Not Forgotten

 (Vayikra 26:31)

The Midrash discusses the pasuk in Eichah (2:2): “The L-rd has destroyed and has had no pity.” Says the Midrash, Rabi Yochanan would explain this pasuk in 60 ways. Yet Rebbi would explain it in only 24 ways.

This wasn’t because Rabi Yochanan was greater than Rebbi. Rather, it was because Rebbi lived in a time period closer to the Churban. Therefore, it sufficed for him to explain this pasuk in only 24 ways; he would explain, cry, and then be comforted.

This doesn’t seem to make sense. If Rebbi lived closer to the time of the Churban, shouldn’t it have been harder to comfort him than Rabi Yochanan? (Rav Shach, Meirosh Amanah)

“Poland?” I must not have heard my daughter correctly. Her international phone calls were always full of static and zany background noise in her dorm. “You want to go where?”