מדרש על במדבר 15:39

“What profit is there for man in all his toil that he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3).
“What profit is there for man?” Rabbi Binyamin said: The Sages sought to suppress the book of Kohelet because they found in it matters that tend toward heresy. They said: All of Solomon’s wisdom that he seeks to impart is: “What profit is there for man in all his toil,” but one might [think that he meant] even in the toil of Torah. They then said: He did not say “in all toil,” but rather in his toil; in his toil he does not [profit from his] toil, but he does [profit from his] toil in the toil of Torah.
Rabbi Shmuel ben Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Sages sought to suppress the book of Kohelet because they found in it matters that tend toward heresy. They said: All of Solomon’s wisdom is this statement: “Rejoice, young man, in your youth; and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes” (Ecclesiastes 11:9). Moses said: “Do not stray after your heart and after your eyes” (Numbers 15:39), and Solomon said: “And walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes.” Restraint has been abolished; there is no [divine] justice and no [Divine] Judge. When he said: “But know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment” (Ecclesiastes 11:9), they said: Solomon spoke well.
Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Aḥa [said] in the name of Rabbi Ḥilfai: His toil is under the sun, but there is a treasure for him above the sun. Rabbi Yudan said: Under the sun he does not have [profit], but above the sun he does have [profit].¹⁰For physical toil there is no profit, but for spiritual toil there is profit. Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis, Rabbi Levi said: What benefit do people who amass mitzvot and good deeds have? It is sufficient for them that I shine light upon them.¹¹In the phrase “under [taḥat] the sun,” Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis interpret taḥat in the sense of “in exchange for.” The Rabbis say: What benefit do the righteous who amass mitzvot and good deeds have? It is sufficient for them that I am destined to renew their faces [and cause them to shine] like the sun, as it is written: “But those who love Him are like the sun emerging in its might” (Judges 5:31).
Rabbi Yannai said: The way of the world is that when a person takes a litra¹²480 grams. of meat, how much trouble must he undergo and how much effort must he expend until he has cooked it! But I blow the winds for you, elevate the clouds, cause the rains and the dew to fall, grow plants and ripen them, set a table before each and every one, give each and every person all his needs, and each and every body what it lacks, and all you bring Me is the omer. Rabbi Pinḥas said: The way of the world is that when a person launders his garment during the rainy season, how much trouble must he undergo and how much effort must he expend until he dries it! But I blow the winds for you, elevate the clouds, cause the rains and the dew to fall, grow plants, wash them, ripen them and dry them, and set a table before each and every one, give each and every person all his needs and each and every body what it lacks, and all you bring Me is the omer. Rabbi Berekhya said: I am your chef, and you do not allow Me to taste the dish that I cooked to know what it needs. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: I am your guard and you do not give me from what I guarded.
Rabbi Elazar said: It is written: “They do not say in their heart: Let us now fear the Lord [our God, who gives the early rain and the late rain in due season]” (Jeremiah 5:24). Oh, wicked ones, do you no longer need Me?¹³Once the rain has come. The verse states: “Who preserves for us the appointed weeks of the harvest” (Jeremiah 5:24) – He protects us from heatwaves, He protects us from harmful dews. That is what David says: “A bounteous [nedava] rain You will bring, God” (Psalms 68:10). If it requires rain, it is “a gift [nedava],” if it requires dew, “You will bring, God.”¹⁴Dew is ubiquitous and is therefore not called a gift.
Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: It is written: “It shall be seven complete weeks” (Leviticus 23:15) -– when? It is when Yeshua and Shekhanya are not among them.¹⁵When the first day of Nisan falls on Shabbat, the first day of Passover is on Shabbat and Shavuot is on Sunday. Then, the period of the omer is seven complete weeks, and then, the priestly watches of Yeshua and Shekhanya, the ninth and tenth of the twenty-four watches, would not serve during the omer. If the first of Nisan and the first day of Passover are in the middle of the week, Shavuot is in the middle of the week. In that case, because some of the earlier watches would serve only half a week, as on the festivals all the priests would participate in the Temple service, the watches of Yeshua and Shekhanya would serve during the omer period.
