WEEPING WITH ALL THE LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET: THE BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS IN ACROSTIC TRANSLATION 30
Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser
“ I weep for you with all the letters of the alphabet”- Chaim Grade Yiddish novelist, mourning the 1952 murder, ordered by Stalin, of 24 Jewish Russian intellectuals
CHAPTER 1
1 Alas! How can this be? Jerusalem, the once great and populous city, the crown jewel among city states, now sits alone, like a widow: forlorn, bereft, servile!
2 Bitterly she weeps through the night, tears running down her cheeks. There is no one to tender her loving comfort. All her presumed friends have betrayed her. They are now her enemies.
3 Consumed by misery and overwhelmed by abject servitude, Judah is consigned to exile, with no prospect of rest or respite. All the forces of persecution have placed her in dire straits.
4 Desolate of holiday pilgrims, the very streets of Zion mourn. Her gates are all deserted. Her priests sigh in despair; her young daughters anguish. She is bitter and despondent.
5 Enemies of Zion are ascendant! Her detractors are serene and sated. God has chastened Jerusalem for her many
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This translaaon first appeared in MasorO: The New Journal of ConservaOve Judaism.
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