This chapter in Kohelet addresses, among other things, the value of partnership. After King Solomon described the solitary person - "There is one alone, without a second; he has neither child nor brother" - he turns to praise the virtue of two. The verse "Two are better than one" is one of those verses that the Midrashim apply in numerous directions, and as is our custom, we will open with the Targum and proceed from there.
טוֹבִים הַשְּׁנַיִם מִן הָאֶחָד אֲשֶׁר יֵשׁ לָהֶם שָׂכָר טוֹב בַּעֲמָלָם׃ (ט) - Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.
The Targum explains: Two tzaddikim in a generation are better than one, for their leadership is guided with heavenly favor and their words are heeded, and they have a good reward in the World to Come for their toil in guiding their generation. Two tzaddikim who lead a generation possess far greater strength than one alone.
In another Midrash, these words are applied to Moshe and Aharon: "Two are better" - this refers to Moshe and Aharon; "than one" - this refers to each on his own. For when Moshe came to bless Israel, the Shechinah did not rest through his hand alone - meaning that Moshe by himself, as it were, did not suffice. But when both came together and blessed Israel, the Shechinah immediately rested through them, as it says, "Moshe and Aharon came into the Tent of Meeting, and came out and blessed the people," followed by "and the glory of Hashem appeared." We see, therefore, that the power of two tzaddikim to lead their generation is far greater than the power of a single tzaddik.
Pesikta Zutreta explains according to the plain meaning: "Two are better" - two people engaged in business and commerce will certainly achieve greater success than either one on his own. "They have a good reward for their labor" - in its literal sense, they can maximize their profits when they work together as two.
Rashi explains that this applies to everything: two are better than one in every matter. There is only one exception - leadership. The worst periods in terms of governance were when there were unity governments with rotations or two people serving together, for "two kings cannot share a single crown," which is a clear recipe for dispute and strife. But apart from leadership, which must be held by one person alone, in every other area two are better than one. Therefore Rashi notes: A person should acquire a friend and marry a wife, and they will gain greater profit from their labor, for much work can be accomplished by two that an individual would not even begin alone.
And there is a very interesting point here: the strength of two working together is greater than that of one plus one. If one person can lift one hundred kilograms and another can lift one hundred kilograms, together they might lift two hundred and twenty. There is latent strength in each individual that is only tapped when two do the same task together. "Two are better than one" - even calculating one plus one separately, it still does not equal the synergistic power of two.
The Midrash states: Two who engage in Torah are better than one who studies on his own. Why? The next verse explains - "For if they fall, one will lift up his companion": if one forgets a halachah, his companion reminds him. Generally, two people will not err in the exact same way. If two of us study together and I fail to understand something, odds are you will understand it properly; and if you do not understand, odds are I will. It is rare for both to make the same mistake. Therefore, two studying together are always better, and when one forgets a halachah or fails to grasp something, his companion sets him right. This is why in yeshivot people study in chavrutot.
An experiment was once conducted: they took a group of young men who studied in yeshivah - not the prodigies or top students, but rather dropouts - and a group of high school students, and administered a test to them. They discovered that the yeshivah students scored better even on subjects they had never studied at all: questions of logic, trivia. When they analyzed why this was, they concluded: in yeshivah, a student is trained to grapple with material, to take a sugya and deconstruct it, striving to understand what is written. In high school, by contrast, the student is passive; he listens, perhaps, and tries to absorb what is said, but he does not actively engage his mind and critical faculties, nor does he break down the matter on his own. In yeshivah, quite the opposite, he is taught to delve deeply and comprehend independently, to take apart the sugya by his own intellectual exertion. And when two study partners sharpen one another, chavrusa study proves far more effective in bringing a person to a true and proper understanding.
וְאִם יִתְקְפוֹ הָאֶחָד הַשְּׁנַיִם יַעַמְדוּ נֶגְדּוֹ וְהַחוּט הַמְשֻׁלָּשׁ לֹא בִמְהֵרָה יִנָּתֵק׃ (יב) - And if one overpowers him, two can withstand him; and a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken. (12)
"And a three-stranded cord is not quickly broken" - the Midrash explains: this refers to when their rebbe is alongside them. If there was something they misunderstood, their rebbe corrects their error. When they are three - a chavrusa pair together with a rebbe - the three-stranded cord is not quickly severed.
"Two are better than one" applies to commerce as well. When a person is alone and stumbles, he is in dire straits. But when there are two, each helps the other: one brings a little money from here, and the second raises an investment from there. When several are involved, it is far easier to remain on one's feet. But the solitary individual collapses, falls, and there is no one to assist him, no second force to generate cash flow. Operating alone is vastly harder than running a company or having partners who hold shares. What are shares? They represent the collective strength of many people establishing an enterprise, the power of a collective developing innovations. When many are involved, capital can be raised, and if one falls, alternative sources of financing remain.
