Can we do תפילות prayers for:
AZAMRA?
So that through them The האור Light, The רפואה Healing and The אהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Koheles 1-2
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov
NOTE: It is customary to read the book of KOHELET (Ecclesiastes) on the Festival of Succot. This email contains notes on all twelve chapters of this work for you to study at your convenience in the course of the festival. ABY
KOHELES CHAPTER 1
KOHELES (or Koheleth) is the "pen name" of King Solomon. The name comes from the Hebrew root KAHAL, which means a "gathering" or "assembly". The Hebrew grammatical form of KOHELES means "the gatherer", and the name signifies that "he gathered much wisdom" (Rashi on v 1). It also signifies that he assembled the people (cf. Deut. 31:12). In the words of Midrash Koheles Rabbah: "Why was Solomon called Koheles? Because his words were spoken in the assembly of the people, as it is written, 'Then Solomon gathered (yaK'HAL) the elders of Israel' (I Kings 8:1)". Likewise the traditional name for Koheles, ECCLESIASTES, is from the Greek word ECCLESIA, a regularly convoked assembly, and ECCLESIASTES is one who takes part in this assembly – i.e. the Preacher.
"The WORDS (DIVREI) of Koheles…" (v 1) – "Wherever the text says DIVREI, 'the words of', these are words of REBUKE" (Rashi ad loc.). Solomon son of David – "a king the son of a king, a tzaddik the son of a tzaddik" (Midrash) – had pursued wisdom all his life. "When God said to Solomon, 'Ask what I should give you' and he asked not for silver and gold but only that 'You should give Your servant an understanding heart', holy spirit immediately rested upon him and he composed the book of Proverbs, Song of Songs and Koheles" (Midrash Koheles Rabbah). Solomon wrote Song of Songs in his youth, on the day of the dedication of the Temple; then in his prime he composed Proverbs, the rich fruits of his wisdom. But having reached the very heights, he fell to the lowest depths (as we shall see in the commentary on v 12). Finally, at the end of his life, after having seen everything, he composed Koheles – his last testament to his people: REBUKE.
The wisest man that ever lived comes in Koheles to clarify what is man's destiny and purpose in this world, and what he should do to fulfill it. Everything leads up to the conclusion of the work: "The end of the matter, when all is said and done: Fear God and keep his commandments, for that is the whole duty of man" (Koheles 12:13). The intent of Koheles may to some extent be compared with that of the book of Job, which also examines man's existential situation and possible solutions as to how we may come to terms with it. While the approach and structure of the two works are radically different, they both consider the most fundamental questions in life with astonishing boldness and candor.
Perhaps it was this very boldness and candor that almost lost the book of Koheles its place in the Bible canon ordained by the sages, who argued as to whether it should be included. "The sages sought to hide away Koheles because his words contradict one another. Then why did they not hide it away? Because it begins with words of Torah and ends with words of Torah…" (Talmud Shabbos 30b, where the "contradictions" between Koheles 7:3 and 2:2 and between 8:15 and 2:2 are reconciled). The dispute over the inclusion of Koheles in the canon is also discussed in Mishneh Yadayim 3:5, where the Tosephta explains that those opposed to its inclusion maintained that it consisted of Solomon's own wisdom.
The prevailing opinion, however, is that it was composed through holy spirit. For this very reason we must bear in mind that in our study of the divinely-inspired last testament of the wisest man that ever lived, we can touch little more than the surface of a work that is replete with infinite layers upon layers of Pshat (simple meaning), Remez (allusion), Drush (midrashic interpretation) and Sod (esoteric wisdom). As we learn these holy words, our aim should be to derive personal lessons that we can apply in our own lives as to how to know and fear God and serve Him through practical action: ASIYAH.
THE PROLOGUE
The opening section of Koheles (vv 2-11), a complete parshah in itself, is a hauntingly poetic evocation of man's existential situation in this world of endless repeated cycles – the cycles of the generations, the planets, the waters of the rivers and the sea…
"Vanity (1) of vanities (2)… vanity (1) of vanities (2), all is vanity (1)" (verse 1). The Hebrew word traditionally translated as "vanity", HEVEL, means a "vapor", something barely substantial or tangible. Taking into account the singular and plural forms of the word HEVEL in the verse, a total of SEVEN "vanities" are enumerated, corresponding to the Seven Days of Creation and the seven "Sefiros of Construction" (Chessed-Gevurah-Tiferes-
"What profit does a man have in all his labor with which he labors under the sun" (verse 3). In this verse King Solomon poses man's most fundamental existential question: What is the purpose of all his efforts in this world? The Talmud points out that Solomon is specifically asking about man's efforts "under the sun". "It is from his labor 'under the sun' that he has no profit, but his labor in the realm that existed before the sun he does have profit. And which is that? This is his labor in the Torah!" (Shabbos 30b). In other words, Solomon is asking what people gain when they devote all their endeavors to the transient material world instead of laboring in Torah, which brings an eternal reward.
"Under the sun" (v 3): "This signifies ever-changing time. For the sun alone gives birth to time, for the day depends on the sun from the time it rises to the time it sets, while night is from the time the sun sets until the time it rises… Likewise sowing and harvesting, cold and heat, summer and winter all depend on the inclination of the sun to the north or south… Even though the moon and stars all have their influence, it cannot be compared to that of the sun" (Ibn Ezra ad loc.) "Therefore the sun is called the 'king of the skies' (Jer. 44:17). Solomon is saying: What is the benefit of all of a person's acquisitions in this world when surely tomorrow he will die taking nothing in his hand?" (Metzudas David on v 3).
"One generation passes away and another generation comes…" (v 4) – "No matter how much the villain toils to steal and rob, he cannot outlive and enjoy his gains because his generation passes away and another generation comes and takes everything from the hands of his children, as it says, 'his children will conciliate the poor'" (Job 20:10; Rashi on v 4). "…but the earth endures for ever" (v 4) – "And who are those who endure? The meek and lowly who lower themselves down to the earth, as it says, '…and the meek shall inherit the earth'" (Psalms 37:11; Rashi on v 4).
Verses 5-6 describe the endless daily circuits of the sun in summer and winter, while verse 7 evokes the endless recycling of water from the rivers into the sea and back again to the rivers. "All things are laboring…" (v 8) – "This continues from the question above, 'What profit does a man have…' (v 3): If instead of engaging in Torah one follows idle pursuits, they all involve constant labor and he cannot attain everything. If he goes after sights, his eye will not be satisfied; if he goes after sounds, his ear will not be filled" (Rashi on v 8).
"That which has been is that which shall be, and there is nothing new under the sun" (v 9). This refers to the created material world, but not to the realm of the Torah, where our studies can constantly generate new understandings (CHIDUSHIM; see Rashi on v 9). "He is saying that just as there is nothing new in the created world, so this fundamental fact will never change – that nothing in this world ever yields the gains for which one hopes in one's labor and exertion, just as nothing ever has in the past" (Metzudas David ad loc.). Even if we imagine we have found something new "under the sun" that might indicate that this fundamental fact of the futility of devotion to material pursuits has changed, this is an illusion, because this seemingly new thing has in fact already been (v 10). It is just that nobody is left from the earlier generations to remember it, just as nobody in generations to come will remember us (v 11).
"I KOHELES WAS KING OVER ISRAEL IN JERUSALEM" (v 12)
Following the prologue to his book, King Solomon now presents his "credentials" for writing it. "I Koheles WAS king…" (v 12). "King over all the world. Then in the end king over Israel. Then in the end king over Jerusalem alone. And finally, over nothing by my walking stick! For it says, 'I WAS king in Jerusalem' – i.e. but now I am not king" (Rashi ad loc.). "When King Solomon sat on his royal throne his heart swelled because of his wealth and he transgressed God's decree, gathering many horses, chariots and riders, silver and gold, intermarrying with foreign nations. Immediately God's anger was aroused and He sent Ashmodai king of the demons to drive him from his royal throne. He took the ring from his hand, forcing him to wander around in exile in order to chastise him. He went round all the cities of Israel weeping and crying, 'I am Koheles, who was called Solomon. Before this I was king over Israel in Jerusalem!!!" (Targum on verse 12).
Just as the most successful of worldly kings, Nebuchadnezzar, was driven from his throne and brought down to the level of a wild beast in order to chastise him for his pride (Daniel chapter 4), so King Solomon, the Torah king who literally had everything – wisdom, wealth, women, power, glory, palaces, gardens, attendants, singers – had to be cast down to the very bottom in order to rise to the ultimate wisdom.
"I gave my heart to seek and search out through wisdom…" (v 13). Rashi (ad loc.) explains that Solomon used his Torah wisdom to contemplate and understand the whole futile world of wickedness "under the sun", coming to the conclusion that everything was created by God to test man through being exposed to the need to choose between life and goodness on the one hand and death and evil on the other (cf. Metzudas David ad loc.).
In vv 16ff Solomon explains that even the pursuit of wisdom can be dangerous and break a person's heart – "for with too much wisdom a person depends on his own wisdom and does not avoid what the Torah prohibits, causing God great anger" (Rashi on v 17). Moreover, "a wise person understands the true nature of men's deeds and when he sees that they are not good, he himself becomes angry because these things are contrary to his will, and anger is very damaging. And someone who understands one thing from another increases his pain because he can now understand the consequences of his own faulty behavior and this brings pain to his heart" (Metzudas David on v 18).
CHAPTER 2
"I said in my heart, Let me try you (i.e. myself) with mirth" (v 1). In the words of Rashi (ad loc.): "Since it is so (i.e. since wisdom is dangerous and painful) let me stop pursuing wisdom and devote myself to SIMCHAH (happiness and joy) at all times". Those seeking to fulfill Rabbi Nachman's "great mitzvah to be in Simchah at all times" will surely want to know the lessons Koheles teaches based on his trying out the path of happiness and joy as an answer to man's existential dilemma.
