Lamentations 2:1–13

Abstract

Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon in 586 b.c.e. is the historical backdrop of the book of Lamentations. For that reason, Lamentations rightly is called on to give voice to those of faith who stand in collective horror before the gas chambers of the Third Reich, child-soldiers of Somalia, or dead school children at Sandy Hook. Still today, through its imagery, the poetry offers an empathetic voice for the traumatized individual who experiences what psychiatrist Frank Ochberg calls “moral injury” (private conversation, February 22, 2014). Ochberg, who was part of the team that first described “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (PTSD) as a diagnosable condition, says that as a trauma psychiatrist, he helps survivors realize that shock, fear, and grief are expected responses to personal trauma. “Moral injury” is a specific kind of trauma that involves damage not only to one’s self but also to one’s sense of “what is right” or “what is just.”