Komentarz do Koheleta 12:6

Before the snapping of the silver cord. This refers to the spinal cord, which is as white as silver, and when he dies, its marrow diminishes and empties out and dries, and it becomes crooked within the vertebrae, becoming like a chain. יֵרָתֵק is an expression of “silver chains”¹⁵Yeshayahu 40:19. רְתֻקוֹת.

“Before the silver cord is severed, the golden skull is shattered, the pitcher is smashed at the spring, and the wheel is shattered into the cistern” (Ecclesiastes 12:6);
“Before the silver cord is severed” – this is the spinal column; “the golden skull is shattered” – this is the skull. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Neḥemya said: This is the throat, which expels the gold and expends the silver.⁸A glutton spends much of his resources on food. “The pitcher is smashed at the spring” – this is a person’s stomach. Three days after [death] a person’s stomach bursts, and it moves [its contents] to the mouth and says to it: ‘Take for yourself what you stole and robbed and placed within me.’ Rabbi Ḥagai derives it from this verse: “I will scatter filth upon your faces, the filth of your festive offerings” (Malachi 2:3). Bar Kappara said: The full intensity of mourning is for three days, while the form of the countenance is still recognizable. We learned: One testifies only about the full face with the nose…⁹One can testify that someone has died only if one sees the entire face of the corpse while it is intact, including the nose. This is a quote from a mishna (Yevamot 16:3), which continues by specifying that it is possible to positively identify the corpse only within three days of death.
“The wheel is shattered into the cistern” – two amora’im: One said: Like those wheels of Tzippori.¹⁰Tzippori is located in the mountains, and its wells extended deep into the ground. Water was drawn using a long rope attached to a wheel. This is representative of a corpse being lowered into a grave (Etz Yosef). One said: Like the clods in Tiberias, as it is stated: “The clods of the stream are sweet to him” (Job 21:33).¹¹Tiberias is located in an area with many streams of water that flow into the nearby Sea of Galilee. These streams carry with them stones, which are smoothened by the running water and would be used to cover graves. Thus, the wheel [galgal] of the verse is understood as referring to the stones covering a grave [golel].

And the golden bowl is shattered. This is the male member, that emits a flow of water and flows like a fountain,¹⁶Alternatively, “the golden bowl” refers to the brain. (Metsudas Dovid) as in, “the upper springs גֻלוֹת.”¹⁷Yehoshua 15:19. ‘וְתָרֻץ’ is an expression of shattering.¹⁸As in “They broke and cursed [וירצצו],” in Shoftim 10:8. (Metsudas Dovid)

And the pitcher is broken at the fountain. This refers to the stomach,¹⁹Alternatively, “the pitcher” refers to the gall bladder. (Metsudas Dovid) which is thick and cracks upon his death.

And the wheel is shattered into the pit. The eyeball will be shattered within its socket. But according to its simple interpretation, this is a wheel with which they draw water from the cistern. So is this entire matter expounded in Maseches Shabbos.²⁰151b-152a. But Midrash Kinos interprets it [i.e., verses 1-6 above] as referring to all Yisroel [as follows]: So remember your Creator in the days of your youth. As long as your youthfulness still endures, as long as the priesthood still endures, as it is stated, “And [I did] choose him from among all the tribes of Yisroel to be a Kohen to Me,”²¹I Shmuel 2:28. as long as [the covenant with] the Levyim still endures, as it is stated, “For Adonoy your God has chosen him from among all your tribes,”²²Devarim 18:5. as long as the kingship of the House of Dovid still endures, as it is stated, “And He chose Dovid, His servant,”²³Tehillim 78:70. as long as Yerusholayim still endures, about which it is stated, “the city that I have chosen,”²⁴I Melochim 11:32. as long as the Beis [Hamikdosh] still endures, about which it is stated, “And now I have chosen and sanctified this House,”²⁵II Divrei Hayomim 7:16. [and] as long as you still endure, as it is stated, “and Adonoy has chosen you.”²⁶Devarim 14:2.

Before the evil days come. These are the days of the exile.

Before the darkening of the sun. This is the kingdom of the House of Dovid of which it is stated, “And his throne [shall be] like the sun before Me.”²⁷Tehillim 89:37.

The light. This refers to the Torah, as it is stated, “For a commandment is a lamp, and the Torah is light.”²⁸Mishlei 6:23.

The moon. This refers to the Sanhedrin, of which we learned, “[The seating of] the Sanhedrin was in the shape of a semi-circular threshing floor.”²⁹Mishnayos Sanhedrin 4:3.

And the stars. These refers to the Rabbis, as it is stated, “and those who teach righteousness to the multitudes [will shine] like the stars.”³⁰Daniyeil 12:3.

And the clouds return after the rain. One calamity after another. You find concerning all the harsh prophecies that Yirmiyahu prophesied, that they only befell them after the destruction of the Beis [Hamikdosh].

In the day when trembling prevails over the preservers of the house. These refer to the watches of the Kohanim and the Levyim.

And the grinders cease. These refer to the great collections of Mishnah, [e.g.,] the Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva, the Mishnah of Rabbi Chiya, and the Mishnah of the son of Kappara.

And the strong men will be bent. These refer to the Kohanim, who are mighty in strength. Rabbi Abba the son of Kahana said, that Aharon lifted twenty-two thousand Levyim in one day. Rabbi Chanina said, that the bird’s crop is a light thing, yet the priest would throw it more than thirty cubits.³¹A great deal of power is needed to throw a light thing more than thirty cubits. (Sifsei Chachomim)

And the starers [in the windows] are dimmed. That the Talmud will be forgotten from the heart.

