HEVEL
(ז) וַיִּ֩יצֶר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃
(4) A person is like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow.
(ו) אָדָם יְסוֹדוֹ מֵעָפָר וְסוֹפוֹ לֶעָפָר. בְּנַפְשׁוֹ יָבִיא לַחְמוֹ. מָשׁוּל כְּחֶרֶס הַנִּשְׁבָּר, כְּחָצִיר יָבֵשׁ, וּכְצִיץ נוֹבֵל, כְּצֵל עוֹבֵר, וּכְעָנָן כָּלָה, וּכְרוּחַ נוֹשָׁבֶת, וּכְאָבָק פּוֹרֵחַ, וְכַחֲלוֹם יָעוּף. וְאַתָּה הוּא מֶלֶךְ אֵל חַי וְקַיָּם.
(6) We come from dust, and return to dust. We labour by our lives for bread, we are like broken shards, like dry grass, and like a withered flower; like a passing shadow and a vanishing cloud, like a breeze that passes, like dust that scatters, like a fleeting dream. But You are the king who lives eternal.
Rather the secret of hevel is noble! It is the breath that exhales from the mouth, and the secret of this exhalation transforms into voice. And it has been taught: “the world endures only by the breath of children who have not transgressed”— that is, those who literally have not transgressed. Voice is composed of breath, air, and water; and everything that is made is constituted from breath. The secret of this breath of children becoming voice, extending through the world, they are the guardians of the world, guardians of the city, as is written: “Unless YHVH watches over the city, the watchman guards in vain” (Psalms 127:1).
The text challenges the reader to find a way to breathe with dignity and wisdom amid these asphyxiating times.
(ECCLESIASTES : A READING FROM THE PERIPHERY , ELSA TAMEZ)
דָּבָר אַחֵר, אִלּוּ אַחֵר אָמַר הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים אָמַר קֹהֶלֶת וגו', הָיִיתִי אוֹמֵר זֶה שֶׁלֹא קָנָה לוֹ שְׁתֵּי פְּרוּטוֹת מִיָּמָיו הוּא פִּירֵת בְּמָמוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם וְאוֹמֵר הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים,
אֶלָּא זֶה, שְׁלֹמֹה, שֶׁכָּתוּב בּוֹ (מלכים א י, כז): וַיִּתֵּן הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת הַכֶּסֶף בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם כָּאֲבָנִים, וְלֹא הָיוּ נִגְנָבוֹת שֶׁהָיוּ אַבְנֵי עֶשֶׂר אַמּוֹת וְאַבְנֵי שְׁמוֹנֶה אַמּוֹת, וּמִשְׁקָלוֹת שֶׁהָיוּ בִּימֵי שְׁלֹמֹה שֶׁל זָהָב הָיוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלכים א י, כא): אֵין כֶּסֶף לֹא נֶחְשָׁב בִּימֵי שְׁלֹמֹה לִמְאוּמָה, לָזֶה נָאֶה לוֹמַר הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים. לָמָּה אָמַר הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים, רָאָה הָעוֹלָם וְהֶעָתִיד לִהְיוֹת בְּסוֹפוֹ.
[ple(1) ...Had someone else [i.e., other than Solomon] said: “Vanity of vanities, said Kohelet…” (Ecclesiastes 1:2), I would have said: Someone who never acquired even two perutot worth [of property] in his life ridicules all the property in the world and says: “Vanity of vanities”?!
However, this one, Solomon, of whom it is written: “The king made the silver in Jerusalem as [plentiful as] stones…” (I Kings 10:27), but they were not stolen, as they were ten cubit stones and eight cubit stones. The weights during the reign of Solomon were made of gold, as it is stated: “None of silver, as it was not considered anything during the reign of Solomon” (I Kings 10:21), for him it is appropriate to say: “Vanity of vanities.” Why did he say: “Vanity of vanities”? He saw the world and what would ultimately occur.
כְּתִיב (בראשית א׳:ג׳) וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקִים יְהִי אוֹר וַיְהִי אוֹר. אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסִי, הַהוּא אוֹר אִתְגְּנִיז וְאִיהוּ אִזְדָּמַן לְגַבֵּי צַדִיקַיָּא לְעָלְמָא דְּאָתֵי…
רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, אִלְמָלֵי אִתְגְּנִיז מִכֹּל
וָכֹל, לָא קָאִים עָלְמָא אֲפִילּוּ רִגְעָא חֲדָא,.. וְלֵית לָךְ יוֹמָא, דְּלָא נָפִיק מִנֵּיהּ בְּעָלְמָא, וּמְקַיֵים כֹּלָּא דְּבֵיהּ זָן קוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא עָלְמָא. וּבְכָל אֲתָר דְּלָעָאן בְּאוֹרַיְיתָא בְּלֵילְיָא, חַד חוּטָא נָפִיק מֵהַהוּא אוֹר גָנִיז, וְאִתְמְשִׁיךְ עַל אִינּוּן דְּלָעָאן בָּהּ,... וּמֵהַהוּא יוֹמָא (קדמאה). לָא אִתְגְּלֵי, אֲבָל שִׁמּוּשָׁא קָא מְשַׁמֵּשׁ בְּעָלְמָא, וְאִיהוּ מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל יוֹמָא עוֹבָדָא דִּבְרֵאשִׁית.
