Megillat Eikha (the Book of Lamentations), traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, is read on the eve of the Ninth of Av (Tisha Be-Av) and, in some traditions, also on the following morning. Eikha yashvah vadad is the opening verse of the first of the Book's five chapters. Like the other chapters (with the exception of the last), it is structured as an alphabetical acrostic, with the opening letter of each verse following the order of the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse consists of three lines. In the opening verses, the poet laments the fall of Zion, portrayed as a lonely, weeping widow, devastated by destruction and subsequent exile.
Back in 2010, in one of the earliest installments of the Song of the Month, we released three short recordings of verses 1–3 of Eikha in the Iraqi tradition, sung by Barukh Abdallah Ezra, a distinguished representative of the last generation of cantors from Baghdad before the mass immigration to Israel. These historical recordings were made in Jerusalem in 1951 by the pioneering American ethnomusicologist Dr. Johana L. Spector as part of her comprehensive musical ethnography of Jewish immigrants from Arab lands.
Interestingly, the three renditions by the same performer differ strikingly in tessitura, tempo, and ornamentation. In the absence of further information about the circumstances in which these recordings were made, it is difficult to determine whether these differences are merely circumstantial or reflect culturally meaningful factors—for example, different liturgical contexts or occasions of performance. One parameter, however, remains remarkably consistent across all three recordings: the rhythmic organization of each of the three components of the verse. One may therefore surmise that, in this Iraqi tradition of chanting Lamentations, rhythmic regularity takes precedence over pitch organization.
Hereby follows the text of verses 1-3 of Lamentations and their translation (credits: www.mechon-mamre.org; www.BibleGetaway.com / New International Version):
א אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד, הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם--הָיְתָה, כְּאַלְמָנָה; רַבָּתִי בַגּוֹיִם, שָׂרָתִי בַּמְּדִינוֹת--הָיְתָה, לָמַס.
ב בָּכוֹ תִבְכֶּה בַּלַּיְלָה, וְדִמְעָתָהּ עַל לֶחֱיָהּ--אֵין־לָהּ מְנַחֵם, מִכָּל־אֹהֲבֶיהָ: כָּל־רֵעֶיהָ בָּגְדוּ בָהּ, הָיוּ לָהּ לְאֹיְבִים.
ג גָּלְתָה יְהוּדָה מֵעֹנִי, וּמֵרֹב עֲבֹדָה--הִיא יָשְׁבָה בַגּוֹיִם, לֹא מָצְאָה מָנוֹחַ; כָּל־רֹדְפֶיהָ הִשִּׂיגוּהָ, בֵּין הַמְּצָרִים.
1 How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!
How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave.
2 Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.
3 After affliction and harsh labor, Judah has gone into exile.
She dwells among the nations; she finds no resting place.
All who pursue her have overtaken her in the midst of her distress.
Since those early days of our Song of the Month feature, the JMRC website has grown exponentially in terms of sound resources. You can now hear and or read more about the performance of Eikha yashvah vadad in other Jewish traditions:
Gibraltar/Spanish-Portuguese tradition sung by hazzan Abraham Beniso
Spanish-Portuguese tradition from Amsterdam sung by hazzan Abraham Lopes Cardozo
Eastern Ashkenazi trope for Lamentations analyzed by Yonatan Malin
