Jeremiah’s book supplies the Rosh Hashanah haftarah featuring Rachel weeping for her children.
The passage is Jeremiah 31:1–19 or, in many customs, Jeremiah 31:2–20. It describes Rachel mourning at Ramah, a place associated with the gathering of exiles, while God promises that her children will eventually return. The passage therefore moves from grief toward consolation and restoration.
This reading is traditionally associated with the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Its themes complement the day’s Torah reading, the Binding of Isaac: both passages involve danger, remembrance, suffering, and hope. Rachel’s tears also give the reading a maternal voice for Israel’s collective pain.
Readers sometimes confuse this with Hannah’s story from 1 Samuel, which is the first-day haftarah. Jeremiah’s Rachel passage belongs to the second day. The reference to Rachel is symbolic as well as personal: she represents the people descended from Jacob and the sorrow of exile.