Introduction: The Power of a Word
In this part of the chapter, King Solomon addresses one of the phenomena he terms "an evil under the sun" - the power of speech issuing from the mouth of a great person, and the dire consequences that can follow from it. From there, he proceeds to a great puzzle in the governance of the world: why the fool sits in high places while the dignitary sits in lowliness, and why the world appears upside down. Let us proceed according to the order of the verses.
"Like an Error That Proceeds from the Ruler"
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 things I have seen under the sun that is an evil - and one must be exceedingly cautious with it - is an error proceeding from the ruler. What is this error? Let us begin with the words of Pesikta Zutreta: So you find regarding Jacob our father, who said to Lavan, "With whomever you find your gods, he shall not live," and so indeed it was. Jacob did not know that Rachel had taken the terafim, and Lavan did not find them, yet nevertheless - since the statement had left his mouth, Rachel died on the way. This is "like an error that proceeds from the ruler": he is the ruler, master of God's will, and when he utters a word from his mouth, it has an impact, it decrees, and the consequences were terrible and dreadful.
And so our Sages said: A person should never open his mouth to Satan, lest it be like an error proceeding from the mouth of the ruler. If you say a bad word, you bring evil upon yourself. Therefore, the Sages were exceedingly careful not to utter a negative statement about themselves, even in passing. You will never find in their idiom "and I was nearly killed," but rather "and that man nearly died" - relating a story about oneself without saying "I was killed," but "that man nearly died," referring to "that man" rather than himself. Similarly, "and fight against us, and go up out of the land" - Pharaoh should have said "and we will go up out of the land," but people do not want to express something negative about themselves.
This custom was widespread, especially in Yemen, and in the past among all Jewish communities: when they wished to cite a verse containing a negative connotation, they would alter it. For example, a public preacher would not say, "This iniquity shall not be expiated for you until you die," but rather "for them until they die" - so that it would not sound as if he were declaring something negative about his listeners. We see how meticulous they were not to open their mouths to Satan, uttering evil neither about oneself nor about another, for the word might take effect, as if Satan is waiting for the word to leave one's mouth, snatches it up, and goes forth to carry out its effect.
Rashi explains: It is comparable to a ruler who inadvertently let an erroneous word slip from his mouth, and it cannot be retracted. So the Holy One, blessed be He, speaks - and it cannot be reversed. It left His mouth, and with that it is sealed; the decree has been finalized.
Eli and Samuel
The Midrash brings another example: an error that proceeded from the ruler - this refers to Eli the Kohen speaking to Samuel. Samuel had received his first prophecy, and kept running back and forth to Eli asking, "Here I am, for you called me," while Eli answered him, "I did not call; go back and lie down," until Eli understood that the lad was receiving a prophecy - for Samuel was not yet accustomed to prophecy, and this was the beginning of his prophetic experience. He told him: The next time you hear "Samuel, Samuel," say, "Speak, Hashem, for Your servant listens." It is also brought that the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to him in the voice of Eli so as not to frighten him. Samuel himself did not say "Speak, Hashem," but merely "Speak, for Your servant listens," because he was not yet certain - perhaps it was a demon, and why mention the Name of Heaven in vain? Then the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to him and informed him that He was bringing great catastrophe upon the house of Eli, because he had not rebuked his sons, nor chastised them or disciplined them for their deeds regarding the sacrificial meat.
The next morning, Eli asked Samuel: "What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not conceal it from me; so may God do to you, and more also, if you conceal anything from me." Usually, such an expression means that he threatened without specifying - he warned without elaborating, so as not to utter an explicit curse lest it be fulfilled, God forbid. However, the Sages teach that Eli did spell it out, hinted in the word "so" (koh): just as it is with me, so may Hashem do to you. And what is with me? That my sons will not succeed me in my position - so too your sons will not succeed you if you do not disclose it to me. And since a curse of a wise person is fulfilled even if made conditionally, so it came to pass in the end: Samuel's sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after illicit gain and took bribes. Here we have a statement that was like an error proceeding from the ruler - it left his mouth, and it was fulfilled.
