Shabbos Chol HaMoed Sukkos - 5779

Shabbos Chol HaMoed Sukkos - 5779

Rabbi Hal Miller

So I praised enjoyment, for man has no other goal under the sun but to eat, drink,

and be joyful, and this will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life which

God has given him beneath the sun. [Koheles 8:15]

On the Shabbos of Sukkos we read one of the five Megillas, Koheles. The scroll

begins, "Vanity of vanities" [1:2] and tells what appears on the surface to be a story

of why we should just throw away all attempts at living a proper lifestyle as being

pointless. In the second chapter, King Solomon tells us that in order to get himself

out of this depression, he tried to "experiment with joy and enjoy pleasure", but "that

too turned out to be futile." He then gives us verse [2:2], "I said of laughter, it is mad,

and of mirth, what does it accomplish?" Sounds like a dreary thing to be reading

during the supposedly joyous festival of Sukkos. Why do we read it? What message

is King Solomon giving us here?

The Shulchan Aruch [490:17] tells us, "It is the practice to say Shir HaShirim on the

Shabbos of chol ha'moed (Pesach)." The Rama adds: This is likewise the ruling as

regards Koheles on Sukkos and Ruth on Shavuos." Thus, while it is not a law from

the Torah, it is an obviously long-standing custom both in Sepharadi and Ashkenazi

communities to read this, and has the effect of rabbinic law. But why?

The Mishneh Berurah gives us a bit of reasoning. "This is because the subject of the

Exodus from Egypt is described in it. On Sukkos, Koheles because they are days of

joy, and it is stated in Koheles [2:2], 'And for rejoicing, what does it avail'." In other

words, we read Koheles because it tells us of the joy we should be experiencing on

Sukkos. On the surface though, the text doesn't seem to prove this out.

Sforno describes the 'laughter' and 'mirth' of 2:2 as "merriment and frivolity", as

contrasted to true joy, and agrees that there is "no sense in it." When King Solomon

asks "what does it accomplish", Ibn Ezra answers, "joy resulting from laughter and

vanity accomplishes nothing toward our success" and is thus futile. What success

is he referring to?

After his whirlwind tour of futilities, Solomon comes to our verse, revisiting his

earlier criticism of joy. It sounds, though, as if he had given up hope of anything

important from life, and just decided to find happiness while he could, and leave

life when he had to. Not very promising.

The Dubner Maggid explains that Solomon defined joy as coming in two types, a

good kind and a bad kind. The Dubner says that "joy is beneficial when it serves to

prepare a person to receive wisdom." It is detrimental when one uses it to excess.

He finds support for this from Solomon himself in Mishlei [14:23], "With all sorrow

comes superfluity", meaning that when one is sad, pleasures seem superfluous.

The Dubner also points out that in [2:2], Solomon wrote that merriment is mehulal.

This word has multiple meanings. The Gemora [Shabbos 30b] says it means

laudable, or that Koheles is saying that joy is praiseworthy. Midrash Rabbah claims it

means mingled with wildness. Others translate it as madness or senselessness. In

one word, Solomon told us of both types of joy.

This makes Rashi's comment on our verse easy to understand. He says that joy

refers to being "satisfied with his lot", and to being glad in performing the mitzvos.

The Zohar says that just as eating and drinking sustain the body, so do Torah and

mitzvos sustain the soul. This is our mission, this is the success to which Ibn

Ezra referred.