Chapter 11 of Kohelet continues King Solomon's practical guidance: how a person should conduct himself in a world where the calculations of Heaven remain unknown to him. The verses before us address unceasing toil - sowing in the morning and in the evening, the proper perspective on light and darkness, and appreciating the finite time the Holy One, Blessed be He, has granted man in His world. The great guiding principle reiterated here is: "For you do not know" - and therefore, do not let your hand rest.
בַּבֹּקֶר זְרַע אֶת זַרְעֶךָ וְלָעֶרֶב אַל תַּנַּח יָדֶךָ, כִּי אֵינְךָ יוֹדֵעַ אֵי זֶה יִכְשָׁר הֲזֶה אוֹ זֶה, וְאִם שְׁנֵיהֶם כְּאֶחָד טוֹבִים׃ - In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand, for you do not know which will succeed, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.
Our Sages apply this verse to many areas of life. The Sages expound: If you studied Torah in your youth, study Torah in your old age. Do not say, "I already studied in the past"; rather, in the evening do not withhold your hand. If you had disciples in your youth, have disciples in your old age. If you married a woman capable of bearing children in your youth, marry a woman capable of bearing children in your old age. If you gave charity in your youth, give charity in your old age.
As is well known, the Chofetz Chaim's children - including the family branch of Rabbi Hillel Zaks - came from his second marriage. Rabbi Hillel Zaks, Rosh Yeshivah of Chevron, of blessed memory, was a grandson from this second marriage. And this was the story: The Chofetz Chaim was already advanced in years and had no intention of marrying again. His son came to Radin, and he and his wife took care of all the Chofetz Chaim's needs - doing laundry, tidying the house, and cleaning. At a certain point, the son told his father that his wife could not adjust to the streets of Radin; she came from a big city and found herself in a place that did not even have a paved road, so they were considering returning to the city. The Chofetz Chaim said: If so, I have no choice, I must remarry, for someone needs to be with me. And he immediately added: Since I am getting married anyway, I want a woman capable of bearing children. Even though he was already elderly - in the evening do not withhold your hand. And that is indeed what happened: a match was arranged with a woman capable of bearing children, she gave birth, and great Torah scholars emerged from them. Here you see: you do not know which will succeed, you do not know who will carry on the lineage, and who will be extraordinary among them.
An example is also brought regarding disciples. We find in the case of Rabbi Akiva that he had twenty-four thousand disciples from Gevat to Antipatris, and they all died between Pesach and Shavuot. He then went to our Rabbis in the South and taught them, and from them emerged Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yose, Rabbi Yehudah, Rabbi Nechemiah, and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai - five disciples upon whom the entire world was reestablished. Where were the twenty-four thousand? You do not know which will succeed; it was specifically the last five who proved successful.
And consider what a miracle it is that Rabbi Akiva did not despair. Consider the reality: this was a lifetime endeavor. A person does not normally launch new projects at the age of eighty or ninety; that is a stage in life when one enjoys the fruits of earlier labor. Suddenly, the entire edifice collapsed: twenty-four thousand disciples, and nothing remained. To start over? Yet Rabbi Akiva started anew. And one of them was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai - imagine a world without Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai! Furthermore, the Gemara says of these disciples, "all of them follow Rabbi Akiva" - everything we rule as halachah follows Rabbi Akiva; he is the pillar of the Oral Torah. Had he despaired, what would have remained for us? From this we learn that a person must know how to rise from the ashes; even if one reaches an exceedingly low and broken state, it is precisely from that place that the Holy One, Blessed be He, brings about new renewal. You do not know which will succeed - therefore, in the evening do not withhold your hand.
Regarding children, an example is drawn from Ivtzan, who is Boaz. It is related of him that he had thirty daughters whom he sent outside to be married, and thirty women he brought into his house for his sons - and Heaven spare us, they all died in his lifetime. In his old age, he fathered Oved, and Oved survived. Only one - and from him emerged the entire royal dynasty of David. Where are the sixty? Gone. What do you learn? In the evening do not withhold your hand, for ultimately you do not know which will succeed.
