The passage before us concludes the third chapter of Kohelet, and its core is a piercing comparison between man and beast: What is man's true advantage over the animal, where does everything ultimately go, and who knows the true place of the spirit of man and the spirit of the beast? We will proceed verse by verse, and see how beneath the simple words lies an entire teaching on man's purpose and his spiritual work.
כִּי מִקְרֶה בְנֵי־הָאָדָם וּמִקְרֶה הַבְּהֵמָה וּמִקְרֶה אֶחָד לָהֶם, כְּמוֹת זֶה כֵּן מוֹת זֶה, וְרוּחַ אֶחָד לַכֹּל, וּמוֹתַר הָאָדָם מִן־הַבְּהֵמָה אָיִן, כִּי הַכֹּל הָבֶל׃ (יט) - "For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beast is one fate for them: as this one dies, so dies that one, and they all have one breath, and man has no preeminence over the beast, for all is vanity." (19)
An animal recognizes and knows nothing, whereas man is capable of attaining understanding through his intellect. Yet Kohelet reveals to us when indeed "man has no preeminence over the beast": when he engages solely in the vanities of this world. The end of the verse explains its beginning - "for all is vanity." A person whose entire world races from one news update to the next, from sports to work and back, where everything occupying him is vanity - in his case, what difference is there between him and an animal? This is not so, however, when he engages in heavenly matters, for then man's advantage over the beast is surely immense.
A traditional homiletic insight offers another explanation of the word ayin (nothing): ayin refers to something hidden, something unseen. That is, if you look for man's advantage in overt and visible qualities, the animal certainly surpasses man. A hawk sees better than a human, a cheetah runs faster, a bat hears better, a dog smells better, an elephant lifts loads with greater power, and a kangaroo jumps higher. One could go through the entire zoo and find that man is inferior to animals. Yet all of this applies only to external traits, to the corporeal aspect of man. In contrast, the internal dimensions - intellect, thought, depth, the soul - no one can see them, and they are in the realm of ayin, the unseen. "And the preeminence of man over the beast" - in what lies this advantage? In ayin: in the invisible, unseen realm. Here, man holds a profound advantage over the beast.
The book Sha'arei Simchah explains that an animal is born fully formed. The Gemara states: an ox on the day it is born is called an ox. The moment it is born, it is already an ox, and needs nothing more to become one. Man, on the other hand, is born so helpless that if he is not cared for during his first years, he has no chance of survival and would certainly perish; he requires someone to look after him and attend to his every need. Thus, man is born in the state of ayin (nothingness), and his task is to transform himself into yesh (substance): to make himself into a true existence, to refine his physical nature, and to bring himself to perfection.
And precisely because the animal is born complete, says the Sha'arei Simchah, therein lies its deficiency. The word behemah (beast) can be broken down into bah mah - "what is in it": whatever it possesses is present from the outset, and it has no capacity to grow or progress. Everything it has is already there. With man, by contrast, there is almost nothing at the start; at birth, he is a mere lump of flesh. Yet as he grows and develops, he can reach the level of eddammeh la'Elyon ("I will resemble the Most High"), attaining the heights of "I said, you are godlike, and all of you are sons of the Most High."
Similarly, the Ramchal explains: man does have preeminence, but this preeminence is in the category of ayin - something that does not yet exist in actuality, something that requires toil to bring into reality. In simple terms: man's advantage over the beast exists in potential, not in actuality. If you work, strive, toil, and genuinely elevate your spiritual dimension, you realize it; but as long as you have not done so, it remains mere ayin. An animal, however, possesses all its virtues from the moment of birth, requiring no effort or labor to attain its stature.