Rabbi Yochanan said: "Two are better" - this refers to a husband and wife; "than one" - where he remains by himself and she remains by herself. And who is the third strand in this three-stranded cord? The Holy One, blessed be He, Who blesses them with children. When the three-stranded cord is present, the Divine Name (Y-H) is there: not fire and fire (eish and eish), but the Yud of the ish and the Hei of the ishah, with the Holy One, blessed be He, binding everything together - and then it is not quickly broken. The marriage will endure over time, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will bless them with children.
One can also suggest homiletically: When, generally, do couples delay having children? When there is still no confidence in the relationship. Secular society does not rush to have children - "Let us first see how it holds up," and only after time passes, when they see that it somehow lasts, do they plan a family. But when two people enter marriage from the outset without any notion of "let us see how it holds up," but rather with a complete and wholehearted commitment to build a home, already after a year, baruch Hashem, there is a child. So too here: when the cord is three-stranded - meaning the Holy One, blessed be He, is there, and this is a union for the sake of Heaven to build a home faithful to Hashem - He immediately blesses them with children.
Rabbi Yochanan further said: "Two are better" - this refers to Amram and Yocheved; "for they have a good reward for their labor" - this refers to Moshe, who was called "good," as it is said, "And she saw him, that he was good." They merited a child who illuminated the entire world. And Rabbi Yehudah says: "Two are better" - this refers to David and Batsheva; "and the three-stranded cord" - this refers to Nasan the Prophet. For Nasan the Prophet said to Batsheva: Go in and speak with David, and I will enter after you, to tell David that someone is attempting to seize the kingship unlawfully. And when they came before David, he agreed with them and said: Take my son Shlomo, mount him upon the mule, and anoint Shlomo king.
יֵשׁ אֶחָד וְאֵין שֵׁנִי גַּם בֵּן וָאָח אֵין לוֹ וְאֵין קֵץ לְכָל עֲמָלוֹ גַּם עֵינוֹ לֹא תִשְׂבַּע עֹשֶׁר וּלְמִי אֲנִי עָמֵל וּמְחַסֵּר אֶת נַפְשִׁי מִטּוֹבָה גַּם זֶה הֶבֶל וְעִנְיַן רָע הוּא׃ (ח) - There is one alone, and he has not a second; he also has neither son nor brother, yet there is no end to all his labor, nor is his eye satisfied with riches: "For whom then do I labor and bereave my soul of goodness?" This too is vanity, and it is an evil task. (8)
The Imrei Shefer explains based on the principle he established earlier regarding the verse "There is one alone, and he has not a second": this refers to the self-absorbed individual who has no desire to establish a home, no wish to marry, and no intention of sharing what he has with another person - "Why do I need this, and what will it give me?" These are people who have made a deliberate decision to live alone. Scripture comes along and declares: Realize that many will be seduced into following this flawed mindset. King Shlomo therefore had to persuade and demonstrate just how utterly bankrupt this outlook is, a notion held only by the senseless.
He says: Look and see how much better two are than one in so many areas. You have chosen to live a life of solitude, not understanding the advantage of a life of two. First: they have a good reward for their toil - the reward of the fruit of the womb, in whom a person delights more than in all the pleasures of the world. And what reward is there for one who is childless and alone in the wilderness?
One might say this was true a century ago, but the tragedy of the modern generation is that among those who decided in advance not to build a home, part of their reasoning is that they do not want children at all. As far as they are concerned, children are merely a hassle, a burden, expenses, and endless demands; they do not view them as a good reward for their toil. But when does such a person realize his mistake? When he reaches the age of seventy. When he begins to grow old and suddenly finds himself all alone: no one beside him, no family, lonely on the holidays, with nobody around him. You did not want a wife, you did not want children - well, now you are left destitute and alone in the wilderness. In his youth, he wanted to party, and children disrupt the festivities; you cannot just do whatever enters your mind. But as he grows older, he begins to realize what he is missing. Look at the neighbor: a week ago, his son's wedding; a month ago, the brit of his daughter's son; moving constantly from one celebration to the next, a house filled with joy and jubilation, bustling with life on Shabbat and Yom Tov. Meanwhile, this man wanted comfort, he wanted the easy life - now let him reap what he sowed. That is why Shlomo must come and convince this person of how deeply mistaken he is in thinking it is better to remain alone without bringing others into his life.
