At the conclusion of Chapter 3, we arrive at the final verse, where Kohelet summarizes everything he has observed. Afterward, we will return to verse 16, because the commentary of the Imrei Shefer presents verses 16 through 22 as a single, continuous progression, which was difficult to explain verse by verse along the way. We therefore left it for the end, so that we can see the entire sequence with clarity.
וְרָאִיתִי כִּי אֵין טוֹב מֵאֲשֶׁר יִשְׂמַח הָאָדָם בְּמַעֲשָׂיו כִּי הוּא חֶלְקוֹ כִּי מִי יְבִיאֶנּוּ לִרְאוֹת בְּמֶה שֶׁיִּהְיֶה אַחֲרָיו׃ (כ"ב) - And I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion; for who can bring him to see what will be after him? (22)
The Targum explains: I saw that there is nothing better in this world than for a person to rejoice in his good deeds, and eat and drink and let his heart be glad, for that is his good portion in this world - to acquire the World to Come through it. The Targum continues: a person should not say in his heart, "Why should I disperse my wealth on charity? It is better for me to leave it to my children after me, or sustain myself from it in my old age" - that I will have a pension, and gather wealth for this purpose.
To this comes the verse's answer: "For who can bring him to see what will be after him?" - who will bring you up to see what the future holds after your passing? You wish to leave an inheritance for your children for future generations, but do you know what they will do with that wealth you left behind? Midrash Rabbah teaches: "Who can bring him" - who could bring David to see what Shlomo did, and who could bring Shlomo to see what came after him, what Rechavam would do, how the kingdom fractured, and how the Beit HaMikdash was destroyed? You leave something behind in this world, and you have no idea what will come of it in the future - whether it will result in good or in harm.
However, when a person performs mitzvot, the matter is entirely different. Thus says the Pesikta Zutreta: let him multiply good deeds and mitzvot, for that is his portion for eternal life. Whatever you leave behind here - you cannot know what will become of it; but when you channel it into Torah and mitzvot, that is truly your portion, and of that, it will certainly endure for all eternity. As Iyov expressed: "His children may gain honor, but he knows it not; they may be brought low, and he perceives it not" - what will happen with his children, will they use it for good or for bad, who can possibly know?
And how often do we witness this: a person is extraordinarily wealthy, yet shortly after, his children come along and squander all the money in a brief span of time. Ill-conceived investments, unsuitable business ventures, reckless indulgence - after all, they did not labor for the wealth. In short, everything is lost in no time. And then one asks: is this what you toiled for all your life? Did you wear yourself out and labor just to leave it to your children, only for them to lose it all in short order?
Regarding this Shlomo declares: "There is nothing better than that a person should rejoice in his works." There are two dimensions to this. First, a person should not live like a pauper; Hashem gave you wealth and happiness so that you may enjoy it. And primary among them, that you pave your path to eternal life in the World to Come: "And your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Hashem shall be your rearguard."
We have mentioned several times the words of the Pele Yo'etz: when a person who has children divides his estate after one hundred and twenty, he should divide it as if he had an additional child. If you have eight children, divide it into nine portions; if you have two children, divide it into three. And tell them: one portion is for me. And what is done with that portion? Yeshivot, Talmudei Torah, Talmidei Chachamim, tzedakah. You are entitled to an inheritance, and I am entitled to an inheritance as well. A third, a quarter, whatever it may be, but at least equal to an ordinary child's share. If you divide among everyone, leave a portion for yourself too.
For otherwise, how deeply one grieves afterward: he left all his money behind in this world, and instead of "your righteousness shall go before you," it turns out to be money that divided the family, sparking disputes and bitter strife - this one refuses to speak to that one, one curses the other, another boycotts a wedding, all because of the very money you labored, toiled, and exerted yourself so hard to amass. "There is nothing better than that a person should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion; for who can bring him to see what will happen after him?" Can you know whether your wealth will bring about good or harm?