These lessons are brought out in the Talmudic resolution of one of the apparent "contradictions" in Koheles. Here he says, "I said of laughter, It is mad; and of Simchah, What does this accomplish" (v 2) whereas later on he says, "And I PRAISED Simchah…" (ch 8 v 15). "'And I praised Simchah…' – This is the Simchah of a mitzvah. '…and of Simchah, What does this accomplish?' – This is Simchah that is not connected with any mitzvah. This comes to teach you that the Shechinah does not rest in a state of sadness or lethargy or through laughter, light headedness, chatter and idle pursuits but through the Simchah of a mitzvah" (Shabbos 30b).
In verse 3 Solomon explains that in pursuit of his goal of understanding if Simchah is the purpose of life, he sought to continue guiding his heart with wisdom while simultaneously indulging in "wine" and laying hold of "folly" (SICHLUS). The latter refers to all the things that people crave for in the material world, such as beautiful buildings, musical instruments, etc. (see Metzudas David ad loc.).
In verses 4-10 Solomon describes his palaces, orchards, gardens, fountains, servants, sheep and cattle, gold, silver and other treasures and delights. "Does the text tell us only about Solomon's wealth? It is surely speaking only about Torah… 'I built myself houses' – synagogues and study halls. 'I planted vineyards' – these are the Torah scholars, who sit in rows as in a vineyard. 'I made myself gardens and orchards' – these are the MISHNAYOS. 'I planted in them every kind of fruit tree' – this is the Talmud. 'I made myself fountains of water' – these are the preachers. 'To water the forest with them' – these are the children. 'I acquired male and female servants' – these are the gentiles… 'And also cattle, oxen and sheep' – these are the sacrifices. 'I also gathered silver and gold' – these are words of Torah… 'I acquired men singers and women singers' – these are the Tosephtas. '…and delights' – these are the aggadas (narrative midrash)…" (Koheles Rabbah).
"…and THIS was MY share from all my labor" (v 10) – "And after my having done all this, I have nothing from all of it except THIS. One of the pair of Talmudic rabbis, Rav and Shmuel, said that THIS refers to his walking stick while the other said it refers to the earthenware pot from which he drank" (Rashi ad loc.; Gittin 68b). In other words, after his downfall, left with nothing but his stick and a primitive mug, Solomon realized that all his endeavors to pursue Simchah "under the sun" were nothing but vanity and striving after wind (v 11).
Having followed one possible answer to the existential dilemma to its ultimate conclusion only to find it a dead end, in verse 12 Solomon turns to clarify how the pathway of wisdom (i.e. Torah wisdom, Rashi on v 12) is superior to madness and folly (i.e. sin and the embrace of the material world). "For what can the man do who comes after the king?" (v 12) – "How can a man despise folly as if he is wiser than the King of the world, seeing that He has already created folly? Even though it is proper to despise folly, nevertheless He has not created it for nothing, for the superiority of wisdom is revealed precisely through the contrast with folly, without which the beauty of wisdom would not be recognized, because a thing can only be know in relation to its opposite, just as the benefit of light is known only through darkness, which is its opposite…" (Metzudas David on vv 12-13).
In verses 14ff Solomon explains that wisdom is superior to folly even though the wise man and the fool both die in the end. This existential fact poses a challenging question to the wise man (v 15), but Solomon rejects the possibility that the eternal destiny of the wise man after death could possibly be identical with that of the fool (v 16, see Targum, Rashi and Metzudas David ad loc.).
In verses 17ff Solomon explains another vexing issue for the wise man – that after all his efforts "under the sun", when he leaves this world all his achievements are liable to fall into the hands of someone who may not be wise or worthy at all. The issue was greatly sharpened for Solomon himself by the fact that he knew prophetically that in the reign of his son and successor Rehaboam, the kingdom would split, leading to the eventual destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple and the exile of Israel (see Targum on Koleles 1:2).
This thought almost brought Solomon to the point of despair (v 20) until he came to a new conclusion: "There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor" (v 24). "Rabbi Yonah said: Wherever the concept of eating and drinking appears in this Megillah, it is speaking of Torah and good deeds" (Koheles Rabbah). In other words, true joy in this world comes through doing one's best to pursue the path of Torah and mitzvos. "…But this also I saw – that this is from the hand of God" (v 24). It is a gift of God to reach this level. If so, we must earnestly ask and beg Him to grant us this precious gift.
ABY
BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Koheles 3-4
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov
KOHELES CHAPTER 3
The conventional chapter breaks in Koheles in our printed Bibles whether in Hebrew or translation are mainly for convenience of reference but do not correspond to section-breaks (parshiyos) in the hand-written Hebrew scrolls, where the entire Megillah consists of only three parshahs: (1) The "prologue" – Koheles ch 1 vv 1-11; (2) The lengthy section from ch 1 v 12 to ch 6 6 v 12; (3) The lengthy section from 7:1 to the end of the book.
The first verse of our present chapter is thus the direct continuation of the preceding passage, which ended in the last verse of the previous chapter (2:26) with the contrast between the chosen Tzaddikim to whom God grants true wisdom and joy in life as opposed to the sinner who tries to make gains by force, only to end up seeing them pass to the righteous.
The futility of trying to force matters in order to make gains in this world is underlined by Koheles' exploration – beginning in verse 1 of the present chapter – of how God has already foreordained the entire order of time in creation, so that if a person makes unlawful gains today, he will be brought to justice tomorrow, whereas if he had trustfully waited for the right time, he could have made legitimate gains.
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" (v 1) – "Let not he who gathers vain wealth rejoice, for if it is now in his hand, the time will come when the righteous will inherit it, except that the time has not yet come because everything has a fixed time when it will come about" (Rashi ad loc.).
TWENTY-EIGHT TIMES
Each of the seven verses from v 2 to v 8 contains two pairs of contrasting "times", making a total of twenty-eight different times. All of the various different changing times in the entire creation are subsumed under these twenty-eight paradigmatic "times", which span everything from birth to death (v 2) from total war to complete peace (v 8). God is perfect unity, but His creation is one of multiplicity, all of whose many facets are crafted to bring the whole, stage by stage, to perfect repair. Thus these twenty-eight times of creation are rooted in the twenty-eight Hebrew letters of the first verse of the Torah (Gen. 1:1), which are the root and power (KO-ACH, Kaph 20 & Ches 8 = 28) of all creation.
Many Midrashim explore the different connotations of the various "times" in our text, which relate not only to the life of the individual but to that of entire nations. Rashi's explanations are as follows: "There is a time to give birth…" – after nine months; "…and a time to die" – after the appointed life-span of each generation. "A time to plant…" – a nation and a kingdom; "…and a time to uproot" – the time will come for it to be uprooted. "There is a time to kill…" – a complete nation on their day of retribution; "…and a time to heal" – to heal their destruction. "There is a time to weep…" – on Tisha B'Av; "…and a time to laugh" – in time to come. "A time to lament…" – when mourning the dead; "…and a time to dance" – in honor of brides and grooms. "A time to throw stones…" – these are the youths of Israel, who were cast out at the time of the destruction of the Temple, as it says, "the holy stones have been poured out" (Lam. 4:1); "…and a time to gather in stones" – to gather them in from the exile. "A time to embrace…" – as when God "attaches" Israel to Himself like a belt (Jer. 13:11); "…and a time to refrain from embracing" – as when God "banishes the man=Israel" (Is. 6:12). "A time to seek…" – the outcasts of Israel; "…and a time to lose" – those lost in exile. "A time to keep…" – "HaShem will bless you and keep you" (Num. 6:24); "…and a time to cast out" – "And He cast them out to another land" (Deut. 29:27). "A time to tear apart…" – the kingdom of David; "…and a time to sew" – to join back the Ten Tribes with the House of David. "A time to be silent…" – sometimes a man says nothing and gains a reward, as in the case of Aaron the High Priest (Lev. 10:3); "…and a time to speak" – "Then Moses sang" (Ex. 15:1), "and Deborah sang" (Judges 5:1). "A time to love…" – "And I shall show you love" (Deut. 7:13); "…and a time to hate" – "for there I hated them" (Hosea 9:15).
Having surveyed all these different times, Solomon moves to the inference he wants to make about the futility of trying to make gains by force. "What profit does the worker have from his toil" (v 9). Rashi explains: "What profit does the worker of evil have from all his toil – his time will also come and everything will be lost!" (Rashi on v 9). "He has made everything beautiful in its time" (v 11) – "Everything that the Holy One blessed be He has created in His world is all beautiful, but only when one uses each thing in its own appointed time, not at any other time" (Metzudas David). Instead of trying to force matters NOW, one should trust that God will send what one needs at the right time!
"…also He has put the world in their hearts without man being able to find out the work that God has made from beginning to end" (v 11). Rashi explains: "Although He has put the wisdom to understand the world in people's hearts, He did not put all of it into the heart of each and every person. Rather, one person has a small portion and someone else another, in order that man should never be able to fathom and understand God's entire work. This way he never knows when his time of judgment will come and how he will stumble. The purpose is that he should set himself to repent and live in a state of anxiety, saying, Today or tomorrow I will die" (Rashi ad loc.). In the light of Rashi's explanation, we see that Koheles is giving expression to man's basic existential predicament, which derives from his having only partial knowledge and understanding of the world around him and the consequences of his deeds. This indeed is what gives man his freedom, for if he had perfect knowledge of the evil his bad deeds cause to himself, he would never do them.
Thus Koheles comes to his conclusion: "I KNOW that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in his life" (v 12) – "There is nothing better for a person than to rejoice in his share and do good in the eyes of his Creator as long as he is still alive" (Rashi). This is further reinforcement of the point made earlier, "There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink…" (Koheles 2:24) – i.e. eat and drink Torah and good deeds – for these are the ways that God knows will bring him true gain, for God has perfect knowledge of all the different pathways and their consequences to all eternity.
