Jeremiahs in Paint and Stone

Because my people is shattered I am shattered; I am dejected, seized by desolation.

Is any biblical prophet more immersed in, and tormented by, his mission than Jeremiah? On Tisha b’Av, this week, Jews will read his book of Lamentations; in it, Jeremiah relates a deeply personal horror at the destruction of his city and the banishment of his people. He internalizes and is riven by his own prophecy. In other words, he lives through the future he has prophesied.