An Unusual Take on Ecclesiastes/Kohelet

Traditionally, Jews have labelled Ecclesiastes as a dark vision of life credited to King Solomon. At first glance, it is a depressing description of life that most of us would hope to transcend. An Israeli professor, Micah Goldman, decided to challenge this premise and took a much more in-depth, yet nuanced, view of the book: life offers us much more than darkness. I found his viewpoint inspiring and hopeful.

One of the most well-known lines is from chapter 1:9—“There is nothing new beneath the sun.” Another line is, “For as wisdom grows, vexation grows; to increase learning is to increase heartache.” (1:18)

Many other lines point to the suffering of life. But Professor Goldman suggests that is a limited understanding.

Goldman begins by making the observation that the Tanach doesn’t talk about death. But Ecclesiastes seems to focus primarily on death. Goldman says that we are “listening” to the deterministic voice when we read this viewpoint. He does remind us that we have no control over our lives; that we live a cyclical existence; we don’t know when the end will happen; and we will all die. God appears to control everything.

Yet there are more subtle voices in Ecclesiastes, too. If we accept, truly accept, the radical certainty that we will die, and the radical uncertainty that we don’t know when we will die, we can live life fully. We aren’t stuck in a past that is full of suffering, and we can’t control the future that inevitably builds on the past.

For many of us, this uncertainty causes us to suffer because we struggle with three human dilemmas: (1) we want to be unique; (2) we want to make a difference; (3) we don’t want to die. But we are human beings and everyone around us is a human being, too: how unique are we, really? We want to make a difference, but how do we know whether we will be able to make great things happen? And we want to continue our legacy forever, and want it never to die.

Instead, Goldman says these beliefs, no matter how we live, will cause us suffering. If we obsess about the past, we will not fully engage with our lives. If we obsess about the future, we will be busy planning, and striving, and grasping so that we can leave a significant legacy. In one sense, these beliefs are quite human; in some ways, we orient our lives around them.

But Goldman suggests that focusing on the past or our destiny, whether we’ve had difficulties or success, misses the point that Ecclesiastes was trying to make. Those more subtle voices tell us that life is much more than the past and future; both cause us to suffer.

Instead, life is each precise moment.

Whether we have lost a fortune or have been stricken with a disease, we only have this moment to embrace. Whether we have had an easy life or are wildly prosperous, the most precious gift is each moment, after each moment, after each moment. When we learn to accept whatever arises—suffering, joy, discouragement, prosperity, difficulties, opportunities—they call us to embrace each precious moment with dedication, passion and grace. We can’t abolish the past or grasp the future. So, we can succumb to the dominant voice of Ecclesiastes, or we can embrace the more subtle voices instead; in those places, we will discover the fullness and rewards of life.

Specific quotations point us to savoring the moment, whatever it may be:

The end of a matter is better than the beginning of it

Better a patient spirit than a haughty spirit (7:8)

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; for him who is pleasing, and for him who is displeasing; and for him who swears, and for him who shuns oaths. (9:2)

Sow your seed in the morning, and don’t hold back your hand in the evening, since you don’t know which is going to succeed, the one or the other, or if both are equally good. (11:6)

Thus, life isn’t only about the inevitable, but offers us the experience of fully embracing it, from moment to moment, from good to bad.

I have included a video of Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son was killed by Hamas during the war with Gaza. At first you may be drawn into her own anguish as she talks about the release of the hostages. But later her passion in talking about Ecclesiastes describes what it means to live in the moment. The video is only 7 minutes.

You can contact Tikvah.org to find out more about Micah Goldman and Tikvah’s educational opportunities. Here is the link for this particular series.