Zohar 2:148b-149a
Rabbi Yose said, The light created by God in the act of Creation flared from one end of the universe to the other and was hidden away… for the righteous in the world that is coming…
Rabbi Yehudah responded, “If the light were completely hidden, the world would not exist for even a moment… Every single day, a ray of that light shines into the world, animating everything; with that ray God feeds the world. And everywhere that Torah is studied at night, one thread thin ray appears from that hidden light and flows down upon those absorbed in her.*...
Since the first day, the light has never been fully revealed, but it is vital to the world, renewing each day the act of Creation.
Rabbi Alan Lew, z''l, from This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared
...We sit flush with the world, in a ‘house’ that calls attention to the fact that it gives us no shelter. It is not really a house. It is the interrupted idea of a house, a parody of a house… And it exposes the idea of a house as an illusion. The idea of a house is that it gives us security, shelter, haven from the storm. But no house can really offer us this. No building of wood and stone can ever afford us protection from the disorder that is always lurking all around us. No shell we put between us and the world can ever really keep us secure from it. And we know this. We never really believed this illusion. That’s why we never felt truly secure in it [...] In the sukkah, a house that is open to the world, a house that freely acknowledges that it cannot be the basis of our security, we let go of this need. The illusion of protection falls away, and suddenly we are flush with our life, feeling our life, following our life, doing its dance, one step after another. |
בילדותי, השתוקקתי לגור בבית של ברזל... אולי מפני שנולדתי במלחמה וינקתי עם חלב אמי את
הפחדים מפני האש.
אחר כך ידעתי שגם בתים של ברזל, של נחושת או של אבן, בנויים על אדמה סלעית ועומדים על
דיוטות של מים במרחק גדול מכבשן האש של לב הארץ,
ורק קו האור שאי אפשר לתפוס אותו
בידיים ולראותו, שיוצא מן הנפש אל מרחקי המרחקים עד מעבֵר לחושים אל הבורא, רק הוא מגן עלי מפני התוהו והבוהו.
כי האדמה מתנועעת והשורשים מתנועעים בתוכה והכוכבים מתנועעים, כל אחד, כל יסוד בקצב
אחר. והדם בתוכי מתנועע ומחשבותי מתנועעות, והמנוחה רק בקו הזה .
אך לפעמים יש הסתרת פנים – והחוט ניתק..
When I was little, I wanted to live in a house made of iron…maybe because I was born during a war and with my mother's milk I suckled the fears from fire.
Later, I understood that even houses made of iron—or of bronze or stone, for that matter—are still built on stony earth, that stand atop reservoirs of water, at a great distance from the great furnace at the heart of the world.
Nothing but that thin beam of light,intangible and invisible, traversing the greatest of distances from the soul, beyond the senses, to the Creator, protects me from the chaos and the void.
For the earth moves and the roots move within it and the stars move—each one, each element, with its own rhythm. The blood within me moves and my thoughts move,
and repose can be found only within this beam [kav].
Sometimes, however, there is the concealment/ turning away of the Face [hastarat panim]—the thread breaks.
-Zelda (Israeli Poet) adapted and excerpted from translation by Dr Melila Hellner-Eshed
CHOCHMAH
all who practice it gain sound understanding.
Praise of Him is everlasting.
יְֽהֹוָ֗ה בְּחׇכְמָ֥ה יָסַד־אָ֑רֶץ כּוֹנֵ֥ן שָׁ֝מַ֗יִם בִּתְבוּנָֽה׃
God founded the earth by wisdom; established the heavens by understanding; (Prov. 3:19)
רְאֵ֖ה קָרָ֣אתִֽי בְשֵׁ֑ם בְּצַלְאֵ֛ל בֶּן־אוּרִ֥י בֶן־ח֖וּר לְמַטֵּ֥ה יְהוּדָֽה׃
וָאֲמַלֵּ֥א אֹת֖וֹ ר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֑ים בְּחׇכְמָ֛ה וּבִתְבוּנָ֥ה וּבְדַ֖עַת וּבְכׇל־מְלָאכָֽה׃
See, I have singled out by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. I have endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft. (Exodus 31:2-3)
Midrash Tanchuma:
It is written: The Eternal by wisdom founded the earth (Prov. 3:19) and also: I have filled him with the spirit of wisdom (Exod. 31:3). This teaches us that the Tabernacle was equal both to all the world and to a human embryo, which is a world in miniature.