הַכֹּל הוֹלֵךְ אֶל־מָקוֹם אֶחָד, הַכֹּל הָיָה מִן־הֶעָפָר, וְהַכֹּל שָׁב אֶל־הֶעָפָר׃ (כ) - "All go to one place: all came from the dust, and all return to the dust." (20)
The Targum explains simply: all dwellers of the earth were created from the dust, and when they die, all are destined to return to the dust. The Pesikta Zutreta adds: "All came from dust" - this includes the rain and snow that fall from heaven, which also originate from the earth. That is to say, even what seems to come from outside, from heaven, know that its source is here: rain comes from water that was here, evaporated, and rose up. And so it is written, "Praise Hashem from the earth... fire and hail, snow and vapor" - even though you see them falling from heaven, know that they originate from the earth, "for to the snow He says, 'Become earth.'"
And "all return to the dust" - when? The Pesikta Zutreta says: on the Day of Judgment. For even when the resurrection of the dead takes place and people are alive here, there will be no situation where people remain without dying; rather, all inhabitants of the world will die for a moment and come back to life - one hour before techiyat hameitim (the resurrection of the dead). This is "all return to the dust": there is no one who does not return to the dust. And this is also understandable, for this is a reality in which man strips off his physical, material garment, as it existed here for the six thousand years, and receives a spiritual reality, the reality of the World to Come; therefore, there must be a moment of death even for those living here at that time.
מִי יוֹדֵעַ רוּחַ בְּנֵי הָאָדָם הָעֹלָה הִיא לְמָעְלָה, וְרוּחַ הַבְּהֵמָה הַיֹּרֶדֶת הִיא לְמַטָּה לָאָרֶץ׃ (כא) - Who knows whether the spirit of the sons of man rises upward, and the spirit of the beast descends downward into the earth? (21)
The Targum says: who is the wise person who knows whether the spirit and soul of human beings ascends upward to the heavens, and the spirit and soul of the beast descends downward into the earth - who is the wise person who knows this? We will look at additional explanations that shed light on this matter.
The Midrash Zuta says: It was taught, both the souls of the righteous and the souls of the wicked - all of them ascend on high. And here one must understand a rule that recurs among all the commentators: "the spirit of the beast" does not necessarily refer to an actual animal, but to people who live like beasts, as we saw in the previous verse, "to see that they are beasts to themselves" - meaning they live in the manner of animalistic life, devoid of spirituality. Regarding such people, the Midrash states: both the souls of the righteous and the souls of the wicked, who are called here "the beast" - ultimately all of them ascend. However, the souls of the righteous are bound beneath the Throne of Glory in the bundle of life, as Avigayil told David, "The soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life." Could one think that the same applies to the wicked? The verse teaches, "and the souls of your enemies He shall sling out, as from the hollow of a sling." What have you learned? The souls of all leave the body at the time of death, but "the spirit of the beast" descends downward into the earth to the hollow of the sling (Kaf HaKela), while "the spirit of the sons of man," who are the righteous, ascends upward to beneath the Throne of Glory.
The Pesikta Zutreta asks a question: What is meant by "Who knows whether the spirit of the sons of man rises upward"? After all, Shlomo himself stated explicitly later on (chapter 12, verse 7): "And the spirit returns to God Who gave it." If so, you yourself revealed that the spirit of the righteous returns to God Who gave it, so why do you ask "Who knows"? Rather, the Midrash explains: It was taught, both the souls of the righteous and the souls of the wicked ascend on high, but the souls of the wicked are judged in Gehinnom, while those of the righteous are placed in Gan Eden. And "who knows the spirit of the sons of man" - the righteous - that ascends upward: where its place will be and what will be done with it. For the ascent itself is certain and beyond doubt, but what its exact place is - who knows that?
One could explain that the question is about its physical location, but it is difficult to see what difference it makes to us at which exact point it rests. Therefore, it can be understood in a deeper sense: a person serves the Holy One, Blessed be He, prays, and learns Torah - but what is his true station up there? Often, a person lives under illusions. After all, Rabbi Yochanan said: Two paths lie before me, and I do not know along which path they are leading me. Thus, "who knows its place" - even if his place will be among the righteous, in which precise rank and standing will he be positioned?