And the doors to the street will be shut. For example, the doors of Nechushta the son³²It seems that Nechushta was the daughter of Elnasan. See II Melochim 24:8. The doors of her house were always open to offer hospitality. of Elnasan, which were wide open [for guests].

And one will awaken at the sound of a bird. This is the wicked Nevuchadnetzar. Rabbi Levi said, that for eighteen years a heavenly voice would go forth and scatter in Nevuchadnetzar’s palace and proclaim, “Wicked slave, go and destroy your Master’s House [i.e., the Beis Hamikdosh,] because His children disobey Him.”

And one will awaken at the sound of a bird. This is the wicked Nevuchadnetzar. Rabbi Levi said, that for eighteen years a heavenly voice would go forth and scatter in Nevuchadnetzar’s palace and proclaim, “Wicked slave, go and destroy your Master’s House [i.e., the Beis Hamikdosh,] because His children disobey Him.”

When the sound of the grinding is low. Because they did not engage in Torah study. Rabbi Shmuel said, that Yisroel is compared to the grinding of the millstones; just as the millstones are idle neither by day nor by night, here too, [it states,] “you shall meditate therein day and night.”³³Yehoshua 1:8.

And muffled will be the daughters [sounds] of song. “They shall not drink wine with song.”³⁴Yeshayahu 24:9.

Also when they will fear heights. Of He Who is Supreme in the universe, [Nevuchadnetzar] was afraid, and his heart was concerned lest He do to him as He did to his predecessors.

And terrors on the road. Because of this, he will seek signs and omens [to determine if] he will succeed on the way that he will go, as the matter is stated, “For the king of Bavel stood at the crossroads ... to divine; he shot the arrows, he inquired of the teraphim.”³⁵Yechezkeil 21:26.

And the almond tree will blossom. Yirmiyahu’s prophecy will sprout, as it is stated, “I see a staff of an almond tree.”³⁶Yirmiyahu 1:11. Rabbi Eliezer said, this almond tree, from the time it blossoms until its fruits ripen, are twenty-one days. Likewise, from the seventeenth of Tammuz until the ninth of [Menachem] Av are twenty-one days.

And the grasshopper will be a burden. This refers to Nevuchadnetzar’s graven image; “its height was sixty cubits [and] its width six cubits.”³⁷Daniyeil 3:1. Now, if its thickness is only six, it cannot stand, and you say that, “he set it up in the plain of Dura”?³⁸Ibid.. Rav Bibi said, they kept on setting it up and it kept on falling, until they brought all the gold of Yerusholayim and poured it out as a base on its feet, to fulfill what is stated, “and their gold will be repugnant.”³⁹Yechezkeil 7:19.

And the desire will fail. This refers to ancestral merit; the support of your Patriarchs will fail; accordingly, ‘הָאֲבִיּוֹנָה’ is derived from ‘אָב’ [=father].

For [in this manner] man goes. [This refers to] Yisroel, who were called “the people, like sheep;”⁴⁰Ibid. 36:37. The beginning of the phrase is, “I will relate to the inquiries of the House of Yisrael, to act for them; I will multiply them, the people, like sheep.” [and] “you are Man.”⁴¹Ibid. 34:31. The beginning of the verse is, “Now, you are My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are Man.”

To his eternal home. They came from Bavel, and they returned to Bavel. Terach, the father of Avrohom, was from the other side of the river.

And the mourners go about the streets. The exile of Yechonyah preceded the exile of Tzidkiyah by eleven years. When Nevuchadnetzar exiled Tzidkiyahu[’s captives] in neck irons, the exiles of Yechonyah came out toward Nevuchadnetzar against their will, with the rest of the city’s citizens, to praise him, that he was a hero and a victor; and they would see the captives and each would inquire about his kinsman, what happened to him, they would answer them, “those who are [destined] for death, to death, and those who are [destined] for captivity, to captivity, and those who are [destined] for the sword, to the sword.”⁴²Yirmiyahu 15:2. The text in our editions have a different sequence than the one offered by Rashi. Our editions read “...those who are [destined] for death, to death; those who are [destined] for the sword, to the sword; those who are [destined] for hunger, to hunger; and those who are [destined] for captivity, to captivity.” They would praise with one hand, and with their other hand, they would clap and beat their sides in mourning for their brothers and their children.

Before the snapping of the silver cord. This refers to the genealogical chain.

And the golden bowl is shattered. These are the words of Torah, as it is stated, “They are to be desired more than gold.”⁴³Tehillim 19:11.

And the pitcher is broken at the fountain. The pitcher of Baruch the son of Neiriyah⁴⁴I.e., pitcher [=כד] is referring to Baruch the son of Neiriyah. on the fountain of Yirmiyahu.⁴⁵I.e., fountain [=מבוע] is referring to Yirmiyahu. In the Midrash there is also an opposite view, that מבוע refers to Baruch the son of Neiriyah, and כד refers to Yirmiyahu. The difference of opinion hinges upon the question of who was exiled first. A pitcher is not broken unless the fountain has dried up first; מבוע therefore represents the one who was first to be exiled. (Torah Temimah) For they were both exiled to Bavel and interrupted their studies because of the journey’s hardship. At first, they were exiled to Egypt, for Yochanan the son of Kare’ach exiled them, but when Nevuchadnetzar destroyed Egypt, he exiled them to Bavel.

And the wheel is shattered into the pit. This is Bavel, which is the world’s depository.⁴⁶Bavel serves as the world’s depository because it is situated lower than all its surrounding land. Probably on account of this, the Gemara in Maseches Zevachim 113b states that the dead of the Flood were shaken out there. Also, the Gemara in Maseches Ta’anis 10a states that Bavel does not require rain because it is swampy and never dries out being that its land is situated so low.