"I KNOW that whatever God does, it shall be forever…" (v 14). God has created all of the twenty-eight paradigmatic "times" and their offspring in order to bring the universe to ultimate perfection. If the times change, sometimes very dramatically (as in the case of Noah's flood, see Rashi), the only purpose is to bring men to know that there is a God and to fear Him. There is thus no point in men's trying to force matters in order to make unlawful gains through robbery, exploitation and the like, because it is a fundamental law of creation that "God seeks out the persecuted" (v 15) – "He exacts retribution from the persecutor, so what does the worker of evil gain from all his toil?" (Rashi ad loc.).
"And I have seen yet more under the sun…" (v 16). Koheles now brings a further observation about this mysterious creation and its many paradoxes: "In the place of righteousness there is iniquity…" (ibid.). With bold candor, Koheles confronts the fact that in our world here "under the sun", we witness again and again the most abominable wickedness perpetrated under the guise of Justice and Equity.
"But I SAID IN MY HEART…" (v 17). Koheles knew that we must not let the outer appearance of this world reduce us to cynicism. He answered his own doubts about the justice of creation with his firm conviction that "…God shall judge the righteous and the wicked" (ibid.). The reason is because "there is a time for every purpose" – as explained at length earlier in the enumeration of the Twenty-Eight Times: God has all the time in the world to do perfect justice "…over all the work there". "Over all the work that a man did, there (i.e. in the judgment after death) they will judge him when the time of retribution comes" (Rashi ad loc.).
This leads Koheles to give expression to another article of conviction in verse 18 as the verse is explained by Rashi: "Having seen all this, namely that men have adopted the arrogant trait of ruling and lording it over those weaker than themselves, I know that the Holy One blessed be He will make them know that their power is nothing, and so too that of lords and kings, for they are simply like animals and wild beasts – out for themselves".
This brings Koheles to muse on the mysteries of the body and the soul and the differences between man and the animals. When a man dies, his cadaver may seem to be no different qualitatively from that of an animal – so where is his superiority and success? But "Who knows whether the spirit of the children of men goes upwards and the spirit of the animal goes downwards to the earth?" (v 21). "'Who knows' – i.e. he who knows and understands, knows that man's soul goes above after death to stand trial, while the soul of the animal goes down to the earth and she is not required to give a reckoning and accounting. The moral is that man must not conduct himself like an animal that does not care what she does" (Rashi on vv 20-21).
At last comes the moral of the whole discussion: "So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his portion…" (v 22). Again this harks back to v 12 in the present chapter and ch 2 v 24: Man should rejoice in the labor of his own hands and eat – Torah and mitzvos – for this is the share given to him by Heaven and in this he should rejoice. What point is there in amassing ill-gotten gains if he will not see what his children will do with them when he dies? (see Rashi on our verse).
CHAPTER 4
"So I returned and considered all the oppression under the sun…" (v 1). "'I returned, i.e. I changed my mind and went back on what I had thought, that it is good for a man to rejoice, on account of the fact that he is unable to rejoice and be happy. This is because there is robbery in this world, and his property will be taken from him by force, or he will be exploited when some judge or officer takes a bribe or by a thief" (Ibn Ezra ad loc.).
With further daring candor, Koheles confronts the terrible cruelty of this world, where the oppressed shed tears again and again yet no-one comforts them. It is noteworthy that the phrase "they have no comforter" is repeated twice in the verse in order to give emphasis to their helpless misery.
While Ibn Ezra's above-cited explanation of the verse addresses the material exploitation and oppression of men by men in this world, Rashi illumines the esoteric dimension of the verse in his comment that the tears of the oppressed are those of the wicked in hell, who instead of the Torah embraced this world "under the sun", and who now weep over their souls which are oppressed by the cruel vengeful angels of destruction (see Rashi on v 1). Are we not all robbed in this world by the wicked Evil Inclination, which tempts and tricks us into doing wrong, leaving us bereft of goodness having to face terrible retribution? From the depths of the existential mire in which we find ourselves, is it any wonder that Koheles goes on to praise those who are already dead (v 2) and to say that it would be better not to be born at all (v 3)?
So what are we supposed to do in this world? Even people's good deeds are motivated by jealousy of others etc. "Again I saw all the labor and every skill in work, that it comes from a man's rivalry with his neighbor" (v 4).
Are we then to fold our arms and do nothing? "The FOOL folds his hands and eats his own flesh" (v 5) – "The fool is the wicked man, who makes no effort to labor honestly and robs to eat" (Rashi). We may not desist from our labors for good in this world, even if we have mixed motives. "Better is a handful with quietness than both hands full of labor and striving after wind" (v 6). "It is better to acquire a modicum of possessions through one's own toil, thereby giving pleasure to His Creator, than to acquire many possessions sinfully, causing vexation and anger before Him" (Rashi ad loc.).
"Then I returned and I saw a vanity under the sun" (v 7). Having established that we are to toil in the Torah and mitzvos, Koheles goes a step further in verses 7-12 with his observations about how partnership and teamwork are better than trying to go it alone. A person may have great ambitions, but if he will not join and couple – with a friend, a partner, a wife etc. – selfishly wanting all the gains for himself, this is vanity. God wants us to link up and join together in our work to repair the creation.
Then who will lead us? "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king…" (v 13). "The poor, wise child is the good inclination (YETZER TOV). And why is it called a child? Because it does not enter a man until the age of 13. It is wise because it gives the person the intelligence to follow the path of good. The old and foolish king is the evil inclination (YETZER RA), which rules over all the person's limbs. It is 'old', because from the moment the baby is born it is put in him, as it says, 'Sin crouches at the entrance' (Gen. 4:7). It is 'foolish' because it leads the person astray on the path of evil. It 'does not know to take care any more' because having become old in his ways, the person does not accept rebuke" (Rashi on v 13).
"And I saw all the living who wander under the sun – they were with the second child who was to rise up in his stead" (v 15). "All the living" are those who are righteous in their deeds. What caused them to be alive under the sun – their going after the second child, which is the good inclination" (Midrash Koheles Rabbah).
However: "There is no end of all the people who come to acclaim the one who goes before them and also those who come after shall not rejoice in him, for this too is vanity and vexation of the spirit" (v 16). This verse is speaking of the foolish and wicked people who follow the old and foolish king. "There is no end to all the generations that the Evil Inclination has destroyed, and also those who come after will not rejoice if they obey him" (Midrash Koheles Rabbah).
Koheles has taught us to follow the poor wise child, the Good Inclination and travel the path of the Torah and the mitzvos. Finally in verse 17 he teaches that we should be quick and eager to heed the Torah, doing good from the outset, rather than being lax and careless, ending up having to bring the sacrifices of fools – sin and guilt offerings. "Guard your legs when you go to the House of God…" (v 17). Besides the plain meaning of this verse, it is also the foundation for the law that in preparation for prayer we must cleanse ourselves of our bodily wastes, which come from between the legs (Berachos 23a).
May God help us to follow His path and purify ourselves so as to come to His House and serve Him in truth! Amen.
ABY
BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Koheles 5-6
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov
KOHELES CHAPTER 5
Koheles cautioned in the last verse of the previous chapter to "Guard your foot when you go to the house of God" (Koh. 4:17). In verses 1-6 of the present chapter he continues to give advice about the proper way for man to relate to God.
"Do not be rash with your mouth and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before God…" (v 1). All too often people are quick to protest against what they perceive as the injustice of His dealings with them or with others and to doubt and question His providence, as in the case of those who ask where He was in the Holocaust. Koheles cautions us to remember that we are puny, transient creatures on earth, while God is in heaven, way above our realm, and we cannot expect to understand His ways. Therefore we should be sparing in our words, for "silence is a protective fence for wisdom" (Avos 3:17), whereas talking too much is the hallmark of the fool (verse 2).
"When you make a vow to God, do not delay paying it…" (v 3). A vow is a solemn verbal commitment that a person makes, binding himself to perform a certain meritorious act, give to charity, offer a sacrifice etc. In the case of charity, people often make commitments in the heat of the moment – sometimes to impress others, or simply to get the charity-collector off their back – only to go cold afterwards and find every reason to defer and forget their obligation. But Koheles teaches that it would be better not to make the vow than to make it and fail to pay (v 4).
"Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin and do not say before the MALACH, messenger, that it was an error…" (v 5). Rashi interprets this verse as a continuation of the counsel against taking a vow that one fails to fulfill. This can bring down retribution on a person's "flesh" – his offspring. According to this interpretation, the "messenger" is the charity officer who comes to collect the sum pledged in public. However, the Targum and Midrash give the verse a broader application to sinful speech in general – LASHON HARA – which brings the punishment of Gehinnom on the person's very flesh, limbs and body. According to this interpretation, the MALACH is the cruel accusing angel who grills and punishes the person after death. It will harm the sinner even more if he claims he made his disparaging remarks innocently.
"For this comes about through the multitude of dreams and vanities and many words…" (v 6) – "Dreams, vain prophets and many other things may tell you to separate yourself from God! Don't listen to dreams but just FEAR GOD" (Rashi). "Even if the master of dreams tells a person that he is to die tomorrow, never despair of the power of prayer" (Berachos 10b).l
"If you see the oppression of the poor and the violent perversion of judgment in the state, do not marvel at the matter…" (v 7). Ibn Ezra (ad loc.) explains the connection between this verse and the verses that preceded it: "You may think that He does not keep watch on what you say because you see the violent perversion of justice and nobody comes to save the oppressed… Know that there is a Watcher who sees this corruption". In the words of Metzudas David: "Do not wonder why God shows patience and does not exact retribution. For there is One who is high above all the high ones and rules over them all at every moment, but He waits until the sinners' measure is complete and only then exacts retribution. 'And there are higher ones over them': He has many agents who are high above the men of that state and can rule over them and through them repay them for their deeds" (Metzudas David ad loc.)