There is a truly wonderful explanation in the sefer Eretz Chemdah. Eretz Chemdah consists of commentaries from the Malbim, though the printers also gathered and included additional commentaries from works that followed the Malbim's approach, one of which is the Chavot Yair. The Chavot Yair explains our verse based on what Chazal taught regarding "I will make him a helper opposite him" (ezer kenegdo): Chazal ask, is she a helper (ezer) or against him (kenegdo)? And they answer: if he merits, she is a helper; if he does not merit, she is against him.
The simple understanding is that if a person merits, his wife is a help, and if not, she opposes him. But seemingly the Torah writes "a helper opposite him," implying that the very help turns into opposition. If these were simply two separate possibilities, it would have been more fitting to say "a helper or opposite him," yet here it indicates that the very same thing is both a help and an opposition. Indeed, some explain regarding a wife that being "opposite him" is itself the help: often, when a wife opposes him, she enlightens and rebukes him. "Why are you idling? There is a shiur right now, go learn!" - this is opposing him, yet it is a great help. The same is true when she rebukes him in areas where he is not acting properly. But let us hear how the Chavot Yair explains it.
Man was created from four elements: fire, wind (air), water, and earth. Among them are opposing elements: fire is the opposite of the element of water. When we examine their manifestations in human behavior, the nature of fire is alacrity, like a burning fire that is constantly in motion and action, rising upward; whereas the nature of water is lethargy, flowing downward and seeking rest, always looking for a place to remain motionless, until it settles in the lowest place where it no longer needs to move.
The wise person uses both traits for the good. Through the nature of fire, he wakes up briskly in the morning for prayer, runs to kollel, runs to a Torah shiur, rushes to perform a mitzvah. They relate that once an ordinary Jew went to visit a patient in the hospital and saw Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach stepping out of the elevator. When he entered the patient's room, he remarked, "I see that Rav Shlomo Zalman visited you." The patient replied, "Yes, this is already the third time he has been here." The visitor said, "Look at that: I was still debating when exactly I would have time and when I could make it, and he has already managed to be here three times!" That is the trait of alacrity: he does not delay for a moment; a person is swift in the service of Hashem. That is fire, and it is truly wonderful.
And water represents lethargy. Yet there are places where lethargy is precisely what is needed: one must be sluggish when it comes to sins. When friends come to invite him to go somewhere inappropriate: "I don't have the energy right now, not now, maybe later." When it comes to frivolous matters, by all means, be sluggish!
Notice, however, that the wicked person also utilizes both forces, but in reverse. He harnesses fire to inflame himself toward sin, for sin is fire. This is why a person who toils in baking matzot achieves a spiritual rectification (tikkun), a rectification for moral blemishes and generally for sins. The holy Ari explains: the sweat a person sheds over a mitzvah expels the illicit heat with which he burned for a sin. For a sin, a person grows heated, and when he now sweats in spiritual rectification, that sweat itself rectifies it. But the wicked person directs his element of fire toward sin, and his element of water toward mitzvot: when told there is an opportunity for a mitzvah or an act of chesed, he says, "I don't have the energy"; when asked to donate, "I already gave." He is constantly seeking rest and inaction when it comes to mitzvot.
Now you can understand: when a person possesses these two opposite elements, if he is truly good and righteous, it is excellent that he has both, for he channels both toward mitzvot. But for the wicked, it would have been better to possess only one element, since he exploits both for sin: if he had only fire, well and good; if only water, well and good. But now that he has both fire and water, with fire fueling sin and water cooling his enthusiasm for mitzvot, having both elements ends up causing him far greater harm. This is the meaning of "I will make him a helper opposite him": if he merits, the two opposites - fire and water - both become a help to him; if he does not merit, both work against him, distancing him from keeping the Torah and mitzvot.
According to this, we can explain our verse: "Two are better than one" - it is good that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us two elements, for we can harness both for the good. Yet Shlomo immediately qualifies this: "because they have a good reward for their toil" - I am referring to those who channel these elements for good through their toil. In that case, it is truly good to have two elements. But if one were to use them for evil, it would be better to have only one, so as to minimize the damage. Once you possess the drive and desire to harness everything for good, then two are indeed better than one, and it is wonderful that you hold both elements, using both to fulfill the will of Hashem. In this way, "they have a good reward for their toil," when utilizing them in service of the Creator, blessed be He.