Similarly, the Baal Shem Tov was born to his parents in their old age, at a stage when people would say: Children now? Do not even get involved in that. And when he was five years old, both of them passed away. Literally just a moment before the train departed - and behold, from them came the Baal Shem Tov, a light unto the world. This teaches us that you do not know which will succeed.
Chazal further expounded, Rabbi Yehoshua says: What is the meaning of "In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand"? If a poor man comes to you in the morning - give him; in the evening - give him, for you do not know which one the Holy One, Blessed be He, records for you, this one or that one, or whether both of them alike are good. The meaning of this is: not every act of tzedakah is counted before the Holy One, Blessed be He, in the same measure, with the same reward, and at the same level. There are so many variables - a person's intention, the purity of his heart, his financial situation at that moment, the difficulty and challenge he faced. It is very possible that specifically the tzedakah you gave toward evening, when you said to yourself, "I already gave today, once again?" and nonetheless broke your yetzer and said: Hashem commanded tzedakah and I will help this Jew - specifically that one will be far more favored than the morning's. What you gave earlier is like a garlic peel compared to what you give now. You do not know which will succeed, this one or that one, or whether both of them alike are good.
The Imrei Shefer explains that here King Solomon is teaching us about the spiritual matters in which a person must perfect himself in order to attain his ultimate purpose. A person might act for a certain amount of time during the day to achieve his true happiness - he fulfilled the day's mitzvot, he studied Torah - and he says: This is enough for me today, I have done my part, from here on is time for hobbies. The Wise King comes and warns: Do not imagine that you are toiling for someone else. Know that the toil is for you; you are the one who profits. Just like a person who sows and finds reward in his labor - "In the morning sow your seed," this is your seed and you will profit from it. So too, you will find reward for your soul in what you do. And if you sowed in the morning, do not withhold your hand in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed. Continue throughout the day and continue at night - it is all seed that you are sowing for yourself, so invest.
וּמָתוֹק הָאוֹר וְטוֹב לַעֵינַיִם לִרְאוֹת אֶת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ׃ - Sweet is the light, and good for the eyes to see the sun.
The Pesikta Zutreta states: It will be sweet for a person in the World to Come if he looks at this light and contemplates the handiwork of Hashem. A person who contemplates the handiwork of Hashem - meaning he conducts himself in accordance with this realization all his days - how sweet it will be for him in the World to Come. "And good for the eyes" - a person should see the sun, which is the great luminary, and contemplate: it rises and sets, and sometimes there is darkness. From this, understand that a person also experiences ups and downs. There are times when a person shines, days when he wakes up with a new song in his heart, and days when he wakes up depressed and lacking motivation - "days of love and days of hate," as the Sefer HaYashar puts it. There are days when a person has no desire for anything: not to study, not to pray, not to perform mitzvot, waking up in low spirits; and there are days when he wakes up with enthusiasm and joy. Therefore, a person must see how sweet the light is, and thank his Creator for whatever comes upon him, whether good or bad, and strive to exert himself in every situation. "One [mitzvah performed] with distress is worth a hundred without distress." And what will you say, that today is difficult for me? On the contrary, today is more beloved in the eyes of Hashem than yesterday, for yesterday was easy for you, and today is difficult for you.
When Rivkah draws water from the well, the Ramban notes that the water rose toward her. From where is this derived? Because the Torah does not say, "and she drew water," but rather that she immediately filled her pitcher. Afterward, however, it does say, "and she drew water" for all the camels. Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin asks in Oznayim LaTorah: What happened? Was she no longer as righteous as before? Of course she was profoundly righteous! Rather, the answer is: initially she was taking water for herself, to bring home - there a miracle occurred for her and the water rose. But afterward it was for the sake of performing chesed, and does one receive discounts when it comes to chesed? A mitzvah is performed with toil and exertion, and that is how one receives reward. Here there are no discounts - this is a mitzvah.
