ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף קהלת 2:2

A Midrashic approach to the words: “it was on the eighth day” (based on Tanchuma Shemini 2) David says in Psalms 75,5: אמרתי להוללים אל תהולו, “I said to the frivolous men: ‘do not be frivolous!’” Instead of reading אל תהולו, read אל תחולו, “do not break out in dance.” The reason is that true joy does not linger with man in this world but only in the world to come. Many people who rejoice and are happy today may find that on the morrow they have no such cause for happiness and exuberance. This is why Solomon, [using the same expression as David, מהולל, Ed.] said: (Kohelet 2,2) לשחוק אמרתי מהולל, “of revelry I said: ‘it is mad!’” If you require proof of the truth of both statements take a look at what happened at the creation. When G’d completed His handiwork at the end of 6 days and He reviewed it (Genesis 1,31) He was very pleased as we know from Psalms 104,31: “may the glory of the Lord endure forever, may the Lord rejoice in His works!” In the verse from Genesis we are told that “G’d looked at His entire handiwork and behold, it was very good!” Only a few chapters later (Genesis 6,6) the Torah reports וינחם ה' כי עשה את האדם בארץ ויתעצב אל לבו, “Hashem had to comfort Himself that He had made man on earth, and it caused Him sadness in His heart.” Keeping this verse in mind, Assaph said in Psalms 75,5 not to indulge in frivolous merriment. If even G’d’s joy did not endure, how much less is the chance that man’s joy on earth will endure!
Avraham progressed in his life and became exceedingly great and wealthy killing the most powerful kings on earth in the process. In his old age G’d gave him a son from Sarah. His joy was unbounded. A few years later G’d commanded him to take his son and to offer him up as a sacrifice. Even after having mastered that trial and being commended by G’d (Genesis 22,16-17), he went back from Moriah and had to bury his beloved wife Sarah. His joy had been short-lived. He even had trouble being given a suitable plot where to bury Sarah. In the end, he was literally fleeced, having to pay an astronomical sum of 400 shekel for a hole in the ground.
Yitzchak who enjoyed phenomenal success in Gerar, seeing his investment returned one hundred-fold, (Genesis 26,12) faced expulsion shortly thereafter as the Philistines became jealous of his wealth. His joy had been very short-lived. After Avimelech realized that he had wronged him and apologized and made a treaty with him (Genesis 26,28) and he surely thought that “he had it made,” we read that his eyesight failed him and that he almost made a fatal error bestowing the blessing on a son whom he had considered worthy but who in the event had been unworthy all along. His joy had proven to be short-lived. If a Yitzchak who had been a living example of what it means to be a “total-offering, i.e. burnt-offering,” was not allowed permanent joy on earth, i.e. the fruits of his total dedication to G’d’s command, how much less may we ordinary mortals expect joy on earth to be enduring.
Yaakov experienced great joy when he had the dream with the ladder, seeing angels ascending and descending, a promise from G’d that He would be with him, etc. (Genesis 28, 12-13). Not long afterwards he experienced a whole string of misfortunes, beginning with being tricked out of his chosen wife Rachel, the rape of Dinah, and concluding with the disappearance of Joseph. If Yaakov the righteous, of whom G’d had said that He would boast of such a man (Isaiah 49,3), could not hold on to his joy in this life, what can we lesser individuals expect in the way of enduring joy on earth?
Joshua experienced great joy in his time, he settled the Jewish people on their land, killed 31 Kings, was promised by G’d that no one would rise against him successfully, and enjoyed unchallenged authority by his people (compare Joshua 1,18) but died without leaving behind any children. Surely, this must have dimmed his joy on earth. If this was his lot, how much less joy can the righteous in our time expect to enjoy while on earth!
The High Priest Eli who did have sons had to experience the loss of the Holy Ark, the curse on his children who had disgraced him. When he died at a ripe old age the immediate cause of his death was the news that both his sons had been killed in battle (compare Samuel I 1,9; 1,10). If this happened to a righteous person such as the High Priest Eli, what sort of joy can there be in store in this world for the wicked?
Consider the fact that on this day, Elisheva, daughter of Aminadav experienced greater joy than any man or woman before her. She saw her husband begin his career as High Priest; Her brother-in-law, Moses, became king of Israel. Two of her sons became deputy High Priests. Her brother Nachshon became the first of the princes to be honoured with bringing the sacrifices by laymen. Even she did not long remain in such a blissful state of joy seeing that two of her sons, Nadav and Avihu, died on the very same day at the hands of G’d. Considering all these examples we need not be surprised at Solomon’s warning not to be frivolous, not to dance with joy, as such joy is apt to be all too brief.

