Idealogian

History for Losers

I just got back from Eichah and kinnot at my local shul, the Mt. Sinai Jewish Center in Washington Heights, NY. Rabbi Mordechai Schnaidman made an interesting point after the reading of Eichah. Generally speaking, the saying goes, the victors write the history books. And when the losers do write history books, they generally write them as if they were the winners, exaggerating whatever minor victories they may have achieved or at least downplaying their losses.

Eichah (as well as much of n'vi'im), thus, is somewhat noteworthy in that it is written by a "loser" who emphasizes the loss. Yirmiyahu doesn't shy away from describing in painstaking detail the desolation of Y'rushalaiyim and the destruction of its inhabitants. He has nothing to hide, for the purpose of his book is not to record the "glorious history" of his people, but rather to detail their failures, so that B’nei Yisra’eil can learn from them and correct their ways in the future. The first step to doing right is realizing what you've been doing wrong.