(א) הֲלֹֽא־חׇכְמָ֥ה תִקְרָ֑א וּ֝תְבוּנָ֗ה תִּתֵּ֥ן קוֹלָֽהּ׃ (ב) בְּרֹאשׁ־מְרֹמִ֥ים עֲלֵי־דָ֑רֶךְ בֵּ֖ית נְתִיב֣וֹת נִצָּֽבָה׃ (ג) לְיַד־שְׁעָרִ֥ים לְפִי־קָ֑רֶת מְב֖וֹא פְתָחִ֣ים תָּרֹֽנָּה׃ (ד) אֲלֵיכֶ֣ם אִישִׁ֣ים אֶקְרָ֑א וְ֝קוֹלִ֗י אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י אָדָֽם׃ (ה) הָבִ֣ינוּ פְתָאיִ֣ם עׇרְמָ֑ה וּ֝כְסִילִ֗ים הָבִ֥ינוּ לֵֽב׃ (ו) שִׁ֭מְעוּ כִּֽי־נְגִידִ֣ים אֲדַבֵּ֑ר וּמִפְתַּ֥ח שְׂ֝פָתַ֗י מֵישָׁרִֽים׃ (ז) כִּֽי־אֱ֭מֶת יֶהְגֶּ֣ה חִכִּ֑י וְתוֹעֲבַ֖ת שְׂפָתַ֣י רֶֽשַׁע׃ (ח) בְּצֶ֥דֶק כׇּל־אִמְרֵי־פִ֑י אֵ֥ין בָּ֝הֶ֗ם נִפְתָּ֥ל וְעִקֵּֽשׁ׃ (ט) כֻּלָּ֣ם נְ֭כֹחִים לַמֵּבִ֑ין וִ֝ישָׁרִ֗ים לְמֹ֣צְאֵי דָֽעַת׃ (י) קְחֽוּ־מוּסָרִ֥י וְאַל־כָּ֑סֶף וְ֝דַ֗עַת מֵחָר֥וּץ נִבְחָֽר׃ (יא) כִּֽי־טוֹבָ֣ה חׇ֭כְמָה מִפְּנִינִ֑ים וְכׇל־חֲ֝פָצִ֗ים לֹ֣א יִֽשְׁווּ־בָֽהּ׃ (יב) אֲֽנִי־חׇ֭כְמָה שָׁכַ֣נְתִּי עׇרְמָ֑ה וְדַ֖עַת מְזִמּ֣וֹת אֶמְצָֽא׃ (יג) יִ֥רְאַ֣ת יְהֹוָה֮ שְֽׂנֹ֫את־רָ֥ע גֵּ֘אָ֤ה וְגָא֨וֹן ׀ וְדֶ֣רֶךְ רָ֭ע וּפִ֨י תַהְפֻּכ֬וֹת שָׂנֵֽאתִי׃ (יד) לִֽי־עֵ֭צָה וְתוּשִׁיָּ֑ה אֲנִ֥י בִ֝ינָ֗ה לִ֣י גְבוּרָֽה׃ (טו) בִּ֭י מְלָכִ֣ים יִמְלֹ֑כוּ וְ֝רֹזְנִ֗ים יְחֹ֣קְקוּ צֶֽדֶק׃ (טז) בִּ֭י שָׂרִ֣ים יָשֹׂ֑רוּ וּ֝נְדִיבִ֗ים כׇּל־שֹׁ֥פְטֵי צֶֽדֶק׃ (יז) אֲ֭נִי (אהביה) [אֹהֲבַ֣י] אֵהָ֑ב וּ֝מְשַׁחֲרַ֗י יִמְצָאֻֽנְנִי׃ (יח) עֹֽשֶׁר־וְכָב֥וֹד אִתִּ֑י ה֥וֹן עָ֝תֵ֗ק וּצְדָקָֽה׃ (יט) ט֣וֹב פִּ֭רְיִי מֵחָר֣וּץ וּמִפָּ֑ז וּ֝תְבוּאָתִ֗י מִכֶּ֥סֶף נִבְחָֽר׃ (כ) בְּאֹֽרַח־צְדָקָ֥ה אֲהַלֵּ֑ךְ בְּ֝ת֗וֹךְ נְתִיב֥וֹת מִשְׁפָּֽט׃ (כא) לְהַנְחִ֖יל אֹהֲבַ֥י ׀ יֵ֑שׁ וְאֹצְרֹ֖תֵיהֶ֣ם אֲמַלֵּֽא׃
(כב) יְֽהֹוָ֗ה קָ֭נָנִי רֵאשִׁ֣ית דַּרְכּ֑וֹ קֶ֖דֶם מִפְעָלָ֣יו מֵאָֽז׃ (כג) מֵ֭עוֹלָם נִסַּ֥כְתִּי מֵרֹ֗אשׁ מִקַּדְמֵי־אָֽרֶץ׃ (כד) בְּאֵין־תְּהֹמ֥וֹת חוֹלָ֑לְתִּי בְּאֵ֥ין מַ֝עְיָנ֗וֹת נִכְבַּדֵּי־מָֽיִם׃ (כה) בְּטֶ֣רֶם הָרִ֣ים הׇטְבָּ֑עוּ לִפְנֵ֖י גְבָע֣וֹת חוֹלָֽלְתִּי׃ (כו) עַד־לֹ֣א עָ֭שָׂה אֶ֣רֶץ וְחוּצ֑וֹת וְ֝רֹ֗אשׁ עַפְר֥וֹת תֵּבֵֽל׃ (כז) בַּהֲכִינ֣וֹ שָׁ֭מַיִם שָׁ֣ם אָ֑נִי בְּחֻ֥קוֹ ח֝֗וּג עַל־פְּנֵ֥י תְהֽוֹם׃ (כח) בְּאַמְּצ֣וֹ שְׁחָקִ֣ים מִמָּ֑עַל בַּ֝עֲז֗וֹז עִינ֥וֹת תְּהֽוֹם׃ (כט) בְּשׂ֘וּמ֤וֹ לַיָּ֨ם ׀ חֻקּ֗וֹ וּ֭מַיִם לֹ֣א יַֽעַבְרוּ־פִ֑יו בְּ֝חוּק֗וֹ מ֣וֹסְדֵי אָֽרֶץ׃ (ל) וָאֶהְיֶ֥ה אֶצְל֗וֹ אָ֫מ֥וֹן וָאֶהְיֶ֣ה שַׁ֭עֲשׁוּעִים י֤וֹם ׀ י֑וֹם מְשַׂחֶ֖קֶת לְפָנָ֣יו בְּכׇל־עֵֽת׃ (לא) מְ֭שַׂחֶקֶת בְּתֵבֵ֣ל אַרְצ֑וֹ וְ֝שַׁעֲשֻׁעַ֗י אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י אָדָֽם׃ {פ}
(לב) וְעַתָּ֣ה בָ֭נִים שִׁמְעוּ־לִ֑י וְ֝אַשְׁרֵ֗י דְּרָכַ֥י יִשְׁמֹֽרוּ׃ (לג) שִׁמְע֖וּ מוּסָ֥ר וַחֲכָ֗מוּ וְאַל־תִּפְרָֽעוּ׃ (לד) אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי אָדָם֮ שֹׁמֵ֢עַֽ֫ לִ֥י לִשְׁקֹ֣ד עַל־דַּ֭לְתֹתַי י֤וֹם ׀ י֑וֹם לִ֝שְׁמֹ֗ר מְזוּזֹ֥ת פְּתָחָֽי׃ (לה) כִּ֣י מֹ֭צְאִי (מצאי) [מָצָ֣א] חַיִּ֑ים וַיָּ֥פֶק רָ֝צ֗וֹן מֵיְהֹוָֽה׃ (לו) וְֽ֭חֹטְאִי חֹמֵ֣ס נַפְשׁ֑וֹ כׇּל־מְ֝שַׂנְאַ֗י אָ֣הֲבוּ מָֽוֶת׃
Understanding raising her voice. (2) She takes her stand at the topmost heights,
By the wayside, at the crossroads, (3) Near the gates at the city entrance;
At the entryways, she shouts, (4) “O men, I call to you;
My cry is to all mankind. (5) O simple ones, learn shrewdness;
O dullards, instruct your minds. (6) Listen, for I speak noble things;
Uprightness comes from my lips; (7) My mouth utters truth;
Wickedness is abhorrent to my lips. (8) All my words are just,