Two Tales in the Gemara
In Moed Katan (18a), the Gemara relates that Shmuel came to visit his brother Pinchas, who was sitting shiva, and saw that his fingernails were long. Shmuel held that it is permitted to cut one's nails during shiva, so he asked him why he did not cut them. His brother Pinchas said to him: "And if it were me [who died], would you treat it so lightly?" - if you were the one in mourning, would you treat it with such disregard? The Gemara says: It was like an error that proceeds from a ruler, and an unfortunate matter befell Shmuel - a relative of his passed away. When his brother Pinchas came to visit him during shiva, Shmuel took the fingernails he had clipped and threw them at him, saying: Do you not know that a covenant is made with the lips? How could you say such a thing to me?
And in Ketubot (62b), the Gemara relates about Yehudah the son of Rabbi Chiyya, the son-in-law of Rabbi Yannai, who would sit in the beit midrash, and every Friday at twilight he would come home. Whenever he arrived, his father-in-law would see a pillar of fire walking before him. One Friday, the topic drew him in - he was engrossed in the sugya and immersed in it. Since Rabbi Yannai did not see the sign, he said to the household: Overturn his bed, for if Yehudah were alive, he would not neglect his marital obligation. In other words, he must certainly no longer be among the living. The Gemara says: It was like an error that proceeds from a ruler - and his soul went to rest [he passed away].
Why Specifically with the Great? The Explanation of Rav Elchanan Wasserman
Rav Elchanan Wasserman explains how this works. A person's tongue is like a knife. When a person guards his tongue, the knife remains sharp, and when he unleashes his words - it cuts. But someone who constantly uses his tongue for vanity, nonsense, falsehoods, flattery, mockery, and lashon hara - what happens to a knife used to cut everything indiscriminately? It becomes dull and loses its edge. Then, even when he says something very negative, it no longer has an effect or takes hold. Therefore, people today are less cautious about this, because our speech has less potency. But with the great Torah leaders, whose speech is exceedingly sharp and who guard and protect it meticulously, their words truly come to pass and cut when the time comes.
And an incident occurred with Rav Elchanan Wasserman himself - what he taught was seen in his own life. It is told that once, several unruly youths entered the yeshiva and began causing a commotion and shouting. Rav Elchanan was not intimidated by them; he approached immediately and told them to leave. When that did not help, he began pushing them out. There was one brawny youth who said to him: "No hands, no hands!" Rav Elchanan replied: "You be without hands, get out of here!" And they left. That evening, the youth's parents came to plead before the Rosh Yeshiva to remove his grievance, because both of their son's hands were paralyzed. He had said "You be without hands" - and the person became without hands. This is awe-inspiring to contemplate: he had no intention whatsoever that the youth should become paralyzed, but because the words left his mouth - it cuts, and speech generates reality.
Furthermore, when a person defiles his mouth and tongue, and then prays and wonders why he is not answered, why Hashem does not heed him - he fails to realize that the mouth is unclean. One is presenting an offering to Hashem, blessed is He, in a soiled vessel, a vessel through which one previously spoke lashon hara, gossip, flattery, and other prohibitions. Such a mouth is also incapable of cutting through.
"A Covenant Is Made with the Lips"
There is a well-known story: in the Segula cemetery, there is a headstone upon which is engraved, "A covenant is made with the lips." What is the story behind it? A cemetery requires dedication, and there is a specific order for sanctifying a plot of land for a cemetery. When they sanctified the site, someone joked, "Well, who volunteers to be the first?" Another person replied, "I don't mind being the first." The very next day, his funeral took place, Rachmana litzlan, and they buried him, making him 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 bad about himself, even in jest, even with no negative intention whatsoever - for it takes effect.
For this reason, when a person comes to relate his dream, he never says, "I saw a bad dream," but rather, "I saw a good dream." Now, ostensibly, if you saw a good dream, why do you need an annulment and a rectification? It is because one does not wish to say "a bad dream" so as not to fix the dream in reality, and there is also an aspect here that discharges him: for by saying "a bad dream," you have fixed it and interpreted it for the worse. And especially with dreams, where everything follows the mouth, speech has an added power of impact. Therefore, a person must be exceedingly careful to control his tongue and never say anything negative about himself.
