Ancient texts present the reader with an insurmountable challenge—namely, distance. Concerning the book of Lamentations, which was a response to the destruction of the Temple in 586 bce, readers are too removed from the raw experience of grief that gave rise to the lament in the first place. One way to overcome this obstacle—though imperfectly—is to juxtapose the book of Lamentations with a more recent and better documented horror. This article offers an analysis of women and children in Lamentations juxtaposed with the experiences of women and children in the Holocaust. The goal in this study is not to replace the experience of the destruction of the Temple with the Holocaust; rather, it is to reinvigorate the book of Lamentations, prompting the reader to move from apathy to empathy.