None of them perverse or crooked; (9) All are straightforward to the intelligent man,
And right to those who have attained knowledge. (10) Accept my discipline rather than silver,
Knowledge rather than choice gold. (11) For wisdom is better than rubies;
No goods can equal her.
(12) “I, Wisdom, live with Prudence;
I attain knowledge and foresight. (13) To fear the LORD is to hate evil;
I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way,
And duplicity in speech. (14) Mine are counsel and resourcefulness;
I am understanding; courage is mine. (15) Through me kings reign
And rulers decree just laws; (16) Through me princes rule,
Great men and all the aAccording to some Heb. mss. and printed editions, “judges of the earth.”righteous judges.-a (17) Those who love me I love,
And those who seek me will find me. (18) Riches and honor belong to me,
Enduring wealth and success. (19) My fruit is better than gold, fine gold,
And my produce better than choice silver. (20) I walk on the way of righteousness,
On the paths of justice. (21) I endow those who love me with substance;
I will fill their treasuries.
(22) “The LORD created me at the beginning of His course
As the first of His works of old. (23) In the distant past I was fashioned,
At the beginning, at the origin of earth. (24) There was still no deep when I was brought forth,
No springs rich in water; (25) Before [the foundations of] the mountains were sunk,
Before the hills I was born. (26) He had not yet made earth and fields,
Or the world’s first clumps of clay. (27) I was there when He set the heavens into place;
When He fixed the horizon upon the deep; (28) When He made the heavens above firm,
And the fountains of the deep gushed forth; (29) When He assigned the sea its limits,
So that its waters never transgress His command;
When He fixed the foundations of the earth, (30) I was with Him as a confidant,
A source of delight every day,
Rejoicing before Him at all times, (31) Rejoicing in His inhabited world,
Finding delight with mankind. (32) Now, sons, listen to me;
Happy are they who keep my ways. (33) Heed discipline and become wise;
Do not spurn it. (34) Happy is the man who listens to me,
Coming early to my gates each day,
Waiting outside my doors. (35) For he who finds me finds life
And obtains favor from the LORD. (36) But he who misses me destroys himself;
All who hate me love death.”
(א) רַבִּי הוֹשַׁעְיָה רַבָּה פָּתַח (משלי ח, ל): וָאֶהְיֶה אֶצְלוֹ אָמוֹן וָאֶהְיֶה שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים יוֹם יוֹם וגו', אָמוֹן פַּדְּגוֹג, אָמוֹן מְכֻסֶּה, אָמוֹן מֻצְנָע, וְאִית דַּאֲמַר אָמוֹן רַבָּתָא. אָמוֹן פַּדְּגוֹג, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (במדבר יא, יב): כַּאֲשֶׁר יִשָּׂא הָאֹמֵן אֶת הַיֹּנֵק. אָמוֹן מְכֻסֶּה, הֵיאַךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (איכה ד, ה): הָאֱמֻנִים עֲלֵי תוֹלָע וגו'. אָמוֹן מֻצְנָע, הֵיאַךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (אסתר ב, ז): וַיְהִי אֹמֵן אֶת הֲדַסָּה. אָמוֹן רַבָּתָא, כְּמָא דְתֵימָא (נחום ג, ח): הֲתֵיטְבִי מִנֹּא אָמוֹן, וּמְתַרְגְּמִינַן הַאַתְּ טָבָא מֵאֲלֶכְּסַנְדְּרִיָא רַבָּתָא דְּיָתְבָא בֵּין נַהֲרוֹתָא.