"Moreover, land has an advantage (YITHRON) for everyone (BA-KOL)…" (v 8). According to the simple interpretation of this verse, "after he has finished giving instructions about fear of God, he comes back to teaching about the affairs of this world, discussing what occupation can best enable a person to make a living without sinning" (Ibn Ezra ad loc.). Lovers of the land will rejoice to hear that agriculture is the first choice. According to this interpretation, even a king is beholden to the field, for without it there is nothing to eat (see Targum). However Rashi and Metzudas David see the verse as the continuation of the previous verse, rendering the Hebrew word YITHRON (translated above as "advantage") has having the connotation of overweening pride (from YETHER, too much). According to this interpretation, the punishment of those who pervert justice in the state may be sent BA-KOL – "through everything", i.e. through any of His many agents (as in the case of the Roman emperor Titus, who suffered agony for years as his brain was eaten alive by a mosquito). The "king" who is beholden to the field is the Holy One blessed be He, who toils on behalf of Zion (which has been ploughed as a field) in order to avenge her shame at the hands of those who destroyed her and to pay a reward to those who build her" (see Rashi on v 8).
Similarly, verse 9 – "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money – is subject to a variety of interpretations on the simple (PSHAT) and midrashic levels. On the level of PSHAT, the whole passage in verses 9-16 is a teaching about the folly of people's unquenchable craving to amass wealth, which can cause them the greatest harm, while those who toil honestly, satisfied with their lot, sleep sweetly without anxiety. On the level of Midrash, Rashi explains that "He who loves money" refers to one who loves the mitzvos. Such a person will never be satisfied even after performing many mitzvos as long as they do not include at least one specific and highly conspicuous mitzvah, such as the building of a synagogue or the writing of a beautiful Sefer Torah (Rashi on v 9).
"Sweet is the sleep of the laboring man, whether he eats little or much…" (v 11). Targum's rendering of this verse is: "Sweet is the sleep of a man who labored wholeheartedly for the Master of the World and he has rest in his grave, whether he lived few years or many, because he worked for the Master of the World in this world, and in the World to Come he will inherit the work of his hands and have the wisdom of God's Torah. And when a man who was rich in wisdom and toiled and made efforts in it in this world lies in his grave, his wisdom will dwell upon him and will not leave him alone, just as a wife does not leave her husband alone to sleep."
In verses 12-16 Koheles preaches against the folly of wanting great wealth, which may be kept by its owner to his hurt. If the person has no true enjoyment from his wealth, his entire life and all his efforts will have been in vain when he goes naked and bereft to his grave.
Verses 17 and 18 return to the same conclusion about the answer to man's existential predicament as Koheles gave in chapter 2 v 24 and chapter 3 v 12: "What I have seen is that it is good and beautiful to eat and drink and see good in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun…" (v 17) – "To eat and drink, i.e. to toil in the Torah, which is a good teaching, and not to amass great wealth but to rejoice in the portion he has been given, for that is his share" (Rashi ad loc.)
CHAPTER 6
In contrast to the honest laborer who is satisfied with his lot, the man who has wealth, possessions, honor and long life but no enjoyment from them is worse off than a still-born foetus that had no life at all (vv 1-6). Rashi on verse 3 cites King Ahab as an example of the case of one who has no enjoyment since he had many children and great wealth but he coveted what belonged to others and had no satisfaction from his own wealth, and in the end he was eaten by the dogs. On the level of Midrash, "Even if a Torah scholar has 'wealth, possessions and honor' – i.e. he knows Bible, Mishneh and Aggadah, but 'God does not give him the power to eat of it' – i.e. he does not attain to the level of understanding Talmud and therefore is unable to determine the correct legal ruling – then 'a stranger will eat it' – this is the master of Talmud" (Rashi on v 2).
"For all a man's labor is for the sake of his mouth…" (v 7) – "That he should eat in this world and the World to Come" (Rashi).
"For what advantage does the wise man have over the fool or over the poor man who knows how to make his way among the living?" (v 8). Even one who is "rich" in wisdom but has no satisfaction from his "wealth" (as in the case of the scholar who does not know how to give practical rulings) is no better than the fool, or the poor man who is satisfied with his portion and who knows how to reach the life of the World to Come through the simple performance of the mitzvos (see Rashi on v 8).
"Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the soul…" (v 9) – "It would be better if a man would see with his eyes the journey of the soul after death and to which place the soul of the righteous goes and to which place that of the wicked man goes, for if so, he would understand the difference between them, and as a result he would straighten his path" (Metzudas David ad loc.). For even the greatest man cannot escape "the one who is mightier than he" (v 10) – i.e. the angel of death (Rashi).
We therefore need to find out "what is good for a man in life during the limited number of days of his life of vanity" (v 12), because life passes like a shadow. "With only this verse I would not know if it is like the shadow cast by a wall or a palm tree, which have some substance. But King David came and specified: "His days are like a PASSING shadow" (Psalms 144:4) – like the shadow of a bird that flies past and its shadow flies off with it" (Koheles Rabbah).
ABY
BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Koheles 7-8
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov
KOHELES CHAPTER 7
The letter Teth at the head of the Hebrew word TOV ("good", "better") with which Chapter 7 begins is traditionally written large (RABASI) in the parchment scroll, emphasizing how much better is a good name than even the best oil. Above all else is the Name of HaShem, to which the verse alludes on the level of SOD (esoteric wisdom). In the handwritten Hebrew scrolls this large letter marks the beginning of a new Parshah (section) of the Megillah, which runs continuously without any further breaks until the end of the book.
Compared to the earlier part of the work, this last section often seems to be less of a continuous discourse and more of a succession of proverbs, each of which is a precious jewel joining with those that precede and follow it to make a Torah mosaic providing the deepest insights into the meaning and purpose of life in this world with its many paradoxes and mysteries, in order to clarify how man should best spend his days of vanity here.
The present commentary, which is largely based on Targum and Rashi, seeks to throw light on the PSHAT (plain meaning) and REMEZ (allusions) contained in these verses while touching only in passing upon some the many levels of DRASH (rabbinic interpretation) and SOD (esoteric wisdom) they contain.
Verse 1: "A good name is better than precious ointment…" – "Better is the good name that the righteous acquire in this world than the anointing oil that was poured on the heads of kings and priests. And better is the day on which a man is released and lies in his grave with a good name and with merit than the day on which a wicked man is born into the world" (Targum).
Verse 2: "It is better to go to the house of mourning…" – "It is better to go to the house of a man who is in mourning in order to comfort him than to go to the house of drinking and lasciviousness, because everyone must eventually go to the house of mourning, because the decree of death applies to everyone, and by going to the house of mourning the righteous man will take to heart the fact of death and let go of any evil in his hands and return to God" (Targum).
Verse 3: "Anger is better than laughter…" – "Better is the anger which the Master of the World displays to the righteous in this world than the smile He shows to the wicked, because the frown on the face of the Shechinah brings dearth and retribution into the world in order to rectify the hearts of the righteous so that they should pray to the Master of the World to have mercy on them" (Targum).
Verse 4: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning…" – "The heart of the wise dwells on the destruction of the Holy Temple and is pained over the exile of Israel, whereas the heart of fools is filled with the joy of their house of follies: they eat and drink and indulge themselves, paying no attention to the suffering of their brothers" (Targum).
Verse 5: "It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise…" – "It is better to sit in the study hall and listen to the rebuke of a Torah sage than to go to hear the jingles of fools" (Targum).
Verse 7: "For the oppressor mocks the wise man…" – "For the oppressor mocks at the wise man because he does not go in his way, and with his evil words he can destroy the wisdom in the heart of the sage that was given to him as a gift from heaven" (Targum). "When the fool taunts the sage, he can throw him into confusion and cause him to stumble, as in the case of Dathan and Aviram, who taunted Moses (Ex. 5:21) until he spoke against the Holy One (ibid. 6:1) with the result that he did not enter the Promised Land (see Rashi on our verse).
Verse 8: "Better is the end of a matter…" – "Better is the end of a matter than its beginning. For at the beginning a person does not know what will be at the end, but at the end of something good, a person knows that it is good. And better in God's eyes is the man who is in control of his spirit and subdues his evil inclination than the one who goes in the arrogance of his spirit" (Targum).
Verse 9: "Do not be hasty in your spirit to be angry…" – "If rebuke is sent to you from heaven, do not be quick to let your soul rage and speak rebellious words against heaven. For if you are patient your sins will be forgiven, but if you rebel and rage, know that anger dwells in the lap of fools until it destroys them" (Targum).
Verse 10: "Do not say, How was it that the former days were better…" – "In your time of trouble do not say that the reason why there used to be good in the world was because the earlier days were better. For the reason is because the deeds of the people of that generation were more beautiful than now and this was why they were sent good. Not with wisdom do you ask about this" (Targum).
Verse 11: "Wisdom is good with an inheritance…" – "Even if someone has a house, wealth and an ancestral inheritance, wisdom is still of benefit, because without it his inheritance will not endure in his hands" (Metzudas David).
Verse 12: For whoever is in the shade of wisdom is in the shade of wealth…" – "For when a person takes refuge in the shade of wisdom, likewise he can take refuge in the shade of wealth as long as he performs charity with it. But the excellence of knowledge of the wisdom of the Torah is that it brings its owner from the cemetery to the life of the world to come" (Targum).
Verse 13: "Consider the work of God…" – "Consider the work of God and His might. For He has made the blind, the hunchback and the lame prevalent in the world, but who is wise enough to rectify a single one of them except for the Master of the World, who caused them to be flawed?" (Targum).
Verse 14: "On the day of goodness, be good…" – "On the day that God does goodness to you, you too be good and do goodness to the entire world, in order that no evil day should befall you …"
"…God has made the one corresponding to the other" (verse 14). On the level of SOD (esoteric wisdom) this verse is frequently cited in the literature of Kabbalah and Chassidus as an allusion to God's creation of the SITRA ACHRA ("the Other Side", source of the bad days, bad times) as the counter-image of the Side of Holiness (source of the good days, good times) in order to give man the freedom of choice between good and evil in this world, so as to test him and enable him to earn his reward in the world to come.
