Chapter 10 of Kohelet deals with the relationship between wisdom and folly, and especially with the question of authority and rule: how a person who has attained rank and position should conduct himself, and how one subject to another's rule should act. The two verses we will discuss here - "If the spirit of the ruler rises against you" and "like an error proceeding from the ruler" - are two facets of the same matter: the immense power of one who holds authority, and the duty of humility and caution incumbent both upon him and upon those under his command.
אִם־רוּחַ הַמּוֹשֵׁל תַּעֲלֶה עָלֶיךָ מְקוֹמְךָ אַל־תַּנַּח כִּי מַרְפֵּא יַנִּיחַ חֲטָאִים גְּדוֹלִים׃ - If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not abandon your place, for healing pacifies great sins.
The Pesikta Zutreta explains: If authority has come upon you from Heaven - you have received rank, status, or a position of leadership - "do not abandon your place," meaning do not abandon your humility. And so the Midrash teaches: just as you find with King David, who said, "Hear me, my brethren and my people." He was a king, yet he called them "my people and my brethren" - not acting with lordliness and self-importance.
And not as Zechariah son of Jehoiada the Kohen did, of whom it is written, "And he stood above the people" - displaying himself in a manner of dominance and haughtiness, seeing himself superior to everyone, for he was a kohen, a prophet, and a judge. He began reproaching them disparagingly: "Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord?" Immediately, "they conspired against him and stoned him with stones." And Zechariah's blood boiled in the Temple courtyard until Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, arrived. He possessed high standing and held authority, and he permitted himself to degrade them with words - and see the tragic result.
This is the meaning of "for healing pacifies great sins": one who approaches others with humility pacifies and averts sin and transgression. The people of Israel killed Zechariah, which was a grievous iniquity; had he acted with humility, he would have spared them this grave sin. Furthermore, "marpe" (healing) can be understood to mean that had he rebuked them with modesty and meekness, the rebuke would have served as healing, removing a great sin from them. But since he rebuked them with pride and humiliated them, not only did he fail to bring healing, but he caused them to add a great sin - stoning him - an iniquity that ultimately brought about the slaughter of many souls by Nebuzaradan.
Another interpretation: "If the spirit of the ruler rises against you" - if the ruler becomes angry with you, "do not abandon your place," but cast your supplications before him. Here, "marpe" is not an expression of healing, but of laxity or delay: if you slacken and do not hasten to appease and pacify him, this will place "great sins" upon you, causing you to suffer harm at his hand.
And some explain it in the exact opposite manner, in terms of waiting until he calms down - in accord with the Tanna's teaching in Avot: "Do not appease your fellow at the time of his anger." That is to say: if you hold back now and do not rush to appease him, but rather let him cool off and only then go to pacify him, then "it will set aside great sins" - he will be prepared to pardon you even for great misdeeds you have committed.
Rashi explains that the ruler here is the Ruler of the World, and "rises against you" means that He scrutinizes you strictly with the attribute of justice. "Do not abandon your place" - do not abandon your good character and righteous path, lest you say: "Behold, Hashem is scrutinizing me so strictly, what benefit is there in being righteous? In any case, sin and fault will be found in me." To this, the verse replies, "for healing" - the strict judgments and afflictions that come upon you are a healing for you, and they "set aside great sins," cleansing and purifying you from major transgressions. There is a profound moral lesson here: when you see that the spirit of the Ruler, the Holy One, blessed be He, rises against you in judgment and suffering, know that this is a medicine that removes great sins from you.
Rashi further cites from the Midrash: Scripture is speaking of Noach, Yehoshua, David, and Mordechai - to demonstrate how a great person remains submissive before the Holy One, blessed is He. Noach entered the Ark with permission and exited with permission; he did not say, "Now I am independent." Yehoshua led Israel across the Jordan with permission and came up from it with permission. Regarding David - before he reigned, it is written, "and David was the youngest," and when he reigned, it is written, "Then King David stood up upon his feet." And concerning Mordechai - before greatness came upon him, it is written, "and Mordechai sat in the king's gate," and when greatness came upon him, it is written, "And Mordechai returned to the king's gate": after they led him riding on the horse and proclaimed before him, "Thus shall be done to the man," an honor and glory second to none, it would have been fitting for him to sit on a throne in an honored place - yet by no means; he returned to his place to sit at the king's gate. Observe and see how these great figures, despite all the greatness Hashem bestowed upon them, conducted themselves with profound humility.
