Welcome back to another episode of NachDaily with Koheles, chapter 7.

In this chapter, Shlomo primarily lists things we should follow and attitudes we should avoid. As previously mentioned, Shlomo’s main reason for writing Koheles was to guide us towards a true, rewarding, and meaningful life. We see this even more clearly in this perek.

The chapter opens with the famous words, “Tov sheim mishemen tov, v’yom hamaves m’yom hivaldo – A good name is better than fine oil, and the day of death than the day of birth.”

The Metsudos explains that while the fragrance of perfume wears off as the day progresses, a good reputation tends to get greater with time. The day that one dies is better than a birthday, because a good name will last even after death. When one is born, no one knows how the person is going to turn out.

Verses 2 through 13 speak about the attitudes and behaviors a person should avoid or cultivate. The positive ones: going to a house of mourning, not holding resentment, listening to the words of the wise, being patient, being slow to anger and not questioning what’s beyond your comprehension of understanding.

The negative ones: going to feasts, harboring resentment while covering it over with a fake smile, following the thoughts of fools, not listening to the wise, rejecting wisdom, losing your temper quickly and asking questions beyond your ability to understand.

Verse 14 says, “B’yom tova heyeih v’tov, uv’yom ra’ah, r’ei. Gam es zeh l’umas zeh asah haElokim al divras shelo yimtza ha’adam acharav m’umah – In a time of good fortune be glad, and in a time of misfortunate reflect; the one as well as the other is God’s doing, so that man may find no fault in Him.”

The simple meaning is that when you have good things going on in your life, be happy. When you have bad things happen in your life, take time to reflect and see that all is from Hashem. Don’t be resentful.

Rebbe Nachman explains this passuk as follows: When things are going well for you, then tov, good! But what if you’re really struggling and surrounded by difficulty on all sides? Then it says, u’v’yom ra’ah, r’ei. On a bad day, you should see the good in it.

In difficult times we need to search and find the good inherent in that day and in the essential good that lies within us. There’s no such thing as a day that doesn’t have good in it. There’s also no such thing as people who don’t have some good within them. We need to be experts in connecting to the essential goodness that we all possess. In this way, even a bad day can be seen as good.

In verses 15 through 28, Shlomo begins to recall the vast diversity of his life experiences: loss and life, wisdom and folly, weakness and strength, tziddikus and rishus, good and evil. He sought wisdom, only to be frustrated by its illusive nature.

Shlomo also says, in verse 26, “I have found that more bitter than death is the woman.” Rashi explains that “the woman” refers to false beliefs that took him away from true Jewish wisdom. The Ibn Ezra explains that it refers to sexual desire, which, as we’re aware, can bring people to the lowest of places and when misplaced can wreak havoc in one’s life.

The perek ends in verse 29: “L’vad r’eh zeh, matsati asher asah haElokim es adam yashar, v’heima vikshu chishvonos rabim – But see, this I did find: God made man upright, but they chased after many thoughts.”

Hashem made each one of us with perfect mental health and resilience. It’s the way that we’re built by design. However, we all get lost in the fog of our minds, which in a sense can take us out of wellbeing. We actually think our way out of mental health and resilience by chasing every thought we have, which causes us to live in our heads. This shows that we are all made straight and whole by design. Mental health is not just the gift of the few. It’s actually built into the system of mankind.

This is what the passuk meant by, “Hashem made man straight, but they chased after their cheshbonos, their own calculations”, meaning their thoughts.

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