전도서 1:5의 유대 사상

The First of them, from the aspect of purpose, is that the heavens and the earth, once it became clear that they have a purpose, with the earth being in the middle and the heavens surrounding it, it is necessary for them to have a purpose. For it is impossible for a thing to have no purpose in rain, which serves a purpose, and this notion is refuted by well-known facts. Once I clarified this evidence to myself, I meticulously examined it, not rushing to deduce a statement until I clarified it. I pondered, "Perhaps the earth has no purpose in terms of length, width, and depth?" Afterward, I thought, "Even if that were so, the sun would not circle it until it completes its rotation once a day and night, rising from the place it rose and coming to the place it came. The same applies to the moon and other stars." Then, I asked, "Perhaps water has no purpose?" And I said, "How can that be when they all move continuously and orbit around the earth constantly, for it is not possible to think that only the closest celestial sphere to us is the one that rotates, and the rest are larger than the one that rotates, as we are only able to perceive the one that rotates, and we cannot perceive anything beyond it, especially that we believe it to be the heavens and we say that it rotates. Afterward, I examined and said, "Perhaps there are many lands and many heavens, each encompassing a separate earth, and they are eternal worlds with a purpose of their own." But I saw that this is precluded by nature because it is impossible for dust to be above fire in nature, nor air beneath water in nature, for fire and air are both light, and dust and water are both heavy. I realized that if there were a solid mass of dust outside this earth, air and fire would bubble up until it reached the dust of this earth. Similarly, if there were a reservoir of water outside these waters, air and fire would bubble up until they reached those waters. And I found the perfect solution, that there are no heavens other than these, and no earth other than this one. As for these heavens, they have a purpose, and this earth has a purpose, and just as their rains have a limit, so does their power have a limit that reaches an end and stops there. It is impossible for them to stand after that power is exhausted, and they will not find anything before their existence. I found that the Scripture testified about them explicitly, saying (Deuteronomy 13:8), "From one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens." And it testified that the sun will orbit the earth, and it will return every day: "The sun rises, and the sun sets" (Ecclesiastes 1:5).

In the words of our sages, there are many statements that require evidence and interpretation, such as in Pirkei Avot (3:4) "One who is awake at night" [referring to studying Torah at night], and in Pesachim (111a) "And [he] drank water" [referring to the wisdom of measurements]. And the matter of the letter of the daughter of the voice [the Shekhinah] is derived from the laws of the constellations. And the matter of the moon and its relationship with the sun is derived from the wisdom of the constellations. Similarly, many things in the Scriptures require interpretation, as mentioned by Kohelet regarding the four elements, which are the heavens, the earth, the wind, and the dust. It is written (Kohelet 1:5) "And the sun rises and the sun sets" corresponding to the heavens, (Kohelet 1:4) "And the earth stands forever," (Kohelet 1:6) "And the wind goes round and round," and it does not come to an end, (Kohelet 1:7) "All the rivers flow into the sea," and these four are mentioned in the portion of Bereishit (Genesis 1:1) "The heavens and the earth," (Genesis 1:2) "And the spirit of God hovered over the waters." And similarly, in Isaiah (40:12), "Who measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and marked off the heavens with a span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure," and in Psalms (104:2), "He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, He lays the beams of His chambers on the waters," and His angels are the winds that roam over the water. And likewise, in Psalms (33:7), "He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He sets the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him." And similarly, it is mentioned in Psalms (33:6) regarding the word of God, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth." And similarly (Job 28:25), "To establish a weight for the wind and apportion the waters by measure." For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees under the whole heavens. And thus it is written (Proverbs 30:4), "Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name? Surely you know!" And thus it is written elsewhere (Job 38:18), "Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this!" And all is prepared for the understanding one. And many such things are mentioned at the end of the Book of Psalms, as fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling His word. And thus the waters are above the heavens, and how the luminaries and the stars are in one expanse, and all is true. And the sages of the Talmud in our generation are diverse in their approaches. There are those who delve into matters of prohibition and permission, and there are those who possess knowledge of the Midrashim, and they too provide new insights and seek meaning for every word, whether surplus or lacking. And now, let me state a general principle: Know that the prophets do not guard the words themselves in their years; rather, they guard the meanings alone, which are the essence, as in the words of Eliezer (Genesis 24), "The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you." And Isaac said to Esau (Genesis 27), "So that my soul may bless you before I die." And Rebekah said (Genesis 27), "So that I may bless you before the Lord before my death." And in the dream (Genesis 41), "Handsome in appearance and robust in form," and in the interpretation, it is not stated thus, but to Balaam (Numbers 22), it is said, "You shall not curse them at all, and indeed, you shall bless them." And in the words of Moses (Numbers 21), "And he sent messengers to Sihon, saying, 'Let me pass through your land; I will not turn aside into field or vineyard.'" But Moses changed it and said, "We will not pass through the field." And it is written (Exodus 32), "Now, leave Me alone, and let My anger flare up against them, that I may consume them." But Moses changed it and said, "Turn from Your burning anger and relent from this disaster against Your people." And there are many such instances. And behold, in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), "Remember" (Deuteronomy 5), "Observe" (Exodus 20), "You shall not covet" (Deuteronomy 5), "You shall not desire" (Exodus 20), "And any false oath" (Deuteronomy 5), "And any vain oath." The letters 'vav' (ו) in "Avnei" (אבני) are missing, and Moses changed it to have a 'vav' (ו). Also, "You shall not commit adultery" - this is an addition and a rebuke, and the intelligent one will understand.