דָּבָר אַחֵר אָמוֹן, אֻמָּן. הַתּוֹרָה אוֹמֶרֶת אֲנִי הָיִיתִי כְּלִי אֻמְנוּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בְּנֹהַג שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם בּוֹנֶה פָּלָטִין, אֵינוֹ בּוֹנֶה אוֹתָהּ מִדַּעַת עַצְמוֹ אֶלָּא מִדַּעַת אֻמָּן, וְהָאֻמָּן אֵינוֹ בּוֹנֶה אוֹתָהּ מִדַּעַת עַצְמוֹ אֶלָּא דִּפְתְּרָאוֹת וּפִנְקְסָאוֹת יֵשׁ לוֹ, לָדַעַת הֵיאךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה חֲדָרִים, הֵיאךְ הוּא עוֹשֶׂה פִּשְׁפְּשִׁין. כָּךְ הָיָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַבִּיט בַּתּוֹרָה וּבוֹרֵא אֶת הָעוֹלָם, וְהַתּוֹרָה אָמְרָה בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים. וְאֵין רֵאשִׁית אֶלָּא תּוֹרָה, הֵיאַךְ מָה דְּאַתְּ אָמַר (משלי ח, כב): ה' קָנָנִי רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ.
(1) Rabbi Hoshaya the Great began: “I1The speaker is Wisdom (the Torah) personified. was with [God] as an amon, a delight day after day…” (Proverbs 8:30) – amon means a child’s caretaker, amon means covered, amon means hidden, and some say amon means greatness. Amon means a child’s caretaker, as it says: “As a caretaker [omen] carries a nursing child” (Numbers 11:12). Amon means covered, as it says: “Those covered [ha’emunim] in scarlet…” (Lamentations 4:5). Amon means hidden, as it says: “He was omen2This is expounded to mean that Mordekhai hid Esther from the emissaries of Aḥashverosh. Hadassa” (Esther 2:7). Amon means great, as it says: “Are you better than No Amon [which sits in the rivers]?” (Nahum 3:8), which we translate in Targum as: Are you better than the great city of Alexandria,3No (or No Amon) is the name of a city in Egypt. Targum identifies this city as Alexandria, and explains Amon to mean great. which is located among the rivers?
Another matter, amon means artisan [uman]. The Torah is saying: ‘I was the tool of craft of the Holy blessed One.’ The way of the world is that when a flesh-and-blood king builds a palace he does not build it based on his own knowledge, but rather based on the knowledge of an artisan.4A professional builder. And the artisan does not build it based on his own knowledge, but rather, he has [plans on] sheets and tablets by which to ascertain how he should build its rooms, how he should build its doors. So too, the Holy One blessed be He looked in the Torah and created the world. The Torah says: “Bereshit God created” (Genesis 1:1), and reshit is nothing other than the Torah, as it says: “YHVH made me at the beginning of [reshit] [God's] way” (Proverbs 8:22).5Be-reshit is interpreted as ‘by means of the Torah.’
Since contradictions in Ecclesiastes were mentioned, the Gemara cites additional relevant sources. Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: The Sages sought to suppress the book of Ecclesiastes and declare it apocryphal because its statements contradict each other and it is liable to confuse its readers. And why did they not suppress it? Because its beginning consists of matters of Torah and its end consists of matters of Torah. The ostensibly contradictory details are secondary to the essence of the book, which is Torah. The Gemara elaborates: Its beginning consists of matters of Torah, as it is written: “What profit has man of all his labor which he labors under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3), and the Sages of the school of Rabbi Yannai said: By inference: Under the sun is where man has no profit from his labor; however, before the sun, i.e., when engaged in the study of Torah, which preceded the sun, he does have profit. Its ending consists of matters of Torah, as it is written: “The end of the matter, all having been heard: Fear God, and keep His mitzvot; for this is the whole man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). With regard to this verse, the Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the phrase: For this is the whole man? Rabbi Eliezer said: The entire world was only created for this person. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: This person is equivalent to the entire world. Shimon ben Azzai says and some say that Shimon ben Zoma says: The entire world was only created as companion to this man, so that he will not be alone.
מַה יִּתְרוֹן לָאָדָם, אָמַר רַבִּי בִּנְיָמִין בִּקְשׁוּ חֲכָמִים לִגְנֹז סֵפֶר קֹהֶלֶת מִפְּנֵי שֶׁמָּצְאוּ בוֹ דְּבָרִים מָטִין לְצַד מִינוּת, אָמְרוּ הֲרֵי כָּל חָכְמָתוֹ שֶׁל שְׁלֹמֹה שֶׁבָּא לוֹמַר מַה יִּתְרוֹן לָאָדָם בְּכָל עֲמָלוֹ, יָכוֹל אַף בַּעֲמָלָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה, חָזְרוּ וְאָמְרוּ לֹא אָמַר בְּכָל עָמָל, אֶלָּא בַּעֲמָלוֹ, בַּעֲמָלוֹ אֵינוֹ עָמֵל אֲבָל עָמֵל הוּא בַּעֲמָלָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה.