Verse 15: "I have seen everything in the days of my vanity: there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness…" – "Good and evil are sent into the world through God's decree on account of the destinies with which people are created. For there is a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness in this world while his merit is guarded for him in the world to come, and there is a guilty person who lives a long life despite his sins, but the account of his evil awaits him in the world to come in order to exact retribution from him on the great Day of Judgment" (Targum).
Verse 16: "Do not be over righteous…" – "Do not be over righteous at the time when a sinner is condemned to death in your law court so that you take pity on him so as not to kill him. And do not be excessively wise so that you follow the wisdom of the wicked in your generation: do not learn from their ways, for why should you ruin your ways?" (Targum).
Verse 17: "Do not do much wickedness…" – "Do not go after sinful thoughts in your heart so as to be exceedingly sinful and do not keep your path far from the study house of God's Torah so as to be a fool – for why should you cause death to your soul and cause the years of your life to be cut short so that you die before your time?" (Targum).
Verse 18: "It is good that you should take hold of this but do not withdraw your hand from that…" – "It is good for you to rejoice in the affairs of this world and benefit yourself as traders do, but also do not abandon your share in this book of the Torah…"
"…for he that fears God fulfills his duty according to them all" (v 18). This rendering of the closing words of the verse is intended to bring out the halachic prescription which it contains. Many different and often apparently conflicting halachic opinions and approaches are found in the Talmud and among the various Poskim (legal authorities). Where possible, a God-fearing Jew strives to take account of as many of the different opinions as possible in the way he performs the various commandments, and it is this principle that guides the rulings of the Torah Codes (Mishneh Torah, Shulchan Aruch, Mishneh Berurah etc.).
Verse 19: "Wisdom strengthens the wise more than ten rulers who are in the city." "The 'ten rulers' are the ten things that make a person guilty: his two eyes, which show him sinful things, his two ears, which make him listen to idle matters, his two hands, with which he robs and oppresses, his two legs, which transport him to the sin, and his mouth and heart" (Rashi ad loc.). "Wisdom means repentance and good deeds" (Nedarim 32b).
Verse 20: "There is not a just man on earth…" – "…but if a man has sinned, he should make sure he repents before he dies" (Targum).
Verses 21-22: "Another benefit of wisdom is that it will teach you not to pay attention if people speak to you insultingly and disparagingly. Do not listen and pay attention even if it is your servant who insults you and you have it in your power to take vengeance on him… For you know in your heart that you have many times cursed others…" (Metzudas David).
Verses 23-24: "All this I tried with wisdom" – that is the Torah. "…I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me." And what is this that was far? "Far is what was" – i.e. the far off things that took place at the very formation of the creation. This is "…deep, deep – who can find it out?" One is not permitted to speculate about them and ask what is above and what is below, what is inside and what is behind (Rashi).
Verse 25: "I cast about in my mind to know and to search…" – "…To find out the calculation of the reward of the deeds of the righteous and to know the retribution for the sins of the fools and the intelligence and trickery of the government (MALCHUS)" (Targum).
Verse 26: "And I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets and her hands are fetters…" – "This 'woman' refers to heresy" (Rashi). This "woman" is thus none other than the "strange woman" against whom Solomon warns repeatedly in the book of Proverbs (2:16ff, 5:3ff etc.).
Verse 27: "Behold this I have found, SAYS Koheles…" It is noteworthy that in this verse, the Hebrew word for "says", AMRAH, is in the feminine form, which agrees with the grammatical form of KOHELES, which is also technically feminine, even though in other appearances of the name Koheles in the Megillah the accompanying verbs are in the masculine form (1:2; 12:8, 9 and 10). Rashi here renders: "Says the assembly (KEVUTZAH, fem.) of wisdom, and says his intelligent soul (NEFESH, fem.), which gathers wisdom".
"…counting one thing to another to find the sum" (v 27) – "I drew a line joining one constellation with another to find the sum of the sons of man – what will be at the end" (Targum).
Verse 28: "One man among a thousand I have found, but a woman among all those I have not found" – "I have not found anyone whole and righteous without flaws from the day the first man was born until the righteous Abraham, who was found faithful and worthy among the thousand kings that gathered to make the Tower of Babel. And I did not find a single worthy woman among all the wives of those kings" (Targum). "It usually happens in this world that a thousand enter into the study of the Bible but out of them only a hundred emerge fit for the Mishneh, and out of those hundred who entered into the Mishneh only ten go forth to the Talmud, and of those ten who enter into the Talmud, only one is fit to give legal rulings – i.e. one in a thousand" (Rashi).
Verse 29: "God has made man upright, but they sought out many calculations" – "HaShem made the first man worthy and righteous but the serpent and Eve deceived him into eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and brought down death upon him and all the generations of the earth, and they sought out many calculations in order to bring disaster upon the generations of the earth" (Targum).
CHAPTER 8
Verse 1: "Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a thing?" – "Thus we find that through Daniel's wisdom in the fear of heaven, the secrets of the interpretation of dreams were revealed to him" (Rashi).
In verse 2 Koheles counsels that the greatest wisdom is to observe the word of God's mouth – the Torah – which Israel are sworn to keep.
Verse 3: "Be not hasty to go out of His presence…" – "In the time of God's anger, do not leave off praying before Him… Beg Him for mercy so that you do not get involved in something evil, for HaShem is the Master of the World: He does everything that He desires" (Targum).
Verse 5: "He who keeps a commandment shall know nothing evil" – "Whoever fulfills a mitzvah in the proper way will not be the recipient of bad news" (Shabbos 63a).
Verse 6: "For every matter (CHEFETZ) has its time and judgment (MISHPAT)…" – "When a person follows his own desire (CHEFETZ) and violates the law of Torah, there is a time to exact retribution, and justice and punishment stand ready" (Rashi).
Verses 7-8: Man does not know when the time of retribution will come: no-one warns him, and it is impossible to keep one's soul in one's body because one has no control on the day of death.
Verse 9: "…There is a time when one man rules over another man, to his own hurt." This verse alludes to the mystery of how the SITRA ACHRA (the "other", impure side of creation) may hold the righteous in subjection for a certain period, but the ultimate purpose is to bring about the overthrow of the wicked (as in the case of Amalek, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar and Sennacherib, all of whom held Israel in subjection but were eventually destroyed, see Rashi).
Verse 10: "And in truth I saw how the sinners were buried and they were destroyed from the world and removed from the holy place where the righteous dwell, and they went to be burned in Gehinnom on account of their evil sins of robbery, oppression and theft, and they were forgotten from among the dwellers of the city, and just as they did to others, so they had done to them" (Targum).
Verse 11: It is because God is patient and slow to exact retribution that people imagine they can escape the consequences of doing evil.
Verse 14: "There is a vanity that is decreed on the face of the earth: this is that there are cases of Tzaddikim who suffer evil as if they had acted like sinners, and there are sinners who receive a flow of good as if they had acted like Tzaddikim, and I saw with holy spirit that the evil that befalls the righteous in this world is not because of serious sins but in order for them to pay the penalty for any light sins they may have committed in order for their reward to be complete in the world to come. But the good that comes to the sinners in this world is not because of their merits but in order to pay them the reward for any minor merits they may have so that they may eat their reward in this world in order to destroy their share in the world to come" (Targum).
Verse 15: "And I praised SIMCHAH!!!" The Talmudic reconciliation of the apparent contradiction between our present verse and Koheles' earlier question, "What does SIMCHAH accomplish???" has already been discussed in KNOW YOUR BIBLE commentary on Koheles 1:17. Whereas there he was referring to fools' happiness, our present verse speaks about the holy SIMCHAH of keeping the Torah. This verse is seen as the BINYAN AV (paradigm case) proving that wherever Koheles speaks about "eating" and "drinking", he is talking about taking joy in the study of Torah, observance of the mitzvos and the performance of good deeds, for this alone is what accompanies man to the grave after all his toil in this world (Koheles Rabbah).
ABY
BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Koheles 9-10
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov
KOHELES CHAPTER 9
In the closing verse of the previous chapter Koheles declared that "a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun" (Koheles 8:17) – "The creatures are unable to fathom the ways of the Holy One blessed be He and understand what is the reward for men's actions under the sun, because they see the wicked succeed while the righteous keep sinking lower" (Rashi).
Yet even though His ways may be incomprehensible, in the opening verse of our present chapter Koheles affirms that "the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God". That is to say, there is a special divine providence which governs all those who endeavor to go in God's ways. "He helps them and He judges them in order to benefit them in the end" (Rashi). God does not love or hate one person more than any other even when He helps one more than another in his endeavors to serve Him. Rather, "…all is before them" – i.e. everyone has free will. If there is a difference in the degree of divine assistance apparently given to different people, this is in proportion to the goodness of each person's intentions in his efforts to serve Him (Sforno on v 1).
Notwithstanding the special providence that God extends to those who serve Him, we must confront the fact that "there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and pure and to the impure…" (verse 2). This is death, which makes no discrimination whatever between one person and another. How to come to terms with this key factor in our existential predicament in this world is the theme of the passage in verses 2-12.
What can be so confusing to us is precisely the fact that even the best of people apparently come to the same bad end as the worst. Thus the midrashic interpretation of verse 2 cites the parallel fates of the righteous Noah and the wicked Pharaoh Necho, both of whom limped; of the good Moses and the pure Aaron on the one hand and the impure Ten Spies on the other, none of whom were permitted to enter the Promised Land; of King Josiah, who sacrificed to God and King Ahab, who did not sacrifice, both of whom were killed by arrows; and of Tzedekiah, who swore and broke his oath, and Samson, who took oaths very seriously (Judges 15:12), both of whom had their eyes gouged out.
As a result, "the heart of the sons of man is full of evil" (verse 3) – "Because they say that there is no retribution against the wicked, but everything is pure chance" (Rashi ad loc.).
But "for him that is joined to all the living there is hope" (verse 4) – "Whoever attaches himself to all the teachings of the Torah so as to acquire the life of the world to come has hope" (Targum). "For as long as he is alive, even if he has been wicked and attached to other wicked people, he can still repent before his death".
