New York City marked the first anniversary of the September 11^th terrorist attacks with a public memorial that included the recitation of famous speeches from other times and other places that, it was hoped, would provide inspiration and meaning to this solemn day.

It occurred to me that, as Jews, perhaps we have our own famous speeches and comforting messages to draw upon for moments like this. And so I have re-read the prophets, Ecclesiastes, Job, the Psalms, and, of course, the Book of Lamentations, in the hope of finding the appropriate passage for this occasion.

The results of my search were mixed. I could not embrace the pervasive Biblical message of punishment for one’s sins, and, by extension, for one’s nation’s sins, in the form of a foreign invasion and the destruction of one’s city. That is not to say that there are no consequences to our actions, or inactions, including war, but I reject the Biblical equation, which essentially is a cruel form of blaming the victim.

On the other hand, as I engaged in the texts, I was often moved and inspired by individual lines and thoughts. The tone, the cadence, and, occasionally, the remarkable application to our own situation, brought poignancy and, ultimately, comfort and inspiration. As I reflected on these lines, I had the thought of weaving them together, with some interpolation of my own, to produce a new composition I that I entitled, “A Modern Lamentation.” It is dedicated to those who died on September 11.

ow lonely sits the city that once was great among the nations! ²She that was a princess among the provinces has become (cloaked in shrouds.) [Lam. 1:1] ³She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; (who is there to) comfort her (?) ⁴(Will her friends stand loyal beside her, or will they stand away?) [Lam. 1:2]

⁵Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? ⁶Look and see if there is any sorrow like the sorrow (of my city.) [Lam. 1:12] ⁷(The city) has gone into (mourning). ⁸She finds (only sadness.) [Lam 1:3] ⁹All her people groan. [Lam. 1:11] ¹⁰Her gates are desolate. ¹¹The roads to (the city) mourn. [Lam. 1:4]

¹²From on high, enemies stretched out their hands over all her precious things [Lam.1:10, 13] ¹³Her young and her old have (been) slaughtered without mercy. [Lam. 2:21] ¹⁴Precious (lives,) worth their weight in fine gold, lay perished in the rubble. [Lam. 4:2,5] ¹⁵Their bodies were more ruddy than coral, their hair like sapphire, now their visage is blacker than soot, they are no longer recognized, (or they are vanished altogether into thin air.) [Lam. 4:7-8]

¹⁶(We) remember the days of (our) affliction, when panic and pitfall came upon the city, when her people fell into the hand of the foe. ¹⁷There was no one to help her, the foe looked on mocking over her downfall. [Lam. 1:7] ¹⁸There was devastation and destruction, (and death.) [Lam. 1,7; 3:47] ¹⁹In all the squares there was wailing.

Without mercy, they destroyed the (high places.) [Lam. 1:10, 2:9] ²In [their] wrath they brought down (mighty towers.) [Lam. 1:10] ³(They) invaded her (harbors.) [Lam. 1:10, 13] ⁴(They) brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers [Lam 2:2] ⁵(Now,) children are desolate, (wives and husbands, fathers and mothers), for the enemy has prevailed. [Lam. 1:16] ⁶(On that day,) we looked for light and beheld darkness, and for brightness, but we walked in gloom. [Isa. 59:9] ⁷On that day the sun went down at noon, and darkened the earth in broad daylight. [Amos 8:9]

⁸(The) enemies opened their mouths against (her), they hissed, they gnashed their teeth, they cried, “We have devoured her! Ah, this is the day we longed for; at last we have seen it!”[Lam. 2:16] ⁹The rulers of the earth did not believe nor did any of the inhabitants of the world, that foe or enemy could enter the gates of (the city.) [Lam. 4:12] ¹⁰(But) the (enemy) has done what he purposed, he has carried out his threat; as he ordained long ago, he has demolished without pity; and he has rejoiced over us. [Lam. 2:17]

(He sent) fire deep into my bones. [Lam. 1:13] ²My strength was sapped. [Lam. 1:14] ³[My] eyes failed, ever watching vainly for help; watching eagerly for (rescue). [Lam. 4:17] ⁴I was left stunned and faint all day long. [Lam. 1:13] ⁵For these things I weep; my eyes flow with rivers of tears. [Lam. 1:16; 3:48]

⁶I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. [Ps. 5:6-7] ⁷My eyes are spent with weeping because of the destruction of my people. [Lam 2:11] ⁸Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of my people! [Jer. 9:1]

⁹Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? [Jer. 8:22] ¹⁰My groans are many and my heart is faint. [Lam. 1:22] ¹¹All my sleep has fled, because of the bitterness of my soul. [Isa. 38:15] ¹²I lie awake, I am like a lonely bird on the housetop [Ps. 102:7] ¹³My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. [Ps. 102:11] ¹⁴See how distressed I am, my heart is wrung within me. [Lam. 1:20] ¹⁵I cower in ashes, my soul is bereft of peace. ¹⁶I have forgotten what happiness is, and all that I had hoped for. [Lam. 3:17]

