Introduction: From Futile Toil to the Eternal Purpose
After Kohelet described that all of man's toil in this world is futility, the question arises: if so, what is the purpose of man, and toward what should he strive? The answer is - the life of the World to Come. From here onward, Shlomo HaMelech comes to debate those who deny this ultimate purpose, and to show from nature itself where eternity lies and where futility lies. In this section, we will study the verses according to the commentary of the Imrei Shefer, and afterward we will examine the sequence of verses according to the commentary of the Kol Ephraim.
"All things are wearisome" - Three Organs That Never Tire
כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִים יְגֵעִים, לֹא־יוּכַל אִישׁ לְדַבֵּר, לֹא־תִשְׂבַּע עַיִן לִרְאוֹת, וְלֹא־תִמָּלֵא אֹזֶן מִשְּׁמֹעַ׃ - All things are wearisome; a man cannot express it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear filled with hearing.
The skeptics come and argue: How is it possible that man, the weakest of creatures, could exist eternally? After all, we have already seen that man is physically weaker than all other living things. The elephant, the ox, the donkey, and other animals possess immeasurably greater strength than his. In all his actions, one sees that he is limited, tires quickly, and becomes exhausted. How, then, can you claim that man will endure forever without limit or end?
To this Shlomo HaMelech responds: Indeed, it is true that "all things are wearisome." Everything in the world eventually reaches a point of exhaustion. Plants and trees grow throughout the summer days, but once Cheshvan arrives - "in the month of Bul, their foliage withers" - they decay. The earth yields its produce, but once winter arrives, it ceases. So too with the limbs of the body: every limb has its pace and its limit, and when one exerts it too much, it tires. Raise your arm and lower it repeatedly - at a certain point it tires. Even without raising and lowering: lift your arm and hold it outstretched horizontally, and after a few seconds or minutes, that is it, you are exhausted.
However, among all that man possesses, there are three things that have no limit or bound: the speech of the mouth, the vision of the eye, and the hearing of the ear. You never find someone saying, "I spoke so much that my mouth hurts." A person can talk non-stop. There are even those who test the limits of endurance by filibustering, speaking for twenty-four or thirty-six hours without growing weary - and naturally, someone who had nothing to say when he started has no trouble continuing to say nothing for another twenty-four hours. The body tires, and a person says, "I can stand no longer, I feel exhausted" - but the mouth does not tire.
The same is true of the eye's vision. There is such a thing as a 'lazy eye,' but no one ever says, "My eye is tired." And the same applies to the hearing of the ear: a person might say, "I have no patience to listen," but he cannot say, "My ear has grown tired." The arm tires from being raised and lowered, but the ear never tires.
This is what the verse means: "All things are wearisome; a man cannot express it" - a person cannot exhaust all the power of speech within him, the way an arm expends all its strength when it labors. Speech has no limit or exhaustion. "The eye is not satisfied with seeing" - the stomach eats and is filled, but the eye is never sated. "Nor is the ear filled with hearing" - the stomach becomes full, but the ear is never filled; it can always absorb more.
From here comes the answer to the question. You asked: Man is the weakest of creatures, so how can he merit eternity? Know that there are three things that are not weak, but exceedingly strong, and through them one truly acquires eternity. The first is speech, which is Torah study. The second is the seeing eye. The third is the ear that hears the mussar of the Sages and their words of wisdom. These three faculties are what a person requires for Torah study; they do not tire, and they are essentially eternal. All wearisome things are transient, but the things that know no weariness - speech, sight, and hearing - are the means through which one acquires life in the World to Come, and through them one attains the true purpose, unlike the mundane toil of man in this world, where everything is wearisome and ultimately nothing remains of it.
"There is nothing new under the sun" - Are Inventions the Ultimate Purpose?
מַה־שֶּׁהָיָה הוּא שֶׁיִּהְיֶה, וּמַה־שֶּׁנַּעֲשָׂה הוּא שֶׁיֵּעָשֶׂה, וְאֵין כׇּל־חָדָשׁ תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ׃ - What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
The Imrei Shefer notes that many believe man's ultimate purpose is the betterment and advancement of the world, for in every generation we see the world becoming more sophisticated and refined. Until the time of Noach, people did not know of the plow; Noach came along and fashioned the plow for them. So it is in every generation - "the father of all who handle the harp and pipe" (Bereishit 4:21), a generation arose that learned music and knew how to play the harp and pipe. And today we are like dwarfs standing upon the shoulders of giants, where all our inventions are built upon foundations established in previous generations. According to this view, anyone who invents something new in the world achieves his life's purpose. Indeed, some people devote their entire lives to this: innovations and inventions, constantly searching for the next startup, something that never existed before, because they believe that this is man's mission in the world - for the world to continually advance and renew itself.