“What profit is there for man in all his toil that he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3).
“What profit is there for man?” Rabbi Binyamin said: The Sages sought to suppress the book of Kohelet because they found in it matters that tend toward heresy. They said: All of Solomon’s wisdom that he seeks to impart is: “What profit is there for man in all his toil,” but one might [think that he meant] even in the toil of Torah. They then said: He did not say “in all toil,” but rather in his toil; in his toil he does not [profit from his] toil, but he does [profit from his] toil in the toil of Torah.
JOY/ SIMCHA
(10)Kohelet sought to find words of delight; and words of truth written honestly
אָמַר רַבִּי הוֹשַׁעְיָא לָמָּה הָיוּ קוֹרְאִים אוֹתוֹ בֵּית הַשּׁוֹאֵבָה, שֶׁמִּשָּׁם הָיוּ שׁוֹאֲבִים רוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ.
Rabbi Hoshaya said: ‘Why would they call it the “Place of the Drawing”? It is because they would draw the Divine Spirit from there.’
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The Hebrew word for oneness—echad—comes from the same root as the word for joy—chedva. We experience joy when we feel a sense of oneness and connectedness. This is the central aim of all Jewish spiritual healing—to restore a sense of unity, joy, and connectedness in a world in which brokenness seems inevitable.
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...when we speak of joy...we are not speaking of fun. Joy is a deep release of the soul, and it includes death and pain. Joy is any feeling fully felt, any experience we give our whole being to. We are conditioned to choose pleasure and to reject pain, but the truth is, any moment of our life fully inhabited, any feeling fully felt, any immersion in the full depth of life, can be the source of deep joy.”
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Joy is a meeting place, of deep intentionality and of self-forgetting, the body alchemy of what lies inside us in communion with what formerly seemed outside, but is now neither, but become a living frontier, a voice speaking between us and the world: dance, laughter, affection, skin touching skin, singing in the car, music in the kitchen, the quiet irreplaceable and companionable presence of a daughter: the sheer intoxicating beauty of the world inhabited as an edge between what we previously thought was us and what we thought was other than us...
To feel a full and untrammeled joy is to have become fully generous; to allow ourselves to be joyful is to have walked through the doorway of fear, the dropping away of the anxious worried self felt like a thankful death itself, a disappearance, a giving away, overheard in the laughter of friendship, the vulnerability of happiness felt suddenly as a strength, a solace and a source, the claiming of our place in the living conversation, the sheer privilege of being in the presence of a mountain, a sky or a well-loved familiar face—I was here and you were here and together we made a world.
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What brings you joy? In general? In challenging times?
בפסוק הבל הבלים אמר קהלת הכל הבל. שמעתי מפה קדוש אמו"ז ז"ל כי אחר ר"ה ויוהכ"פ שבני ישראל נטהרו מעונותיהם. נעשה הבל פיהם בלי חטא כמו תינוקת שהבל פיהם מקיימין העולם לכן קורין קהלת עכ"ד. והנה באמת בר"ה מתחדש חיות כל איש ישראל והוא שנאמר ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים כו'. והוא הדיבור כמ"ש לרוח ממללא ( תרגום בראשית 2.7). ובאמת על ידי שיודעין שהבל הבלים כל הבלי עוה"ז. ע"י זה זוכין להבל התורה שהוא רומז על יום השבת הבל שבקדושה. כמ"ש במדרש שהכל הבל הוא נגד שבת קודש והוא הבל אמת. ואחר ר"ה ויוהכ"פ ששבין בני ישראל ומשליכין הבלי עולם זוכין לדבר ה' בפיהם. ולכן צריכין הגנה ביותר. וז"ש ואשים דברי בפיך הוא בר"ה ויוהכ"פ. ובצל ידי כסיתיך הוא בסוכות. שלא יתפשט כח האדם לבר מן הקדושה:
Kohelet: Radical Joy | Rabbi Sacks | הרב זקס
Published 18 September 2019
The meaning of Kohelet, the megillah that we read during Succot, hinges on one word: hevel. It occurs 38 times, more than half of all its occurrences in Tanach. No other book announces its theme more emphatically by using one word five times in a single sentence, the second sentence in the book: “Hevel of hevels“, says Kohelet, “hevel of hevels, all is hevel” (Kohelet 1:2). What does the word mean? It’s been translated as ‘pointless’, ‘meaningless’, ‘futile’, ’empty’, ‘vapour’, ‘smoke’, ‘insubstantial’, ‘absurd’, ‘vanity’, but the primary meaning is ‘breath’.
The Hebrew words for ‘soul’, among them nefesh, ru’ach and neshamah, all have to do with the act of breathing. Hevel specifically means ‘a shallow breath’. What obsesses Kohelet is that all that separates life from death is a shallow breath. He’s obsessed by the fragility and brevity of life as contrasted with the seeming eternity of the universe. The world endures forever, but we are, as we say in unetaneh tokef, on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, “like a broken shard, like grass dried up, like a faded flower, a fleeting shadow, a passing cloud, a breath of wind, whirling dust, a dream that slips away, dust we are and to dust we return”.
