QUOTE : Scattered through the five chapters of Lamentations are many references to the population from which one can piece together a cross-section of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”5 Suffering is endured by the entire community. It is a communal experience. At the same time, this community experience is not merely an abstract experience. Individuals also suffer in very real ways. In engaging the spectrum of Jerusalem’s residents, Lamentations gives voice to the entire community, to those whose story has been one of celebration (the kings and rulers) and those whose story has been a history of suffering (women, widows, children). Lamentations recognizes that individual voices from the full range of citizens must be heard