¹⁷What is my strength? Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? [Job 6:11] ¹⁸I will not restrain my mouth, I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. [Job 7:11] ¹⁹I will give free utterance to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. [Job 10:1] ²⁰I loathe my life. [Job 10:1] ²¹My spirit is broken, my days are extinct, the grave is ready for me [Job 17:1] ²²How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? [Ps. 13:2] ²³(Who is there to comfort me? Who will revive my courage?) [Lam. 1:16] ²⁴Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? [Jer. 15:18] ²⁵Cursed be the day on which I was born! [Jer. 20:14] ²⁶Why did I come forth from the womb to see (grief) and sorrow and spend my days in (sadness.) [Jer. 20:18]

What can I say for you, O (beloved) city? For vast as the sea is your ruin, who can heal you? [Lam. 2:13] ²(Sadness is) multiplied, mourning and lamentation. [Lam. 2:5] ³The elders sit on the ground in silence; they have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth; they have bowed their heads to the ground. [Lam. 2:10] ⁴The mirth of the timbrels is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased. [Isa. 24:8] ⁵No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. [Isa. 24:9] ⁶The city is broken down. [Isa. 24:10] ⁷The gladness of the earth is banished. [Isa. 24: 11]

⁸What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed? [Jer. 16:10] ⁹(Why has all this great evil come to us?) ¹⁰(Is it) because we trampled upon the poor? [Amos 5:11] ¹¹(Because) we turned aside from the needy?) [Amos 5:12]

¹²When they say to you, we are punished for sins, destroyed for our transgressions, say to them, (No! We) are innocent. [Job 9:15], (No! We) are blameless. [Job 9:21] ¹³(Say to them,) the earth is given into the hands of the wicked. ¹⁴When disaster brings sudden death, [it] mocks at the calamity of the innocent. [Job 9:2-34]

(Some will also say), Pursue (the wicked) in anger and destroy them. [Lam. 3:66] Pay them back for their deeds. [Lam. 3:64] ²Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous. [Ps. 69:28] ³Behold, the wicked man makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole which he has made. ⁴His (wrong-doing) returns upon his own head, on his own crown his violence descends. [Ps. 7:15-6] ⁵His day is coming. [Ps. 37:13]

⁶(But others say), Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! ⁷Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. [Ps. 37:8] ⁸Seek good, and not evil, that you may live. [Amos 5:14] ⁹Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate. [Amos 5:15] ¹⁰Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. [Amos 5:24] ¹¹If you pour yourself out for the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. [Isa. 58:10] ¹²Light dawns for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart. [Ps. 97:11] ¹³He is not afraid of evil tidings, her heart is firm. [Ps.112:7] ¹⁴His heart is steady, she will not be afraid. [Ps.112:8] ¹⁵Fear not, be not confounded. [Isa. 54:4] ¹⁶ Justice will return to the righteous. [Ps. 94:15]

[Now] hearken diligently to me, incline your ear. [Isa. 55:3] ²(Let us learn) to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom. [Ps. 90:12] ³(We are but) sojourners on earth. [Ps. 119:19] ⁴No person has power to retain the spirit, or authority over the day of death. [Eccl. 8:8] ⁵(As it says,) For everything there is a season...a time to be born and a time to die. [Eccl. 3:1-2] ⁶If a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let her remember that the days of darkness will be many. [Eccl. 11:8] ⁷Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. [Jer. 10:19]

⁸How long shall the land mourn? [Jer. 12:4] ⁹How long shall the wicked exult? [Ps. 94:3] ¹⁰My soul waits - more than watchmen for the morning. [Ps. 130:5] ¹¹(May the day come soon when we can) wipe away tears. [Isa. 25:6]

¹²The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place. [Isa. 9:10] ¹³The city shall be rebuilt upon its mound, and the (towers) shall stand where (they) used to be. [Jer. 30:18] ¹⁴(Our) builders will outstrip (our) destroyers. His day is coming. [Ps. 37:12-13]

¹⁵(We) will build houses and inhabit them; (we) will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. [Isa. 65:22] ¹⁶(Our city will be) a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm. [Isa 25:4] ¹⁷In that day, this song will be sung in the land: “We have a strong city. Open the gates, that the righteous may enter in.” [Isa. 26:1-2]

¹⁸Comfort, comfort, my people. [Isa. 40:1] ¹⁹Awake, awake, put on your strength, put on your beautiful garments, shake yourself from the dust, loose the bonds of your (grief.) [Isa. 52:1-2]

²⁰Let this be recorded for a generation to come. [Ps. 102:18] ²¹Peace, peace, to the far and near. [Isa 57:19]