KOHELES PEREK 2

Welcome back to another episode of NachDaily with the 2nd perek of Koheles. This chapter describes the luxuries and financial wealth that Shlomo Hamelech had attained during his lifetime yet found worthless.

Many of the pessukim are written in the first person because he is speaking about his own personal experience.

The perek opens with Shlomo Hamelech describing engaging in different pleasures in order to find meaning in life. Initially, he decided to experience drinking wine and having a good time. He described trying fine wines while keeping his mind attached to wisdom to ascertain which is better. Wisdom or alcohol?

Shlomo also describes his fabulous material wealth. He built houses, fine vineyards, and botanical gardens. He had fruit trees, pools for irrigation, male and female servants around the clock, and a tremendous amount of livestock and food. By far the richest man in all of Yerushalayim, he had silver, gold, and chariots, along with honor and respect from the kings of the world. He had more delights than anyone who lived before him while keeping his mind focused on wisdom.

In verse 10 Shlomo sums it up by saying, “I did not withhold from my eyes anything they requested. I did not deny my heart any type of joy. Rather my heart rejoiced in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my labor.” He felt a sense of satisfaction from all his hard work and accomplishment.

The very next passuk says, however, that after he began to think about all the energy and effort expended to achieve his goals, he fell into depression and despair.

This is the existential conundrum which many of us experience. After working so hard to attain a goal, whether educational or financial, or achieving status and honor, many feel a sense of futility or sadness. In the end there’s an understanding that runs even deeper: What did I really accomplish? What was the purpose of all this? I still feel like the same old person.

In verse 12, after Shlomo attained his material wealth and saw that it led him nowhere, he turned his attention to the more subtle and deeper pleasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Verse 13 says, “V’ra’isi ani she’yeish yisron l’chochma min hasichlus. K’yisron ha’ohr min hachoshech – I perceived the advantage of wisdom over folly as the advantage of light over darkness.”

The Metsudos explains a really interesting idea. Shlomo engaged in both wisdom and folly, i.e., stupidity. He explains that you can only really understand wisdom when you can understand the opposite as well. If everyone is smart, then no one is and there is no advantage in wisdom. Therefore, Shlomo engaged in sichlus, which gave him a deeper and better appreciation of wisdom. It is precisely the contrast between light and darkness which allows one to appreciate the light.

Similarly, the Ramad Walli explains that you can only know tov, good, when you know what ra, bad, is. You can only understand that something is bitter in relation to something sweet. Therefore, Hashem created the world with the existence of opposing forces, or opposites. We can use our free choice to turn away from evil and darkness and choose good, light, and Hashem. It’s precisely because there is evil that we can begin to appreciate the good in the world and in our lives.

From verses 14 through 26, which end the perek, Shlomo describes how he ultimately found wisdom meaningless as well. He realized that both fools and wise men ultimately meet the same fate: death.

Shlomo thought to console himself by setting up his legacy and children for future generations but realized that his being a good king didn’t mean that his children would rule well. His children might not be able to maintain the wealth he amassed.

What are we here for then? What is the purpose of life if all roads lead to depression and despair?

Stay tuned to the next episode of NachDaily. Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.