"For a living dog is better than a dead lion" (verse 4) – "Nevuzeradan (Nebuchadnezzar's captain, who executed the destruction of the Temple) was a wicked servant but he converted before he died and was thus better off than Nebuchadnezzar his master, who was called a lion (Jer. 4:7), and who died in his wickedness and lies in hell while his servant sits in the Garden of Eden" (Rashi). "When King David died, it was Shabbos, and Solomon sent a message to the sages in the study hall asking what to do because his father's body was lying in the sun and the household dogs were hungry. They replied that the maximum that would be permissible would be to cut up carrion meat to throw to the dogs (to divert them from the body), and the only way the corpse (which was MUKTZEH, not to be touched on Shabbos) could be moved would be if this were done indirectly, as by carrying it together with a loaf of bread or a baby. This was a case where a living dog was better off than the dead 'lion' – David" (Shabbos 30b).
Verse 5 teaches the fundamental article of Torah faith that as long as a person is alive in this world of ASIYAH, action, he can repent, serve God and acquire merits, but after death "they do not have a reward any more" – "There is no possibility for them to fulfill any further commandments in order to receive a reward for their performance" (Metzudas David).
Verse 6: "Also all their love and their hatred and their envy are now long perished…" – "After the death of the wicked, there is no further need for them. Their love, hate and envy are already perished from the world, and they have no good share with the righteous in the world to come, nor do they have any benefit from all that is done in this world beneath the sun" (Targum).
On the other hand, verse 7 addresses those who follow the path of righteousness: "Go, eat your bread in joy…" (v 7) – "You, the tzaddik, whose good deeds God has already accepted and who will merit the World to Come: go eat your bread in joy" (Rashi). "Solomon said with a prophetic spirit from God: The Master of the World is destined to say to all the Tzaddikim – to each and every one by himself – Go and joyously taste the bread that has been prepared for you in return for the good bread that you gave to the poor and needy when they were hungry, and with a good heart drink the wine that has been hidden away for you in the Garden of Eden in return for the wine that you poured out for the poor and needy when they were thirsty…" (Targum).
Thus after death, the destiny of the souls of the righteous is quite different from that of those of the wicked, and it therefore behooves the righteous to do everything in their power to acquire merits as long as they are alive in this world. Therefore – "Let your garments always be white" (verse 8): "Rabbi Yochanan ben Zaccai said: If the verse is talking literally about white garments and good oils, we see how many white garments and good oils the idolaters have! Rather, the verse is talking only about mitzvos and good deeds. Let your garments always be clean of sins, and never let the oil of mitzvos and good deeds be lacking from upon your head" (Shabbos 153a).
"See life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vanity…" (verse 9). Our sages interpreted this prescription to "see LIFE" with your wife as a counsel to pursue a worthy occupation in order to make a livelihood, learning from our verse that just as a father has an obligation to help his son to marry, so he must teach him a trade (Kiddushin 30b). "See and understand that you must learn a craft in order to make a living together with your study of the Torah. And if you do so, your share will be life in this world through the livelihood you gain from your craft, and life in the world to come. For toil in both of them – Torah and making a living – causes sin to be forgotten" (Rashi on verse 9).
"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your strength…" (verse 10). In this verse, Koheles drives home the message that "there is no action or reckoning… in She'ol where you are going". After death, it is impossible to take any further ACTION in order to acquire merits to be added to the RECKONING. For the only place of action is this world of ASIYAH. Accordingly, as long as we are alive here, we must apply ourselves with all our strength to the acquisition of merit through mitzvos and good deeds. This is because neither the swift nor the mighty nor the wise nor those of understanding can escape death, which spells the absolute end of the period assigned for action and endeavor (verse 11). Man never knows when his time will come: we are helplessly trapped in this world – like fish in a net or birds in a trap (v 12).
Since the key to our taking advantage of our life in this world to acquire merits lies in CHOCHMAH, Koheles now turns to acclaim the virtues of CHOCHMAH in the closing verses of our present chapter (ch 9 vv 13-18) and opening verses of the next (ch 10 vv 1-4). "Having said above that the wise do not necessarily have bread (v 11), he now goes back to praising wisdom, for even though it may not help to bring in bread, one should not reject it because there is a certain wisdom that is of great importance in this world" (Metzudas David). The "wisdom" to which Koheles refers is not a matter of intellectual brilliance but rather the practical Torah wisdom that enables us to escape the traps of the evil inclination.
"There was a little city and few men within it…" (v 14). The allegory of the "little city" is explained in the Talmud: "The 'little city' is man's body. The 'few men' in it are the limbs of the body. The 'great king' who comes against it is the evil inclination, while the 'poor wise man' found there is the good inclination, which saved the city through wisdom, i.e. repentance and good deeds. But 'nobody remembered that poor man', because at the hour when the evil inclination holds sway, nobody remembers the good inclination" (Nedarim 32b). The allegory of the "little city" in this passage harks back to the allegory of the "poor wise boy" who came to rule the country in Koheles 4:13-15.
"Wisdom is better than instruments of war, but one sinner can destroy much good" (v 18) – "A person should always look at himself as if he is half guilty and half worthy, and therefore if he performs a single mitzvah, happy is he because he swings himself into the scale of merit, but if he carries out one sin, woe is he because he swings himself into the scale of guilt… On account of a single sin that a person commits, he may loose many benefits" (Kiddushin 40b).
CHAPTER 10
The opening verses of chapter 10 continue with the praises of wisdom and the disparagement of folly. The same destructive power of folly that was the subject of the last verse of the previous chapter is the theme of verse 1 of our present chapter. "Dead flies cause the perfumer's oil to give off a foul odor" (v 1): "For example in wintertime when flies have no strength and are near death, even if a single one falls into perfumer's oil and gets mixed up in the spices, it makes it give off a foul odor causing a scum with little bubbles to rise to the surface… In the same way a little folly can have more weight than wisdom and honor because it can swing everything into the scale of guilt" (Rashi).
Verse 2: "A wise man's hand inclines to his right hand (CHESSED, expansive kindness, revelation) but a fool's heart is to his left (GEVURAH, strength, constraint, restriction and concealment)". "The heart of the wise is directed to the acquisition of the Torah, which was given from God's right arm, while the heart of fools is bent on the acquisition of wealth, silver and gold" (Targum).
Verse 3: "Even in the way the fool walks his heart is lacking and he tells everyone he is a fool". "The fool thinks that everyone else is stupid, but he does not realize that he is the one who is stupid while others are wise" (Koheles Rabbah). For examples of how fools walk, see M. Python's "Ministry of Silly Walks".
Verse 4: "If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place". "If the spirit of the evil inclination rules in you and attacks you, do not abandon your good place – the good practices you have been following – for the Torah was created as a healing remedy in the world in order to cause many sins to be forgiven and forgotten by God" (Targum).
In verses 5ff Koheles continues his moral discourse on the path of life which the righteous should follow with a bold and candid examination of one of the greatest challenges that this world of mysterious paradoxes presents to our faith in God's justice. "There is an evil that I have seen under the sun – it is LIKE A MISTAKE that went forth from before the Ruler: folly is set in great dignity while the (spiritually) rich sit in a low place" (vv 5-6). Many sincere people are indeed deeply perplexed by the seeming injustice whereby the most unworthy people enjoy glory and splendor while the truly worthy seem to be despised and rejected. It seems all wrong – like some kind of ERROR perpetrated by the Ruler of the world!!! How could this be???
Targum's rendering of verses 6-7 is: "God has given the wicked, insane Edom mighty good fortune and heaven-sent success and his forces are haughty and multitudinous, while the House of Israel are subject to him in exile, and because of their many sins those who were wealthy have become poor and sit in lowliness among the nations. King Solomon said through the spirit of prophecy: I have seen nations that were formerly subject to the House of Israel holding sway and riding horses like governors, while the nation of the House of Israel, their masters, walk like servants on the ground".
While the warning in verse 8 that "he who digs a pit will fall into it" applies to the machinations of any wicked person, Targum's rendering follows on from his application of the previous verses to Israel: "The Attribute of Judgment spoke up and answered: They themselves brought all this upon themselves, for just as when a man digs a pit at the crossroads he is brought there to fall into it, so the nation that transgressed God's decree and attacked the fence of the world will fall into the hand of a wicked king who will bite them like a serpent" (Targum on v 8).
Verse 10: "If the iron is blunt and one does not whet the edge, then one must put in more strength…" – "When the people of Israel sin and cause the heavens to become hard as iron so that no rain falls, if that generation does not pray before God the whole world is ruined by famine. But when they repent and gather together and overcome their evil inclination, appointing prayer leaders to beg for mercy before God in heaven, they find favor…" (Targum).
Verse 11: "If the serpent bites and cannot be charmed, then there is no advantage in the master of the tongue" – "When fiery serpents are let loose to frighten and harm the world, it is because of the sins of Israel in not engaging in words of Torah uttered in a whisper. Likewise there is no benefit to a person who speaks LASHON HARA (evil speech) because he is destined to burn in the fire of hell" (Targum).
Following further disparagement of those who follow the path of folly in verses 12-15, Koheles continues in verses 16-17 by contrasting the fortune of the land (=Eretz Israel) when under the rule of a king and judges who behave like young lads with its fortune under the rule of those whose might is combined with wisdom and understanding (see Rashi ad loc.). We badly need the latter today.
Verse 18: "By much slothfulness the beams collapse…" – "When a person fails to fix a small crack in the roof of the house the entire structure will collapse" (Rashi). Don't leave little flaws to become bigger.
Verse 19: "For laughter they make bread, and wine will bring joy to the living, and money answers over everything" – "For laughter the righteous make bread to feed the hungry poor, and the wine that they pour for the thirsty will be for them for joy in the world to come, and their redemption money will testify to their merit in the world to come in the eyes of all" (Targum).