Kohelet is a sustained meditation on mortality, one of the most profound in all literature. He is traumatised by the unbearable lightness of being. The fact that life is lived toward death, that our days are numbered. That like Moshe, for each of us there will be a Jordan we will not cross, a fulfilment we will not live to see. We don’t and can’t know how long we will live, but life will always seem too short. We now sense the drama of Succot seen through the eyes of Kohelet. For 10 days, beginning on Rosh Hashanah and reaching a climax on Yom Kippur, we’ve prayed zachreinu l’chaim, “Remember us for life, King who desires life, and write us in the book of life for Your sake, God of life.”
Now, having survived the trial, comes the deepest question of all. What actually is life? What is this gift that we’ve been granted? What gives life meaning, purpose, substance? What will redeem us from the shadow of death? Kohelet’s answer is, in a word, joy, simcha. What redeems life and etches it with the charisma of grace is joy in your work: “sweet is the sleep of the labouring man” (Kohelet 5:11); joy in your marriage: “see life with the woman you love” (Kohelet 9:9); and joy in the simple pleasures of life: “take joy in each day”. Simcha, joy, doesn’t involve, as does happiness, a judgement about life as a whole. Joy lives in the moment. It asks no questions about tomorrow; it celebrates the power of now.
The Talmud says that Hillel lived by the principle, “baruch Hashem yom yom“, “blessed be God day by day” (Beitza 16a). That’s what joy does, it blesses God day by day. It celebrates the mere fact of being here, now, existing, when we might not have done. Inhaling to the full this day, this hour, this eternity in a moment, that was not before and will not be again. Joy embraces the contingency of life. It knows that yesterday is gone and tomorrow is unknown. It doesn’t ask what was or will be. It makes no calculations. It’s a state of radical thankfulness for the gift of being. Even in an age too fraught for happiness, there can still be joy.
Rainer Maria Rilke wrote in one of his letters, “The reality of any joy in the world is indescribable, only in joy does creation happen (happiness, on the contrary, is only a promising and interpretable pattern of things already existing); joy, however, is a marvellous increasing of what already exists, a pure addition out of nothingness” (Letter to Ilse Erdmann, 31 January 1914). What saved Kohelet was his belated realisation that joy redeems life from the shadow of death. Joy doesn’t ask how long it will last, it discovers epiphany in the here and now. Yes, life is sometimes unfair and the world unjust, but the very brevity of life makes each moment precious.
Joy says stop thinking of tomorrow. Celebrate, sing, join the dance, however undignified it makes you look. Joy bathes life with light, and liberates the soul from the prison of the self.
And sheltered you with My hand;
I, who planted the skies and made firm the earth,
Have said to Zion: You are My people!
(ג) במדרש תנחומא היום הזה ה' כו' מצוך לעשות את החקים כו' לכו נרננה כו' נשתחוה ונכרעה כו' צפה מרע"ה שביכורים עתידין ליפסק תיקן תפלה כו'. אא"ז מו"ר ז"ל פי' שגם תפלה הוא ליתן הראשית בכל יום להש"י כמו ביכורים כו' ע"ש. אך השייכות להיום הזה צריך ביאור. ובמד' וברש"י הביאו היום הזה בכל יום יהי' בעיניך כחדשים. וכי הרצון להטעות להאדם אף שבאמת אינו התחדשות ח"ו. אך בכח האדם לחדש כל דבר. כי וודאי יש בחי' התחדשות בכל דבר שהרי הקב"ה מחדש בכל יום תמיד מ"ב ופי' תמיד בכל רגע. וגם כי הלא אין דבר בלתי חיות הש"י והנקודה שממנו ת' לעולם לא יתישן כי דבריו חיים ונובעין תמיד. אך כי החושך יכסה ארץ הקליפה חיצוניות היא המסתרת נקודה הנובעת. דכ' אין כל חדש תחת השמש והיא הטבע ועוה"ז שמסתיר ההתחדשות. אך בכח האדם להאיר הנקודה מהחשיכה וז"ש היום הזה ה"א מצוך לעשות פי' למצוא בחי' היום הזה שהיא התגלות האור בחי' אספקלריא דנהרא. גם תוך המעשה ממש שהיא המסתיר הנקודה הנ"ל. והיא ע"י מצות דכ' נר מצוה שכיון שמצוה הוא במעשה גשמיי ויש בה חיות הש"י בהציוי לעשותה בכח האדם להתדבק על ידה באור הגנוז כנ"ל כמ"ש במ"א. וז"ש את החוקים כו' כלומר ע"י המצות הש"י נותן לך כח למצוא בחי' היום הזה גם במעשה. והוא גם בחי' שבת דכ' לעשות השבת. כי כ' ששת ימי המעשה יהי' סגור כו'. ופי'
Midrash Tanhuma quotes on the verse "This day the Lord your God commands you to observe all these statutes and laws (Deut. 26:16)": Come let us raise a joyful shout before the Lord" (Px 95:1). Moses saw that the first fruits (Deut 26:1-11) would one day no longer be brought, so he instituted prayer in their place. My grandfather of blessed memory [Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter] said that prayer, too, was a way of giving the first [of each day to God, another sort of "first fruits."
But the meaning of "this day" in the verse still needs to be clarified. The Midrash a RaSHI both say: Each day these should be like new in your eyes." [Why "like new"?] Is someone out there trying to fool the person, giving him something that isn't really new, but is "like new"? God forbid! It is really within human power to renew each thing. The renewal is there within everything, since God "renews each day, constantly, the work of Creation." "Constantly means in each moment. Nothing exists without the divine life-force, and the point in each thing that comes from [God] never grows old since [God's] words are constantly alive and flowing.