A Midrashic approach (based on Tanchuma Acharey 8): The emphasis of the text on the death of “two sons of Aaron dying” [without naming them, Ed.] suggests that actually all four of his sons were guilty of death dating back to Aaron’s share in the sin of the golden calf. Moses prayed on their behalf resulting in two of Aaron’s sons being spared. All of this is based on Moses recalling in Deut. 9,19: “G’d was also angry enough at Aaron ready to wipe him out.” The word השמדה which is the one used by Moses at that time invariably involves the death of someone’s children. Example: Amos 2,9 ואשמיד פריו ממעל ושרשיו מתחת, “I will wipe out his fruit from above and his roots from below.” Seeing that Moses prayed, G’d responded to half of his prayer saying to him: “did I not write in My Torah (Exodus 22,8) ‘concerning every liability, whether an ox a donkey, a sheep, or a garment-regarding any lost item about which he said: ‘this is it!” To the court shall come both their claims. Whomever the court finds guilty shall pay double to his fellow.’” Someone who incurred guilt on account of an ox deserves to be punished. The prophet Ezekiel 23,20 already said that the Israelites exchanged their honour (G’d) for an ox. Anyone incurring guilt “on account of a donkey,” refers to the Egyptians whose flesh has been described by Ezekiel as the flesh of donkeys in that same verse; the ones referred to were the converts whom Moses allowed to convert at the time and who were the initiators in the golden calf being made. When the verse in Exodus continues with “guilt incurred on account of a lamb,” the reference is to the Jewish people who have been referred to as a lamb in Jeremiah 50,17 when the prophet speaks of “Israel the scattered sheep.” This too is a reference to the mixed multitude of converts who had initiated the process resulting in the golden calf and had dragged the Israelites into following their lead and becoming guilty of that sin. Regarding the reference to the garment in the verse in Exodus 22,8 this is a simile for the leaders of the people, the ones wearing the priestly garments. These garments have been referred to as describing their important wearers in Isaiah 3,6 “in whose father’s house there is clothing, come be a chief over us.” The words “concerning every lost object” in the verse in Exodus are a simile for people who have lost their way, and therefore are looking for a leader. The absence or failure of Moses to return when expected triggered the whole episode of the people wanting a replacement for him. The words “of which he says: ‘this is it,’” is a veiled reference to the Israelites saying about the golden calf: ‘this is your G’d O Israel who has taken you out of Egypt.’” The words “concerning which he says “this is he;” this is also a veiled reference to the instigators saying of the absent Moses “for this man Moses, etc.” (Exodus 32,1). The words “to a judge (court) shall come both their claims,” refers to Moses whom G’d had appointed as a judge for Pharaoh (Exodus 7,1). The people were to lay their problems in front of Moses and he would arbitrate them. The words: “whomever the court will find guilty”, refer to Aaron whom Moses had accused (declared guilty) saying to him: what did the people do to you that you brought this guilt upon them?” (Exodus 32,21).The words: “they shall pay twice to his fellow” is a reference to the two sons of Aaron who paid the price for his involvement in the affair of the golden calf. This is why the Torah wrote: ”the two sons of Aaron who died.”
