Sukkot Special: Happiness and Wealth

In many communities it is customary to read Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, on the Shabbat of Sukkot. This is a dazzling book of wisdom written by an unknown author. As part of the author’s quest to examine “what real value is there for a man in all the gains he makes beneath the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:3), he examines the place of joy in our lives. “I said to myself, ‘Come, I will treat you to merriment. Taste mirth!’ That too, I found, was futile. Of revelry I said, ‘It’s mad!’ Of merriment, ‘What good is that?’” (2:1–2). Yet later he writes: “I therefore praised enjoyment. For the only good people can have under the sun is to eat and drink and enjoy themselves. That much can accompany them, in exchange for their wealth, through the days of life that God has granted them under the sun.” (8:15).

So, should we rejoice, or is there no point?

Two perspectives on joy

According to the Gemara (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 30b), the futile joy Ecclesiastes dismisses is ordinary, mundane joy – joy not connected to a mitzvah. The joy he praises is the joy of fulfilling a commandment. Yet the midrash (Kohelet Rabbah 2:4) offers a troubling story: a man marries off his son. During the wedding, the son goes to the roof for wine, a snake bites him, and he dies. At the feast’s end, the father breaks the bitter news. In response, one of the guests quotes Ecclesiastes: “Of revelry I said, ‘It’s mad!’ Of merriment, ‘What good is that?’”

What begins as great joy can end in tragedy. Joy is momentary and changes nothing essential about life or death. The existential fact is that everything is temporary, fleeting, passing. Yet this doesn’t contradict Ecclesiastes’ later command to eat, drink, and enjoy ourselves. We can understand this through two perspectives: from the bird’s-eye view – lofty and existential –everything is futile. From the human standpoint – focused on the present moment – “I praised joy.” Ecclesiastes wants us to adopt both lenses.

The same with wealth

Ecclesiastes addresses wealth similarly: “Here is a grave evil I have observed under the sun: riches hoarded to the detriment of the owners, in that those riches are lost in some unlucky venture; and if they produce children, they have nothing in hand. Another grave evil is this: The rich must depart just as they came. As they came out of their mother’s womb, so must they depart at last, naked as they came. They can take nothing of their wealth to carry with them. So what is the good of their toiling for the wind?” (5:12–15)

Great wealth creates great worry. Studies show wealthy people are not necessarily happier than those with adequate income – there is no direct correlation between wealth and happiness. A person often accumulates money over many years only to lose it in an instant. Whether he keeps it or not, the existential fact remains: he was born with nothing and returns to nothing. “As they came out of their mother’s womb, so must they depart at last, naked as they came.”

The midrash (Kohelet Rabbah 5:14) tells of a fox who fasted three days to squeeze through a vineyard fence. Inside, he ate his fill – but could not get out. He had to fast again. The frustrated fox tells the vineyard: “‘Just as one enters into you, so he emerges.’ This world is the same.”

How to live with futility

Whoever sees life through momentary pleasure delights in the vineyard; whoever raises his gaze understands the futility. Ecclesiastes does not dismiss the momentary perspective – he even recommends it at times. The question is not whether everything is futile. The question is how to live within that futility.

And here comes Sukkot, instructing us: you shall rejoice in your festival, and you shall have nothing but joy!

Lior Tal Sadeh is an educator, writer, and author of “What Is Above, What Is Below” (Carmel, 2022). He hosts the daily “Source of Inspiration” podcast, produced by Beit Avi Chai.

For more insights into Sukkot and Ecclesiastes, listen to “Source of Inspiration” (in Hebrew).

Translation of most Hebrew texts sourced from Sefaria.org

 Main Photo: Wood Carvings of Sukkot Customs\ Wikipedia