"And the spirit of the beast" - these are the souls of the wicked, who, after ascending on high, are brought down to Gehinnom, as we saw: "He shall sling out, as from the hollow of a sling." And what is Kaf HaKela? One angel slings the soul to another. The meaning of this, as explained in Michtav Me-Eliyahu and other works, is that the human soul, having been attached in this world to materiality and physical desires, cannot process when it leaves the body that it no longer possesses a body. It then rushes back and forth, wandering across the entire world seeking its desires and searching for the body in order to return to it, but it cannot find it and cannot succeed. This is a tremendous and terrible anguish, and this is the nature of Kaf HaKela. For this reason, it is written that the soul returns from the home to the grave, because it still cannot fully grasp that it has departed from the body.
Here too, the verse says, "and the spirit of the beast that descends downward into the earth," down into Sheol - and who knows where its place will be? Here, too, one could ask about the physical location, or explain what its standing is in a spiritual sense: for even in Sheol there are levels; there are those who remain for centuries in boiling filth, and those who spend a certain period in Gehinnom and then leave. Concerning all of this, Shlomo says, "Who knows?" Truly the righteous are above and the wicked are below, but where their exact place will be - who knows that?
Rashi explains, and the Sforno follows the same line, that "who knows" is not a question for which we await an answer, but rather like the verse in Yoel, "Who knows, He may return" - the intent is not literally who knows, but rather whoever knows that there is sin and iniquity in him should repent. So too here, "who knows" means: who is the one who understands and gives his heart and takes note that the spirit of man ascends upward and stands in judgment, while the spirit of the animal descends to the earth and gives no accounting. From this a person should understand: why do you behave like an animal? The animal gives no accounting, and you live without accounting! This is the wonder: who is the one who contemplates and takes to heart that the spirit of man ascends upward, and makes a reckoning of his soul. And whoever does not know and does not take it to heart, behold, "the spirit of the animal descends down to the earth": he lives like an animal that makes no accounting of its soul. Who is the one who gives his heart to contemplate this matter.
The Malbim, in Chumash Devarim chapter 25, brings that man is the only creature that possesses free choice and will, and therefore he is capable of performing acts that are the opposite of logic and reason, both for good and for ill. For ill, we all understand how a person harms himself in countless examples. But also for good: a person can do things that seemingly harm him. There was a man named Major Elbaz, who was on a training base, and when he wished to demonstrate, the pin of a grenade was pulled. He realized that wherever he threw it, people would be harmed, and what did he do? He drew the grenade into his belly, bent over, absorbed everything with his body, and no one else was harmed. Here you have a person who gives his life for the community.
It emerges that a person is capable of harming himself when he understands that there is a purpose in it, when he understands that there is an ideal here for which it is worthwhile to give one's life. Throughout all the generations the people of Israel gave their lives for the sanctity of the Name, blessed be He; Avraham Avinu was prepared to bind his son. This is what the Malbim says: man is the only creature capable of acting against his nature and against logic and reason, for by logic man strives for life.
An animal will never perform an act that brings it to death. There are extreme cases where a dog saves its master and sometimes even dies in the process, but even this is not out of choice; rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, implanted in the dog that it be entirely heart for its master. But man has this power: Hashem breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and one who blows, blows from within himself - there is within us a portion of God from above. And just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is the source of will, from whom all will proceeds, so too the soul of man possesses will, and he is able to want to do things contrary to his nature.
