L’Ecclésiaste 11:3 Midrash : Midrash Tanchuma Buber & Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah

(Lev. 16:1:) NOW THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES AFTER THE DEATH OF < AARON'S TWO SONS >…. This text is related (to Eccl. 9:2): SINCE EVERYTHING < HAPPENS > TO EVERYONE, THE SAME LOT < FALLS > TO THE RIGHTEOUS AND TO THE WICKED…. Solomon looked and foresaw the righteous and the wicked in all generations, and he saw things that would happen to the righteous and happen to the wicked.¹Tanh., Lev. 6:1; cf. below, Deut. 2:1; Lev. R. 20:1; Eccl. R. 9:2:1; PRK 26:1. Then he said (in vs. 3): THIS IS AN EVIL IN ALL WHICH HAPPENS UNDER THE SUN, IN THAT THE SAME LOT < FALLS > TO EVERYONE. (Vs. 2:) SINCE EVERYTHING < HAPPENS > TO EVERYONE, THE SAME LOT < FALLS > TO THE RIGHTEOUS. This refers to Abraham, in that he was called righteous, as stated (in Gen. 18:19): FOR I HAVE CHOSEN HIM [SO] THAT HE MAY CHARGE < HIS CHILDREN AND HIS HOUSEHOLD AFTER HIM TO KEEP THE WAY OF THE LORD >, [TO PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUSTICE]. (Eccl. 9:2, cont.:) < AND > TO THE WICKED. This refers to Nimrod, who incited all the whole world against the Holy One. The former is dead, and the latter is dead. (Ibid., cont.:) TO THE GOOD, TO THE CLEAN, [AND TO THE UNCLEAN. TO THE GOOD] refers to David, of whom it is stated (in I Sam. 16:12): < WITH > BEAUTIFUL EYES AND GOOD APPEARANCE TO THE UNCLEAN refers to Nebuchadnezzar. The former laid the foundation of the Temple, and the latter destroyed it. The former reigned forty years, and the latter reigned forty years. (Eccl., 9:2, cont.:) TO THE ONE WHO SACRIFICES. This refers to Solomon, of whom it is stated (in I Kings 8:63): SOLOMON SACRIFICED TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND OXEN < AND A HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND SHEEP > AS PEACE OFFERINGS, WHICH HE SACRIFICED TO THE LORD. (Eccl., 9:2, cont.:) AND TO THE ONE WHO DOES NOT SACRIFICE. This refers to Jeroboam, who stopped Israel from going up < to Jerusalem > on pilgrimage, as stated (in I Kings 12:28): ENOUGH OF YOUR GOING UP TO JERUSALEM…. The latter one reigned after the former one. (Eccl. 9:2, cont.:) AS IT IS WITH THE GOOD. This refers to Moses, of whom it is stated (in Exod. 2:2): AND WHEN SHE SAW THAT HE WAS GOOD. (Eccl. 9:2, cont.:) SO IT IS WITH THE SINNER. This refers to the spies (in Numb. 13–14)), of whom it is stated (in Prov. 13:21): EVIL PURSUES SINNERS. Moses did not enter the land, neither did those < spies > enter the land. (Eccl. 9:2, cont.:) AND THE ONE WHO TAKES AN OATH (without keeping it). This refers to Zedekiah, of whom it is stated (in II Chron 36:13): < AND > HE ALSO REBELLED AGAINST KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR, WHO HAD MADE HIM TAKE AN OATH [BY] GOD. (Eccl. 9:2, cont.:) < IS > {EVERYONE} [AS THE ONE] WHO FEARS AN OATH. This refers to Samson, of whom it is stated (in Jud. 15:12): THEN SAMSON SAID {UNTO} [TO] THEM: SWEAR TO ME…. They put out the eyes of the former, and they put out the eyes of the latter.