To this, King Solomon comes and says: Observe and see, in all the things that Hashem created in the world, no one has managed to add even a single gram, nor subtract anything from them. "That which was is that which shall be." Have you succeeded in creating anything? Have you produced any substance that was not already present in Creation from the moment Hashem created it? We have never heard of a person creating something from nothing. Rather, what happens? Man forms novel combinations of existing elements. Take silicone, for example: NASA needed a specific material, so they conducted research and development until they developed silicone, giving us this wondrous material. But what is silicone? A combination of components that already existed in the world. You did not invent anything fundamentally new here; you merely produced a different compound. A new blend is not a new creation. Therefore, "there is nothing new under the sun," and what has been done is what will be done, for no fundamentally new things are being made here.
The Zohar's Allusion: "Mah Shehaya Hu" - Moshe
The Pri Tzaddik quotes from the Zohar: "Mah shehaya hu" (that which was is that which) forms the acronym Moshe (מ - ש - ה). The Zohar explains that Moshe Rabbeinu is destined to be the Mashiach, for "that which was" - namely, the first redeemer - "is that which shall be" - he will also be the final redeemer. And as Scripture says regarding Mashiach, "He shall be exalted and lifted up" (Yeshayahu 52:13), which Chazal interpret as "lifted up above Moshe" - meaning Moshe will attain an even higher level than he had before. But at all events, who will it be? Moshe. "Mah shehaya hu" forms the acronym Moshe.
יֵשׁ דָּבָר שֶׁיֹּאמַר רְאֵה־זֶה חָדָשׁ הוּא, כְּבָר הָיָה לְעֹלָמִים אֲשֶׁר הָיָה מִלְּפָנֵנוּ׃ - Is there a thing of which one might say, "Look, this is new"? It has already existed in the ages that were before us.
King Solomon says: Even so, what if a person comes along and says, "Look, this is new" - having invented a new machine or a process never before seen? Even if you answer him that iron was already here, and plastic and petroleum were already here, he might argue back: "Certainly, but look at the tremendous wisdom involved! Until now there was just iron, and look what they made from this iron: an automobile! And what else did they make from it? An airplane! How can you say there is nothing new under the sun?"
To this the verse replies: Know that even this "has already existed in the ages that were before us." In other words, this is not man's purpose in the world. Man was created for a far higher purpose. What difference does it make whether there is a car in the world or not? After all, the very existence of the item is made from materials and elements that were already here before us, and everything you see here is merely a new combination. Does a new combination alter the reality that everything was already here from the start? And is the essence of this world having cars, or spaceships, or this or that invention? That is surely not the essence, and if so, what does it truly matter that a new compound was formed?
"There Is No Remembrance of Earlier Things" - The Proof from Oblivion
אֵין זִכְרוֹן לָרִאשֹׁנִים, וְגַם לָאַחֲרֹנִים שֶׁיִּהְיוּ לֹא־יִהְיֶה לָהֶם זִכָּרוֹן עִם שֶׁיִּהְיוּ לָאַחֲרֹנָה׃ - There is no remembrance of earlier things, and also of later things that will be, there will be no remembrance of them with those that will come after.
All the inventions we speak of are, after all, from the past two hundred years alone. We have already noted that the holy Zohar explains regarding the verse, "In the six hundredth year of Noach's life... all the fountains of the great deep burst forth" (Bereishit 7:11), that in the six hundredth year of the sixth millennium (the year 5600 / 1840 CE), the springs of wisdom would open and great wisdom would descend upon the world. And anyone who looks will see that all modern inventions indeed emerged only in the last two hundred years. Prior to that, the world looked much as it had four thousand years earlier, virtually unchanged. All the revolutions in science, medicine, and technology - all occurred within the last two centuries. Two hundred years ago, life was as primitive as it was two thousand years ago.
A person is naturally amazed by this progress. To him Scripture says: Know that if these inventions were the ultimate purpose of life, the inventor ought to be remembered forever. Consider this: the person who invented the crafts of grinding flour, cooking, spinning, weaving, and the other essential crafts - does anyone remember who he was? Today, regarding modern inventions, we know who invented them - Alexander Graham Bell, the Wright brothers - because everything is documented. But historically, it would have been fitting to glorify the early pioneers: just as you remember Moshe Rabbeinu, lehavdil, it would have been appropriate to remember that so-and-so invented weaving, someone else invented spinning, and another invented grinding. All those foundational advancements - why do we not remember who accomplished them? Why do we have no idea who those people were?