There are many examples of this. With Avraham Avinu: he provided the water through an emissary, and therefore the water in the wilderness was given to Israel through an emissary, through Moshe; whereas the bread and meat he served himself, and therefore the manna and the quail came directly from Hashem. Did Avraham really never bring water himself? In a hundred and fifty years of welcoming guests, did he never carry a jug? Rather, all those other times were not on the third day after his circumcision, not in the scorching heat of a sun drawn from its sheath, not for Arab guests who bow to the dust of their feet. On that particular day, so many factors converged that Avraham Avinu could easily have gone to rest: I have members of my household, they are accustomed to acts of kindness, let them do it. Yet no - he went and did it himself. And this deed was etched for generations, not what took place over a hundred and fifty years; and had there been the slightest imperfection in it, that too would have been etched for generations. We see that specifically what is difficult, specifically the place where a person struggles, is what makes the true impression in Heaven. Therefore Scripture says: even when you see days when the sun does not shine, days of hardship and struggle - and in contrast, days when the light is sweet and good for the eyes - know that specifically the difficult days are the ones for which the primary reward is given. And one should thank Hashem for everything that comes upon him, whether good or bad, and strive to exert himself in every situation.
Our Sages also say: "Truly the light is sweet" - sweet is the light that the Holy One, blessed be He, will radiate for the righteous in the future. Fortunate is one who merits that light, to be illuminated by the light of life. What light? That very light about which Chazal said, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of the seven days of Creation. And the sun, says the Pesikta Zutarta, was placed in the world by the Holy One, blessed be He, as an example, so that by observing it we may contemplate the light of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the time to come. As it is said, "And for you who revere My Name, a sun of righteousness shall rise with healing" - the imagery used is the sun.
This is akin to the story where a Sadducee asked Rabbi Yishmael: "Show me the Holy One, blessed be He." He replied, "Come tomorrow at noon." The next day at noon he said to him, "Look up." The man raised his eyes and said, "This is the sun, it is impossible to gaze at it!" Rabbi Yishmael said to him, "You cannot look at one of His servants, and yet you ask to look at Him?" That is the truth - man cannot comprehend the Holy One, blessed be He; the light of the sun is merely an allegory and an illustration of the immense light that emanates from Him, may He be blessed. Incidentally, anyone who has undergone clinical death describes an immense, non-blinding light, intensely powerful, and they felt it enveloping them and loving them with infinite love. In other words, what you see here in the light of the sun is but a pale analogy compared to the light of the seven days of Creation, compared to "a sun of righteousness shall rise with healing." It is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun of that light which the Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to shine upon His creations.
In the Midrash: Rabbi Acha says, sweet is the light of the World to Come, and "it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun" - fortunate is one who merits seeing that light, when the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun. And Rashi explains: "Truly the light is sweet" - sweet is the light of Torah, for light refers to Torah; "and it is pleasant for the eyes to behold the sun" - fortunate are the students whose eyes behold a halachah clarified and elucidated thoroughly to its core; and so it is expounded in the Midrash on Tehillim.
The explanation of the matter: When a rav approaches a sugya, at first it is "darkness on the face of the deep" - this is the Talmud of Babylonia, great darkness. He studies and analyzes, reviews and drills, learning Rishonim and Acharonim, until it is clear as a fresh garment. Then, when he comes to present it to the students, everything is set before them like a set table - step right up and eat, everything is ready. Incidentally, today they have done this for every yeshivah student: there are digest books. In earlier yeshivah days this was not yet familiar, but it seems our generation is a generation of digests. Once there were source sheets: see Kehillot Yaakov siman such-and-such, see the Shach siman such-and-such. Today, understanding that looking up each source can be tiring, they cite the text itself: the words of the Kehillot Yaakov on the sugya, followed by the language of the Shach, then the Rif - everything is right before you, just sit and learn. This is "fortunate are the students whose eyes behold a halachah clarified and elucidated": the Rishonim, the disputes, the approaches, and opinions have already been laid out for them, all the way to the halachic conclusion. The Beit Yosef did the same: before he set the Shulchan Aruch for us, he composed the Beit Yosef, to show from whom the rulings originated and on what basis the halachah was decided. How wonderful - everything is set and prepared, come and learn. How pleasant it is for the eyes to behold the sun.
