Lamentations, Witnessing Refugee Suffering, and #NeverAgainIsNow

Rabbi Eva Cohen, Or Emet: Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism

Lamentations, one of the Five Megillot (Scrolls) in the Tanakh, mourns Jerusalem’s fall to the Babylonians in 587 BCE. It bears poetic witness to the horrors of war, the suffering of refugees, and the grief and guilt of survivors. Jews traditionally chant the text as a part of public mourning on Tisha B’Av. Over the past decade, Jewish activists for immigrant and refugee rights have also mobilized Lamentations in protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), using the ancient text to express contemporary immigrant and refugee suffering. How, through studying Lamentations and its reception through history, can we deepen and nuance our understanding of historical parallels and strengthen our commitment to acting in solidarity with immigrants and refugees?

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