Verse 20: "Do not curse the king even in your thought…" – "Do not anger the King of the world" (Rashi). Do not think that your words and thoughts are not heard and registered! "At the hour when a man sleeps, the body tells the lower soul and the lower soul tells the higher soul, and the higher soul tells the angel and the angel tells the cherub and the cherub tells the master of wings – that is the Saraph – and the Saraph takes the word and tells it before the One Who spoke and brought the world into being" (Koheles Rabbah).
ABY
BS"D KNOW YOUR BIBLE: Koheles 11-12
Study Notes by Avraham ben Yaakov
KOHELES CHAPTER 11
Our allotted time in this mysterious world of paradox is very short. Koheles moves towards the conclusion of his work with a few last words of counsel as to what we should do here to make the best of our situation.
"Cast your bread upon the water, for you shall find it after many days" (v 1) – "Practice goodness and kindness even to a person whom your heart tells you that you will never see again, like a person throwing food into the water, for the days are coming when you will receive your reward" (Rashi).
Verse 2: "Give a portion to seven and even to eight…" The simple meaning of the verse is that one should give a share of one's food and drink to seven needy people and even to another eight who come after them, without saying "That's enough" (Rashi). On the level of Midrash, "Rabbi Yehoshua says, 'Give a share to seven' – These are the seven days of Pesach; '…and even to eight' – these are the eight days of Succos, while the word 'even' (GUM) comes to include Shavuos, Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur" (Eiruvin 40b). "Rabbi Eliezer says, 'Seven' refers to the seven days of the week. Give one day, Shabbos, as the share of your Creator! Eight refers to circumcision on the eighth day" (Koheles Rabbah).
Verse 3: "If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth…" – "If the clouds are full of water, they don't keep it for themselves but pour it out onto the ground, and then the ground gives rise to vapors so that the clouds become filled up again. Similarly a person who has wealth should not keep it all for himself but rather, he should share his blessings with others. Then, when his time of need comes, he will receive blessings from others. As long as a tree provides fruit, people come to water it, but if it falls, nobody comes to tend it any more since it gives no fruit. Similarly if a person does not give help to others, nobody will help him in his time of need" (Metzudas David).
Verse 4: "One who waits for the wind will not sow, and one who watches the clouds will not reap." Even though the wind may help the sower by spreading the seed, if he waits for the perfect wind to blow he will never sow! Likewise if we wait for perfect circumstances before carrying out our mitzvos and good deeds, we will never do what we have to do. We must understand that nothing can ever be completely perfect in this world, but we have to carry out our obligations NOW!!! Verse 5 thus goes on to teach us that man can never have full knowledge of all aspects of God's creation, just has he cannot know the nature of an embryo while it is still in the womb. He should therefore perform acts of kindness, marry, have children, study the Torah etc. without worrying if he might go lacking materially as a result, because he cannot know God's decrees as to who will be poor and who will be rich (see Rashi ad loc.).
Verse 6: "In the morning sow your seed and in the evening do not withhold your hand" – "If you learned Torah in your youth, learn Torah in your old age; if you taught students in your youth, teach students in your old age; if you had a wife and children in your youth, marry a woman with whom to have children in your old age; if you practiced charity in your youth, practice charity in your old age" (Rashi).
Verse 7: "The light is sweet…" – "The light of the Torah is sweet, enlightening darkened eyes so that they see the glory of the face of the Shechinah, which in time to come will illumine the faces of the Tzaddikim, making them as beautiful as the sun" (Targum).
Verse 8: "For if a man lives many years…" – Once again, Koheles reminds us to rejoice in the share God has given us in this world and use our precious time here to acquire many merits. For the "days of darkness" that come after the death of the wicked are longer than the days of their life in this world, and only merits – Torah and mitzvos – can save us from this darkness (see Rashi ad loc.).
Verse 9: "Rejoice, young man, in your youth…" – "This is like a man who sarcastically tells his servant or his son, 'Go ahead and sin! Sin! For the time will come when you will be punished for all of them!' Likewise the wise man here says, 'Rejoice, young man, in your youth and go after the ways of your heart… but be assured that the Judge will bring you to judgment for all this'" (Rashi ad loc.).
Verse 10: "And put aside anger from your heart and remove evil from your flesh" – "Put aside the things that make God angry and remove the evil inclination from your flesh so that you will have a heart of flesh" (Rashi ad loc.).
CHAPTER 12
"And remember your Creator (BOR'ECHA) in the days of your youth…" (verse 1). The letters making up the Hebrew word BOR'ECHA, "your Creator" also spell out the words BE'ERCHA, "your well" and BOR'CHA, "your pit". It was on this verse that Akavia ben Mehalalel based his teaching, "Gaze on three things and you will not come to sin. From where did you come? A putrid drop (the 'well' from which you were drawn). Where are you going? To a place of maggots and worms (the grave or 'pit'). And before whom will you have to give an account and a reckoning – your Creator" (Yerushalmi Sota 2:2).
Verse 1 warns about the onset of "the years of which you will say, I have no pleasure in them" – i.e. the final years of life – thereby introducing the haunting and evocative passage in verses 2-7, which our sages taught to be an allegory about the pains and troubles of old age and bodily deterioration (Talmud Shabbos 151b). Rashi explains the details of the allegory as follows:
"Before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened…" – The "sun" is the forehead, which shines and radiates when a person is young but which brings up wrinkles when he is old and does not shine. The "light" is the nose, which is the glory of the face. The "moon" is the soul, which radiates to a man, but when it is taken from him there is no light in his eyes. The "stars" are the cheeks. "…and the clouds return after the rain" – a person's light is darkened after his tears of weeping over the many troubles he has endured.
"On the day when the keepers of the house tremble…" – These are the ribs and flanks, which protect the entire hollow of the body. "…and the strong men bow themselves" – these are the legs, on which the whole body rests. "…and the grinders cease because they are few" – these are the teeth, most of which fall out in old age. "…and those looking out of the windows are dimmed" – these are the eyes.
"And the doors are shut in the street" – these are the bowels. "…when the sound of the grinding is low" – this is the sound of the digestive organs grinding up the food. "…and one starts up at the voice of the bird" – When a person is old, even the sound of a bird can wake him. "…and all the daughters of music are brought low" – An aged person has no interest in listening to singers (cf. II Sam. 19:36).
"When they are also afraid of that which is high and terrors are in the way" – An old person is afraid to go out into the streets for fear of stumbling on little bumps and clods. "…and the almond tree blossoms" – this is the thighbone, which protrudes in old age like the blossom of a tree. "…and the grasshopper drags itself along" – A person feels his buttocks like a heavy weight. "…and the caper-berry fails" – the desire for women departs. "…for the man goes to his eternal home" – the grave – "…and the mourners go about the streets."
"…Before the silver cord is loosed" – this is the spinal cord, which is white like silver but which after death shrivels and dries and becomes crooked inside the vertebrae, becoming like a chain. "…or the golden bowl is shattered" – this is a man's member, which used to gush with water. "…and the pitcher is broken at the fountain" – this is the stomach, which bursts after death. "…and the wheel is broken at the cistern" – the eyeball disintegrates in its hollow. "…and the dust returns to the earth as it was and the spirit returns to God who gave it."
In addition to the above explanation of Koheles' allegory of old age and decline, Rashi also gives an equally detailed explanation of the same allegory as Solomon's call to Israel to remember their Creator while the Temple still stood, before the onset of the exile, when the light of Torah and the sages would become dimmed as trouble after trouble would strike.
Koheles now sums up his rebuke and final testimony to Israel in the same words with which he began: "Vanity of vanities… all is vanity" (Chapter 12 v 8 harking back to chapter 1 v 2). That which does not endure – this world – is mere vapor and vanity, and therefore we should focus all our efforts on keeping God's Torah in order to attain the enduring life of the World to Come.
If we ask why we should heed Koheles rather than any other wise preacher, smart thinker or philosopher, he explains: "And more than Koheles' having been wise, he also taught wisdom to the people and weighed and sought out and set in order many proverbs" (v 9). In the words of Rashi: "Koheles was even wiser than might appear from what is written in this book. He made 'handles' for the Torah, which was like a box without any handles to hold onto it. Thus he instituted the laws of ERUVS as a fence around the keeping of Shabbos, and washing of the hands as a fence to purity, and he prohibited 'secondary' incest relationships as a fence against incest…"
"Koheles sought to find out acceptable words…" (v 10). Metzudas David (ad loc.) explains: "Everything he wanted to know he sought to discover, and he exerted himself to find out the truth." The Talmud comments on this verse: "Koheles sought to be like Moses, but a heavenly voice came forth and told him: 'and words of truth written in proper form' – 'And no other prophet arose in Israel like Moses'" (Deut. 34:10; Rosh Hashanah 21b).
"The words of the wise are like goads…" (v 11) – "Just like the goad directs the plow-ox in its furrow, so the words of the wise direct a man in the pathways of life" (Rashi ad loc.).
There is no end to the books of wisdom that could be written. We should not say that if we cannot complete studying them all, it is not even worth starting. For the moral – the "bottom line" – can be stated very simply: "The end of the matter, when all is said and done: Fear God and keep his commandments! For that is the whole duty of man!" Amen.
ABY
AZAMRA INSTITUTE
PO Box 50037 Jerusalem 91500 Israel
www.azamra.org
Please Say Yes to Abba Yahweh and His Laws.
It
is written in the Koran:
‘1. Surah Al-Fatihah:
‘1. Surah Al-Fatihah:
1. In the
Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
2. All the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).
3. The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
4. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)
5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).
6. Guide us to the Straight Way
7. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).
This is the 'start' in the Koran......
2. All the praises and thanks are to Allah, the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists).
3. The Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
4. The Only Owner (and the Only Ruling Judge) of the Day of Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)
5. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).
6. Guide us to the Straight Way
7. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger (such as the Jews), nor of those who went astray (such as the Christians).
This is the 'start' in the Koran......