And the most exceptional example is King David. The Midrash states: There was no person in Israel who demeaned himself for the sake of the mitzvot more than David. David said before the Holy One, blessed is He: My heart was not haughty when Shmuel anointed me as king, nor were my eyes lofty when I struck down Goliath - even though they gave him great honor and sang, "Shaul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." One could also explain that "nor were my eyes lofty" is akin to what was said of Yosef, that when "the daughters stepped over the wall" he did not lift his eyes to gaze upon them, even though each one tried to draw his attention; here too, when the celebrating women sang, David did not lift his eyes to look at them - in addition to the fact that he did not conduct himself with pride.
David further adds: "Nor did I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too wonderful for me" - when they restored me to my kingship, and "in things too wonderful for me" when I brought up the Ark; "surely I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother." Just as an infant is not ashamed to be uncovered before its mother, so too I stilled my soul before You, for I was not ashamed to demean myself before Your honor - when David was leaping and dancing, and Michal rebuked and even humiliated him. "Like this infant who emerged from its mother's womb and possesses no arrogance" - so was my soul within me, for I am not ashamed to learn Torah even from the least among Israel; I will accept the truth from whoever speaks it.
Rabbi Acha said: The Holy One, blessed is He, said to him: You likened yourself to a weaned child, an infant - by your life, just as this infant has no sins, so too you have no sins, as it is said, "Hashem also has put away your sin; you shall not die." In the merit of his humility, he was granted forgiveness of sins. From here you learn that a person is not permitted to act with pride before the Omnipresent; rather, one must be willing to demean himself for His honor.
The holy Alshich explains: "If the spirit of the ruler rises up against you" - if the desire for rule and authority awakens within you and you wish to pursue it, "leave not your place": abandon this notion, do not pursue it, and do not seek it. Why? Because the lowly station you currently occupy does not lead you to great sins, whereas the authority you aspire to can lead you to great sins - and not only deliberately or inadvertently, but even unwittingly you might cause immense damage.
He illustrates this with a parable: A ruler happened to mention the word "sword" in passing. His servants heard it and assumed he had decreed to execute the person standing before him with the sword, so they suddenly fell upon him and killed him. It turned out that bloodshed came about through the ruler from something he never intended at all. And so it is in every generation: every wrong decision made by a ruler can cost many lives. During the days of the COVID-19 pandemic - may such trouble not arise a second time - every misguided decision could have resulted in a hundred deaths or more, and in many sick people bearing complications years later whom no one counts. Britain adopted a misguided policy of "herd immunity," which turned out to be the herd's destruction, until the Prime Minister there nearly died from the illness himself, and only then did they change policy.
And this is in our times, when the power of rulers is limited. What can one say of times when a megalomaniacal ruler decides out of madness to lead his nation into an eight-year war, with so much bloodshed, and then provoke a superpower, so that until today they pay the price in a torn and divided land. And this is not to mention the greatest murderers in history, to whose account tens of millions of dead are attributed, but even those of lesser magnitude: see how governance can lead a person to great sins that a commoner, an ordinary person, would never come near. Therefore, his counsel is: "Leave not your place" - remain in your humble station, do not elevate yourself, and do not seek power, "for yielding" - if you let go of this ambition, "allays great offenses" - great sins will be laid to rest and averted from you.
The Vilna Gaon teaches a profound moral lesson here. Many times the Holy One, blessed is He, tests a person and he stumbles, and then he enters a crisis: "I am worth nothing; I thought I was a servant of Hashem, and look how I fell." From this brokenness, he abandons everything - and that is precisely what the yetzer hara wants. More important to the yetzer hara than the specific failure is the great collapse that follows, where the person throws everything away; in this way, it has accomplished its work in a single moment, without needing the effort of "today tell him do this, and tomorrow do that."
Regarding this, the Vilna Gaon explains the verse in Mishlei, "When you sit to dine with a ruler" - who is the ruler over man? The yetzer hara. And as it says in our verse in Kohelet: "If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not abandon your place" - do not forsake your previous standing, do not fall from your spiritual level, hold fast to your good path as before. And then, "for healing" - this will serve as a remedy for you, and "lays to rest great sins." But if the spirit of the ruler rises against you and you abandon your place, you will come to great sins and major failures. Say instead: I stumbled, but that is no reason to throw everything away; rather, it is a reason to do some soul-searching as to why I stumbled, to strengthen myself and strive harder - and through this, even the stumble itself will find its healing.
The Imrei Shefer follows Rashi's approach: "If the spirit of the ruler rises against you" - meaning you face suffering; "do not abandon your place" - do not say, "As He did to me, so will I do to Him: I serve Hashem and this is how He treats me, so I too will abandon Him." There were those who cast off the yoke after the Holocaust and in other painful situations. Do not say: I will leave the place Hashem demarcated for me and commanded me not to turn aside from His path, and I will follow the stubborn inclinations of my heart and eyes; for why should I remain wholehearted with Him when He walks with me with hostile casualness?