The Chavot Yair offers another explanation, based on Parashat Yitro. Our Sages teach that "I am the Lord your God" (Anochi) and "You shall have no other gods" (Lo yihyeh lecha) were heard directly from the Almighty. The holy Zohar likewise states: not only were "Keep" (Shamor) and "Remember" (Zachor) spoken in a single utterance, but "Anochi" and "Lo yihyeh lecha" were also spoken in a single utterance. And why were they spoken in a single utterance? To teach that just as one receives reward for active observance, so one receives reward for abstention. Just as you receive reward for a positive commandment, "I am the Lord your God," so you receive reward for "You shall have no other gods before Me," for the negative commandment that you refrain from transgressing. And even if one should argue, "What did I actually do? I was merely passive and did nothing" - he is told: for that "doing nothing" you receive reward as if you had actively performed a mitzvah, as the Gemara states regarding someone who had the opportunity to sin and abstained.
King David likewise says in Tehillim 119: "They have also done no iniquity; they have walked in His ways" - even if they merely did no iniquity, simply refraining from evil, it is already considered as walking in His ways. Even without actively doing good, the very fact that one did not commit iniquity is called walking in the path of Hashem. Therefore, the Holy One, Blessed be He, uttered this Himself, to teach us that they are equivalent: one who is careful and refrains from evil and one who does good are equal. Moshe could not have spoken this, for no human mouth can utter, nor can any human ear perceive, two statements in a single utterance; only the Holy One, Blessed be He, can do so. Therefore, He Himself proclaimed "Anochi" and "Lo yihyeh lecha," to establish this principle that both the performance of good and the abstention from evil are considered fulfilling a mitzvah, and reward is granted for both.
This is what Kohelet tells us here: "Two are better" - referring to the first two Commandments, Anochi and Lo yihyeh lecha; "than one" - because they came forth from the mouth of the One, the Holy One, Blessed be He; "because they have a good reward for their labor" - to teach that there is a good reward for labor, both when performing a mitzvah and when abstaining from sin, with reward given for both because they issued from the One. This aligns with what King David says in Tehillim 62: "God spoke once, twice have I heard this" - they were spoken in a single utterance, yet I heard two commandments, Anochi and Lo yihyeh lecha. And because this is a power belonging solely to God - "Ascribe strength to God." Why did Hashem do this? "Also to You, O Lord, belongs kindness, for You reward each man according to his work" - You reward the person who abstains from sin just as You reward the work of one who actively performs a mitzvah. He merely refrained, yet the Holy One, Blessed be He, credits him as though he had performed an active deed for the honor of the Creator, blessed be He.
Another explanation: The Midrash states that everything the Jewish people enjoy in this world is solely as a reward for faith (emunah). In other words, everything a person possesses in this world - health, life, livelihood, abundance, a spouse, children, a home - is given in reward for faith, in reward for our belief in Hashem.
The Rebbe Reb Heshel, author of Chanukat HaTorah - who was known for short yet razor-sharp insights, such that whenever one encounters a thought from Chanukat HaTorah, one should listen with rapt attention - asks: ostensibly, we must understand why the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not pay a person's reward in this world. After all, this seemingly contradicts what He wrote in His Torah: "The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you overnight until morning." Why does the Holy One, Blessed be He, withhold our wages until the World to Come?
The answer: We have a halachic principle that one who hires a worker through an agent does not transgress the prohibition of withholding wages (bal talin). If I instruct Reuven to hire a worker for me, and Reuven hires him, I do not transgress bal talin even if I do not pay him for a week, because he was hired through an agent. The Holy One, Blessed be He, gave us the Torah through Moshe; thus, He hired us through an agent, and therefore there is no violation of bal talin when He reserves the reward for the World to Come. However, this applies only to the other eight Commandments. The first two Commandments, Anochi and Lo yihyeh lecha, we heard directly from the Almighty; the Holy One, Blessed be He, hired us for them Himself, as it were. Consequently, He pays that reward here in this world. This is why Chazal say: everything the Jewish people enjoy in this world is solely as a reward for faith - the commandments of Anochi and Lo yihyeh lecha.
According to this, this is the meaning of what is written here: "Two are better" - the first two Commandments, which we heard "from the One," directly from the Holy One, Blessed be He; "because they have a good reward for their labor" - through them we receive good reward here in this world, because these two Commandments were spoken directly by the Almighty and constitute the commandments of faith, and in reward for faith man sustains his life in this world. The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious.
כִּי אִם יִפֹּלוּ הָאֶחָד יָקִים אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ וְאִילוֹ הָאֶחָד שֶׁיִּפּוֹל וְאֵין שֵׁנִי לַהֲקִימוֹ׃ (י) - For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.
The Targum explains: if one of them falls ill in bed with a serious sickness, the other will raise his companion through prayer. As we have seen, the Targum refers to two righteous individuals in a generation whose virtue lies in supporting one another. If one falls ill, the other prays for him. But if a tzaddik is alone in his generation, when he takes to his bed and falls sick, there is no second to raise him up; he has no companion to pray for him and in whose merit he might recover from his illness.
