The impression may have been gained from the last Miller’s Musings that to be left always wanting more is a cause for permanent unhappiness, hence material possessions always leaving us wanting. This can of course not be true in that we see that in spiritual gains we should always be striving for even greater levels of perfection, yet there does indeed lie happiness. So what is the difference and what message does Koheles, read on Shabbos Chol Hamoed Succos, convey to help further attain the joy that we are enjoined to experience on this Yom Tov?
Koheles asks the rhetorical question “What profit does man
have for all his labor which he toils beneath the sun?”, with the phrase “beneath
the sun” seemingly superfluous and certainly requiring elucidation? The Ibn Ezra explains that this expression is
chosen to express the idea that all that man does in this world is limited in
terms of its temporal nature, subject to the limitations of time. Everything that we do towards physical
pleasures will always be constrained by time, which is of course governed by the
earth’s cycle around the sun and is by its very nature finite and subject to
disintegration, degeneration and decline.
This perhaps may be one answer to our question. Whereas material gratification may bring us some
enjoyment, there may always be the deep rooted knowledge that this too will
pass. However wonderful the feeling now
is, there is nothing in this world that lasts forever and no source of
corporeal indulgence that is eternal.
Knowing this, even on a subconscious/neshomo level, leaves us always
craving more and never sated with what we have.
The feeling that spiritual undertakings provide do not have this imperfection
and although we will still hopefully crave more of the beauty it brings, the
infinite nature of its reward brings its own complete fulfilment each step of
the way towards perfection. Our goal is
to never stop growing but to enjoy each holy conquest that we make and the
infinite bliss each one will bring.
May this Shabbos bring us even greater joy of connecting with
the infinite.
L’ilui
Nishmas Leah bas Avrohom
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