Tish'a B'Av 5784

(37) ... The Divine Spirit cried, “See, Lord, my affliction, for the enemy has expanded.” (Lam. 1:9). “Evildoers dig pits for me, which is not in accord with Your Torah” (Ps. 119:85).

R' Abba bar Kahana said two [examples]:

It is written: “Do not take the mother with the young” (Deut. 22:6). But here: “A mother was torn apart with her children” (Hosea 10:14), which is "not in accord with Your Torah.”

R' Abba bar Kahana said another: It is written: “To eradicate an infant from the street” (Jer. 9:20), but not from the synagogues; “young men from the squares” (Jer. 9:20), but not from the study halls. But here, “the wrath of the Lord arose against them…[He killed the sturdiest, struck down the young men among them (i.e., those in the synagogues and batei midrash)]” (Ps. 78:31), which is "not in accord with with Your Torah.”

...
R' Berekhya said: The congregation of Israel said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, You afforded burial to donkeys, but to Your children You did not afford burial.’ You afforded burial to donkeys, these are the Egyptians. That is what is written: “[the Egyptians,] whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys” (Ezek. 23:20). And R' Berekhya said: Because the sea would cast them [the Egyptians] to the dry land and the dry land cast them to the sea. The sea said to the dry land: ‘Accept your people,’ and the dry land said to the sea: ‘Accept your people.’ The dry land said: ‘If when I accepted only Abel’s blood, it is stated in my regard: “Cursed is the land” (Gen. 3:17), how can I accept the blood of this entire multitude?’ [This continued] until the Holy One blessed be He took an oath to it that He would not place [the earth] on trial. That is what is written: “You extended Your right hand; the earth swallowed them” (Exod. 15:12). The right hand is nothing other than an oath, as it is stated: “The Lord took an oath by His right hand” (Isa. 62:8). But to Your people, you did not afford burial, which is "not in accord with Your Torah.”

“All its people are sighing, seeking bread; they have given their delights for food to restore life. See, Lord, and look, for I have become abject” (Lam. 1:11).
(39) ... “See, Lord, and look.” R' Pinḥas said: There was an incident involving two women, prostitutes, in Ashkelon who were fighting with one another. One said to the other while they were fighting with one another: ‘You should not leave here, as your face appears like that of a Jew.’ Some time later they reconciled. She said to her: ‘I pardon and forgive you for everything, but for the fact that you said to me: Your face appears like that of a Jew, I will not pardon and I will not forgive you.’ That is why it is stated: “For I have become abject.”

“For these I weep, my eye, my eye sheds water; for a comforter, restorer of my soul, has grown distant from me; my children have become desolate, because the enemy has prevailed” (Lam. 1:16).

(45) ... The wife of Trajan, may his bones be crushed, gave birth on the night of the Ninth of Av and all Israel was mourning. The baby died on Hanukkah. The Israelites said: ‘Shall we kindle or shall we not kindle?’ They said: ‘We shall kindle, and anything that he seeks to inflict upon us, let him inflict.’ They kindled.

[People] went and slandered them to Trajan’s wife: ‘These Jews, when you gave birth they were mourning, and when the baby died they kindled lights.’ She sent a letter to her husband: ‘Instead of subduing the barbarians, come and subdue these Jews who have rebelled against you.’ He boarded the ship and calculated that he would arrive in ten days, but the wind brought him in five days. He arrived and found them, that they were engaged in this verse: “The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle will swoop” (Deut. 28:49). He said to them: ‘I am the eagle, as I calculated that I would arrive in ten days and the wind brought me in five days.’ His legions surrounded them and killed them.

He said to the women: ‘Submit to my legions, and if not, I will do to you just what I did to the men.’ They said to him: ‘Do to the inferiors what you did to the superiors.’ [do to us what you did to the men]. Immediately, his legions surrounded them and killed them and the blood of these and the blood of those intermingled, and their blood was bursting forth like a river until it reached Cyprus. So the Divine Presence cried, “For these I weep.”

(47) There was an incident involving Miriam bat Baitus, whom Yehoshua ben Gamla betrothed [to him], and the king appointed him to be the High Priest. One time, she entered [the Temple] to observe, saying: ‘I will go and see him when he reads the Torah on Yom Kippur in the Temple.’ [Her servants] laid out carpets for her from the entrance of her house to the entrance of the Temple so that her feet would not become irritated. Nevertheless, her feet became irritated. When Yehoshua, her husband, died, the Sages alloted two se’a of wine each day for her [from her husband’s estate]. ... R' Elazar ben R' Tzadok said: I will see the consolation, [i.e., may I not see the consolation of Jerusalem] if I did not see that they tied her hair to the tails of Arabian horses, and they had them pull her from Jerusalem to Lod. I read in her regard: “The tender and delicate woman among you [that she would never venture to set a foot on the ground] etc." (Deut. 28:56).