And "healing" (marpe) here is an expression of yielding and softening (rifyon). There is a stubborn person who refuses to accept reproof, called hard-hearted or stiff-necked, like "Pharaoh's heart was hardened" - his heart is hard and reproof cannot penetrate it. In contrast, one who is "soft-hearted" is someone moved by rebuke, whose heart is pliable and receptive. This is the meaning of "for yielding": if you soften your heart and do not harden it, it will remove great sins from you along with the punishments that cause your suffering. But if you treat Him with casual indifference, He will walk with you with hostile casualness - if you harden your heart, the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring upon you harsher and greater afflictions.
In the book Tenufah LeChaim, cited by the Me'am Lo'ez, the author applies this to a very practical matter. He explains: if you live in a city and a great Torah scholar arrives and exercises authority over you, do not leave your place on account of that. And why? Because the very fact that you yield and bear his wrath "lays to rest great sins," for anyone who overlooks insults and foregoes his rights has all his transgressions overlooked. If a rabbi, principal, or rosh yeshivah arrives and you must lower your head, that itself removes great sins from you.
From here to practical contemporary life: do not be like those people who leave one shul for another because they were offended by the gabbai or the treasurer - one made a comment to him, another gave him a rebuke, and he packs up and leaves. And someone who wanders from city to city because of the rabbi or the community leader ends up wandering, exiled, and tossed from place to place. Therefore Kohelet comes to warn: do not abandon your place.
Likewise, this contains a warning for students: if your rebbi or someone far greater than you in wisdom hurls harsh words at you or rebukes you, do not abandon your place; do not stop learning from him. Rather, sit back down in your place as before. Do not be like those students who, the moment they hear a sharp word from the rebbi, abandon him and walk out - "The rebbi yelled at me, the rebbi embarrassed me" - and walk away from everything. "For healing lays to rest great sins": what you are undergoing right now is your remedy, and it is what removes great sins from you.
Rav Shalom Schwadron related about himself that the one who straightened him out was Rav Leib Chasman. Once, he served as the shaliach tzibbur for Minchah - and he was a renowned ba'al tefillah, even for the Yamim Noraim - and he saw that the sun had already set. Even though it is customary to recite Tachanun within thirteen and a half minutes after sunset, he said "Yehi Shem" instead of Tachanun. At the conclusion of the prayer, Rav Leib Chasman called him over and announced before everyone: We have a new rosh yeshivah here; he decides halachic rulings here. There are no roshei yeshivah, no mashgichim, no ramim - he decides that Tachanun is not recited! Rav Shalom said: I went to him afterward and took off my shoes like a rebuked student, and for that I received yet another reprimand. And he concluded: That straightened me out; I knew my place and I learned.
And consider: he arrived as the grandson of the Maharsham of Berzhan, who was the greatest of the generation among the Chassidim, much like Rav Moshe Feinstein was in the last generation - the posek hador consulted on every matter; and Rav Shalom had even edited his grandfather's writings. The Chassidim viewed him as the grandson of the gadol hador, which earned him immense prestige. Yet despite all this, the one who put him in his place was Rav Leib Chasman. This is "do not abandon your place": you received a reprimand - it straightens you out, and it removes great sins from you.
And if you should say: "He was mistaken! His criticism of me was unjustified, he suspected me without cause" - if he belittled you needlessly, it brings atonement for your sins, and the Holy One, blessed be He, forgives a third of your sins. And the Gemara mentions regarding the Sages that each testified to how much he "took" from his master, how much rebuke he received, and how much he was embarrassed - yet he remained tenaciously attached. One who reaches a point where he is willing to accept this, so long as he acquires Torah - he is the one who will truly merit Torah attainments.
All this is from the student's perspective. But from the teacher's side, great wisdom is required today, because this generation is extremely sensitive. In the past, it might have taken a slap for someone to feel hurt, but today everything is "touch" - merely brushing a finger against him and he is already hurt. Much of the blame lies with parents, who raise their children with silk gloves: "This is too hard for him," "He cannot manage this," "Don't hurt his feelings," "Don't overburden him." They raise frail, pampered children. Instead of understanding that life makes demands and requires effort, the child understands that everything is done for him and wrapped around him - and so they raise a child without a backbone. Then, a single minor remark is enough to make him leave, take offense, and wait for the rebbe to come apologize to him.
