The Lamentations of Jeremiah

I recently reread Lamentations (Megilat Eicha "alas! what has befallen us?"), a portion of the Old Testament by Jeremiah that is traditionally read by Jews on the occasion of the 9th of Av (Tisha B'Av). It is a "strong fast day" that commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.).

Although the setting is Jerusalem just before the expulsion and Babylonian captivity, I kept hearing the location as “New York City” throughout my reading. In a kind of word “replacement” process, here is what I understood.

Jer 1:
1 How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how she is become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!
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Empty streets, restaurants closed, no planes, trains or automobiles. The millions of daily commuters have vanished.

2 She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.
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The country who boasted so loudly of her strength, fighting wars wherever she wanted, is hated and betrayed by her former allies.

5 Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy.
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New York City, media capital of the planet, dispensed her depraved idolatry throughout the world, seducing millions into materialism, and worse. Now is the time of reaping what was sown. The fruit of the nation, her young people, have become slaves of her former enemies. The old and frail no longer live.

15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.
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The young men of fighting age, have perished in wars far from their native land. The vitality of the city has been totally crushed.

18 The LORD is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity.
19 I called for my lovers, but they deceived me: my priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, while they sought their meat to relieve their souls.
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Because of her sins, the choicest young have been ravished. The religious and political leaders ran away to save themselves, leaving the population undefended.

21 They have heard that I sigh: there is none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me.
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Because of her pride, America felt she was blessed and could do no wrong, no matter what. She was hated by other nations for her arrogance, and they rejoice in her downfall. However, they also will receive their judgment in due course.

Jer 2:
11 ... the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
12 They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine? when they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the city, when their soul was poured out into their mothers’ bosom.
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There is no food, no milk for the babes and children. They perish for lack of sustenance in their mother’s arms.

20 ...Shall the woman eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?
21 The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, and not pitied.
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The dead lie everywhere. The few survivors resort to cannibalism to survive. Mothers consume their own children for food.

Jer 3:
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever:
32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins.
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Without justice, God would be impotent. Best for those receiving chastisement to bear it with the hope of salvation and eventual relief once the purification is complete.

Jer 4:
5 They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills.
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The pampered and spoiled children of modern society, whining and complaining, are now reduced to scrounging for food in the dump heap, like those untouchable homeless they so easily ignored before. Instead of a soft warm bed, they lie on the cold hard ground.

6 For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her.
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Sodom was a Sunday school picnic, compared to the depravity of modern society.

Jer 5:
15 The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned.
21 Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old.
22 But thou hast utterly rejected us; thou art very wroth against us.
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The Great City has fallen, forsaken, receiving her long delayed retribution.

Ref.
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1807
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/holidayd.html
http://ny054.urj.net/ReligiousLiving/TishaB'Av.htm