And this is what Kohelet says here: "Who knows the spirit of the children of man, whether it ascends upward." Since man is the one who possesses will, when he decides upon something, to what does he connect? "It ascends upward": he connects to the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the aspect of will. "And the spirit of the animal, whether it descends downward to the earth": to the elements. The spirit of the animal is coarse, it has no desires, the animal is programmed: when it needs to eat it eats, when it needs to drink it drinks, and so on. In contrast, man has will, and this will stems from above. And one can explain this in two senses: either after one hundred and twenty years, when the spirit ascends upward, since man, being a possessor of will, connects to the source of will; and one can also understand it within the lower reality, in the course of his life, that when a person strives and wills and does something positive, he connects to the Possessor of will, to the Holy One, blessed be He, from whom will flows, for behold he activates that portion of God from above.
In Shaarei Teshuvah, Rabbeinu Yonah brings this verse and explains: the soul of the righteous he calls "the children of man," as it is written, "You are called man." And there are righteous God-fearing people in secret, as it is written, "and walk humbly with Hashem your God" - and who recognizes them in this world? This is "who knows": there are many righteous people whom no one recognizes and no one knows their standing and their righteousness. And "the spirit of the animal that descends down to the earth" is the soul of the wicked person, drawn after the coarse animalistic desires, and here too there are wicked people who do their deeds in darkness, and of them too it is said "who knows." For these matters are in the hidden secret of the Creator of the world, since a person's thoughts and deeds are revealed only before Him, and you have no way of knowing. Who knows who is truly the righteous one whose soul ascends upward, and who is truly the wicked one whose soul descends downward. There is a person who appears righteous and is the opposite, and there is a person who appears coarse and wicked and is the opposite.
They tell that once the Baal Shem Tov sent his disciple to learn the matters of eating from a village Jew. The disciple came to that Jew, asked to be his guest, which was customary in those days, and tried to set his eye upon the manner of his eating. But he did not need to exert himself much, for it was plain and clear to all that that Jew, in the language of the verse that Rav Ovadia Yosef would quote, "did not withhold his hand from swallowing" - everything with him was swallowing; in short, a vacuum cleaner. In the morning, washing the hands; in the evening, Grace after Meals; and all day long one continuous meal. The disciple watches and does not understand: what capacity does he have, simply unbelievable. And he wondered: to this coarse one, to this animalistic one, did the Baal Shem Tov send me to learn? His whole head and most of him is inside the pot; what is there to learn from him?
After a few days he came to take leave of him, but he was very curious and understood that there was something going on here. He said to him: I saw that you are connected to the matters of eating, and I wanted to know what the matter is. That Jew said to him: I will explain it to you. My father had a tavern. One day some gentiles came, got drunk, and tried to force him to kiss their idol and bow to it. He told them that he was in no way willing. They grew angry, they were intoxicated, they threatened his life, and he told them he was not willing. They said to him: we will burn you! He said to them: burn me, I do not worship an idol and I do not bow to an idol. And they took my father and burned him, and they did it before my very eyes, I was a child. And what shall I tell you: my heart ached so, for my father was so thin, that as soon as they lit the fire, within five minutes it was over. I said: a pity, there was not enough sanctification of the Name here. I, with God's help, will eat all my days, and when they burn me, it will be a torch, a torch of fire that will burn for long hours in honor of the Creator, blessed be He.
A wondrous thing indeed. Of course, this refers to varying spiritual levels, and we see how the Baal Shem Tov sensed the inner reality of that Jew. When a person acts genuinely for the sake of Heaven, his entire existence becomes a spiritual reality. Sometimes, therefore, one sees a person who appears coarse and earthly, yet know that he possesses great spiritual heights; and at times one sees someone who appears intensely spiritual, yet within himself he sets an ambush, harboring hidden evils and performing wicked deeds in the dark. Regarding this, Shlomo says, "Who knows?" - who knows which is the great, righteous soul that ascends upward, and which is the wicked one that descends downward.