Therefore, great wisdom is demanded of the teacher: how not to insult students and how not to speak to them in a hurtful manner, for this is not the generation of old. In the past, there was even physical punishment; a melamed in a Talmud Torah once related that he knew a boy who came in long clothes even in the summer, because of the blows he had absorbed. Heaven forbid that this should be justified - certainly that is neither the proper path nor true chinuch, neither then nor today. But in the past, they had thick skin and resilience, whereas today the slightest word wounds a student, to say nothing of raising a hand.
Therefore, one must always act with discretion and wisdom, distinguishing between one child and another. There are children who are sensitive and have great self-respect, and there are those from whom one can demand and expect more - "Educate the child according to his way." What the verse teaches here is the perspective of the student, but the teacher's perspective must be to lead them gently, not harshly. Moshe Rabbeinu said just once, "Hear now, you rebels," and some say that this was the sin at the Waters of Meribah: he called Israel by a derogatory term - "rebels" - and the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "You shall not bring this assembly." One sees how severe the matter is and how cautious one must be when dealing with students.
יֵשׁ רָעָה רָאִיתִי תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ כִּשְׁגָגָה שֶׁיֹּצָא מִלִּפְנֵי הַשַּׁלִּיט׃ - There is an evil I have seen under the sun, like an error that proceeds from the ruler.
One of the evil things seen under the sun - meaning something one must be exceedingly cautious about - is an error that proceeds from a ruler. The Pesikta Zutreta cites the case of Yaakov Avinu, who said to Lavan, "With whomever you find your gods, he shall not live" - and so it happened. Lavan did not find them, yet because the words left Yaakov's mouth, Rachel died on the way. Yaakov is the ruler, dominating through the Divine will, and when a word leaves his mouth, it exerts influence and decides reality, and the consequences were dire.
And so Chazal said: A person should never open his mouth to the Satan - lest it be like an error proceeding from a ruler, where one utters an ill word and brings evil upon himself. Therefore, Chazal were extremely careful not to say anything negative about themselves, even in passing. You never find someone saying, "and I was almost killed," but rather, "that man almost died" - referring to someone else rather than himself. Similarly, regarding Pharaoh's words, "and fight against us, and go up from the land," where he really meant to say, "and we will be driven up from the land," but did not wish to utter something negative about themselves.
This custom was common in Yemen, and in earlier times among everyone: when they wished to quote a verse that contained a negative matter, they would alter it. For example, "Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven to you until you die" - one reciting this in a public derashah would not say "to you" and "until you die," but rather "to them" and "until they die," so that it would not sound as if he were pronouncing something negative upon his listeners. To such an extent were they careful not to open a mouth to the Satan, for words have power, and as it were, the Satan waits for the word to leave the mouth, snatches it, and carries out its effect.
Rashi explains: "Like an error that proceeds from the ruler" - this is comparable to a ruler who mistakenly let an erroneous decree slip from his lips, and it cannot be retracted. So too, whatever the Holy One, blessed be He, utters cannot be revoked; as it were, it has left His mouth, and the decree is sealed.
The Midrash brings another example: this refers to Eli HaKohen speaking to Shmuel. When Shmuel received his first prophecy, each time he ran to Eli asking, "Did you call me?" until Eli realized it was prophecy, as Shmuel was not yet accustomed to prophecy. He told him: The next time you hear "Shmuel, Shmuel," say, "Speak, Hashem, for Your servant is listening." The Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to him in Eli's voice so as not to frighten him; yet Shmuel said only, "Speak, for Your servant is listening," omitting the Divine Name, lest it be a demon and he would have uttered Heaven's Name in vain. Hashem then revealed Himself to him and said that He was bringing great calamity upon the house of Eli, because Eli had not rebuked his sons or reproached them for their deeds regarding the sacrificial meat.
The following morning, Eli asked Shemuel: "What was the word that He spoke to you? Please do not conceal it from me; so may God do to you and even more if you conceal from me anything of all the words that He spoke to you." In most places, such phrasing implies that he made an undefined threat without specifying what it was. But Chazal explain that he actually did specify it, by way of an allusion: Just as it has happened to me, so may Hashem do to you. And what has happened to me? That my sons will not inherit my position. So it shall be with you, that your sons will not inherit your position, if you do not reveal it to me. And since a curse of a wise sage is fulfilled even when made conditionally, that is ultimately what happened - Shemuel's sons did not walk in his ways and turned aside after illicit gain. This is an error that proceeds from the ruler: it left his mouth - and the thing was fulfilled.
