Havel havalim, says Koheles, vanity of vanities, futility of futilities, all is vanity. Until you sit down and really study Koheles, it is hard to hear a message from it other than that everything is vanity. But if you can get past the hevel, there is a guidebook in Koheles that fits life in this world as almost no other book does.
Although the summary penultimate verse of Koheles, “The sum of the matter, when all has been considered: Fear Elokim and keep His commandments, for that is all of man,” tells us that this book is about having yir’as shamayim, fear of heaven, it was always hard at first glance to tie this to, and find it in, the rest of the book.
But then I discovered Rav Moshe Eisemann’s shiurim on Koheles (diggingdeeperjewish.org), and his sefer Shelter Amongst the Shadows. Rav Eisemann’s approach, based on the Maharal and Ramban as well as other sources, has very literally turned Koheles around for me and has made it one of the most meaningful books for me regarding everyday life. I would like to highlight certain themes in Koheles, based on Rav Eisemann’s approach and additional sources.
‘Under the Sun’ Versus ‘Seeing the Sun’ Over and over Koheles asks what is life worth, what is labor worth, tachas hashemesh, under the sun. The sun symbolizes the physical world. Living “under the sun” means living in this physical world without trying to elevate it spiritually. One is “under the sun,” i.e. under the ruling power of the blazing sun. In this physical world there is endless repetition. The sun rises and sets, all rivers go to the sea, a generation goes and a generation comes, over and over and over again. This endless repetition in life is the source of hevel, and if we can’t break out of it we can never rise above it.
But the sun is not all bad. Light is good, and if one can get into the group of those who are ro’ei hashemesh, who see the sun but are not being captive to it, life can be good and enjoyable. The way to escape from the sun’s domination is by imbuing one’s life with yir’as Hashem.
Rav Eisemann brings a beautiful thought of the Maharal that can be helpful here. Tzitzis represent the ideal relationship of materialism and spirituality. The material world (the world “under the sun” in Koheles) is like the rectangular garment to which tzitzis are attached. This garment represents the limitations of physicality. It is constrained and bound by strict corners. Man leading a physical life is stuck in the repetitive nature of the material world and cannot escape from his desires. The tzitzis, the fringes that attach to the edges of the garment, represent the spiritual world; they extend past the confines of the physical world and allow one to modulate the physical world and its desires with one’s spiritual nature. The Gemara in Menachos tells of a man who went to visit a harlot in a faraway land. When he was about to approach her, his tzitzis hit him in the face and he turned away and left. Our neshamah can give us the ability to rule over our otherwise limitless physical drives.
I think also the sod ha’ibur (the secret or mystical quality of the Jewish leap year) relates to this ability to bind the physical to the spiritual. The Jewish calendar combines both the solar year (under the sun) with the lunar year (chodesh, representing newness, renewal, and the spiritual world). We live in a physical world represented by the sun but we can harness this for spiritual purposes. This is the great goal of Judaism, to combine the spiritual with the physical. To inject something worthwhile in this world, you have to sanctify time. That’s why setting the calendar (Kiddush hachodesh) is the first mitzvah we have as a people.
Fear of Elokim and the Work of an Eved Hashem Shir HaShirim is all about ahavah, love. When someone is in love he becomes “lovesick” and less aware of his surroundings. Koheles, as the end indicates, is all about yir’ah, fear (awe) of Hashem. Being a yerai Elokim means being an eved Elokim, a servant of Hashem. A servant has to be very aware of his environment. Whatever his master asks of him, he must be able to perform. Yir’ah requires chochmah, wisdom, in order to anticipate and fulfill his master’s wishes. And the state of being an eved, or a yerai Elokim, implies having to work. Amal, or work, is how a yerai Elokim serves his Master and how he moves forward in this world.