A Tale of the Author of Chemdat Shlomo and the Kotzker Rebbe
There was a wealthy Jew named Reb Feivel, and he had an only daughter. When the time came for her to marry, he traveled to a nobleman in the district of Łęczyca who owed him ten thousand rubles. That nobleman's wife was a relative of the general in Warsaw. Reb Feivel demanded repayment of his debt, and the nobleman requested an extension. Reb Feivel proposed: Let your wife travel to her relative, the general in Warsaw, and secure the release of a young man whom I will request of her - and in exchange, I will forgive the entire debt. They agreed - what could be simpler? She went, interceded with her brother the general, and secured the release of that yeshiva student who had been conscripted into the army. And who was that young man? The son of the author of Chemdat Shlomo. The youth was released and returned to the yeshiva, and not only did Reb Feivel forgive the debt, he even gave them an additional gift.
The author of Chemdat Shlomo had promised Reb Feivel that if he succeeded in freeing his son, he would merit the match, and his son would marry Feivel's daughter. It was an enormous privilege. And so it was: a wedding was held, and the young man continued to grow in Torah at the table of Reb Feivel, who provided for him and supported him, and everything was wonderful - until that young man began to be drawn to Kotzk, to Chassidut. In those days, the tension between the Chassidim and the Mitnagdim was great. One evening, he left home and traveled to Kotzk, and for an entire month he did not return home.
Reb Feivel wrote to the author of the Chemdat Shlomo, the father of the groom, who was also among the Mitnagdim: Look at what your son is doing. The Chemdat Shlomo sent a letter to his son in Kotzk, commanding him by virtue of the mitzvah of honoring one's father to return home for Shabbat. The son received the letter, entered the holy Kotzker Rebbe's chamber, and showed it to him: "This is what my father writes; what should I do?" The Rebbe said to him: "Stay here, and I will write a letter in reply to your father." And this is what he wrote to him: "Our Sages said that there are three partners in a person - the Holy One, Blessed is He, his father, and his mother. If your son has traveled to the third partner, does one partner have the power to force his fellow partner to return him? After all, he traveled according to his inclination to a place of holiness, to the Master of the Universe; he traveled to Kotzk to draw closer to Hashem, may He be blessed. From where would one partner presume to impose his will and say to the Holy One, Blessed is He: Return him to me?"
To deliver the letter - and Shabbat was already drawing near - the Rebbe gave it to one of his Chasidim who was traveling to Warsaw, warning him: "Be careful to deliver the letter to the Chemdat Shlomo before Shabbat." For the father had asked his son to come for Shabbat, so at least let him read the reply before Shabbat so his mind might be set at ease and he would not harbor resentment. However, that Chasid was negligent in his mission - perhaps he figured he would stop by after Shabbat, or perhaps he forgot - and did not deliver the letter before Shabbat. On Shabbat, the Chemdat Shlomo felt great anguish that his son had not obeyed his instruction and had not returned, and he remarked: "When one does not fulfill even the mitzvah of honoring one's father, what is life for?" Such words left his mouth - and it was like an error proceeding from the ruler, and his son passed away, Heaven spare us.
On the following day, Sunday, the Chasid arrived with the letter before the Gaon, the author of Chemdat Shlomo. Upon reading it, he was filled with terrible, immense grief: "Look what you have done!" And he said to himself: "Why, why did you have to speak? Why did such words pass your lips?" But it was already too late; the deed was done.
As for that Chasid - it is written that for ten years he did not show his face in Kotzk. It is well known that the Kotzker Rebbe was a consummate man of truth, "truth will sprout from Kotzk"; he could not tolerate falsehood or pretense. In his later years, he secluded himself and was unwilling to see even his Chasidim, saying that the world is a world of falsehood. It is told that once a Chasid wanted to see him and opened the window, and the Rebbe told him to close it - that the filth and falsehood of the outside were entering within. He was called "the Saraph of Kotzk," and there was great awe and fear in his presence. After a decade, that Chasid came to Kotzk on Shavuot. The Rebbe looked at him and said to the gabbai: "He looks like someone who fell from the attic" - so crestfallen and downcast was his countenance. And they tell that the very next day, that Chasid was praying in the attic of the beit midrash, and, Heaven spare us, he fell and died. The words left the tongue of the Kotzker Rebbe - and so it occurred. Here we have an incident displaying a double measure of "an error proceeding from the ruler": both on the part of the Chemdat Shlomo and on the part of the Kotzker Rebbe. And this fully aligns with the words of Rav Elchanan Wasserman: when a person is exceedingly meticulous with his speech, his tongue cuts like a sharpened blade, and every utterance strikes its mark.
