Chapter 6 of Kohelet opens with a description of an "evil" - not a rare evil, but one that is common and widespread among mankind. The main thrust of the chapter, and certainly its first section, deals with the subject of wealth: a person whom the Holy One, blessed be He, has granted riches, yet who does not know how to use them for the purpose for which they were given. We will follow the order of the verses and examine the teachings of the Midrash, Rashi, the Alshich, Imrei Shefer, and Targum Yonatan.
יֵשׁ רָעָה אֲשֶׁר רָאִיתִי תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ וְרַבָּה הִיא עַל־הָאָדָם׃ - There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind.
The Midrash expounds: "There is an evil that I have seen under the sun" - this refers to the schemes of swindlers in their deceit. That is, all the cunning tricks and manipulations that cheats devise. The Midrash lists examples: one who mixes water into wine, baliki water into oil, donkey's milk into balsam sap, gum into myrrh, red dye (sikra) into brine, coriander into peppercorns, vine leaves into pileyon, and a scale-beam that is long on one side and short on the other.
Let us explain these examples. Mixing water into wine - selling you a larger volume of "wine," but in reality selling you water at the price of wine. Baliki water in oil - an oily liquid that resembled oil called mei baliki; one cannot mix plain water into oil since the oil immediately floats, so they would mix in another substance that blends seamlessly into it. Donkey's milk in balsam sap and gum in myrrh - types of fragrances that were adulterated with cheaper substitutes. Red dye in brine - sikra is a red dye similar in hue to fish brine, and they would blend it into the brine. Coriander in peppercorns - blending cheap coriander with expensive dried peppercorns. Vine leaves in pileyon - blending vine leaves into more expensive leaves to inflate profits.
"A scale-beam that is long on one side and short on the other" - this is a different type of fraud. When the beam of the balance scale is longer on one side and shorter on the other, an imbalance is created: the longer the arm, the less weight is needed to tilt it downward, and the shorter the arm, the greater the weight required to raise it. The swindler places the customer's merchandise on the longer arm, and thus the customer receives less than what is due to him, even as he sees a one-kilogram weight on the other side and is convinced he received a kilogram - completely unaware that one side of the beam is slightly longer.
The Gemara cites another example of the ingenuity found in their times: they would craft a hollow scale-beam and place an iron ball inside it - say, weighing one hundred grams. In the middle of the beam was a small groove, and the ball rested inside it out of sight. When the seller placed the goods on the right side, he would tap the beam lightly, causing the ball to roll to the right side and weigh it down; thus, the scale showed a kilogram when there were only nine hundred grams of merchandise. Afterward, when removing the goods, he would level the beam and the ball would return to its central resting place - for had it remained permanently on the right, the fraud would have been detected - and the scales appeared perfectly balanced.
Concerning these matters, Rabbi Meir said: "Woe to me if I speak, woe to me if I do not speak." Woe to me if I speak - lest I give ideas to swindlers, who might say: "We never thought of that." And woe to me if I do not speak - lest the swindlers say, "Torah scholars are unfamiliar with our practices," and continue unabated in their deceit. There is a consideration on each side. Concerning all of this it is said: "There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind."
Today such specific contrivances might be absent, but the methods have simply evolved. Instead of diluting merchandise with foreign substances - not that this never happens, but sellers generally take fewer risks with it - they simply downsize the package without clear disclosure. You purchase a "kilogram" of laundry detergent, the price remains unchanged, but instead of a kilogram there are only nine hundred and thirty grams. Moreover, they often specify quantities that are difficult to compare across products. That is why governments must step in with regulations: mandating that if a package is downsized, it must be labeled "reduced package" for a certain period, and requiring the unit price per one hundred grams to be displayed - so that one does not need a degree in mathematics just to compare products. All of this stems from the various deceivers - an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily upon mankind.
What is "and it is prevalent among men"? Rashi explains: it is common to many people. That is to say, this is not a rare evil, but a widespread one.
The Alshich explains that the chapter is dealing with wealth - wealth attained through merit, where Hashem granted a person the merit to be rich. However, instead of using the money for its intended purpose, to support the poor and give tzedakah, he uses it for something else. For the Holy One, blessed be He, gives a wealthy person great riches so that he may give the poor person his portion, and through this the wealthy person will merit eternal life in the World to Come; for his money is essentially the poor person's money. "If you lend money to My people, to the poor person with you" - the holy Ohr HaChaim says: what belongs to the poor person is "with you" - I have deposited it with you.