David, King (may his memory be blessed), further said: "My fear is within my joy, and my joy is within my fear; and my love ascends above them all. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, made a covenant with me that I should be proficient in the Scripture, in the Mishnah, in the laws, and in the aggadahs, as it is said, 'For is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things, and sure; for all my salvation, and all my desire, will He not make it to grow' (2 Samuel 23). And there is no covenant but the Torah, as it is said, 'My covenant was with him, life and peace' (Malachi 2). Ordered in all things, in the Scripture, in the Mishnah, in the laws, in the aggadahs, and protection, so that the words of Torah should be preserved by me forever and for all eternity. "For all my salvation and all my desire, will He not make it to grow." From here they said: Every Torah scholar who increases in Torah study and does not derive sustenance much, it is a good sign for him. And if you say, 'If the Holy One, blessed be He, loves His Torah, why does He not sustain him?' You should say that if He enriches him, he may become presumptuous about the words of Torah. Therefore, every Torah scholar who increases in Torah study and does bring-in much produce (wealth), it is a good sign for him, for the Holy One, blessed be He, loves his Torah, that if He enriches him, he may become presumptuous about the words of Torah. And this is explicitly stated in the Kabbalah by Solomon, King of Israel: 'Two things I ask of You; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me' (Proverbs 30). 'Lest I be full, and deny You, and say: "Who is the Lord?" Or lest I be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God' (Proverbs 30). Blessed is He who chose the Torah and the Talmud (and the Sages), and their disciples, and the disciples of their disciples, and their children, and the children of their children, until the end of all generations, and He establishes upon them the measure with which a man measures, it is measured unto him. Just as they sit in synagogues and study halls and in every open place, and read for the sake of heaven, and He sees into their hearts, and they uphold the Torah according to its prescriptions, so that they do not forget it from their mouths and from the mouths of their children and the children of their children forever. So did the Holy One, blessed be He, choose them and their children and the children of their children until the end of time, as it is said: 'And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly' (Genesis 17). So said the Lord, 'My spirit that is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your seed, nor out of the mouth of your seed's seed,' said the Lord, 'from henceforth and forever' (Isaiah 59). But the sons of rebellious Israel are not like this. In their youth they are soft, and in their old age they are hard. What does the Holy One, blessed be He, do when they are still soft? He raises them up and burns them in the great study hall and in His great yeshiva, [as it is said: 'And all the wicked shall be stubble, and the day that comes shall set them ablaze' (Malachi 3). For none of them shall have a hand to bear or a hand to lay down, but every man's sword shall be against his brother's, and he shall burn the chariots with fire' (Zechariah 9). And there is none but the wicked], as it is said: 'And the sons of Belial said: "What shall this one save us?" And they despised him and brought him no present' (1 Samuel 10). And it says: 'And every man of Belial said: "What will this one save us?"' (1 Samuel 10). The Sages said: Anything that is destined to occur in the end has already been done in part today. There shall be a session for the Holy One, blessed be He, in His study hall, and the righteous of all time shall sit before Him, There has already been a part of the session for the righteous in this world for David, King of Israel, who illuminated his face with the halachah before the righteous who sat before him. And so it will be in the future for the righteous, whose lives will be without sorrow and without the evil inclination, to live with the son of David in this world. And in the World to Come, there has already been a part of life without sorrow and without the evil inclination for the righteous, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Jabez, and Jether, and all who are like them. In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will resurrect the dead, whether in the time of the son of David or in the World to Come, for there has already been a part of the resurrection of the dead in this world by the hand of the righteous, Elijah and Elisha, and Ezekiel son of Buzi. In the future, there will be honor and strength for the righteous in the World to Come, for there has already been a part of honor and strength for the righteous in this world, such as Jehoshaphat, King of Judah. In the future, there will be eating, drinking, and joy for the righteous. And there will be no plague nor suffering nor distress, for there has already been a part of eating, drinking, and joy for the righteous in this world. In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will make peace among the righteous and among His people Israel, for there has already been a part of peace in this world by the hand of the righteous.