The holy Alshich explains that this verse continues what we saw earlier regarding the superiority of deeds performed in old age over those of youth. A person might think to himself: the deeds of youth are of little worth, for true spiritual maturity has not yet rested upon him; as a person ages, he becomes more spiritual, whereas when he is young, he is more physical and driven by desire. Therefore, he might say: why should I invest effort in my youth? I will wait for old age, when deeds are far more elevated. To this the Alshich answers: while it is true that deeds of old age are superior to deeds of youth, it is far better that one accustom oneself from youth, so that youthful deeds serve as preparation for the deeds one will perform in old age. Even though the light of deeds in youth does not shine on its own like the light of deeds in old age, "it cannot fail to serve as preparation." Although in your youth it is not at the same level, as preparation it is certainly beneficial: it prepares you so that when you mature, you will already be immersed, already grounded in Torah, already accustomed to the mitzvot.
To what can this be compared? To the morning light between dawn and the emergence of the sun. Consider a wondrous thing: the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to illuminate the world - why does He not turn on the light all at once? When we want to light up a room, we do not turn on a dimmer slowly; we flip the switch and the light goes on. Why does the Holy One, blessed be He, not flip a switch to turn on the day, and when the day ends, switch it off? Rather, as dawn breaks, the sun does not shine fully all at once, in order to prepare human eyes to tolerate the sunlight, so that one's vision is not damaged by gazing immediately after darkness. If the sun were suddenly flashed directly into our eyes in a single moment, going from pitch-black night to such a brilliant flash, a person could go blind; it would be dangerous.
Incidentally, a story is told about the Baba Sali: he was once the sandak at a brit milah, and there was a photographer taking pictures whose flashbulbs disturbed him. The tzaddik made a slight motion with his hand, and the flashbulb burned out. At first, the photographer did not understand; he replaced the flashbulb and took another picture, but once again the tzaddik made that gesture and nothing worked. By the third time, the penny dropped, and he realized the Baba Sali was burning out his bulbs. In any case, it is good to have the light of the Baba Sali - why seek artificial flashes? That is a light that burns out your flashbulb.
To our point: the Holy One, blessed be He, did not introduce light as a sudden flash, but gradually, in a measured sunrise, until the eyes grow accustomed. By midday there is dazzling light, but it has ascended step by step. This is what we say each day in prayer: "Who illuminates the earth and those who dwell upon it with mercy" - what boundless mercy of Hashem! Likewise in the evening: "He rolls away light before darkness, and darkness before light" - "rolls away," slowly, just as one rolls up a carpet, or lehavdil, as one rolls a Sefer Torah gradually, not all at once. For this reason, "truly the light is sweet": it shines pleasantly and hospitably to the eyes, without causing a person to go blind, Heaven forbid. In the same way, one can understand the mitzvot performed in one's youth: they serve as preparation. These are mitzvot that do not yet possess full spiritual depth, lacking the settled composure of someone in their forties or fifties; and though their light is not strong - just as morning light is not intense - it is a preparation for the midday light. So too, the mitzvot a person performs in youth may not be so powerful, yet they prepare the way for the great light of the mitzvot performed in maturity and old age, when one is elevated to higher spiritual heights. And even the mitzvot of youth are "truly sweet light," for it is that very light that leads to the great radiance ahead.
כִּי אִם שָׁנִים הַרְבֵּה יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם בְּכֻלָּם יִשְׂמָח, וְיִזְכֹּר אֶת יְמֵי הַחֹשֶׁךְ כִּי הַרְבֵּה יִהְיוּ, כָּל שֶׁבָּא הָבֶל׃ - For if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they shall be many; all that comes is vanity.
