Commentaire sur L’Ecclésiaste 5:9
אֹהֵ֥ב כֶּ֙סֶף֙ לֹא־יִשְׂבַּ֣ע כֶּ֔סֶף וּמִֽי־אֹהֵ֥ב בֶּהָמ֖וֹן לֹ֣א תְבוּאָ֑ה גַּם־זֶ֖ה הָֽבֶל׃
Qui aime l’argent n’est jamais rassasié d’argent; qui aime l’opulence n’en a aucun profit: cela aussi est vanité!
Rashi on Ecclesiastes
He who loves money will never be satisfied with money. Whoever loves [to perform God’s] commandments never has his fill of them.12See the Gemara in Maseches Makkos 10a which interprets that this verse is referring to Moshe.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
And he who loves abundance. Of many commandments
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
And he who loves abundance. Of many commandments
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
Will have no produce. And among them none has a specific and distinguishable commandment, e.g., the building of the Beis Hamikdosh or a synagogue, or [writing] a beautiful Torah scroll.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
This too is vanity. So are these two verses expounded upon in the Midrash, and there are other suitable interpretations, but I stated this one first because it is related to the matter of, “and there are higher ones over them,” which Scripture juxtaposed to them.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
Another explanation: The profit of the earth is desired by all. The reward for tilling the soil is most important of all, for even the king must be subservient to the field; if the earth produces fruits, he will eat, otherwise, he dies from hunger.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
He who loves money will never be satisfied with money. He will not eat money.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
And he who loves abundance. Of money.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
Will have no produce. That he does not gather for himself produce, this too is vanity.13Alternatively, “one who loves [an] abundance” of slaves, maidservants and other household members, “will have no produce,” i.e., he will be unable to sustain his household staff, for they will consume everything (Metsudas Dovid).
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
Will have no produce. That he does not gather for himself produce, this too is vanity.13Alternatively, “one who loves [an] abundance” of slaves, maidservants and other household members, “will have no produce,” i.e., he will be unable to sustain his household staff, for they will consume everything (Metsudas Dovid).
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
Another explanation: The profit of the earth is desired by all. The reward of Yisroel is in all aspects of Torah, be it in Scripture, in Mishnah, or in Gemara.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
He who loves money. Whoever loves Torah [study], never has his fill with it.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
The king himself is subject to the soil. If the king is well versed in Scripture and Mishnah, he must still be subservient to the one well-versed in Gemara, because he arranges before him the practical decisions regarding prohibition and permissibility, ritual impurity and purity, and practical laws.
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
And he who loves abundance. Torah [study].
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Rashi on Ecclesiastes
Will have no produce. One who has [knowledge of] Scripture and Mishnah, but has no [knowledge of] Gemara, what benefit does he have? All these are [expounded] in Vayikra Rabbah.
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