Chapter 1

היתה לי דמעתי לחם יומם ולילה
באמר אלי כל היום אי׳ אלקיך

“My tears have been my food day and night, for they [my enemies] say to me all day: ‘Where is your G‑d?’ ”1

Whenever a calamity befalls the Jewish people [Heaven forbid], the Nations say: “Where is your G‑d?”

The [taunts of the] Jewish heretics are even worse. Concerning these heretics our sages say:2 “They are even more disrespectful,” i.e. their heresy is even greater than that emanating from the Nations, especially when compared to those believing gentiles known as “the righteous among the nations.”3 Jewish heretics not only taunt observant Jews by asking “Where is your G‑d,” but make sport of them.

[They fail to realize that] the many afflictions visited upon the Jewish people (may G‑d be merciful) all come so that we will repent. This is attested to by literally hundreds of verses in the Torah, Prophets and Writings which state that all Jewish travails (Heaven forbid) throughout the generations are G‑d’s admonishment-punishment, the purpose of which is to encourage the Jews to repent. Whenever we repented, G‑d sent us His salvation.

However, Jewish “freethinkers” exploit these Heavenly admonitions to ridicule Torah and mitzvos , using our misery to achieve their own ends. Their ridicule not only leads other Jews to forsake Torah and mitzvos, but also causes Jews to forsake their belief in the promises G‑d made to us concerning the ultimate Redemption. They thus cause Jews to follow the timeworn [and long discredited] path of their false ideology: that we must seek our protection and succor from the world-powers of Ashur and Mitzrayim.

Korach’s sons [who authored the psalm quoted at the outset of this discourse] lament this fact when they state: “My tears have been my food day and night, for they [my enemies] say to me all day: ‘where is your G‑d?’ ” Aside from the gruesome physical tortures that Jews endure during exile, we are tormented spiritually as well at the hands of the Nations, and even more so at the hands of our “brothers,” our “enemies,”4 who deny Torah and mitzvos and cause Jews to forsake their identities and their religion.

Korach’s children, Assir, Elkanah and Aviasaf, had originally taken part in their father’s plot to rebel against Moshe and Aharon. However, they recanted and withdrew from the actual rebellion.5 When the earth opened to swallow up Korach and his band, Assir, Elkanah and Aviasaf also fell in, but since they had repented, the place where they fell remained open and they were not buried as were Korach and his band. [Upon experiencing this miraculous salvation,] they sang G‑d’s praises.

After they emerged from the hole, the spirit of prophecy rested on them and they foretold the destruction of the Holy Temple and the bitter times of exile. This psalm is thus one of those that speak of the acerbic times of exile. During such times, we not only suffer in a terrible physical manner, but what is even worse, our feelings toward Torah and mitzvos become glacial and shallow.

All this is brought about by those heretics who deny G‑d and His Torah, and who are similar to the nation of Amalek, concerning which it is written: Asher korcha baderech.”6 We are here commanded to remember “how he met you along the way [to Eretz Yisroel and tried to destroy you]….” [Korcha may alternately be rendered “he made you frigid,” from the Hebrew word kar, meaning cold. Derech (“way”) may also refer to the path of Torah and mitzvos. Thus Amalek seeks to make Jews frigid to the path of Torah and mitzvos, so that we will become [may it never come to pass] heretics and disbelievers in G‑d His Torah. The heretics do this by spreading the false notion that “the House of Israel is similar to all other Nations.”7

[Truly, this is] contrary, [as opposite] (as pure is from impure) to that which is written in the holy Torah:8 “You shall be My treasure from among all the Nations,” and “I have set you apart from all the Nations.”9 [We also find in the Torah how] our master, Moshe, the true friend10 and shepherd of Israel, asks of G‑d: “that we may be distinguished, I and Your people, from all the nations upon the face of the earth.”11

The heretics, who deny all this, profane the ideology of Torah.

Indeed, Jews have a Divine mission in this world, as the Midrash12 notes in its comment on the word Bereishis (“In the beginning”): “There are beis reishes, two things which are deemed ‘firsts’ the Torah is deemed ‘first’ and the Jewish people are deemed ‘first’ [and the world was created for them].” Thus the purpose of creation is that Jews rectify the world. This is why Jews are needed in this material world. This is analogous to the well-known story13 of the Alter Rebbe ’s follower who was a great Torah scholar, very wealthy and extremely charitable besides. Because of his trustworthiness, people would invest their savings with him at very low interest. This of course was done in the halachically permissible manner of heter iskeh.

It happened that this individual’s financial situation suddenly took a turn for the worse and he suffered tremendous setbacks, losing not only his own money but also the funds entrusted to him by others.

When the chassid appeared before the Alter Rebbe in Liozna, he cried long and loud about his bitter state, telling the Alter Rebbe how he needed money to repay his debts, to marry off his children, and to sustain himself and his already married children.