And at times a person toils for years to invent something. Anyone who reads about these inventors knows: Edison, who invented the light bulb, performed two thousand experiments. Two thousand experiments! And so many things exploded or shattered in his workshop until he found the suitable material that could withstand the heat and emit light. They labored extensively to achieve these results - and nevertheless, no one remembers those who made the fundamental inventions of antiquity. With every generation that invents new things, no one remembers the ones who invented the earlier ones.
From here you learn that the utility of these inventions is temporary and fleeting, relevant only here in this world. And since the soul is enduring and eternal, how could one view any invention here in this world as the ultimate purpose? This is an enormous wonder. A parable illustrates this: A person goes to a hotel for three days. Something there bothers him greatly, so he spends all three days developing something to help him in the hotel for those three days. Afterwards he leaves, and it will no longer be of any use to him, nor does he have any need for it. Is this the purpose of life - three days in a hotel and then he is gone? And what are seventy years compared to eternity? It is not even three days in a hotel.
And do not think that what you invent today will be remembered: "and even for the later ones that will be, there will be no remembrance among those who come still later" - in the end, further new inventions will be made, and ultimately none of them has any lasting advantage. From here one learns that the soul does not reach its ultimate purpose through the vanities of this world, a transient world; rather, it has an eternal and enduring purpose. And everything you see here - "what was is what will be, and what was done is what will be done" - and even what appears new to you, is neither the purpose nor the reason for which the world was created. From this, a person should realize how much he must invest in true, spiritual matters, and abandon earthly pursuits, which are entirely fleeting.
The Explanation of Kol Ephraim: The Four Elements That Do Not Change
Now let us explain the pesukim consecutively according to the explanation of the Kol Ephraim. Since he presents a complete thesis in a specific order, we will follow his continuous flow and sequence so that there are no interruptions that might make it difficult to follow the progression.
Shlomo HaMelech comes to teach us that everything in creation endures perpetually - except for living creatures, meaning man as well as animals. Everything persists, and only man is fleeting. What does he wish to show you through this? That man's physical existence is essentially the lowest among all creations. Yet this is truly on account of his supreme stature - we are not looking to demean man in terms of his spirituality, for his soul is certainly exalted. Rather, viewing this world and the physical survival of the body as the primary objective is a mistake. Know that everything in this world endures, while man decays and withers away. What does this teach? That the primary purpose is neither the preservation of the body, nor earthliness, nor material acquisitions. He begins by showing that this is so across all four elements, moving from what is most apparent to what is less apparent, demonstrating that all of them endure and persist.
The Element of Fire - The Sun
וְזָרַח הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וּבָא הַשָּׁמֶשׁ, וְאֶל־מְקוֹמוֹ שׁוֹאֵף זוֹרֵחַ הוּא שָׁם׃ - The sun rises and the sun sets, and panting toward its place, it rises there.
The sun represents the element of fire. This is the element that warms us, and from it fruits and trees grow. Notice that it always remains in a single, unchanging state. Human beings die and do not return to this world, except through the miracle of the resurrection of the dead (techiyat hameitim). But the sun - "the sun rises and the sun sets." And should you argue: does it not set in the end, meaning its existence is not continuous? The answer is that it sets only relative to you, but relative to someone on the other side of the globe, it is rising right now. Thus, the sun is perpetual, and its utility and function are continuous; its eye has not dimmed nor has its vigor abated - something not found among mortals, perhaps only with Moshe Rabbeinu, but among other people we find no such thing.
Furthermore: "and panting toward its place" - from where I stand, I see the sun, as it were, yearning to return and reach this place again, for the next morning it returns to that exact same point. Thus the sun is constant and enduring, yearning toward the very place it occupied before. And what is meant by "it rises there", given that he already stated "the sun rises"? It means that even in the place where you cannot see it right now, on the other side of the globe, it is rising there now for the people in Australia. And without getting into the question of whether the earth revolves around the sun or the sun around the earth - observe and see that the sun shines perpetually, constant and unchanging. This stands in stark contrast to man: one day he is strong and the next day sick; one day he is born and the next he dies; now he is awake and later asleep; today he has vigor and tomorrow he is exhausted. Man is fraught with constant changes, whereas the sun remains constant throughout time, completely unchanged.
