Comentário sobre Eclesiastes 9:8

At all times, let your garments be white. Prepare yourself at all times with good deeds, so that if you die today, you will enter [the Hereafter] in peace. And Shlomo likened this to a man whom the king invited for a day of feast, without setting a date for him. If he is wise or clever, he will immediately launder his garments, bathe, and anoint himself.²⁰Koheles addresses the righteous man to “go eat your bread in joy.” True happiness is achieved by eating “your own” bread that you have labored for, as indicated in Tehillim 128:2, “when you eat the labor of your hands you are praiseworthy and it is well with you.” Also, be satisfied with life’s basic necessities [represented by bread] without getting involved in life’s luxuries. Mesilas Yeshorim in Chapter 15 states, that once food has been swallowed, its memory is forgotten as if it had never existed, and therefore enough black bread will satiate one to the same extent as fattened swans. And similarly [he will do] tomorrow until such time that he will be summoned to the feast, all this time his garments are white²¹According to Targum, ושמן על ראשך refers to a good reputation, i.e., do not lack a good reputation. [=laundered] and he is bathed and anointed. So did our Rabbis expound it in Maseches Shabbos.²²White garments were worn on festive occasions and are symbolic of purity.

“May your garments be white at all times, and may the oil on your head not be lacking” (Ecclesiastes 9:8).
“May your garments be white at all times, and may the oil on your head not be lacking.” If the verse is referring to white garments, how many white garments are there among the nations of the world? And if the verse is referring to oils, how many oils are there among the nations of the world? It is referring only to mitzvot, good deeds, and Torah. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi stated a parable; to what is this matter analogous? It is to a king who made a feast and invited guests. He said to them: ‘Go bathe and anoint [yourselves], press and launder your garments, and prepare yourselves for the feast.’ But he did not set a time for them when they should come to the feast. The clever among them strolled at the entrance to the king’s palace. They said: ‘Does the king’s palace lack anything?’²⁴Everything can be prepared immediately. The fools among them paid no heed and were not scrupulous regarding the king’s instructions. They said: ‘Ultimately, we will sense when the king’s feast begins. Is there any feast that does not require preparation and [arranging] seating [for the guests] next to each other?’ The plasterer went to his plaster, the potter to his mortar, the blacksmith to his coal, the launderer to his laundry room. Suddenly, the king said: ‘Everyone to the feast.’ They hurried them.²⁵The king’s messengers rushed the guests to the feast (Matnot Kehuna). These came in their glory, and those came in their repulsiveness. The king was pleased with those who were clever, who fulfilled the king’s instructions, and moreover, they brought honor to the king’s palace, but he was angry at the fools who did not fulfill the king’s instructions, and disrespected the king’s palace. The king said: ‘Let those who prepared themselves for the feast come and partake in the king’s feast, and those who did not prepare themselves for the feast will not partake of the king’s feast.’ One might [think] they would take their leave, [but] the king then said: ‘No, but rather these shall recline, eat, and drink, and those shall stand on their feet, be punished, observe, and suffer.’ So it will be in the future;²⁶Those who prepare themselves during their lifetimes will enjoy the benefits of the World to Come, and those who do not, will suffer and wish they had used their lives well. this is what Isaiah said: “Behold, My servants will eat and you will starve; [behold, My servants will drink and you will thirst; behold, My servants will rejoice and you will be ashamed]” (Isaiah 65:13).
Zivetai said in the name of Rabbi Meir: These recline, eat, and drink, and those recline, but do not eat and drink. There is no comparing the suffering of one who stands to the suffering of one who reclines. One who stands and does not eat and does not drink is like a waiter; one who reclines but does not eat, his suffering is exponentially greater and his face turns sallow. This is what the prophet says: “You will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked” (Malachi 3:18).
Bar Kappara and Rabbi Yitzḥak bar Kappara said: [This is analogous] to the wife of a royal courier who would adorn herself before her neighbors. Her neighbors said to her: ‘Your husband is not here, before whom are you adorning yourself?’ She said to them: ‘My husband is a sailor. If a favorable breeze will happen his way, he will come and will be standing over my head. Is it not preferable that he see me in my glory, and not in my repulsiveness?’ So too, “may your garments be white at all times” from transgressions, “and may the oil on your head not be lacking,” from mitzvot and good deeds. It is taught: Repent one day before your death (Avot 2:10). His students asked Rabbi Eliezer, they said to him: ‘Rabbi, does a person know when he will die in order to repent?’ He said to them: ‘All the more so, let him repent today, as perhaps, he will die tomorrow. The result is that all his days he is engaged in repentance.’ That is why it is stated: “May your garments be white at all times.”