However, "darkness covers the earth" [Is 60:2] The outward "shell" hides that flowing point. Thus Scripture says: "Nothing is new under the sun" (Eccles. 1:9). That is the natural world that hides the renewal. But it is within the power of [humans] to light up that point within the darkness; "This day the Lord your God commands you..." God commands you to find [or "make"!] "this day," the revelation of light, the shining speculum, with the very deed that hides the point.
You do this by means of the commandments, since " the commandment is a candle." The mitzvah exists wihtin the corporeal world of deeds, but it also contains the divine life-force in the command to do it. Thus it gives the person power to become attached, by means of it, to the hidden lightd. This is the meaning of "This day.. these statute..." By means of the commandments, God gives you the power to find "this day" also in the deed...
(translation by Arthur Green, The Language of Truth, p323-324)
שִׁירֵי סוֹף הַדֶּרֶךְ
לאה גולדברג
א
הַדֶּרֶך יָפָה עַד מְאֹד - אָמַר הַנַּעַר.
הַדֶּרֶך קָשָׁה עַד מְאֹד - אָמַר הָעֶלֶם.
הַדֶּרֶך אָרְכָה עַד מְאֹד - אָמַר הַגֶּבֶר.
יָשַׁב הַזָּקֵן לָנוּחַ בְּצַד הַדֶּרֶך.
צוֹבְעָה הַשְּׁקִיעָה שֵׂיבָתוֹ בְּפָז וָאֹדֶם,
הַדֶּשֶׁא מַבְהִיק לְרַגְלָיו בְּטַל-הָעֶרֶב,
צִפּוֹר אַחְרוֹנָה שֶׁל יוֹם מֵעָלָיו מְזַמֶּרֶת:
- הֲתִזְכֹּר מַה יָּפְתָה, מַה קָּשְׁתָה, מָה אָרְכָה הַדֶּרֶך?
ב
אָמַרְתָּ: יוֹם רוֹדֵף יוֹם וְלַיְלָה - לַיְלָה.
הִנֵּה יָמִים בָּאִים - בְּלִבְּךָ אָמַרְתָּ.
וַתִּרְאֶה עֲרָבִים וּבְקָרִים פּוֹקְדִים חַלּוֹנֶיךָ,
וַתֹּאמַר: הֲלֹא אֵין חָדָשׁ תַּחַת הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ
ג
לַמְּדֵנִי, אֱלֹהַי, בָּרֵך וְהִתְפַּלֵּל
עַל סוֹד עָלֶה קָמֵל, עַל נֹגַהּ פְּרִי בָּשֵׁל,
עַל הַחֵרוּת הַזֹּאת: לִרְאוֹת, לָחוּשׁ, לִנְשֹׁם,
לָדַעַת, לְיַחֵל, לְהִכָּשֵׁל.
לַמֵּד אֶת שִׂפְתוֹתַי בְּרָכָה וְשִׁיר הַלֵּל
בְּהִתְחַדֵּשׁ זְמַנְּךָ עִם בֹּקֶר וְעִם לֵיל,
לְבַל יִהְיֶה יוֹמִי הַיּוֹם כִּתְמוֹל שִׁלְשׁוֹם.
לְבַל יִהְיֶה עָלַי יוֹמִי הֶרְגֵּל.
כתבי לאה גולדברג, שירים, כרך שני, ספרית פועלים
End of the Road Poems
Leah Goldberg
“The road is so very beautiful - said the boy
The road is so very hard - said the youth
The road is so very long - said the man
The old man sat by the road to rest
The sunset dyes his white hair with gold and red
The grass shimmers at his feet with evening dew
The last bird of the day sings above,
Can you remember
how beautiful, how hard, how long the road ?
B.
You said day follows day, and night - night.
The days progress - you said in your heart,
and you saw evenings and mornings in your windows,
and you said, there is nothing new under the sun”
C
“Teach me, my God, to bless and pray
over the withered leaf's secret, the
ready fruits grace,
over this freedom: to see, to feel, to breathe,
to know, to hope, to fail.
Teach my lips blessing and song and praise
when your days are renewed morning and night,
lest my day be today like all the yesterdays,
lest my day be for me an unthinking haze.
צִפּוֹר אֲחוּזַת קֶסֶם
זלדה
כַּאֲשֶׁר הַגּוּף הָרַךְ
מָט לִנְפֹּל
וְהוּא מְגַלֶּה חֶרְדָּתוֹ מִפְּנֵי הַקֵּץ
לַנְּשָׁמָה,
מַצְמִיחַ עֵץ הַשִּׁגְרָה הַנָּמוּךְ
שֶׁאָבָק אֲכָלוֹ
עָלִים יְרֻקִּים פִּתְאֹם.
כִּי מֵרֵיחַ הָאַיִן יַפְרִיחַ
הָדוּר נָאֶה
וּבְצַמַּרְתוֹ צִפּוֹר
אֲחוּזַת קֶסֶם.
Enchanted Bird
Zelda
When the feeble body
is about to fall
and reveals its fear of death
to the soul,
the lowly tree of routine,
devoured by dust,
suddenly sprouts green leaves.
For out of the scent of Nothingness—
the tree blossoms—
glorious, beautiful.
and in its crown—
an enchanted bird.
Translated by Marcia Falk