Halakhah su Ecclesiaste 5:78

People have varying character traits. Some people are angry by nature, forever bursting with rage, then there are others who are tranquil who never become angry, or who become angry [only] once in many years. [You will find] a man who is extremely haughty, and another who is extremely humble. Some are lustful, their souls never satisfied with their unbridled cravings, others possess a very pure heart, and have no desire even for little things which are required for physical well-being. Some people have a voracious hunger for wealth and are not satisfied with all the money in the world, as it is written, "The person who loves money will not be satisfied with money."¹Ecclesiastes 5:9. Others have very modest desires, and are satisfied with little which does not even fill their needs, and [yet] make no effort to earn a livelihood. Some will afflict themselves with hunger and accumulate money this way, and [the little] they eat of their own [food] causes them distress. Others spend all their money [wastefully.] It is the same with all other character traits and concepts, as for example, the cheerful and the gloomy, the miser and the noble hearted, the cruel and the compassionate, the gentle and the hard-hearted and so on.

“May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, The tongue that speaketh proud things!” (Ps. 12:4). He who relates evil gossip is regarded as if he had denied God,¹Arakhin 15a. for it is written after that, they “who have said: ‛Our tongue will we make mighty: Our lips are with us: who is our lord over us?’” (Ps. 12:5). Gossip, which knows no limit, see how powerful it is, and let us take a lesson from the “spies.”²They were sent by Moses to search out the Holy Land. (See Numbers 13 and Deuteronomy 1:22.) Even when one slanders wood and stones, which do not hear and see, there is concern for their shame, so much more when one slanders his neighbor who is created in the (divine) image and likeness, “What shall be given thee, and what shall be done more unto thee, Thou deceitful tongue” (Ps. 1:23). The Holy One, blessed be He has said to the tongue, “What shall I do to you? All of man’s limbs are from without, you are within. Moreover, I have made for you two walls, one of bone and one of flesh; of bone, the teeth; and of flesh, the lips.” “In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression” (Prov. 10:19). A man should always increase (his) silence ³Maimonides, Hilkhoth Deoth, 2:4. and not speak at all, except (to indulge) in the words of the wise or in matters necessary for the needs of his body. It has been said of Rav, the student of Rabenu (Judah) the Pious, that in all his days he never indulged in idle talk.⁴Yoma 19b. All who indulge in ordinary talk transgress a positive commandment as it has been said, “And shalt talk of them (Deut. 6:7) and not in other matters.”⁵Ibid. And (we know) that a prohibition which has been derived by implication from a positive command is a positive command.⁶Yebamoth 56b. Others say, he violates both a prohibition and a positive command, as it is said, “all things toil to weariness; man cannot utter it …” (Eccl. 1:8). And even involving bodily needs, let his words not be excessive, but sparing, and concern only those matters which are deemed necessities.⁷Hagigah 5b. And so with words of Torah let a man’s talk be brief and the content great. For so have the scholars said, “let a man always teach his students by way of the short method.” ⁸Pesahim 3b. But if his words are many and the content meagre, it is then foolishness, as it is written, “And a fool’s voice through a multitude of words” (Eccl. 5:2). A safeguard to wisdom is silence.⁹Aboth 3:17. Therefore let a man not be hasty in answering¹⁰Derekh Eretz Zuta, Chapter II. nor speak excessively. Also let him teach his student with composure and quietness, without shouting or lengthiness, for “the words of the wise (are) spoken in quiet” (Eccl. 9:17).

And the verse stated here, "work of labor," and it did not state, "all work" - since the needs of food for the soul were permitted to be done on the holiday; as Scripture comes in another place (Exodus 12:16), "but that which is eaten by every soul, that alone shall be done for you." And this is the understanding of work of labor - meaning to say, work that is not for the needs of food for the soul, like the matter that is stated (Exodus 1:14), "labor in the field"; and so [too,] "Kain was a laborer of the field" (Genesis 4:2); "a king over a field that is labored" (Ecclesiastes 5:8); "labors his land" (Proverbs 12:11). But work that is for food for the soul like cooking and similar to it is work of enjoyment, not work of labor. So did Ramban, may his memory be blessed, explain. And he wrote further (Ramban on Leviticus 23:7) that this understanding is elucidated in the Torah [itself], since with the Festival of Matsot, [about which] it first stated, "all work shall not be done upon them" in the Order of Bo el Pharoah, it was required to explain, "but that which is eaten by every soul, that alone shall be done for you." But with all of the other holidays, it was brief and it stated, "all work of labor you shall not do," to forbid all work that is not [for] food for the soul, and to inform that food for the soul is permitted on them. And Scripture did not ever state in one of the other holidays, "all work," nor explain the permissibility of food for the soul - since "all work of labor" teaches about this. But in the section, Kol HaBekhor on the Festival of Matsot, it states (Deuteronomy 16:8), "and on the seventh day, it is a convocation to the Lord, your God; you shall not do work." And the reason is because it already explicitly permitted food for the soul on this holiday in the Order of Bo el Pharaoh. And afterwards in this Order, it mentions "work of labor," which also implies the permissibility of food for the soul. And therefore, when it repeated and mentioned it another time in the section of Kol HaBekhor, it was not needed for it to state a further explanation about it; and [so] it mentioned just, "work," and relied on that which is known [from the earlier entries]. And nonetheless, it did not state, "all work," as [it does] with Shabbat and Yom Kippur, but [rather just] stated, "work" - meaning to say, the work which I have warned you about.