The holy Shelah writes that the spirit of the animal sometimes ascends upward. This does not mean that an animal has immortality of the soul - an animal has no immortality of the soul - but rather that if an animal is kosher and eaten in holiness according to Halachah, the animal itself is thereby elevated, for it fulfills its purpose in the most complete manner. As the verse states, "Everything that is called by My name, I have created for My glory; I have formed it, indeed, I have made it." If it becomes food for a righteous person, being slaughtered properly and eaten so that he gains strength for the service of Hashem, Blessed be He, the animal has fulfilled its purpose, and as it were, it is elevated itself.
Conversely, when a person eats non-kosher meat (*neveilot* and *tereifot*), the food itself drags him down. Such eating dulls his heart (*timtum halev*) and corrupts his thought; beyond the transgression committed, it spiritually obstructs the heart. Indeed, upon him is fulfilled, "cast it to the dogs": it is written, "You shall not eat flesh torn by beasts in the field; you shall cast it to the dogs" - if one consumes forbidden meat, his own standing is cast down to the dogs.
It emerges that the purpose of the beast is the exact opposite of the purpose of man, an insightful distinction. What is the ultimate purpose of man? That in the end he departs this world according to the will of Hashem, by death through Heaven - not, Heaven forbid, by human hands, not in a road accident, and not through any tragic mishap. The purpose of an animal, however, is the reverse: that it be slaughtered by human hands rather than die by the hand of Heaven. Specifically when it is slaughtered and served as food for God-fearing people does it fulfill its purpose. "The end of an animal is for slaughter" - that is its destiny. By contrast, the ideal purpose of man is to pass away peacefully in his bed after one hundred and twenty years, unharmed, Heaven forbid, by external causes.
A Jew who worked as a *shochet* in Argentina recounted that once, at the slaughterhouse, there was an enormous ox that they could not lead to slaughter; whatever they tried proved futile. This God-fearing *shochet* walked over to the ox and whispered something into its ear - and immediately, the ox followed along like a puppy, leaving everyone astounded. What did he whisper? He said: "If you come with us now, we will slaughter you properly, recite the blessing over the *shechitah*, and Jews will eat your meat; but if not, the non-Jews here will consume you." The ox heard this and began walking willingly.
In other words, the beast recognizes its true purpose. Numerous stories are recounted in the teachings of *gilgulim* (reincarnations) of individuals reincarnated into oxen who came and requested how they should be slaughtered, in what manner, and what should be done with them, with every detail, so that ultimately their meat would be eaten in holiness and purity. Thus one can understand: "And the spirit of the beast that descends downward to the earth" - yet who knows? For sometimes it ascends upward, finding its elevation through the eating of an upright Jew. The same applies in reverse: man's purpose is to pass away peacefully in bed, yet "who knows the spirit of man that ascends on high," for that person may have eaten forbidden meats and creeping creatures, and as explained, the forbidden animals he consumed drag him downward. Therefore, do not assume with certainty that man automatically ascends on high while the beast descends below, for under certain circumstances the roles are reversed.
The concluding passage of chapter 3 teaches us that man's superiority over the beast is not visible to the eye: in all observable and physical attributes, animals possess advantages over us, and man's true superiority lies in the "ayin" - in intellect, thought, and soul. Furthermore, this advantage is born only as potential, not as an actuality: the animal is born complete and therefore never progresses, whereas man is born lacking so that he may make himself into a reality through labor and effort. One who lives for vanity - "the superiority of man over the beast is nothing"; but one who occupies himself with matters of Heaven - his advantage is vast indeed. "All go to the dust" reminds us that no one escapes divine judgment, and "Who knows" teaches two lessons: who is the one who takes it to heart to contemplate that the spirit of man ascends on high to stand in judgment and engage in spiritual accounting, and on the other hand, that we cannot know who is the hidden righteous person and who is the wicked one operating in darkness, nor the exact spiritual standing of any soul. Ultimately, just as a beast may be elevated through sanctified consumption, so too can man be debased through eating forbidden foods. Man's task is therefore to transform potential into actual achievement, activating the divine will within him - a portion of God from above - to bind himself to the ultimate Source of all will, Blessed be He.