“When a man is young he composes songs; when he grows older he makes moralistic remarks; and when he becomes an old man he speaks of the vanity of things.”
-- Midrash Song of Songs Rabbah 1.1.10
(1) The words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem. (2) Utter futility/ vanity/ vapor/delusion!—said Koheleth— Utter futility! All is futile! (3) What real value is there for a man In all the gains he makes beneath the sun? (4) One generation goes, another comes, But the earth remains the same forever. (5) The sun rises, and the sun sets— And glides back to where it rises. (6) Southward blowing, Turning northward, Ever turning blows the wind; On its rounds the wind returns. (7) All streams flow into the sea, Yet the sea is never full; To the place [from] which they flow The streams flow back again. (8) All such things are wearisome: No man can ever state them; The eye never has enough of seeing, Nor the ear enough of hearing. (9) Only that shall happen Which has happened, Only that occur Which has occurred; There is nothing new Beneath the sun!
הבל הבלים הכל הבל!
Hevel Hevelim, HaKol Hevel!
What is the meaning of “Hevel”???
There are many English translations, including:
vain futile empty meaningless
temporary transitory fleeting
absurd senseless pointless
But these translation are all to some extent interpretive. The Hebrew word “Hevel” literally means vapor/mist
(ב) וַתֹּ֣סֶף לָלֶ֔דֶת אֶת־אָחִ֖יו אֶת־הָ֑בֶל וַֽיְהִי־הֶ֙בֶל֙ רֹ֣עֵה צֹ֔אן וְקַ֕יִן הָיָ֖ה עֹבֵ֥ד אֲדָמָֽה׃
(2) She then bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the soil.
(כא) הֵ֚ם קִנְא֣וּנִי בְלֹא־אֵ֔ל כִּעֲס֖וּנִי בְּהַבְלֵיהֶ֑ם וַאֲנִי֙ אַקְנִיאֵ֣ם בְּלֹא־עָ֔ם בְּג֥וֹי נָבָ֖ל אַכְעִיסֵֽם׃
(21) They incensed Me with no-gods, Vexed Me with their futilities; I’ll incense them with a no-folk, Vex them with a nation of fools.
(ז) וּמִצְרַ֕יִם הֶ֥בֶל וָרִ֖יק יַעְזֹ֑רוּ לָכֵן֙ קָרָ֣אתִי לָזֹ֔את רַ֥הַב הֵ֖ם שָֽׁבֶת׃
(7) For the help of Egypt Shall be vain and empty. Truly, I call this, “They are a threat that has ceased.”
(ה) כֹּ֣ה ׀ אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֗ה מַה־מָּצְא֨וּ אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֥ם בִּי֙ עָ֔וֶל כִּ֥י רָחֲק֖וּ מֵעָלָ֑י וַיֵּֽלְכ֛וּ אַחֲרֵ֥י הַהֶ֖בֶל וַיֶּהְבָּֽלוּ׃
(5) Thus said the LORD: What wrong did your fathers find in Me That they abandoned Me And went after delusion and were deluded?
Why do we read Ecclesiastes on Sukkot?
How does this text relate to the themes of our holiday?
Existentialism 101
(hat tip Matthew Lowe)
Focus on concrete human existence
What is it like to be human? Is it worth it?
-Albert Camus: “There is only one truly philosophical problem, and this is suicide.”
Freedom and Responsibility
It’s all up to us! Without an absolute source of values, humans are left to form and support their own values and decisions. No one can do it for us.
-Jean-Paul Sartre: “Man is condemned to be free.”
Angst/Anxiety
The negative feeling arising from awareness of our freedom and responsibility. We face an uncertain future, and must fill over lives with our own choices.
-Soren Kierkegaard: “Learning to know anxiety is an adventure which every man has to affront (confront) ... He… who has learned rightly to be in anxiety has learned the most important thing.”
Absurdity
Anything can happen to anyone. The world has no built-in purpose. Events do not happen for any absolute or ultimate reason.
-Albert Camus: “The absurd is born of the confrontation between the human call and the unreasonable silence of the world.”
- Fyodor Dostoevsky: “There is no idea, no fact, which could not be vulgarized and presented in a ludicrous light.”
Other themes: death, authenticity, social criticism, relationships, alienation, nothingness