וּזְכֹר֙ אֶת־בּ֣וֹרְאֶ֔יךָ בִּימֵ֖י בְּחוּרֹתֶ֑יךָ עַ֣ד אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹא־יָבֹ֙אוּ֙ יְמֵ֣י הָֽרָעָ֔ה וְהִגִּ֣יעוּ שָׁנִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר תֹּאמַ֔ר אֵֽין־לִ֥י בָהֶ֖ם חֵֽפֶץ׃
So appreciate your creator in the days of your youth, before those days of sorrow come and those years arrive of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;
וּזְכֹר אֶת בּוֹרְאֶיךָ. תַּמָּן תְּנִינָן, עֲקַבְיָא בֶּן מַהֲלַלְאֵל אוֹמֵר: הִסְתַּכֵּל בִּשְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים וְכוּ', וּמִמִּקְרָא זֶה דָּרֶשׁ: "וּזְכוֹר אֶת בּוֹרְאֶךָ", שֶׁתִּתֵּן דִּין וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן לְפָנָיו. "וּזְכוֹר אֶת בּוֹרֶךָ" קִבְרְךָ, מְקוֹם עָפָר, רִמָּה וְתוֹלֵעָה. "וּזְכוֹר בְּאֵרֶךָ", בְּאֵר שֶׁנָּבַעְתָּ מִמְּקוֹרָהּ, הִיא טִפָּה סְרוּחָה שֶׁל זֶרַע וְשֶׁל לוֹבֶן:
So remember your Creator. There we learned to reflect upon three things, etc. And he expounded it from this verse, “so remember your Creator [=בּוֹרְאֶךָ,” that you will give an accounting and reckoning before Him; and remember your pit, your grave [=בּוֹרֶךָ, a place of earth, maggots, and worms; and remember your well [=בְּאֵרֶךָ, the well that flows from its source, that is, the drop of semen that became you.
(3) When the guards of the house become shaky,
And the men of valor are bent,
And the maids that grind, grown few, are idle,
And the ladies that peer through the windows grow dim,
בְּיוֹמָא דִּיזוּעוּן אַרְכּוּבְתָךְ וְיִתְנַקְשׁוּן אֶדְרָעָךְ
וְיִתְבַּטְּלוּן כַּכֵּי פוּמָּךְ עַד לָא יָכְלִין לְמִלְעַס מֵיכְלָא וְיִתְעָמְמוּן עֵינָךְ דְּמִסְתַּכְּלָן בַּחֲרַכֵּי רֵישָׁךְ:
(Targums=translations of biblical texts in the mother tongue, most Aramaic targums were composed between 1st and 7th centuries CE)
On the day your knees will tremble and your arms will knock and the teeth of your mouth will be useless so they are unable to chew food and your eyes which look from the opening of your head will dim.
With the noise of the hand mill growing fainter,
And the song of the bird growing feebler,-g
And all the strains of music dying down; (5) When one is afraid of heights
And there is terror on the road.—
For the almond tree may blossom,
The grasshopper be burdened,-i
And the caper bush may bud again;
But man sets out for his eternal abode,
With mourners all around in the street.—
The Gemara explains: “Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high”; this means that even a small knoll on the road seems to him, the elderly, like the highest of mountains. “And terrors shall be on the road”; this means that while he is walking on the road he will have terrors, i.e., he will fear falling or otherwise suffering injury. “And the almond tree shall blossom”; this is the hip bone that protrudes from the skin of an elderly person. “And the grasshopper [ḥagav] shall drag itself along [yistabbel]”; by replacing the letter ḥet of ḥagav with an ayin, this can be understood as referring to the buttocks [agavot] which become heavy [sevel]. “And the caper berry shall fail”; this is sexual desire that ceases.
And the golden bowl crashes,
The jar is shattered at the spring,
And the jug is smashed at the cistern.
As it was,
And the lifebreath returns to God
Who bestowed it.
(19) For in respect of the fate of man and the fate of beast, they have one and the same fate: as the one dies so dies the other, and both have the same lifebreath; man has no superiority over beast, since both amount to nothing. (20) Both go to the same place; both came from dust and both return to dust.
Shall you get bread to eat,
Until you return to the ground—
For from it you were taken.
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
Then destroyed every part of me. (9) Consider that You fashioned me like clay;
Will You then turn me back into dust?
Tales of The Hasidim Later Masters, Martin Buber, p.249-50
Rabbi Simcha Bunim teaches: Every person should have two pockets. In one pocket should be a piece of paper saying: "I am only dust and ashes." When one is feeling too proud, reach into this pocket and take out this paper and read it. In the other pocket should be a piece of paper saying: "For my sake was the world created." When one is feeling disheartened and lowly, reach into this pocket and take this paper out and read it.
(ב) א כִּי צָרִיךְ כָּל אָדָם לוֹמַר: כָּל הָעוֹלָם לֹא נִבְרָא אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִילִי (סנהדרין לז). נִמְצָא, כְּשֶׁהָעוֹלָם נִבְרָא בִּשְׁבִילִי, צָרִיךְ אֲנִי לִרְאוֹת וּלְעַיֵּן בְּכָל עֵת בְּתִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם, וּלְמַלְּאוֹת חֶסְרוֹן הָעוֹלָם, וּלְהִתְפַּלֵּל בַּעֲבוּרָם.
(2) Now, each person must say: “The entire world was created only for my sake” (Sanhedrin 37a). Consequently, because the world was created for my sake, I must constantly look into and consider ways of making the world better; to provide what is missing in the world and pray on its behalf.
All is futile!
(9) A further word: Because Koheleth was a sage, he continued to instruct the people. He listened to and tested the soundness of many maxims. (10) Koheleth sought to discover useful sayings and recorded genuinely truthful sayings. (11) The sayings of the wise are like goads, like nails fixed in prodding sticks.-o They were given by one Shepherd.-p (12) A further word: Against them,-q my son, be warned!
The making of many books is without limit
And much study is a wearying of the flesh.
סוף דבר הכל נשמע את האלקים ירא ואת מצותיו שמור כי זה כל האדם
The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe His commandments! For this applies to all mankind.
What do you think about the ending of Kohelet? Do you see its message as one of pessimism or optimism?
Does Kohelet's answer resonate with you or Likutei Moharan's? Or both?
Knowing we all have only one life, what is it that you intend to do with yours?