וְעוֹד רָאִיתִי תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ מְקוֹם הַמִּשְׁפָּט שָׁמָּה הָרֶשַׁע וּמְקוֹם הַצֶּדֶק שָׁמָּה הָרָשַׁע׃ (ט"ז) - "And furthermore, I saw under the sun: in the place of justice, there was wickedness; and in the place of righteousness, there was wickedness." (16)
Here Shlomo enters into a debate with people who denied the concept of retribution - people who did not believe in reward and punishment, in eternal life, or, Heaven forbid, the reverse: eternal punishment for the wicked. Shlomo says to them: "I saw under the sun" - I have clear proof that this world is not the world of retribution. The world of retribution is there, not here. For you can see that with a wicked person in this world, neither anger nor laughter accomplishes anything.
And this is what we learned in Mishlei: "If a wise man contends with a foolish man, whether he rages or laughs, there is no rest." The "wise man" is the Holy One, blessed be He; the "foolish man" is the wicked person. Hashem contends with the fool, in what way? "Whether he rages" - He brings judgments, afflictions, and troubles upon him, yet nothing helps. "Or laughs" - perhaps We will shine a favorable countenance upon him and bestow good upon him. And the result: "there is no rest." In simple terms: there is no one to talk to. The wicked person is moved neither by the adversity sent his way nor by the good. "The wicked shall be silenced in darkness" - he continues along his perverse path and remains unaffected.
And this is "in the place of justice, there was wickedness" - if Hashem judges him and brings upon him suffering and retribution, this is the place of justice, and yet "there was wickedness"; he still persists in his ways and sins, and it does not change him. And what will you say, perhaps we should deal with him righteously and shine a welcoming face upon him? To this the verse states: "and in the place of righteousness, there was wickedness" - even when Hashem treats him with charity and kindness and does good to him here in this world, he persists in his wickedness as usual. You see, then, that this world is not the world of retribution, for regardless of how the Holy One, blessed be He, deals with a person here, it does not change him.
אָמַרְתִּי אֲנִי בְּלִבִּי אֶת הַצַּדִּיק וְאֶת הָרָשָׁע יִשְׁפֹּט הָאֱלֹהִים כִּי עֵת לְכָל חֵפֶץ וְעַל כָּל הַמַּעֲשֶׂה שָׁם׃ (י"ז) - "I said in my heart: God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every deed there." (17)
The Imrei Shefer explains: From all of this, Shlomo says, I know full well, and through this the path of truth became known to me, that God will judge the righteous and the wicked - "will judge" in the future tense. Not here, and not now. For you see that here, the Holy One, blessed be He, sometimes deals with the wicked through charity and sometimes through punishments, and this is not the place of reward and punishment. Where, then, is it? "God will judge" - in the future. Why? "For there is a time for every matter" - now is not the time; the appointed hour will arrive, the time when judgment will take place. "And for every deed" - to examine whether the deed is good or evil, as it is written: "For God will bring every deed into judgment... whether good or evil." And Shlomo concludes: "there" - not here, but rather judgment takes place specifically there. Thus, those who believe that retribution is fulfilled in this world, and who deny the immortality of the soul and life in the World to Come, are mistaken.
אָמַרְתִּי אֲנִי בְּלִבִּי עַל דִּבְרַת בְּנֵי הָאָדָם לְבָרָם הָאֱלֹהִים וְלִרְאוֹת שְׁהֶם בְּהֵמָה הֵמָּה לָהֶם׃ (י"ח) - "I said in my heart concerning the manner of human beings, that God may sift them, and that they may see that they are but beasts to themselves." (18)
The Imrei Shefer explains: Once this conviction is absolute and clear to me as the true view, without a shadow of a doubt - that reward and punishment belong to the World to Come and not here - "I said in my heart concerning the manner of human beings." The meaning is: there are people who speak disparagingly and seek to deny these clear truths, and they are the ones who claim that "God may sift them, and that they may see that they are but beasts to themselves."