Tanchuma Acharey 1 exploits our verse to explain what Kohelet 9,2 referred to when Solomon wrote: “For the same fate is in store for all; for the righteous, and for the wicked; for the good and pure, and for the impure; for him who sacrifices, and for him who does not sacrifice; for him who is pleasing, and for him who is displeasing; and for him who swears, and for him who shuns oaths.” In that verse Solomon reviews his findings after he had looked at the history of man, had examined the relative fates of the righteous and the wicked. and had found that the righteous and the wicked share similar experiences “under the sun;” this is what Solomon referred to as “the evil which takes place under the sun” (Kohelet 9,3). The righteous of whom Kohelet speaks was Avraham of whom G’d had said in Genesis 18,19 “for I know him well, so that he will command his offspring to observe the path of the Lord to practice charity and justice,” etc. The “wicked” of whom Solomon spoke in Kohelet was Nimrod who instigated a rebellion against G’d throughout the world. Both of them died. This is whom Solomon had in mind when he said that the righteous and the wicked share the same fate. When Solomon added “and to the good,” he meant Moses; the Torah had reported of Moses that his mother “saw that he was good,” as soon as he was born (compare Exodus 2,2). When Solomon spoke about the “pure” in that verse in Kohelet he referred to David of whom it is written in Samuel I 16,12: “so they sent and brought him. He was ruddy-cheeked, bright eyed and handsome.” When speaking about the “impure” in Kohelet, Solomon referred to King Nevuchadnezzar. David laid the foundations of the Holy Temple and ruled for 40 years, whereas Nevuchadnezzar destroyed that Temple and also ruled for 40 years. The repetition of the words “the same fate is common to them all,” refers to the people who offer sacrifices to the Lord, i.e. Solomon, of whom we are told in Kings I 8,63 that he offered 22.000 cattle offerings at the consecration of the Holy Temple, whereas his successor Jerobam did not offer any sacrifices in that Temple. Not only that, Jerobam prevented the Israelites from making their pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Temple. Solomon had continued in Kohelet that the “good” one i.e. Moses, experienced the same fate as the “sinner.” The good one he referred to was Moses whereas the sinner referred to the spies who had slandered the land of Israel. Both died and did not get to inherit that land. When Solomon added in Kohelet 9,3 that the one who renders an oath is equal to the one who does not, he meant Tzidkiyahu King of Yehudah whom Nevuchadnezzar blinded, (Chronicles II 36,13) as a result of his having dishonoured his oath of allegiance to him, whereas Samson who had not sworn an oath of allegiance to Israel’s enemies was also blinded (by the Philistines Judges 15,12).
An alternative way of explaining Kohelet 9,3: The words that the “good and the sinners” experience the same fate refers to the sons of Aaron being the good, whereas Korach and his rebellious colleagues are referred to as the sinners. The former were burned by heavenly fire (Numbers 16,38), whereas the sons of Aaron were burned by similar fire as reported in Leviticus 10,2.
Concerning such similarities in the fates of the good and the wicked, Tanchuma Acharey 8 understands Elihu saying in Job 37,1: “because of this too, my heart quakes, and leaps from its place.” He wondered how it could be that a dry stick of wood which was deposited in the Sanctuary began to blossom and to bear fruit, (compare Numbers 17,22-23) whereas the sons of Aaron who entered there alive and offered a gift to G’d were burned instead and had to be removed from there as corpses? Rabbi Acha commented that Kohelet 2,2 which has Solomon saying: “I said of laughter ‘it is mad, and of joy what does it accomplish?’ that Solomon referred to the attribute of Justice.”
He himself had violated the three restrictions which the Torah imposes on the lifestyle of a Jewish king; 1) not to have too many wives, 2) not to have too many horses, and 3) not to amass too much gold and silver (Deut. 17,16). Solomon had 700 wives of full wifely status and three hundred concubines (Kings I 11,3); he had 40.000 stables for his horses (Kings I 5,6) and such an amount of silver and gold that they did not bother to keep count of the silver (Kings I 10,27). When Solomon downplayed the value of joy, G’d said to him: ‘in that case what do you need this crown for?’ He suggested that he descend from his throne briefly. In the interval someone resembling the king ascended the throne and claimed to be Solomon. No amount of protest by Solomon helped, he was treated as if insane, beaten as a pretender to the throne, fed inferior food, etc., and became a refugee in his own kingdom. When all this befell him he was moved to exclaim (Kohelet 22,10) “this is my share after all my labors!”
Another explanation of the words in Kohelet 2,2 “I said of laughter it is madness:” This was the laughter by the attribute of Justice when it heard that Elisheva, wife of Aaron, prided herself on the morning of the first of Nissan of that year that she had merited four separate joyful occasions on that day; she had seen her husband appointed High Priest; her brother Nachshon had been elevated to the position of tribal head; her two oldest sons had been appointed as deputy High Priests; As soon as these two sons entered the Sanctuary they were burned to death. Solomon referred to the brief duration of Elisheva’s joy on that occasion and on the futility of enjoying such moments.
The Midrash relates Job 39,27-30 to that event. We read there of G’d saying to Job: “does the eagle soar at your command, building high its nest, dwelling in the rock, lodging upon the fastness of a jutting rock? From there he spies out his food, from afar his eyes see it. His young gulp blood; where the slain are there is he.” In those verses G’d said to Job in effect; “if you were able to command the eagle where and when to build his nest, then you would also be greater than Aaron at whose bidding I allowed My Shechinah to rest on top of the Holy Ark.” The various further similes such as “the fastness jutting out of a rock,” refer to the second Temple. The rock is a reference to the אבן שתיה which was the substitute in the second Temple for the Holy Ark, the kapporet and the cherubim of the first Temple and the Tabernacle. The reason that slab of stone was called אבן שתיה, “the stone of drinking,” was that the entire earth’s food supply is channeled by G’d through the site of where this stone is located. When the High Priest on the Day of Atonement prayed for the economic welfare of the Jewish people, he said: ”may it be Your will O Lord that the coming year will be one of dew and adequate rainfall, a year of plenty, a year of grace before You, a year of blessing, a year of successful business dealings, a year in which the Jewish people should not have to depend on one another for handouts nor for handouts from Gentile nations. May it be a year when the people should not try and impose their will on each other by force. Their eyes should be focused on distant targets,” i.e. they should know what would be at the end of the year.