The Alter Rebbe thought for a while, and then said to the chassid : “All you tell me is what you need; what you are needed for [i.e. what your Divine mission is] you neglect to mention.”

This is what is meant by the teaching that the Jewish people have a Divine mission to refine the world through Torah and mitzvos.

In summary: Aside from the physical afflictions of exile, the Jews also suffer spiritually. This suffering is brought about by the Nations, and even more so by the Jewish heretics who scoff at the concept of the ultimate Redemption. These heretics lead Jews down the long discredited road of assimilation and heresy, profaning the sanctity of Torah and mitzvos. Their impact is bemoaned by the prophets, who lament the fact that the Jewish people have forgotten their Divine mission.

Chapter 2

Most commentators14 interpret the verse, “My tears have been my food day and night, for they [my enemies] say to me all day: ‘Where is your G‑d,’ ” as referring to the lowly spiritual state of Jewry during exile.

The prophets hereby indicate what is cried about by the Jewish people, and what is not cried about. The prophets lament the fact that the Jewish people have fallen so low that they cry about those things which should not be cried about, while those matters which should be cried about are not cried about. All this stems from the harmful influence of the heretics who make Jews frigid to Torah and mitzvos.

Jews in this state say: “My tears come from my concern about bread” their only concerns are their physical needs. However, “they say to me all day: ‘Where is your G‑d?’ ” In other words, Jews are addressed with words of Torah and morally exhorted both night and day: “Where is your G‑d” where is your spiritual service of Torah study and mitzvos, and why is your attitude towards them so icily indifferent, not caring about your ignorance of Torah and lack of mitzvos ?” This question elicits no tears at all.

Truly, the opposite should be the case. One is not to worry about material matters; it is only necessary to “make a vessel” for G‑d’s blessings and, as the verse says:15 “G‑d shall bless you in all that you do.” G‑d, who is the “provider of sustenance to all creatures” will see to it that the vessel a person provides is filled with blessings and success. Man must merely be sure that the vessel he makes for obtaining sustenance is pure according to the Torah, i.e. that Shabbos is properly observed, and his business is conducted without deceit or chicanery. When the vessel is pure, G‑d provides His blessing in abundance.

But when an individual realizes that his conduct is not in accordance with the Torah, that he all too often neglects congregational prayer, lacks appointed times for Torah study, and has transgressed in many things, he should feel distressed and cry about it. His distress and tears will come because he has thrown off the Heavenly Yoke, this being the root of all sin. Throwing off the Heavenly Yoke means that a person has (G‑d forbid) cast off the yoke of Torah and mitzvos. This leads to the feeling that one is free to do whatever one’s heart lusts after, without the restraint engendered by Fear of Heaven. Such a person gives no thought to being G‑d-fearing or respectful of G‑d’s wishes.

Such an individual does not even consider that his actions are contrary to G‑d’s will, and that by doing them he taints his soul.

Throwing off the Heavenly Yoke is even worse than having one’s heart become stonily indifferent to the Fear of Heaven. The latter is most common among individuals who are very taken with themselves because of their wealth, financial success, nachas (pleasure derived from their children) and honored status. All this is only temporary. When a change occurs and a person loses his wealth or his nachas from children etc., then his heart is sorrowful and he is moved [by his situation] to repent; he becomes an observant Jew who studies Torah and performs mitzvos.

But one who has thrown off the Heavenly Yoke does not become a penitent even when his material situation has completely deteriorated. Only when an extraordinary event transpires, such as physical suffering, will this kind of individual recognize that “the hand of G‑d has done this,” and he will then repent.

Another manifestation of casting off the Heavenly Yoke may be found within each and every individual. Indeed, the failure to accept the Heavenly Yoke wholeheartedly is the first indication that in some sense a person has thrown it off. It is necessary to cry over this matter, and the tears will bring G‑d’s salvation so that the person may serve Him properly.

This is as explained by the Alter Rebbe:16 that through embitterment [at one’s low spiritual standing], one attains the “bread” of Torah, [this being studied] “day and night,” i.e. a chapter of the Torah in the morning and another chapter in the evening.17 “When they say to me ‘where [in Hebrew, אי׳ה ahyeih] is your G‑d,’ ” by studying Torah we come to feel that ayheih18 [the word is composed of the three letters alef, yud and hei, symbolic of the three supernal levels of] alef Kesser, yud Chochmah, hei Binah, is “your G‑d,” that the blessed G‑d provides children, health and sustenance.

In summary: Most commentators interpret the verse as relating to the spiritually depressed state of Jews in exile, who are pained and cry about material affairs, but not about their spiritual poverty. The opposite should be the case; concerning material matters, man need only make a pure vessel, observing Shabbos etc., and G‑d provides an abundance of blessing. However, when one lacks spirituality, then one should cry. Throwing off the Heavenly Yoke is the source of all transgression. Through embitterment [regarding one’s spiritual state] one attains the “bread” of Torah.