The word levaram ("to sift them") comes from the root of levarer, to separate and clarify. For when we speak of the immortality of the soul, the One who separates the soul from the body is the Holy One, blessed be He - He separates and selects the soul from the body; the body perishes and the soul ascends above. And to this they argue: When God comes to separate the soul from the body in order to bring it to judgment, nothing will be found. Why? "For they are but beasts to themselves" - after all, we are just like animals.
In other words, they hold that man is merely another zoological species, just as we explained: there are dogs, and cattle, and elephants, and human beings, and therefore one must respect them all - this entire perspective stems from that premise. Consequently, they say: When the Holy One, blessed be He, wishes to judge, whom will He judge? Does an animal stand trial? So too with us - when Hashem wishes to separate the soul from the body, He will have no one to judge, since man is like a beast. And Scripture is precise in saying "to themselves" - this is how they perceive themselves; this is their own self-conception, that they are merely another zoological species.
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׃ (י"ט) - "For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beast is one fate: as the one dies, so dies the other, and all have the same breath; man has no advantage over the beast, for all is vanity." (19)
And they do not settle for mere assertions; they bring proof. Observe and see, they say: the end of man is death, and the end of the beast is slaughter. Seemingly these are different fates - man dies in his bed and the beast dies by slaughter - but "one fate befalls them": the bottom line is that everyone dies, and nothing remains of anyone. "As the one dies, so dies the other" - all are destined for death. "And all have the same breath" - man has a spirit and an animal has a spirit; and where is it when it dies, what remains of it? After all, even you admit that nothing remains of the beast and it has no existence after death, so too with the human spirit.
And if you say that man possesses abilities, that he is intelligent and has understanding and wisdom - to that they say, "man has no advantage over the beast." The skeptic argues: man has no advantage whatsoever, for these advantages do not make him eternal. Man is composed of a body - and so is the beast; man has a spirit - and so does the beast; and this did not help the beast become eternal. What will you say, that man is educated and wise - is that a reason for him to have continuation? Look, you see that the body rots in the grave. Perhaps he leaves things behind in this world, but that does not compel that he has eternal life.
הַכֹּל הוֹלֵךְ אֶל מָקוֹם אֶחָד הַכֹּל הָיָה מִן הֶעָפָר וְהַכֹּל שָׁב אֶל הֶעָפָר׃ (כ') - "All go to one place; all came from dust, and all return to dust." (20)
And they continue and argue: see that man and beast are completely equal. What happens to man when he dies? "All go to one place." I see with my own eyes that the end of man and beast is identical - so what do you expect, that based on theories you describe to me, you person of faith, I must accept your words? Thus far is "the manner of the sons of men"; thus far Shlomo quotes the claims of the skeptics.
מִי יוֹדֵעַ רוּחַ בְּנֵי הָאָדָם הָעֹלָה הִיא לְמָעְלָה וְרוּחַ הַבְּהֵמָה הַיֹּרֶדֶת הִיא לְמַטָּה לָאָרֶץ׃ (כ"א) - "Who knows the spirit of man, which ascends upward, and the spirit of the beast, which descends downward to the earth?" (21)
First of all, the Imrei Shefer emphasizes: the letter heh in "ha'olah" and the heh in "hayoredet" are not the interrogative heh; this is not a question, "does it ascend upward?" - rather, it is the definite article: it truly ascends upward; it certainly rises. But we must examine closely: what is the meaning of "it is" (hi)? It would have been enough to say "the spirit of man that ascends upward" and "the spirit of the beast that descends downward." Furthermore, the sentence seems cut off in the middle: "the spirit of man that ascends upward" - and so what? "And the spirit of the beast that descends downward" - and so what? It is as if the verse begins a sentence without completing it and without reaching a conclusion.
And from these difficulties, the Imrei Shefer explains that here the verse comes to teach us something tremendous: those people arrived at their error because they did not understand the essence of man. They thought man is merely a collection of molecules, and nothing more. They failed to realize that every person is composed of two elements - "man" and "beast." The coarse part of man, the realm of physical desires, eating, and bodily needs, is the animalistic part, the beast within man, and in this aspect he truly resembles an animal.