The Pesikta Zutreta states: A person should rejoice in good deeds and acquire for himself mitzvot and merits; "and let him remember the days of darkness" - these are the days of burial. And Rashi likewise comments: Provided that he remembers the days of darkness. Rejoice in your good days, but always remind yourself of the day of death, that there is a stage when a person will be laid in the grave. Even if he lives many years, let him remember the days of darkness. And why are they called days of darkness? "All that comes is vanity" - there you cannot accrue merits, you cannot acquire Torah and mitzvot, you cannot praise Hashem Yitbarach: "The dead do not praise God." And Rashi also explains "all that comes is vanity" in another way: everything that comes upon him will be vanity in darkness, and vanity (hevel) denotes tribulations and troubles, "for in vanity he comes and in darkness he departs" - there, all that comes upon him will be afflictions. Therefore, prepare yourself now; prepare provisions right now.
The Imrei Shefer connects this verse to the preceding one, "And the light is sweet," drawing a profound moral lesson: a person must learn to appreciate the time allotted to him by the Holy One, Blessed Be He, the time in which he possesses life, and not squander it in vain, on trivialities and emptiness. Consider how sweet and pleasant the light is, how good it is for the eyes to behold the sun - especially for someone walking on a cold winter day who sits facing the sun, how sweet the light feels to him! And imagine someone imprisoned in a dungeon who had not seen the light of the sun, submerged in deep darkness, and was then released - even if he had been there for only a few days, what an ecstasy it would be, how he would relish the light! We have grown accustomed to it and take it for granted, but he would treasure every moment he can sit in the sun. He sits at home and steps out onto the balcony, and people say to him, "Why are you sitting there? You have work to do." He replies, "My friend, do you know how many years I spent in a dungeon? Let me enjoy the sun now." Every moment is precious to him.
If so, the question is asked: Why does man not appreciate the fleeting moments in which he sees the light? You might ask: Seventy years, eighty years - are these mere fleeting moments? Certainly; compared to eternity, they are just fleeting moments. Why does a person not take to heart that soon he will go into darkness? Concerning this, Shlomo says: experience proves it - "For if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all." A person who lives in good health and whose affairs are in order never reaches a point of saying, "Enough, I am tired of living, I want to die." When the Angel of Death arrives, every person says to him, "Wait a moment, not now." After all, Adam HaRishon lived nine hundred and thirty years, yet he was not sated, and even asked back for the years he had given to David HaMelech. Nine hundred and thirty years - and it was still not enough.
And if you were to ask an eighty or ninety-year-old elder, "Have not the days of your life been many, and is it not burdensome for you to toil in your old age - would you not wish to die?" to this Scripture answers: "and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many" - my friend, do not worry, the days of darkness will be many, so why rush there? You will have very many years there. And "all that comes is vanity" - years devoid of substance, in which everything that occurs is futile. If so, how could you ask me to forfeit such precious days for days devoid of substance? In plain words: see how sweet the light is, how wonderful life is. And if a person lives many years and insists by all means on remaining alive - these are hours of light that you must utilize, for afterward will come the days of darkness, days wherein you have no pleasure. Therefore, utilize these days and years; how could you fail to cherish them when soon the days of darkness will draw near, and if one has not utilized his time, he will return empty-handed, Heaven forbid, to his eternal home.
Our chapter teaches two intertwined principles. The first: "In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening do not withhold your hand" - a person cannot calculate when or in what he will succeed, whether in students, in children, or in charity. Rabbi Akiva rising from the ashes, Ivtzan fathering Oved in his old age, the Chafetz Chaim marrying a woman capable of bearing children in his advanced years - all teach that "you do not know which will succeed." And the second: "And the light is sweet" - to contemplate the sun rising slowly with mercy, learning from it that the days of darkness and difficulty are also days of great reward, that deeds done in youth are preparation for the great light, and that the sweet light we behold is merely a parable for the light of the Holy One, Blessed Be He, in the World to Come. And from this follows: "and let him remember the days of darkness" - to treasure every moment of light, to maximize the allotted time, and to acquire Torah, mitzvot, and merits as long as the candle is burning.