The Pesikta Zutreta explains: "For if they fall" - whether one suffers a financial loss in business, as discussed earlier, or falls into illness, when there are two, one lifts up the other. Notice the wording: "Ve'ilo ha'echad sheyipol" - in ancient texts, ve'ilo was not written as a single word, but as two distinct words: ve-i lo, similar to "Woe to you, O land" (i lach eretz), expressing "woe to him." It is as though it reads: woe to the one who falls and has no second to lift him up - woe to the one who falls when he has no one to assist him. And so it is with wayfarers on the road: two are better than one.
Rashi first brings the literal meaning of the words, and adds an explanation regarding study: two people learning together in a chavruta, if his learning slips away from him - meaning he forgot what he learned - his companion restores it to him. "Don't you remember, we discussed such and such" - "Right, good that you reminded me." Or if he falters and was not precise in what he heard from his teacher, his study partner comes and sets him straight on the truth. Today we have books and we do not feel this difficulty so acutely, but in their time everything was learned orally, and when one did not remember exactly what a certain sage said, his companion reminded him; and when he stated matters inaccurately and was liable to fall into error, his companion set him straight on the precise wording and steered him away from mistake. And this is "woe to him" - woe to one who has no one to help him and must manage everything on his own.
The Imrei Shefer continues and explains that this verse is also directed against those who choose a life of solitude. "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow" - when a man falls ill, his wife risks everything to raise him up. How clearly we see this in reality: the one who truly helps a person when he is sick and when he grows old is his wife; and the one who helps a woman is her husband. The children, the siblings, the parents, even if they are alive, their involvement is very minor. The one who truly cares, running from hospital to hospital, nursing him in his illness, and never leaving his bedside, is the spouse, who will give their all to raise each other up from their sickness. "For his loved ones and friends stand aloof from his plague" - they might come to visit, but they stand aloof; the one who is truly with him is his wife, or her husband.
The Dubno Maggid asks: Why is it written "if they fall" in the plural? After all, we are speaking of "two are better," so it should have said, "if one falls, the other will lift up his fellow." Why are both seemingly falling?
He explains this based on the verse in Mishlei: "The soul of the wicked desires evil; his fellow finds no favor in his eyes." Even though the wicked person does evil, when he sees his fellow doing that exact same evil, he despises him for it. And this is an astonishing thing: you see a person who himself acts dishonestly, steals, yet when he sees someone else, he exclaims, "Look what a thief that man is!" - and you, what did you do yesterday, or even this morning? A person, even if he is wicked himself, is extremely critical of another's wickedness.
And the advantage of this is that sometimes, specifically through this, he will come to correct himself. For he does not see his own flaw: "What, he did that to me, shouldn't I have taken it from him? He doesn't need it anyway, he threw one out just like it yesterday" - the wicked always have excuses. But when he sees someone else doing it, he views the matter from the outside, detached from it, and then looks at his own actions as well: Did you see how terrible that looks? And through this, he corrects himself.
And this is what Shlomo says here: "If they fall" - each of the two falls into a different bad character trait. One speaks lashon hara, and the other misappropriates his fellow's money. Two people, each possessing a flaw and a deficiency. One sees his fellow's flaw and withdraws, being careful not to act that way, and the other sees his fellow's flaw and withdraws, being careful not to act that way, so both end up corrected. But "woe to him that is alone when he falls" - if an individual falls into the trap of bad character traits, who will correct him? Whom does he see from whom he can learn not to act that way? When there are two, I see your bad deeds and understand how terrible they are and distance myself, and you see my deeds and distance yourself, and both of us are rectified. But when I am alone with my bad deeds - whom have I seen in order to correct my ways? I saw no one from whom to take a lesson of mussar for myself.
"Two are better than one" applies on every plane of life: two tzaddikim leading a generation, two business partners, two chavruta partners, a husband and wife - and in all of them, the three-stranded cord, whether it is the rebbe or the Holy One, Blessed is He, is what prevents the bond from snapping. The power of two is greater than one plus one, and therefore those who choose a life of solitude are mistaken, only discovering their ruin in old age. And in the inner dimension of things: the two elements within man, fire and water, are good when he utilizes both in the service of Hashem - "for they have a good reward for their labor"; and the two commandments that came forth "from the One," "I am" and "You shall have no other," teach that there is reward for positive action as well as for restraint, and in the merit of this faith we enjoy fruit in this world. And finally, even in falling there is rectification: "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow" - one raises the other physically, financially, through his prayers, and even by drawing a lesson of mussar from his fellow's fall.