This kinah, written by R. Elazar ben R. Moshe HaDarshan in 13th century Germany, lies in the middle of the group of tziyyons.  The obvious significance of Zion, or Jerusalem, on Tisha B’Av is clear.  We mourn the destructions of the Temples and the loss of the city as a national capitol.   But the significance of Jerusalem goes beyond these functions.  It was, and is, a city whose intrinsic beauty is to be treasured on its own accord, whose splendor not only reflects the presence of the Temple, but the Divine presence, which permeates its very streets and walls.

As Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik noted, the Tziyons serve a distinct purpose among the kinot.  While most kinot are mournfully explicit recordings of destruction and persecution, these kinot are not heavily focused on the mourning per se.  Instead, we turn our focus to the beauty that has been lost, in order to allow us to mourn more honestly.  We reawaken the old transcendent feelings that could only be conjured up in the city’s presence.  It is a place of spiritual vibrancy, the site of joyous public celebration during festivals, and the refuge in which sinners and the religiously downtrodden seek the shelter of God.  More than lamentations, these kinot are really odes paying homage to the splendor of Jerusalem.  By understanding the glory we can better feel the pain of its loss.

The prophet Daniel described greater Eretz Yisrael as eretz hatzvi (Daniel 11:16).  As noted by Rav Saadiah Gaon (10th cen.), this description is related to the Hebrew word צבא, referring to a military stronghold.  Eretz Yisrael provides the Jewish people with a spiritual fortress, from which the lifeblood of the people is safeguarded and pumped to its people both within the land's borders and in the Diaspora. 

What Eretz Yisrael is on a macro level, Jerusalem is on a smaller scale. It is at once the seat of the nation's power and symbolic of the reason for the land’s significance.  Its walls protected the most effective tools we had to live a life of Divine experience.  The altar, the ark, the songs of the Levites, all served as catalysts to inspire pilgrims to the city.  We have been deprived of these tools, making our spiritual journeys that much more difficult to realize. 

Our kinnah ends with expression of the deep yearning we strive to feel for our lost city.  We pine for its return to glory with unbridled passion.  Finally, we are charged with a call to action:

Wake up to greet your beloved!  Shake yourself from the dust of the ground, when He returns to your palace.

התעוררי לקראת דודך והתנערי מן האדמה בשובו אל מעוניך

In our time, when faced with signs of the return of Jerusalem's splendor, let us make every effort to feel the restlessness that shakes us from our deep slumber.  Let it cause us to joyously spring to our feet and embrace the spiritual inspiration embodied in the crown jewel of all cities.