In Moed Katan 18a, it is related that Shemuel came to visit his brother Pinchas who was sitting shiva, and saw that his fingernails were long. Shemuel held that it is permitted to cut fingernails during the shiva period, and asked him why he did not cut them. His brother said to him: "And if it were me, would you treat it with such disregard?" - meaning, if you were the mourner, would you treat it so lightly? That is to say: if a relative of yours had died. The Gemara says: It was like an error that proceeds from a ruler, an unfortunate event befell Shemuel - and a relative of his died. When his brother Pinchas came to comfort him, Shemuel took the fingernail clippings he had cut and threw them at him, saying: Do you not know that a covenant is made with the lips?
And in Ketubot 62b, it is related concerning Yehudah the son of Rabbi Chiyya, the son-in-law of Rabbi Yannai, that he would sit in the beit midrash, and every twilight of Erev Shabbat he would return home. Whenever he arrived, his father-in-law would see a pillar of fire preceding him. On one occasion, the subject drew him in and he was deeply immersed in the sugya. When Rabbi Yannai did not see the sign, he said: Overturn his bed - for were Yehudah alive, he would not neglect his marital obligation. That is: he must surely have died. The Gemara says: It was like an error that proceeds from a ruler, and he passed away.
Rav Elchanan Wasserman explains how this operates. The tongue of a person who guards it is like a knife that remains sharp; when he opens his mouth, it cuts through. But one who constantly uses his tongue for vanities, foolishness, falsehood, flattery, mockery, and lashon hara - like a knife used to cut indiscriminately through everything, it becomes dull and loses its edge. Then, even when he says something very negative, it has no effect. This is why we find "like an error that proceeds from a ruler" specifically among the righteous and the great, for their tongue is exceedingly sharp; they guard it and are meticulous with it, and therefore it cuts when the moment comes. Indeed, in this regard, an incident actually occurred with him personally, as we saw this with Rav Elchanan himself.
It is told that once, several unruly youths entered the yeshivah and began causing a commotion and shouting. Rav Elchanan Wasserman was not intimidated; he approached them and told them to leave. When that did not work, he began to push them outside. One of them, a burly fellow, said to him: "No hands, no hands!" Rav Elchanan said to him: You be without hands, get out of here. And they left. That evening, the young man's parents came to plead before the Rosh Yeshivah, weeping that both of their son's hands were paralyzed, begging him to remove his displeasure. How awe-inspiring this is to contemplate: he had no intention whatsoever that the youth become paralyzed, but because it left his mouth - the word cut through and generated reality.
On the other hand, Rav Elchanan notes, when a person defiles his mouth and his tongue, he prays and wonders why he is not answered, why Hashem does not accept his prayer - and he does not realize that the mouth is not clean. You are presenting an offering before the Holy One, blessed be He, in a soiled vessel. In a vessel with which we previously spoke lashon hara, gossip, flattery, and other forbidden speech - how can we present an offering in it? And such a mouth is likewise incapable of cutting through.
There is a well-known incident: In the Segulah cemetery in Petach Tikva, there is a headstone inscribed with the words "A covenant is made with the lips." When they consecrated the site for use as a cemetery - and it is known that there is a specific order for the dedication of a cemetery - someone remarked there in jest: Who volunteers to be the first? One man replied: Me, I do not mind being the first. The very next day was his funeral, Heaven spare us, and they buried him, and he was the first; and they engraved upon his headstone, "A covenant is made with the lips." How careful a person must be never to utter anything harmful about himself, even in jest and even without negative intent - for it has an effect.
For this reason, notice: when a person comes to relate a dream, he never says, "I saw a bad dream," but rather, "I saw a good dream." Seemingly, if he saw a good dream, why does he require an amelioration and rectification? Rather, it is because he does not wish to utter a negative statement, and therefore says, "I saw a good dream," and they answer him, "It is good, and may it be good." There is also an aspect here that protects him: for if you say "a bad dream," you have fixed it and interpreted it for ill - and regarding dreams, everything follows the mouth, giving the spoken word additional operational power. Therefore, a person must be exceedingly vigilant to control his tongue and never say anything negative about himself.
These two verses set before us the power of authority and the power of speech. "If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place" - whether you have received authority from Heaven and must not abandon your humility, or whether the ruler is angry with you, or whether the ruler is the Creator of the world Who is exacting with you through afflictions that are themselves a healing, or whether the ruler is the yetzer hara that caused you to stumble once - do not leave your place and do not fall from your spiritual level. Noach, Yehoshua, David, and Mordechai taught us that true greatness is revealed precisely through humility, and King David, who calmed his soul like a weaned child upon his mother, thereby merited the forgiveness of sins. And "like an error that proceeds from the ruler" teaches us that a covenant is made with the lips: a single word of a person of stature creates reality, and therefore a person must guard his tongue - that it remain sharp for good, and never open his mouth to the Satan.