An Incident from the Recent Generation
Let us conclude this collection with an incident that occurred not so many years ago, recorded in the book Vezot Le-Yehudah about Rav Yehudah Tzadka. At that time, he was a Ram in Yeshivat Porat Yosef, and later became Rosh Yeshivah. He approached the Rosh Yeshivah, Rav Ezra Attiya, and told him that the students wanted to join a demonstration - there was a protest at the time regarding Sabbath observance. Rav Attiya said to him: "You know it is dangerous; the police may beat them severely. How can we send the students there?" Rav Tzadka replied: "Well, so let them absorb a few blows for the honor of Shabbat; one must demonstrate for the honor of Shabbat." Rav Attiya asked him: "And if it were your own son, would you say the same?" It is told that that very evening the protest indeed took place; students from the yeshivah went, and Rav Tzadka's son also went, and he was beaten and arrested. When they came to inform Rav Tzadka, he told them: "I already knew this morning that it would be so. The moment I heard Rav Attiya say, 'And what if it were your son' - I knew my son was destined to be beaten today. For this is like an error proceeding from the ruler."
The Fool in High Places
נִתַּן הַסֶּכֶל בַּמְּרוֹמִים רַבִּים וַעֲשִׁירִים בַּשֵּׁפֶל יֵשֵׁבוּ׃ - Folly is set in great heights, and the rich sit in a low place.
Rashi explains: This is the evil that is "like an error proceeding from the ruler" - that foolishness and wickedness are placed on high summits, for the Holy One, Blessed is He, elevated the fools and the wicked, whom I perceive through Divine inspiration (ruach hakodesh) are destined to stretch out their hand against His Sanctuary and set their emblems as signs. "Ha-sechel" (the fool) is spelled here with the letter samech, and therefore many interpret it in the sense of folly (sichlut): folly is set in great heights - we see foolish and worthless men standing at the summit of power. Look at Nevuchadnezzar, look at Titus, who went and destroyed the Beit HaMikdash; men of folly destined to stretch forth their hand against His Sanctuary, in the heights of His Sanctuary, and set their emblems as signs - just as Titus tore the Parochet and claimed, as it were, that he had slain Him. "And the rich sit in a low place" - the people of Israel, to whom belonged all greatness and honor in the days of Shlomo, when silver and gold were like stones, making them truly wealthy, are destined to sit in lowliness: "The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and keep silence." Those who are now rich - the wheel of fortune is destined to turn against them.
Ibn Ezra cites another explanation: Some explain that "ha-sechel" ought to have been written with a shin [sin], from the root of intellect (sechel) rather than folly. Indeed, sin and samech are interchangeable, which is very common in Rabbinic Hebrew - nearly every word written in Biblical Hebrew with a left-dot sin is replaced by our Sages with a samech: "ki tearas isha" is spelled with a sin, "misrefot sid" with a sin, whereas in the language of the Mishna and Talmud, to simplify things for us, "eirusin" appears with a samech. According to this: those endowed with intellect ought to have sat in great heights, and the rich were fitting to sit in lowliness - yet reality is reversed, as made explicit in the following verse.
And Rav Shefer explains the progression of the text: "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, like an error proceeding from the ruler" serves as an introduction. And what is that evil? "Folly is set in great heights, and the rich sit in a low place." Here Shlomo touches upon the question of the righteous person who suffers and the wicked person who prospers. Regarding this dilemma - writes the Rav - many strive to offer an answer, and many wise men labor to provide reasons: that the righteous person suffers affliction here to increase his reward in the World to Come, while the wicked person is penalized in the World to Come, among other explanations. But regarding this - that the fool is exalted and the honorable is brought low - none provides a reason and none satisfies the mind. Consequently, the matter seems like an error proceeding from the ruler, as if the world were running without providence, as though Heaven had failed to notice.
Slaves on Horses
רָאִיתִי עֲבָדִים עַל־סוּסִים וְשָׂרִים הֹלְכִים כַּעֲבָדִים עַל־הָאָרֶץ׃ - "I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking like slaves on the ground."
