

וכ"א במד' כי לא גלו ישראל עד שעברו ל"ו כריתות כמנין איכה

And so it is stated in the Midrash, that Bnei Yisrael were not sent into galus until they transgressed thirty-six covenants liable to kareis (excision), corresponding to the numerical value of "Eichah" (thirty-six).

The Midrash teaches that galus came only after thirty-six kareis-transgressions, a number hinted at in the word "Eichah," tying the lament to the idea of severance.

פי' כמו שיש בפרט עונות שמכריתין האדם משורשו

The explanation: just as on the individual level there are sins that sever a person from his root,

Kareis literally means being cut off; on the personal level certain sins sever a person from his spiritual root.

כמו כן בכלל ישראל כשגברו העונות נכרת החיבור [וע"ז נאמר חלק לבם כמ"ש בזוה"ק שיש ע"ב צדיקים וע"י החטא נחלק ל"ו בארץ ול"ו מח"ל

so too with regard to the klal of Bnei Yisrael, when the sins grew strong the bond was severed. And about this it is said, "their heart is divided" (Hoshea 10:2), as is written in the Zohar HaKadosh, that there are seventy-two tzaddikim, and through the sin they were divided into thirty-six in Eretz Yisrael and thirty-six outside the Land.

The same dynamic operates for the whole klal: mounting sins severed the collective bond, and the Zohar describes how the seventy-two tzaddikim were split into thirty-six in the Land and thirty-six outside it.

וכמו כן יש ל"ו למטה מול ל"ו למעלה כמ"ש בגמ' סוכה בכל דור יש ל"ו צדיקים חוכי לו כו'

And likewise there are thirty-six below corresponding to thirty-six above, as is written in the Gemara in Sukkah, that in every generation there are thirty-six tzaddikim who greet the Shechinah, "happy are all who wait for Him" (Yeshayah 30:18) — the word "lo" (for Him) having the numerical value of thirty-six.

The Gemara in Sukkah similarly speaks of thirty-six tzaddikim in each generation who greet the Shechinah, with the number thirty-six derived from the word "lo" in the verse about those who wait for Hashem.

וע"י החטא חלק לב"ם

And through the sin, "their heart is divided."

Through the sin the heart was divided, repeating the theme that aveirah fractures the unity that binds Bnei Yisrael to Hashem.

וזה עיקר החורבן כי כל כחן של ישראל בזה שהם דבקים בשורש

And this is the essence of the Churban, for the entire strength of Bnei Yisrael lies in this — that they are bound to the root.

The core of the Churban is this severance, because all the strength of Bnei Yisrael comes precisely from being attached to their root.

ולכן היו סנהדרין כחצי גורן עגולה כמו שכ' במ"א]:

And therefore the Sanhedrin sat like half of a round threshing floor, as is written elsewhere.

This is why the Sanhedrin sat in a half-circle like a round threshing floor, a hint to this theme of unity and connection that the Sfas Emes develops elsewhere.

Summary: The Sfas Emes reads the opening lament of Eichah as a description of severance: the joy and strength of Bnei Yisrael flow entirely from Yerushalayim's bond to her supernal root, and the Churban was the rupture of that bond. He explains emunah as a drawing-down and connection, so that calling the "faithful city" a harlot means she was cut off from her dveikus. The Midrash that galus came only after thirty-six kareis-transgressions — the numerical value of "Eichah" — teaches that just as sin severs an individual from his root, mounting sins severed the bond of the entire klal, splitting the seventy-two tzaddikim and dividing the collective heart. The thirty-six tzaddikim below correspond to thirty-six above, and the Sanhedrin's half-circle formation hints at the same theme. The essence of the Churban, then, is the breaking of the connection in which all the strength of Bnei Yisrael resides.