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http://villagevoice.com/news/0536,kamenetzweb2,67487,2.html

Excellent, excellent essay.

I grew up Jewish, taught a liturgy of exile and loss. It's a vocabulary that now comes to hand. Just two weeks ago, Jews sat on our floors to read the Book of Lamentations by candlelight, mourning once again the destruction of our own walled city, Jerusalem. The book in Hebrew is called Eicha, chanted in two drawn-out notes, meaning How. How can this be? Wherefore this destruction?

The rabbis of the Talmud have an answer: The Temple was destroyed the last time, and the city sacked, because of causeless hatred. Brother for brother.

"As for us, our eyes do yet fail for our vain help; in our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save."