In this rather long episode, I give an overview of Lamentations as a whole and its place in the canon of Scripture to help understand its contribution to our spiritual heritage. I then introduce us to the first of the five poems that make up the book and its "conversation" between the observer of Jerusalem's destruction and the woman whose voice represents the city's.

I have been helped in particular by two resources in my approach to this challenging book and I mention them in the episode. The first is Robert Alter's translation of the scriptures of Israel from which I read (and will continue to read for this series) in this episode. The second is the volume on Lamentations in the "Wisdom Commentary" series by Gina Henz-Piazza.