Rabbi Abba said: Come and see how much trouble is experienced and how much effort must be expended until they bring the omer, as we learn: How would they perform it? Emissaries of the court would emerge on the eve of the festival [of Passover] and fashion sheaves while [the grain was still] attached to the ground, so that it would be convenient to harvest. All the adjacent towns would assemble there, so that it would be harvested with great fanfare (Menaḥot 65a). Rabbi Levi said: The Holy One blessed be He said to you: ‘Man, you have plowed, sowed, reaped, gathered, and made several piles; if I do not produce for you a little wind, could you winnow? Yet even the fee for that wind you do not give Me.’ That is, “what is the advantage for He who toils for the wind?” (Ecclesiastes 5:15).
Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi] made a wedding feast for his son. Rabbi invited all the Rabbis but forgot to invite bar Kappara. [Bar Kappara] went and wrote on the gate of [Rabbi’s] house: After all your rejoicing there is death; and what is the profit in your rejoicing? [Rabbi] said: ‘Who did this to us?’ They said: ‘It was bar Kappara whom, alone, you forgot to invite, and he is disgraced.’ He went and made another feast and he invited all the rabbis and he invited bar Kappara. For each and every dish that [the waiter] would place before them, [bar Kappara] would recite three hundred parables about the fox. [The parables] were very pleasant for them, and the dishes grew cold and they did not taste them. Rabbi would say to his servants: ‘Why are the dishes going in and going out and they are not tasting anything?’ They said to him: ‘Because one of the elders who is sitting there, when the dish is taken in, he says three hundred parables regarding the fox. That is why the dishes are growing cold and they are not eating anything.’ He came to [bar Kappara] and said: ‘Why are you doing this? Let the diners eat.’ [Bar Kappara] said to him: ‘It is so you do not think that I came here because of your feast, but rather, it is because you did not invite me here with my colleagues.’ Is this not what Solomon said: “What profit is there for man [in all his toil that he toils under the sun]” (Ecclesiastes 1:3), since “one generation passes and one generation comes” (Ecclesiastes 1:4).¹⁶As bar Kappara wrote on the gate: What is the profit in all your rejoicing? After they placated each other, they were reconciled. Abba bar Kappara said to Rabbi: ‘If, in this world, which is not yours, the Holy One blessed be He granted you serenity, in the World to Come, which is entirely yours, all the more so.’
Rabbi Bena’a said, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘My children, know what is the difference between Me and you.’ What is written?¹⁷With regard to the manna that God provided for the children of Israel. “An omer for a person; according to the number of your people…” (Exodus 16:16). But all of you give one omer, and not an omer of wheat, but rather of barley. Nevertheless, be vigilant to bring it at its appointed time; therefore, Moses cautions the children of Israel and says to them: “You shall bring the omer…” (Leviticus 23:10).

(Fol. 43b) We are taught in a Baraitha concerning the passage (Num. 15, 39) That ye may look upon it, i.e., look upon this commandment and ye will remind yourselves about another comandment which depends on it. This is the reading of the Sh'ma; for we are taught in a Mishna: From what time may one read the Sh'ma of the morning [prayer]? From the time one can distinguish [before the daylight] between blue and white colors. We are taught in another Baraitha: That ye may look upon them, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, i.e., look upon this commandment and ye will remind yourselves of another commandment which is mentioned close to it. To what does it refer? To the following passage (Deut. 22, 11) Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff, wool and linen together. Thou shalt make the fringes. We are taught in another Baraitha: That ye may look upon them, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, i.e., the commandment of the fringes is equal in value to all other commandments. Again we are taught in another Baraitha: That ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; i.e., the looking upon it causes one to remind himself [of his duties]; the reminding [of a thing] brings one to the action of it. R. Simon b. Jochai says: "Whoever is careful in observing the commandments of the fringes will be rewarded to greet the presence of Shechina; for it is written here that ye may look upon it (Ur-ithem), and again it is written (Deut. 6, 13) The Lord thy God Shalt thou fear (Tira); and Him shalt thou serve."

“Rejoice, young man, in your youth. Let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment” (Ecclesiastes 11:9).
