תהלים, פרק פ׳, פסוק ו׳

Life in exile is marked by a profound and relentless sorrow, an anguish so deep that the most basic human needs of eating and drinking become inseparable from weeping. The primary approach among commentators is that the imagery of eating tears is metaphorical, describing a reality where the people's food is literally soaked and dipped in their own crying [ביאור שטיינזלץ, מאירי]. Pressed by extreme poverty and distress, the meager portions they consume seem as though they are baked from tears [מלבי״ם]. Another perspective suggests that weeping takes the place of food entirely. The sheer intensity of their grief destroys their appetite, and the tears themselves fill them up as if they had eaten a full meal [אבן עזרא, מצודת דוד]. From a spiritual standpoint, this sorrow reflects the agonizing effort required just to survive. When the heavens hold back rain, only desperate prayers accompanied by weeping can open the divine gates of tears to bring down sustenance [אלשיך]. Historically, some trace this profound grief back to the bitter period of enslavement and exile in Egypt [רש״י].

The sorrow extends beyond food, carrying over into what they drink. When describing the sheer volume of tears consumed, commentators offer two main interpretations: a physical measurement or a historical reference. The primary approach among commentators is that the tears are poured into a massive measuring vessel. According to this view, God gives the people an enormous quantity of tears that fills a large container, and these tears quench their thirst instead of water. Just as eating and drinking are fixed daily routines, weeping has become their permanent, inescapable reality, day and night [אבן עזרא, רד״ק, מצודת ציון, מצודת דוד, מאירי, ביאור שטיינזלץ, רש״י].

Conversely, a historical approach views this specific measurement as a mathematical or chronological hint to the various periods of exile. Some explain that the Babylonian exile, which lasted seventy years, was exactly one-third of the two hundred and ten years spent in the Egyptian exile [רש״י, רד״ק, מאירי]. Others see a reference to the third exile under Greek rule, assuming Babylon and Persia are counted as a single continuous period, or a reference to three distinct exiles: Egypt, Babylon, and Media [רש״י, רד״ק, מלבי״ם]. Another interpretation links the number three to the three separate times Nebuchadnezzar exiled the nation, or to the three kings who ruled over the Babylonian exile [מלבי״ם, תורה תמימה]. Finally, a unique Midrashic tradition traces this sorrow back to the three tears Esau shed when he realized Jacob had taken his blessing—a loud, great, and bitter cry. It was in the merit of those three tears that Esau was granted the power to live by his sword, ultimately bringing suffering and exile upon Israel [רש״י].