The Element of Air - The Wind
הוֹלֵךְ אֶל־דָּרוֹם וְסוֹבֵב אֶל־צָפוֹן, סוֹבֵב סֹבֵב הוֹלֵךְ הָרוּחַ, וְעַל־סְבִיבֹתָיו שָׁב הָרוּחַ׃ - Going toward the south and turning toward the north, turning, turning goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns.
Initially, he continues with the sun: the sun rises high in the heavens and rounds toward the other side of the earth, where it is hidden from our view, passing to the northern side. The word tzafon (north) relates to tzafun (hidden and concealed), which aligns very well with the Malbim's explanation that the other side of the globe is termed the northern side, the hidden side that is not visible. Thus far concerning the sun.
"Round and round turns the wind" - here he transitions to the third element, which is more difficult to comprehend, namely the element of air. At a superficial glance, it appears that the wind that was here is now there; does it ever return here? Scripture tells you: indeed it does. For when there is heat, warm air rises, and when there is cold, we know that cold air descends, creating a circulation where the air moves and rounds the world, continually returning in cycles. The air in warm regions, around the equator, heats up and rises high into the atmosphere. The cold air coming from the frigid regions, from the North Pole, descends and takes its place. Afterward, the warm air that rose travels toward the cold regions, creating a feedback cycle - much like what happens in an air conditioning system, where the same air cycles back and returns to the same place. This is why it says "round and round" twice: circling and rising, then traveling toward the north, and from the north turning and descending once again, returning right back here. Observe and see that all these shifts teach us that nothing here truly changes; everything repeats itself.
The Element of Water - The Rivers and the Sea
כׇּל־הַנְּחָלִים הֹלְכִים אֶל־הַיָּם וְהַיָּם אֵינֶנּוּ מָלֵא, אֶל־מְקוֹם שֶׁהַנְּחָלִים הֹלְכִים שָׁם הֵם שָׁבִים לָלָכֶת׃ - All the streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they return to go.
He left the element of water for last because it is the most difficult of all to grasp and the least understood. With water, it is far harder for us to comprehend how the sea continually replenishes itself. The mechanism is known: water evaporates from the sea, then rain falls upon the mountains and across the land, the water drains into streams and rivers, and all the streams ultimately flow back to the sea. Yet this entire process is very difficult to observe with the naked eye. In particular, it is hard for us to grasp how it is possible that the sea, whose waters are salty, receives fresh water back - which Chazal describe by saying that the waters are sweetened in the clouds. Furthermore, much of the flow of streams into the sea is subterranean, flowing beneath the earth's surface, which cannot be seen externally at all.
Scripture tells you: know that this process exists within water as well - the water evaporates, forms clouds, falls as rain, flows through the streams, and once again you witness an eternal and perpetual continuity. "Yet the sea is not full" - and this fact itself serves as the proof of this dynamic. For if all the streams flowed into the sea bringing water of their own, independent of the sea which had supplied it in the first place, the sea would inevitably overflow. Why, then, is the sea not full, despite this endless influx? Because the water evaporates, returns to the streams, and flows from the streams back into the sea. This is the meaning of "to the place where the streams flow" - to the sea - "there they return to go," continually cycling back there, just as we explained regarding "round and round." This is an ongoing cyclical process, and this is what the adage means when it states, "Physical matter is never destroyed" - where the term used refers not merely to rain, but to physicality itself (gashmiyut): physical matter does not perish, but endures, as we have mentioned and as will be further discussed regarding this law of nature.
In Summary:
In this chapter, we have learned two complementary themes. First, "All things are wearisome" - everything in the world eventually reaches a point of exhaustion, except for three faculties: speech, sight, and hearing, which have neither limit nor measure. It is through these very faculties that one acquires eternity - through the oral study of Torah, the vision of the eye, and the ear attentive to the ethical teachings of the Sages. On the other hand, "There is nothing new under the sun" - man has never created anything from nothing; all his inventions are merely new combinations of preexisting materials. Even when one claims, "Look, this is new," it has already existed in ages past. The proof that this worldly realm is not the ultimate purpose is that "There is no remembrance of earlier generations": no one remembers who invented grinding, spinning, or weaving, and subsequent generations will be forgotten as well. Finally, Scripture demonstrated through the elements - the sun, the wind, and the water - that all of creation exists in a perpetual, cyclical continuity, whereas man alone is transient. From here lies the essential lesson: the survival of the body and worldly acquisitions are not the main goal; rather, the eternal soul and its ultimate purpose are what matter, and it is into genuine, spiritual pursuits that a person must invest his energies.