For more, what the Koran is teaching
about: ‘Muslims Hate
Jews, Christians all other faiths’ ‘Their Guide Book says to kill, behead and
burn all non-believers’ click:
Index of The Quran (Satanic Verses of violence to us)
Index of The Quran (Satanic Verses of violence to us)
For more information about the development of these
‘Chaldean’ in our days go to our News-Blog: http://thewatchmenfromisraelnews.blogspot.co.il/
Please read the Mitzvoth go to: Positive Commandments and the Negative Commandments), easy to read. It is very important to know them. I don’t ask you this to become a good Jew! But to learn who you really are. That you can find your real identity. In a good understanding of the rest of The Scriptures. And that you understand that Rabbi Shaul is talking to a real Israel,
1Co 10:1 I do not want you to be without da'as (knowledge), Achim (brothers) b(in) 'Moshiach, that Avoteinu (our fore Fathers, you Yehudah and Ephraim! Nobody else.) all were under the anan (cloud),
(‘Achim (brothers) b(in)Moshiach are Yehudah and Ephraim who were all under the anan (cloud). The seed (literal) of Abraham, Yitzhak and Ya’acob) read it for yourself :)
Exo 13:21 And Yahweh went before them (Yehudah and Ephraim -Israel) by day in an ammud anan (‘Pillar of a cloud), to guide them haderech (the Way); and by lailah (night) in an ammud eish (‘Pillar of fire), to give them ohr (light); so they could travel yomam valailah (day or night);
Exo 13:22 He
took not away the amud heanan (‘Pillar of a cloud) by day, nor the ammud haeish
(‘Pillar of fire) by night, from before HaAm (the people, Yehudah and Ephraim)
and passed through the sea.
Exo 14:22 And the Bnei Yisroel (Yehudah and Ephraim) then went into the middle of the yam (sea) upon the yabashah (dry land); and the mayim (waters) were a chomah (wall) unto them on their right, and on their left.
Exo 14:22 And the Bnei Yisroel (Yehudah and Ephraim) then went into the middle of the yam (sea) upon the yabashah (dry land); and the mayim (waters) were a chomah (wall) unto them on their right, and on their left.
Exo 14:23 And
the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the yam (sea),
even kol sus (all horses) Pharaoh, his chariots, and his parash (rider).
Exo 14:24 So it
came to pass, that when came the watch of the boker (morning), Yahweh looked
down on the machaneh Mitzrayim (camp of Egypt) through the ammud eish (pillar
of fire) and of the anan (cloud), and caused confusion over the machaneh Mitzrayim
(camp of Egypt),
Exo 14:25 And
turned awry their chariot wheels, that they drove them with difficulty; so that
the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the presence of Yisroel (really when
Yehudah and Ephraim where together, not like today); because Yahweh fighting
for them against the Egyptians,
So let we further listen what Rabbi Shaul has really to say:)
So let we further listen what Rabbi Shaul has really to say:)
1Co 10:2 And all into Moshe Rabbenu were given tevilah
(a ‘mikwah’ immersed) in the anan (cloud) and in the sea,
1Co 10:3 And all of the same spiritual okhel (food)
ate [SHEMOT 16:4,35; DEVARIM 8:3; TEHILLIM 78:24-29],
1Co 10:4 And all of the same spiritual drink drank,
for they were drinking from a spiritual TZUR (Rock) following them [SHEMOT
17:6; BAMIDBAR 20:11; TEHILLIM 78:15; 105:41], and that TZUR was Moshiach
(Yeshuah – Yeshuah Yahweh).
And now one of our neviim:
And now one of our neviim:
Hab 2:3 For the chazon (vision) is yet for a mo’ed (an appointed time); it speaks of HaKetz (the End), and does not lie; though it tarry, wait for him
Moshiach— see: Sanhedrin 97b, ‘It has been taught; R. Nathan said: This verse pierces and descends to the very abyss:11 For the Vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though he tarry, wait for him (Moshiach); because it will surely come, it will not tarry.12]; because he (Moshiach) will surely come, and will not tarry.
(11) Just as the bottom of an abyss cannot be reached, so is it impossible to grasp the full purport of this verse (Rashi).
(12) Hab. II, 3.
Believe…..
Hab 2:4
Hinei (behold), his nashamah (soul) which is puffed up is not upright in him;
but the tzaddik (righteous) shall live by his emunah (believe).
Through Moshiach, Yeshuah from Yahweh who give you emunah (believe)…..
Gen 15:6 And he believed in Yahweh; and He credited emunah (faith)] to him as tzedakah (righteousness).
Please read the whole book of HaNavi Habakuk?
The Koran teaches us that you have to die…….
Through Moshiach, Yeshuah from Yahweh who give you emunah (believe)…..
Gen 15:6 And he believed in Yahweh; and He credited emunah (faith)] to him as tzedakah (righteousness).
Please read the whole book of HaNavi Habakuk?
The Koran teaches us that you have to die…….
But, please Yudah (Jews) and Ephraim (most Christians) Listen to His Voice:
Hab 1:12 Art thou not
mikedem
(‘everlasting’
also said of Moshiach, indicating Moshiach’s eternal divine nature: Dan 7:14 And there was given Him (Moshiach) dominion,
and honor, and sovereignty, that all people, Goyim, tongues, should
pey-lammed-chet. [1] (worship as deity) (see Dan 3:12, serve, reverence as
deity Him (Moshiach). His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not
pass away, and His (Messianic) Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.] see Michah
5:1[2];)
Yahweh Elohai (my
Elohim) Kedoshi (my Holy One)? We shall not die. Yahweh, Thou hast appointed
them (these Chaldean) for mishpat (ordinance); O Tzur (Rock), Thou hast
ordained them (these Chaldean) for reproof.
Maran
Rabbeinu Yeshuah and Rabbeinu Shaul are teaching that you, Yehudah and Ephraim
all Israel, come together to the same point as where you were when you said:
Deu 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that Yahweh Eloheinu (our Elohim) shall say; and speak thou unto us all that Yahweh Eloheinu shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
But don’t ‘make’ from one of them Rabbeinu Yeshuah, Rabbeinu Shaul or Rabbeinu Mosheh another ‘mighty one’ but accept them in your live for what they really are….
Deu 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that Yahweh Eloheinu (our Elohim) shall say; and speak thou unto us all that Yahweh Eloheinu shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.
But don’t ‘make’ from one of them Rabbeinu Yeshuah, Rabbeinu Shaul or Rabbeinu Mosheh another ‘mighty one’ but accept them in your live for what they really are….
Please take it serious what Abba Yahweh is telling us in:
Deu 18:15 Yahweh Eloheicha (your Elohim) will raise up unto thee a Navi (prophet) from among thee, of thy achim (bretheren), kamoni (like me.....
Exo
32:30 The next day Moshe said to the people,
"You have committed a terrible sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh; maybe I will
be able to atone for your sin."); unto him ye must listen;
Deu 18:16
According to all that thou desired of Yahweh Eloheicha (your Elohimin) Chorev
(to be burnt dried up, ruined, wasted) in the Yom HaKahal (day of the
congregation), saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahweh Elohav (your
Elohim), neither let me see this eish hagedolah (‘great fire’) any more, that I
die not.
Deu 18:17 And
Yahweh said unto me, They have well-spoken that which they have spoken.
Deu 18:18 I will raise them up a Navi
(prophet) from among their achim (brethren), like unto thee, and will put My
words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
Joh
10:18
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have samchut
(authority) to lay it down, and I have samchut to receive it again. This
mitzvah I received from HaAv (the Father).
Deu 18:19 And it
shall come to pass, that whosoever will not listen unto My words which he shall
speak Bishmi (in My Name), I will require it of him.
Joh 8:28 Therefore, Rebbe,
Melech HaMoshiach said to them, When you perform the hagbah (lifting
up) of the Ben HaAdam, you will have da'as (knowledge) that Ani Hu
[YESHAYAH 41:4; SHEMOT 3:14-16], and from myself I do nothing, but as HaAv (the
Father) of me taught me, these things I speak.
Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiah Yeshuah – is Yeshuah Yahweh. Like it is said in:
Gen_49:18 I have waited for Thy Yeshuah (Salvation), Yahweh.
Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiah Yeshuah – is Yeshuah Yahweh. Like it is said in:
Gen_49:18 I have waited for Thy Yeshuah (Salvation), Yahweh.
Exo_15:2 Yahweh
is my oz and zimrah (song of praise), and He is become to me Yeshuah (salvation); He
is Eli (my Elohim), and I will praise Him; Elohei Avi (the Elohim of my
Father), and I will exalt Him.
And not a half-god, or another mighty-one who came between HaShem and us! (Not, ‘It Suph’!) I believe many of us (Jews and Ephraimites!) have to learn that!
And not a half-god, or another mighty-one who came between HaShem and us! (Not, ‘It Suph’!) I believe many of us (Jews and Ephraimites!) have to learn that!
[1] Dictionary of the Talmud. M. Jastrow p. 1178 פלח
Please let us come together in Prayer
(by singing/praying The Song of Moshe and The Song of The Lamb) and Teshuvah in
the Love of Yeshuath YHWH. Yehudah, Ephraim and all 'the called out ones',
Until comes in fulfillment,
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David (The whole House of Israel, Jews and Ephraim), and upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourned for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Isa 11:13 And the envy of Ephrayim shall turn aside, and the adversaries of Yehudah be cut off. Ephrayim shall not envy Yehudah, and Yehudah not trouble Ephrayim.
If you have a Prayer Request for yourself, family, friends, kehilah or the State of Israel. It can be brought to the Feet of The Mountain of Yahweh. (For Free) Click: Prayer Request
Until comes in fulfillment,
Zec 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David (The whole House of Israel, Jews and Ephraim), and upon the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourned for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
Isa 11:13 And the envy of Ephrayim shall turn aside, and the adversaries of Yehudah be cut off. Ephrayim shall not envy Yehudah, and Yehudah not trouble Ephrayim.
If you have a Prayer Request for yourself, family, friends, kehilah or the State of Israel. It can be brought to the Feet of The Mountain of Yahweh. (For Free) Click: Prayer Request
No comments:
Post a Comment