Indeed, physically there is not much difference. Theoretically, in a few years they will perform heart transplants from pigs, and there is very advanced research on this today. To put it in automotive terms: in the "bodywork," there is not much difference between man and beast. And by the way, when studies were conducted on monkeys, researchers found that they have all the vocal apparatus for speech, except for the faculty of speech itself. Once it was thought that monkeys lacked the physical mechanisms to produce speech, but it was found that they possess all the tools - yet they still cannot speak. For speech, apparently, physical tools alone are not enough; speech requires a divine spirit, a ruach memalela (a speaking spirit).
Their trouble was that they looked only at the physical, corporeal dimension of man. And there, they are indeed identical: both have flesh; pinch a human, and it hurts; pinch an animal, and it hurts. This is what led them astray: because they are identical in the physical aspect, they deduced that the outcome must also be identical. What they failed to understand is that within this corporeal vessel there is also a spiritual component, a spark of the Divine from above - "one who blows, blows from his innermost essence." From their premise regarding the physical body, they concluded that the spiritual soul likewise has no continuation - and that was their blunder.
For the Holy One, blessed be He, took two extremes and joined them; two elements polar opposites of one another were combined by the Creator to form man, and He endowed him with free will to incline in whichever direction he chooses: will you prefer to strengthen the spiritual part within you, or the corporeal part? Thus, man's mission is to crown the "human" over the "beast." That is to say, the will stems from the soul and not from the body, and as seen in the Malbim earlier, it derives from the portion of God from above, from the Master of will which is the spiritual component - and one's will must rule over the body, so that the body is subservient to the soul, which is the higher realm.
When a person does this, the soul continually elevates and advances in spirituality until it becomes eternal - sanctifying itself with every single mitzvah until it attains the dimension of eternity. We learned in the *Nefesh HaChaim* that this is not merely a future reality, but something taking place right here and now: when a person performs a mitzvah now, he is sanctified right now; he is currently immersed in spirituality. It is only that he does not sense it, because the body serves as a screen. Adam HaRishon before the sin was in Gan Eden, whereas the physical casing of the body creates a barrier that separates and prevents us from feeling this reality - and this is specifically so that we may have free choice.
Let it be clear, however: the moment a person chooses good, his soul is sanctified immediately, and he enters a spiritual state. When he chooses evil, conversely, aspects of Gehennom dominate him right now. He may not feel it, but Gehennom rules over him at that very moment. This is the meaning of "one transgression draws another in its wake": through the evil deed, he brought upon himself a spirit of defilement and a *kelipah* (husk) that constitutes Gehennom itself. Naturally, he is then pulled toward the next transgression, having degraded himself and descended lower, placing himself closer to the next sin, and so on. Conversely, when a person sanctifies himself, he elevates himself higher and stands closer to the next mitzvah, and so on.
Thus, the flawed reasoning that led them to conclude, "as the one dies, so dies the other," stemmed from their failure to recognize that man possesses a spiritual dimension, which is "that which ascends upward": it constantly rises and yearns for exalted realms; it elevates man and even sanctifies his physical matter. For when this is the reality, even the physical material becomes holy.
A story is told of Rav Shteinman: on a particularly hot day, swarms of flies were buzzing around and bothering everyone nearby relentlessly. Suddenly, those present realized that the Rav did not understand what they were talking about - it turned out that not a single fly approached him. This mirrors what the Gemara relates: the Shunammite woman tested Elisha by noticing that no fly ever landed on his table, and from this she recognized that "he is a holy man of God who passes by us continually."
