Commentary for Ecclesiastes 2:3
תַּ֣רְתִּי בְלִבִּ֔י לִמְשׁ֥וֹךְ בַּיַּ֖יִן אֶת־בְּשָׂרִ֑י וְלִבִּ֞י נֹהֵ֤ג בַּֽחָכְמָה֙ וְלֶאֱחֹ֣ז בְּסִכְל֔וּת עַ֣ד אֲשֶׁר־אֶרְאֶ֗ה אֵי־זֶ֨ה ט֜וֹב לִבְנֵ֤י הָאָדָם֙ אֲשֶׁ֤ר יַעֲשׂוּ֙ תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם מִסְפַּ֖ר יְמֵ֥י חַיֵּיהֶֽם׃
I searched in my heart how to pamper my flesh with wine, and, my heart conducting itself with wisdom, how yet to lay hold on folly, till I might see which it was best for the sons of men that they should do under the heaven the few days of their life.
Rashi on Ecclesiastes
I searched in my heart. I repeatedly searched in my heart to grasp them all, partying, wisdom, and folly, and to stimulate and to pamper my body by imbibing in wine. Every luxurious banquet is referred to as wine [=יַיִּן.
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Kohelet Rabbah
“I searched in my heart to tempt my flesh with wine, and, my heart conducting itself with wisdom, to grasp folly, until I will see which is best for the sons of man that they should perform under the heaven during the limited days of their lives” (Ecclesiastes 2:3).
“I searched in my heart to tempt [my flesh] with wine” – Solomon said: “I searched in my heart to tempt [my flesh] with wine,” to tempt my flesh with the wine of Torah; “and my heart, conducting itself with wisdom,” with the wisdom of Torah. “To grasp folly” – Rabbi Yudan raised a question before Rabbi Aḥa: What is this that is written: “To grasp folly [sikhlut]”? He said: To grasp with wisdom [sukhlenuta].11He interprets sikhlut to mean wisdom, as in the word sukhlenuta; this is the opposite of the common translation of sikhlut.
“I searched in my heart to tempt [my flesh] with wine” – Solomon said: “I searched in my heart to tempt [my flesh] with wine,” to tempt my flesh with the wine of Torah; “and my heart, conducting itself with wisdom,” with the wisdom of Torah. “To grasp folly” – Rabbi Yudan raised a question before Rabbi Aḥa: What is this that is written: “To grasp folly [sikhlut]”? He said: To grasp with wisdom [sukhlenuta].11He interprets sikhlut to mean wisdom, as in the word sukhlenuta; this is the opposite of the common translation of sikhlut.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
And my heart conducted itself with wisdom. Even if my body is imbibed with wine, my heart conducted itself with wisdom and Torah observance.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
And to grasp foolishness. To things that appear foolish to me, concerning which I said, “Because God is with me, I will be able,”5Mishlei 30:1. for example, the [prohibition against] wearing sha’atnez and having mingled species in a vineyard, which Satan and the nations of the world are critical of, and so it states, “It is best to take hold of one,”6Below 7:18. and also, regarding Shaul, in whose eyes it seemed foolish to kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, but it was the commandment of the Omnipresent, and he called it foolishness!
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