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Kohelet In many communities it is customary to read Koheles (Ecclesiastics) on Shabbos Chol HaMoed. In years like this one when there is no Shabbos Chol Hamoed, Koheles is read on Shemeni Atzeres. Void of voids, says Koheles, Void of voids, all is void The final conclusion after all has been heard; fear G-d and keep His commandments for this is the whole of the man. For every act G-d will bring in judgement, on every hidden thing, whether it be good or it be bad. The seven (mentioned five times, twice in the plural equals seven) voids (often translated vain in the sense of: empty, futile, useless) mentioned in the opening of Koheles refers to the physical world which was created in seven days. The conclusion is that service of G-d in this world is the only reality. However, what is meant with "For every act G-d will bring in judgement, on every hidden thing, whether it be good or it be bad?" What "hidden things?" Perhaps it can be understood like this: The Hebrew word for world is Olom, it is related in its spelling and construction to Nelam - hidden. Our Sages explain that the true realities of the world remain hidden from we who live within it. Why is there a righteous person to whom evil occurs and why an evil person to whom good occurs? Further, we generally hide ourselves from the only certainty in this world and that is our eventual death. Perhaps we can understand at a more profound level. The real consequences of our actions here in this world we can never see, whether they be good or whether they be bad. Yes, we may see that we have provided food for a beggar and kept him from starving, however we have no way to know if that allowed that beggar to do someone harm in the future. Or if we once turned away from providing for a beggar, we may have caused him to die prematurely and prevented some great good being done by this beggar. We see only the immediate consequences, and often not even that, rather than seeing the ultimate consequences of our actions. This is hidden and only G-d can stand in real judgement over us on all that is hidden from us, whether it is ultimately good or whether it is ultimately bad. For this reason Koheles begins by letting us know that in truth all our intentions in our acts are void - for we have no way of knowing their consequences. Koheles concludes, the only way that we can decide and act is with the purpose of serving the Creator and fulfilling His commandments, assessing each action - is it His will or not. While we are not prophets nor the sons of prophets, expressing the rights of the Jewish people to the Land of our forefathers, to the city where they are buried, and the places where they worshipped; is unequivocally G-d's will. Even if in the short term the consequences may seem costly, the long term benefits will prove themselves, so long as it is done with consistency and commitment. Once on Simchas Torah the students of R' Yisroel Salanter saw his joy was mixed with some sadness and asked him why. "Imagine," said R' Yisroel, "A man is sad about one thing and joyful concerning another, the joy may outweigh the grief. If whoever, both emotions have one origin, how does he feel? "For example: The father of a child who has fallen ill. The father may be very happy that he has this child, and will be terribly sad that the child is ill. Can one outweigh the other? Certainly not! On the contrary, the greater the love and happiness, the greater the sorrow and pain concerning the illness. "The same is true with me today. On the one hand, I rejoice in this precious and wonderful gift from G-d - the Holy Torah. On the other hand, I am saddened and pained that so many Jews do not know of the Torah or appreciate it and its commandments. "The more joy I feel on Simchas Torah, the more keenly and deeply I feel the pain and sorrow over its abandonment by so many of our brothers and sisters." |