This verse connects directly to the preceding one: it would be fitting for people of intellect to be exalted and the rich in wisdom in a lowly place, yet the reality is reversed. And not only is the fool elevated while the dignified is brought low, but worse still - slaves ride on horses while princes walk like slaves on the ground. No one knows or understands the reason for these reversals; the thoughts of our Creator are profound beyond knowing. This is what Shlomo wishes to demonstrate: regarding many things we observe in the world, we have neither comprehension nor grasp of why the Holy One, blessed is He, directs His world in such a way - one classic question being the righteous person who suffers and the wicked person who prospers, along with many other reversals beyond our understanding.
The Pesikta Zutreta notes: "'I have seen slaves on horses' - in the manner of rulership. For Achav was like a slave before Eliyahu in wisdom, understanding, and righteousness; Achav was an unequaled evildoer, who did not leave a single furrow in Eretz Yisrael where he did not erect an idol, and through Izevel persecuted all the prophets of Hashem. Yet despite all this - 'And the hand of Hashem was on Eliyahu, and he girded his loins and ran before Achav.' Who ran before whom? Eliyahu HaNavi ran before Achav, in the manner of slaves who would run before an officer. Thus, 'slaves on horses' refers to Achav, and 'princes walking like slaves on the ground' refers to a giant like Eliyahu."
And Rashi explains: "'I have seen slaves on horses' - these are the Chaldeans, of whom it is said, 'Behold the land of the Chaldeans, this people was not' - a rootless nation. Yet they were elevated to ride on horseback, leading the captives of Israel bound in neck-irons when they conquered the Land and destroyed the Beis HaMikdash. And 'princes walking like slaves on the ground' - the Jewish people, who are princes and nobility, walking as captives of the sword before the chariots and troops of the Chaldeans, 'and they walked without strength before the pursuer.' Who can understand such Providence?"
"I Saw an Inverted World"
The Alshich HaKadosh explains that here Shlomo HaMelech comes to declare: I saw an inverted world. This resembles the well-known account in the Gemara of that sage who fainted, beheld the upper world, and said, "I saw an inverted world: those who are upper are below, and those who are lower are above." However, there he saw that upper world and compared it to what he knew here. Shlomo HaMelech, by contrast, stands here and perceives through Ruach HaKodesh the truth Above: those who Above are base and enslaved, he sees here riding on horses; and those who Above are princes, he sees here as slaves. And the Alshich notes: Know that all of this is only "on the ground" - "I have seen slaves on horses, and princes walking like slaves," and it is entirely on earth alone. Above in truth, princes possess their sovereignty and slaves their servitude; only here on earth does this distortion occur. Above is the world of truth, which is why this world is called alma d'shikra (a world of falsehood) - where one can see someone who is an absolute nonentity, thoroughly wicked and corrupt, yet he enjoys high popularity and fame, and people seek his proximity and scramble to rub shoulders with him. Know that such a person embodies the concept of "slaves on horses," "a slave when he reigns."
The Midrash also brings: "'I have seen slaves on horses' - these are the Ishmaelites; 'and princes walking like slaves' - this is Yosef." The Ishmaelites leading Yosef down to Egypt are in the category of slaves on horses, while Yosef, who is essentially a king and a prince, walks on the ground - "Yosef was sold as a slave." As discussed elsewhere at length, Yosef held the status of a king all his life; that they crowned him only years later in Egypt was merely because only then did they recognize it, but his entire conduct, throughout his days, was that of royalty. Therefore, this reality of slaves riding on horses and princes walking on the ground existed already then: from the moment Yosef left his father's house, his entire essence was that of a king and a prince - yet he walked on the ground. An inverted world I saw.
In summary: Shlomo HaMelech teaches us two fundamental lessons in these verses. First - the immense power of speech: "like an error proceeding from the ruler," for a covenant is made with the lips, and a word that leaves the mouth can never be recalled, particularly from the mouths of great individuals who guarded their tongue and whose words cut like a razor. From here stems a warning to every person: do not open your mouth to the Satan, never speak ill of yourself or others even jokingly, and keep your mouth pure so that your prayer is not offered in a soiled vessel. Second - bewilderment at the world's governance: the fool in high places and the honorable brought low, slaves on horses and princes walking like slaves. To this, the Alshich responds that this entire inverted picture exists only "on the ground," in the world of falsehood; Above, in the world of truth, princes retain their sovereignty and slaves their servitude, and the thoughts of our Creator are far too deep for us to fathom.