2: Biblical excerpts, book of Lamentations 1:7–11 and 3:1–20.

2: Biblical excerpts, book of Lamentations 1:7–11 and 3:1–20.

Bialik’s poem was in dialogue with the Biblical book of Lamentations, a series of painful laments about the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah and of Jerusalem and its Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. Lamentations describes with terrible detail the horrific forms of violence directed against the Judeans and the collateral suffering that goes with conquest and subjugation, and also gives special attention to the feeling of shame it ascribes to Judeans in the face of their conquered status and suffering. 

Suggested Activities: Read the two passages from Lamentations referenced in “In the City of Slaughter.” Why do you think Bialik chose these passages to highlight? Students might consider: what is the place of shame in “In the City of Slaughter?” Who is experiencing shame in the passages from Lamentations? What parallels can you draw between the city of Jerusalem in the first passage from Lamentations and the plight of Jewish women in “In the City of Slaughter?” What parallels can you draw between experiences of the unknown (male) speaker in the second passage from Lamentations and the reactions of Jewish men in “In the City of Slaughter?”

Sources: Lamentations 1:7–11 and 3:1–20, trans. Jewish Publication Society, 1985. Source sheet compiled by Sadie Gold-Shapiro using sefaria.org, 2019.