“Rejoice, young man, in your youth” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The Sages sought to suppress the book of Ecclesiastes because they found in it matters that tend toward heresy. They said: Is this the wisdom of Solomon, that he said: “Rejoice, young man, in your youth”? Moses said: “Do not stray after your heart” (Numbers 15:39), and Solomon said: “Walk in the ways of your heart.” Has restraint been loosened? Is there no judgment and no Judge? When he said: “For all these, God will bring you to judgment,” they said: Solomon has spoken well.
Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great and Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta: Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great said: [This is analogous] to one who fled from the inquisitor.³⁶An officer who would interrogate suspects, often by means of torture. He was running, and [the inquisitor] was pursuing him. They said to him: Minimize your running so you will not have to travel far to return.³⁷When they catch you, you will not have to suffer as much from their treatment as they force you to walk back. So too, “but know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment.” Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta said: [This is analogous] to one who was sailing on the river. He was fleeing and they were pursuing him. They said to him: Minimize [how far] you enter [the river] so you will not have so far to exit that you will tire. So too, “but know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment.”
Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa said: [This is analogous] to one who would steal the tax.³⁸He would transport goods across the border without paying taxes. One time they apprehended him. They said to him: ‘Give us what you have with you.’ He said to them: ‘Take what I have with me.’ They said: ‘You think that we are going to take only what you have with you now? We are demanding from you everything that you have with you, and everything that you have stolen all these years that you have been stealing.’ So too, “but know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment.”
Rabbi Levi said: [This is analogous] to a bird that was trapped in a cage. A certain bird came and stood near it. It said to [the bird in the cage]: ‘Happy are you that your food is provided for you.’ [The caged bird] said to it: ‘Unlucky and unfortunate one. You are looking at my food, but my captivity you do not see. Tomorrow they will take me out and slaughter me.’ So too, “but know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment.”
Rabbi Tanḥum said: [This is analogous] to a wicked person who came to a storekeeper. He said to him: ‘Give me fat meat, aged wine, and various delicacies.’ He ate, drank, became intoxicated, and sought to leave. [The storekeeper] said to him: ‘Give me the payment for what you ate.’ He said: ‘The stomach of this man is before you. Cut it open.’³⁹You can take back what I ate. The storekeeper was clever. What did he do? He took a mat and wrapped him in it and placed him at the entrance to his store. To anyone who passed, he said: ‘Toss⁴⁰Toss money into the bowl. and perform charity for this dead person, so we will purchase a shroud for him.’ A certain contemptible, ill-mannered person passed. He said to [the storekeeper]: ‘This unlucky, unfortunate person is still cast here?’⁴¹This passerby was a friend of the other wicked person and understood why he was wrapped in the mat there. He was telling the storekeeper to let him go. He said to him: ‘By your life, wait until I recover my money.’ When he had recovered his money, he said to him: ‘Go to purgatory.’ So too, “but know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment.”
Another matter: “Rejoice, young man, in your youth” – Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Pinḥas: Rabbi Yudan said: “In your youth” – in your Torah that you studied in your youth. “Let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth” – this is the Mishna. “Walk in the ways of your heart” – this is the Talmud. “But know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment” – these are the mitzvot and good deeds.
Rabbi Pinḥas says: “Rejoice, young man, in your youth” – what caused you to be chosen in your old age? It is the Torah that you studied in your youth. If you were chosen in your old age, do not get carried away with matters of Torah,⁴²Do not get carried away in promulgating novel halakhic rulings. but rather, “walk in the ways of your heart” – this is the Talmud that you learned from your teachers. “But know that for all these….” He will pay you the reward for mitzvot and good deeds.
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: [This is analogous] to one who would reject women⁴³He would reject women as marriage partners. and was steeped in promiscuity. He would say: ‘What woman whom I would want? Is this the woman I would want?’ He grew old and sought to marry a woman. They said to him: ‘Unlucky, unfortunate one, what woman would want you now that your nose runs, you are hard of hearing, and your eyesight is dim?’ So too, “but know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment.”
[This is analogous] to one who has fields and vineyards, but he did not separate teruma and tithes. He grew old and became impoverished. He said: ‘If I had fields and vineyards, would I not separate teruma and tithes?’ They said to him: ‘What was is in the past.’ So too, “but know that for all these, God will bring you to judgment.”