How would this blessing and the fact that it was granted be evident? If the smoke from the altar’s offerings rose in a southerly direction this would forecast prosperity for the people living in the south of the country. Similarly, if that smoke rose in a westerly direction it would signify prosperity for the Israelites living close to the sea. If it rose straight up, it would indicate that the whole country (or the whole world) would enjoy prosperity during that year. The נשר in that verse in Job is a simile for G’d who is described elsewhere as like an eagle having transported the Children of Israel out of Egypt for the first 120 kilometers on “eagle’s wings.” All of the complimentary comments in those verses in Job apply to Aaron. In spite of this great stature of Aaron, “his young gulp blood,” i.e. his sons died and yet he kept silent, did not question or complain as did Job when disaster struck him. The very presence of the Shechinah did not prevent the disaster. Thus far the Tanchuma.

These three things in their image and likeness, the psalmist Asaph collected them in Psalm 75, To the chief Musician, Al-taschith [Do not destroy], A Psalm Asaph, a Song. For the corruption of justice causes the destruction of the world, as the world stands on justice, and the destruction of the generation of the flood proves this. The psalmist wanted to mention the establishment of justice, therefore he said Al-taschith [Do not destroy] and said We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks. The judges who are called “elohim” [gods/judges] will thank You for two matters. One is, Your name is near. For You stand in the divine assembly; in the midst of judges, God judges. The second, They tell of Your wondrous works. This is a language of concealment and wonder, referring to how You concealed the laws from all nations and tongues, and judgments they have not known. For the idolaters, in their arrogance, do not judge with patience, but I, when I select the appointed time, I will judge uprightly. Therefore, he added the word I to exclude idolaters and common people. The earth and all its inhabitants are dissolved. For whoever corrupts justice causes corruption to the foundation of the world, as stated in Psalm (82:2-5), How long will you judge unjustly… All the foundations of the earth are unstable. Therefore, it says here, I have set up its pillars firmly.
And afterward, he mentioned “al” [do not] three times: I said to the boastful, ‘Do not boast’ — that’s one; And to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up the horn’ — that’s two; Do not lift up your horn on high — that’s three. And corresponding to them, he said “ki” [for/because] three times: For not from the east or from the west — that’s one; For God is the judge — that’s two; For there is a cup in the hand of the Lord — that’s three.
And regarding what our Sages said, “One who is arrogant in issuing rulings is a fool, wicked, and haughty,” it says here, I said to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’ meaning, do not be a fool who relies on his own wisdom and does not want to judge with patience. For no person is secure that perhaps there is a mixture of dregs in his intellect, for “to the boastful [lehollelim]” is a term of mixture, from the expression I said of laughter, it is mixed [mehollal], meaning mixed with sorrow. And here it refers to one who is mixed with foolishness; therefore, he needs to let it ferment so that he does not drink his wine with its dregs.
And regarding what they said that a wicked person should not judge alone, likening himself to the Most High, it says here, And to the wicked, “Do not lift up the horn.” It mentions only one horn because it speaks of the wicked person who, in his arrogance, does not seek out his colleagues to take counsel in judgment but wants to rely entirely on himself. We can also say that the term and to the wicked does not refer to the judges but to the litigants standing before you like wicked people, and regarding them, Do not lift up one horn, for perhaps one judge cannot handle powerful litigants, and two are better than one.
And regarding what they said that one who is arrogant in issuing rulings will eventually become haughty and will burst forth against all sound wisdom, it says here, Do not lift up your horn on high, for it is the nature of wind/spirit to rise upward, therefore it says regarding the haughty, Do not lift up on high.

your wine is diluted with water Your drinks are mixed with water, as is stated in Pesikta (122b). [The word] means ‘mixed,’ although there is no similar word in Scripture to prove it, but the Midrash Aggadah explains (Ecc. 2:2): “Of laughter I said, it makes one mad (מְהוֹלָל)” to mean that it is confused, or mixed up.