The distinction between such terms as nefesh, ruach, and neshamah respectively is found already in Zohar on Parshat Acharey. We have discussed it in detail in Chapter six, where we described nefesh as equivalent to a primeval life force, an outgrowth of the body, yet abstract in nature. What is meant is man's ability to think, feel, perceive in a cognitive manner. Ruach, on the other hand is the spiritual force supplied by G-d. Neshamah is the synthesis created by nefesh and ruach together, through a righteous mode of life. Nefesh has then attached itself ever more firmly to ruach. It thus loses its erstwhile subservience to its physical master, its body. When Abigail said to David (Samuel I 25,29), "May the life force of my master be bound in the bundle of immortal life with the Lord your G-d," she did not use the term neshamah, but she said nefesh. This bears out our interpretation of the word nefesh and its loftiest destiny. In Jacob we find for the first time someone among the patriarchs who had achieved all three stages. He achieved the attachment of nefesh to ruach that results in neshamah. He became a spiritual personality that had absorbed and completely sublimated the purely physical nefesh. This is why we find Jacob called by three different names on three different occasions: 1) Jacob 2) Israel 3) Eyl (compare Genesis 33,20). The latter term is the name for his neshamah. This is a spiritual state achieved only by a select few in our national history. Rabbi Yochanan said wisely, "Our father Jacob did not die, since he had been able to convert even that which had an exclusively physical base into a spiritual force. The derivation from the verse "Do not fear My servant Jacob, do not be afraid Israel," then uses the first two names of Jacob to tell us that just as his descendants are alive, so is he himself alive. This, of course, is something that can be achieved by the masses, and they can thus assure themselves of immortality. This is the normal way with tzaddikim. Their prime life force is welded to their ruach so that it survives the demise of the body it once inhabited. Frequently such a synthethis is not achieved and demonstrated until the body does indeed decay. Rare indeed is the person of whom it can be said during his lifetime on earth that he has already achieved this degree of saintliness. When G-d gave Jacob the appellation Eyl on his return to the holy land, this was one of these few occasions. Because the listener had understood the gist of Rabbi Yochanan's remarks, he asked, "If so, what was the purpose of the eulogy and the elaborate embalming which seem to demonstrate that Jacob's death was no different from any other death?" On the contrary, instead of eulogizing him they should have composed hymns of thanksgiving! Concerning this problem, Aristotle already has stated that anything repeated often enough by enough people assumes a dimension of truth that is impossible to uproot. This is why King Saul was so upset about the praises sung about David, "Saul slew thousands, but David tens of thousands" (Samuel I 18,7). Therefore, Rabbi Yitzchak stated that he could prove from scripture something which for psychological reasons could not be demonstrated by human behavior. This verse is more authoritative concerning what happened to Jacob than the report about how his survivors treated his body after it had ceased to function. The manifestation of death observed by Joseph's brothers is not surprising, since the death of the bodies of even the most saintly people is a phenomenon that is inescapable, due to four basic causes. When the Talmud in Sukkah 29 describes four causes for the eclipse of the sun, it may refer not to the sun in our solar system, but may describe four reasons that cause the death of the bodies of those people whose spiritual light illuminates our lives just as the sun illuminates and gives warmth to the earth. The Talmud describes people as suns on several occasions, such as in Yuma 38, when the verse "And the sun shines and the sun sets," in Kohelet 1,5, is applied to the birth of potential Jewish leaders preceding the death of the existing Jewish leaders of the last generation. So, for instance, the prophet Samuel's light began to shine before the light of the High Priest Eli was eclipsed. Death itself is hinted as being due to the following four causes: 1) Failure to adequately eulogize leading Torah scholars. This is considered equivalent to removing vital juices from the body. This cause of death is the most serious one, since one does not relate the effect to the cause, not noticing the absence of the vital juices until it is too late. 2) The practice of sodomy. This shows that a person whose function in life is to be active, to initiate, is instead content to remain merely passive. When man becomes merely an object rather than a subject, the functions of his body have been usurped; therefore, death of such a person will not be long delayed. 3) Failure of the digestive system, something beyond man's control once he has ingested the food. The fact that this food is not converted into life sustaining energy, additions to the bloodstream etc., causes death. 4) The natural tendency of the soul to return to its father in Heaven, and to escape imprisonment in a body. This is expressed symbolically as being like a betrothed girl who is raped in broad daylight, and whose cries for help have gone unanswered. The body is helpless to resist the soul's efforts to return to Heaven. The prophet Elijah, who did not die a natural death, and the significance of stories in the Talmud about Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi, are discussed in Chapter 105.