A similar account is told regarding Rav Gustman. He was renowned as one of the towering figures of the generation, whom Rav Chaim Ozer appointed to his rabbinical court when he was just thirty years old. When he was thirty, all the Torah leaders of the generation were seated together, and when he entered, Rav Chaim Ozer stood up, and the Chafetz Chaim and all the Torah giants rose before him. Rav Gustman once remarked: "It is impossible to honor me anymore, for whatever honor you could give me will never equal the honor they showed me then. Nor is it possible to humiliate me" - for having survived the horrors of the Holocaust, where his beard was torn out and he suffered terrible degradation, he said: "There can be no greater humiliation than what the Nazis did to me. So one can neither honor me nor degrade me." But to our point: they relate that once during his shiur, mosquitoes were swarming intolerably, and those present noticed that they did not approach the Rosh Yeshivah at all.
We see, therefore, that when the spirit ascends upward, it carries the body along with it, and the body too becomes sanctified. At the highest levels, Eliyahu HaNavi ascends to the heavens in a whirlwind, or "and he was no more, for God had taken him" in the case of Chanoch; these are extraordinary heights. Yet even short of that, a person becomes sanctified through the power of his deeds.
"And the spirit of the beast that descends downward to the earth" - this refers to the beastly spirit within them, which descends below, craves earthliness, and pulls man down to the earth. These two forces pull at a person, whether toward good or toward evil. Had they paid attention to this distinction, they would have found the answer to their dilemma: What do you question - that one fate befalls both man and beast, that all die and all decompose? That is true enough physically. The real question, however, is who rules. If the beast rules, then throughout his life that person was merely a beast walking on two legs, and in that case his fate is truly like that of an animal. But if the human element rules - that is, the portion of God from Above - then he is a spiritual human being, and his ultimate destiny will surely transcend that of an animal, to the extent that it leaves an imprint even upon the body. Indeed, there were numerous tzaddikim whose bodies were found completely intact without any decay when they were exhumed for reburial, as has been recounted concerning several of the great leaders.
וְרָאִיתִי כִּי אֵין טוֹב מֵאֲשֶׁר יִשְׂמַח הָאָדָם בְּמַעֲשָׂיו כִּי הוּא חֶלְקוֹ כִּי מִי יְבִיאֶנּוּ לִרְאוֹת בְּמֶה שֶׁיִּהְיֶה אַחֲרָיו׃ (כ"ב) - And I saw that there is nothing better than that a person should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion; for who can bring him to see what will happen after him? (3:22)
The *Imrei Shefer* concludes: Once the noble principle of the immortality of the soul became verified to me, says Shlomo, I saw that there is nothing better than that a person should rejoice in his deeds. And what are his "deeds"? His good deeds, just as the Mishnah states, "Anyone whose deeds exceed his wisdom" - is he a general contractor? What kind of deeds are being discussed? Rather, it refers to good deeds. Here too, "a person should rejoice in his deeds" - meaning his good deeds.
"For that is his portion" - out of everything, this alone is all that will remain with you. This is the portion reserved for him alone, and no one can take it from him, whereas all the material matters of this world are vanity. For who can bring him after death to see what will become of his possessions in this world? After all, "he will not take anything along in his death," and others will enjoy all the fruits of his labor. Shall a person then leave everything he toiled over his entire life to others, without retaining anything of it for himself for all eternity?
And with this, we arrive at the answer to the challenge of those heretics who claimed there is no difference between man and beast: it has now become clear that the difference is immense, and that man can elevate and sanctify his physical matter, thereby preserving everything for all eternity - "a man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion," this is what will remain with him, and nothing else.
Chapter 3 concludes with two complementary truths. First: this world is not the world of ultimate reward and punishment - neither severity nor laughter changes the wicked, and therefore "God will judge the righteous and the wicked," there and not here. Second: the error of the heretics, who claim that "one fate befalls them both," stems from viewing man solely through his corporeal dimension; in truth, man is composed of "man" and "beast," and the spirit of man ascends upward while the spirit of the beast descends downward, and the choice is given as to which will rule. From this comes the practical conclusion: "There is nothing better than that man should rejoice in his works" - in his good deeds, for they alone are his eternal portion. As for the wealth left behind in this world, you do not know where it will go or what will be done with it; therefore, a person should be content with his portion, distribute to charity, and remember to reserve a share for his own eternal soul as well - "and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Hashem shall be your rear guard."