The Alshich says: they do not do so, but rather their entire ambition is to enrich their children after them and leave them vast estates, yet they give no tzedakah. This is comparable to a person who starves himself to death in order to feed a stranger: if you had given from this money to tzedakah, you would have been feeding yourself for all eternity, "and your righteousness shall go before you"; but instead you leave everything to your children after you - resulting in you starving yourself just to give to another. This is what King Solomon himself said: "Do not weary yourself to gain wealth." And this is what King Monobaz said: "My ancestors stored up treasures for others, but I have stored up treasures for myself" - meaning, I used my wealth for tzedakah, whereas my ancestors saved money for someone else.
And this is the precise nuance of the verse: "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun." That which is above the sun is good - if we look at what Hashem gave him, He gave him not evil, but good: wealth with which to perform tzedakah. The problem begins "under the sun": what did you do down here with the money you were given? That is where the evil lies. And regarding this: an evil that is prevalent among men, which is practiced by so many people.
We have already mentioned the words of the author of the Pele Yoetz, that when a person writes a will, if he has seven sons - he should divide his estate into eight (assuming there is no firstborn). And why into eight? He should say to them: I, too, deserve at least an ordinary share like one of you. What will you do with the money, take it to the grave? There are yeshivot, there are kollelim, there is Midreshet Beit Eliyahu, there are plenty of places to give to, "and your righteousness shall go before you." If I am not taking everything for myself, at least let me take an equal share like a son among the sons - and this portion will stand to my merit for life in the World to Come.
The Imrei Shefer explains that here Solomon comes to show that human toil and wealth are vanity, saying: come and see, there are two kinds of wealthy people. There are wealthy people whose wealth brings them harm - bandits and tyrants come and rob them. And there are wealthy people whose wealth turns to loss because of their own mistakes, financial blunders, and in the end nothing comes of their wealth but disappointment and heartbreak. And this is "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is prevalent among men" - and what is an example of this? In the following verse.
אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִתֶּן־לוֹ הָאֱלֹהִים עֹשֶׁר וּנְכָסִים וְכָבוֹד וְאֵינֶנּוּ חָסֵר לְנַפְשׁוֹ מִכֹּל אֲשֶׁר־יִתְאַוֶּה וְלֹא־יַשְׁלִיטֶנּוּ הָאֱלֹהִים לֶאֱכֹל מִמֶּנּוּ כִּי אִישׁ נָכְרִי יֹאכְלֶנּוּ זֶה הֶבֶל וָחֳלִי רָע הוּא׃ - A man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all that he desires, yet God does not empower him to consume it, but a stranger consumes it - this is vanity, and it is a grievous ill.
"So that he lacks nothing for himself of all that he desires" - whatever he wants and whatever he aspires to, he can purchase and acquire for himself. "Yet God does not empower him to consume it" - what is this "consuming"? The Pesikta Zutrata explains: this refers to giving tzedakah from it. For had he given tzedakah from it, he would have consumed it and enjoyed it for all eternity; but "He does not empower him" - he is incapable of giving tzedakah.
A story is told of a wealthy man who came to the Chofetz Chaim asking for a blessing to become rich, promising that he would give tzedakah. The Rav blessed him, and two years later he returned and said, "Baruch Hashem, the blessing was fulfilled, but I cannot give. I am simply incapable of opening my hand, my pocket, and my heart." The Chofetz Chaim said to him, "My brother, what did you think? That they would give you the wealth of a rich man while leaving you with the yetzer hara of a poor man? If you received the money of a rich man, you also received the yetzer hara of a rich man. And what is the rich man's yetzer hara? To clench his hand, his heart, and his pocket, and not to give. That is his test, for he was given wealth."
And this is what it means: God gives him riches, wealth, and honor, and his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires - but God does not give him the power to eat from it for all eternity, because he does nothing with his money and does not give it to the poor, for whose sake it was truly given to him. And who will ultimately consume it? "For a stranger shall eat it" - a stranger into whose hands the assets will fall, and that person will not acquire eternal life with them. "This is vanity and an evil disease" - people do not pay attention to this, but it is an evil illness that is difficult to escape.
Rashi explains that according to the simple meaning, "riches and wealth" is literal: the Holy One, blessed be He, gave a person riches and wealth, "yet God does not give him the power to eat from it" - meaning He did not grant him the ability to be satisfied with his lot. He has no peace of mind or contentment with his wealth. He has money, but derives no enjoyment from it. How is this expressed? He is constantly striving to increase his wealth and is always looking for ways to make more. Had he found contentment, he would have said, "Here, Baruch Hashem I have enough, so why should I wear myself out? 'Do not weary yourself to gain wealth' - I already have enough for all my days and for my children after me." But he continues to toil, and in the words of Chavakuk: "He will die and not be satisfied" - even when he dies and departs from this world, he will still not be satisfied.
Rashi further cites from the Midrash that "does not give him the power" refers to the World to Come: since he did not use that money for tzedakah, in the future to come God will also not give him the power to enjoy its fruits - thus, he did not even acquire eternity with this money.
Rashi brings another Midrash, explaining that the verse speaks of words of Torah: "riches, wealth, and honor" - he has Mikra (Scripture), he has Mishnah, he has Aggadah. "Yet God does not give him the power to eat from it" - for he did not merit to acquire Gemara. For what explains the Torah, the Mishnah, and the Aggadah is the Gemara. One who has not studied Gemara may have reached the primary texts, but he cannot derive practical Halachah from them, and he may even arrive at grave errors.
Once, a man walked into a watermelon patch and began gathering watermelons and filling his car. People asked him, "What are you doing?" He told them, "It is permitted, it is an explicit verse - 'When you enter your neighbor's vineyard... you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put any into your vessel.'" Now, he was already putting them into a vessel, his car, which is certainly forbidden - but would it even be permitted to eat them there on the spot? Only a Karaite would think such a thing, for Chazal explain that Scripture is speaking of a hired laborer: the employer may not prevent the worker from eating, and even then not in all circumstances, but depending on the specific type of labor he performs. It certainly does not refer to an ordinary passerby walking into his neighbor's field and sitting down to eat. It is written, yes - but one must understand what is written.
The same applies to the laws of Niddah: "and she shall be impure seven days" - for a male child one week, for a female child two weeks, an explicit verse. But what is the Halachah when a woman sees a drop of blood? The daughters of Israel took upon themselves the stringency to count seven clean days even for a drop of blood the size of a mustard seed. One might say: In the Torah it is written that the law of a niddah is seven days and then she immerses, without a hefsek taharah and without seven clean days! True, but the Gemara explains that nowadays all women are under suspicion of being a zavah - and one who has not studied Gemara and reads only verses will arrive at severe errors.
Therefore, "yet God does not give him the power to eat from it" - he cannot derive practical Halachah from what he has learned, and he derives no genuine benefit in any matter of Halachah. "Rather, a stranger shall eat it" - another person, who did study the Gemara, is the one who will benefit from what was learned. And "stranger" here means someone outside of him, someone foreign to him.
The Imrei Shefer explains "a stranger shall eat it": robbers may fall upon him and plunder all the fruit of his labor - the person toils, and everything falls into the hands of another; or he may lose his wealth, be forced to sell his property, and be left destitute and with nothing. It turns out that all his toil and exhaustion to become rich is vanity and an evil disease, and brought him nothing but grief.
Yet despite all this, there is an even worse situation: where a person brings the misfortune upon himself. For in our case, he cannot be blamed - bandits robbed him, or he lost his wealth through business ventures that collapsed. "A sick person is not blamed for lying upon his bed" - what claim can be made against him? He conducted his business properly, but fortunes rise and fall, and he fell. The more severe case will appear in the following verse.
Before that, let us mention the words of Targum Yonatan - people often quote this in the name of Rabbeinu Bachya, but Targum Yonatan already preceded him with this explanation. What is meant by "a stranger shall consume it"? His wife's husband. The man passes away from this world, a stranger comes along and marries his wife, and all the assets fall into his lap like ripe fruit. He might even say: 'All credit to your late husband, peace be upon him, how hard he worked, well done!' Thus, his wife goes and marries a stranger, and it is he who consumes his wealth.
And what is "and it is an evil disease"? Targum Yonatan explains: these are his sins. They are what caused a stranger to consume it. There was a sickness in him - the illness of sins - and that is what caused a stranger to consume everything he had toiled for.