= Ecclesiastes 11 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Ecclesiastes_10|Previous]] | [[Ecclesiastes_12|Next]] ] == Ecclesiastes 11 1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 3 If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be. 4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. 5 As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. 6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. 7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun: 8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity. 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. 10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. == Notes == Cross Reference == Concordance == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 Cast you your bread upon the waters. Do goodness and kindness to a person about whom your heart tells you that you will never see him again,1Do kindness without anticipating reciprocity from the receiver. (Sforno) Or, when giving charity, needy Torah scholars should be given priority. The Gemara in Maseches Bava Kamma 17a states that Torah is symbolized by water. Thus, when you “cast your bread,” cast it first to the needy Torah Scholars. (Derech Hachayim) like a person who casts his food upon the water’s surface.2Alternatively, also give charity to people you do not know. (Ibn Ezra) For after many days you will find it. Days will yet come, and you will receive your recompense.3Alternatively, for you will find its reward in the World to Come. (Targum) Look what is stated about Yisro, “Call him and let him eat bread,”4Shemos 2:20. and he thought that he [Moshe] was an Egyptian and that he would never see him again. What was the end? He became his son-in-law and reigned over Yisroel and [Moshe] brought him under the wings of the Divine Presence, and his sons and grandsons merited to sit in the Chamber of Hewn Stone. ==== Verse 2 Contribute to seven and even eight. If you shared your food and your drink with seven who need kindness,5Alternatively, when giving charity, give priority to the needy who are Shabbos observers [=לשבעה], symbolized by the seventh day of the week, Shabbos, over the needy who do not observe Shabbos; and give priority to Jews [=לשבעה], symbolized by the eighth day of circumcision], over non-Jews. (Derech Hachayim) share further with eight more who come after them, and do not say, “Enough.”6The Rambam lists eight levels of charity, each higher than the other. The seventh [i.e., next to the highest level] is a person who gives charity to one whose identity he does not know, nor does the recipient know the identity of the donor. The highest [i.e., eighth] level, is supporting one by means of a gift, loan, partnership of providing work to an impoverished Jew. Alternatively, the verse means, “contribute on the seventh and eighth level [as prescribed by the Rambam].” (Alshich) For you never know what calamity will come. Perhaps days will yet come and you will need [support from] them all. Then you will be saved from the evil by this charity, and if not now, when? Our Rabbis, however, said—Contribute to, etc. These are the seven days of creation. Give one of them as a portion to your Creator, by resting on Shabbos. And even to eight. These are the eight days preceding circumcision. Another explanation: Contribute to seven. The communal sacrifices of the seven days of Pesach. And even to eight. The eight days of the Festival [=Succos]. For you never know what calamity will come. If the Beis [Hamikdosh] will be destroyed, and you will no longer bring sacrifices, and the first sacrifices will avail to annul the evil decree. Another explanation: For you never know what [calamity] will come. You do not know what has been decreed on the Festival regarding the rains, and the sacrifices will avail to annul evil decrees. ==== Verse 3 When the clouds are filled with rain. If you have seen clouds full of rain, you know that they will ultimately empty their rains upon the earth. In the place where the benefit grows and is discernible, there it is destined [for the rains] to come to rest. Likewise, you should know that “if a tree falls, etc.,” [i.e.,] if a wise and righteous man7In Bamidbar 13:20, Rashi explains that a tree [עץ] is symbolizes a righteous man. See also the last Rashi on this verse below. resides in a city or in a province, the place where he resides, there his deeds will be discernible after his death, and his words of wisdom, exemplary traits and bestowal of goodness upon the inhabitants of that place by his good custom that he guided them on a straight road.8Alternatively, this verse is connected to the previous verse, i.e., a person blessed with wealth must share his fortune with the less fortunate in the same manner as clouds that are full of rain do not keep it for themselves but empty their rains upon the earth. (Metsudas Dovid) Falls. Will reside, as in, “over all his brothers did he reside נָפָל.”9Bereishis 25:18. A tree. [Symbolic of] a Torah scholar, who with his merit protects like a tree, which serves as a covering over the earth. ==== Verse 4 He who watches [waits] for the wind. He who waits and looks forward for the wind to come.10שמר הרוח cannot means “watching” a wind, Rashi therefore explains that שומר הרוח means “waiting” for the wind. שומר is used in the same context in Bereishis 37:11, which states, “his father waited [שומר]” to see when Yoseif’s dream would be fulfilled. (Sifsei Chachomim) Will never sow. Sometimes he waits [for the wind], but it does not come.11According to Rashi, the farmer is waiting for the wind to come in order to sow his field, because he wants the wind to scatter his seeds. Alternatively, the farmer is afraid of the wind and does not sow because the wind will blow the seeds away. (Sforno) And he who looks to the clouds. He observes the clouds, and when he sees them darkening, he is afraid to harvest on account of the rains; he will never harvest because he is always fearful [of the rains]. ==== Verse 5 Just as you do not know, etc., nor the nature of that which is hidden in the womb of her that is with child. Things closed in and confined in the womb which is full, and even though it protrudes outward, “just as you do not know [the way of the wind].” This is a transposed verse, expounded from its end to its beginning. “Just as you do not know the way of the wind,” i.e., the knowledge of both these things is equal, neither is one revealed to you, nor is the other revealed to you, for sometimes you think that you know by the clouds that the wind will come, and it does not come here, but it passes and goes away to another land. This expression is similar to, “like the garden of Adonoy, like the land of Egypt,”12Bereishis 13:10. [and] “as with the maidservant, so with her mistress,”13Yeshayahu 24:2. [and] “as with the buyer so with the seller.”14Ibid. Sometimes it [Scripture] compares the former to the latter, and sometimes it compares the latter to the former. Here too, it teaches the knowledge of the wind from the knowledge of the womb, i.e., you should not await the wind by looking at the clouds. (Gloss: This matter is transposed in Rashi’s words, and it is in the opposite order. We must therefore, emend it as it is in exact editions, and then it will be understood well, and the following is the authentic version: Just as you do not know. This is a transposed verse, explained from its end to its beginning: Just as you do not know the skeletal structure that is enclosed in the full womb, things that are closed and confined in the full womb, and even though it protrudes outward, you cannot fathom what is in her womb,15Just as you do not know whether the fetus is male or female until it emerges, so do you not know the working of God Who does everything with wisdom. (Targum) so do you not know the way of the wind, i.e., the knowledge of both these things is equal, etc. From the book Sifsei Chachomim.) Nor the nature of that which is hidden. Enclosiede in O.F., as in, “and closes וְעוֹצֵם his eyes.”16Yeshayahu 33:15. So you will never know, etc. Also the decrees of the Omnipresent in dealing with poverty and wealth are hidden from you, and you should not refrain from [doing] kindness because you are worried, “perhaps my wealth will diminish and I will become impoverished; I will [therefore] not engage in Torah [study] and neglect my work and become poor; I will not wed and have children, because I will have to spend money to support them.” ==== Verse 6 Therefore in the morning sow your seed, etc. If17See Maseches Yevamos 62a. your learned Torah in your youth, learn Torah in your old age.18Sow your field at all times and do not wait for the wind, “for you do not know which will prosper, and therefore if you learned etc.” (Metsudas Dovid) If you had students in your youth, you should have students in your old age. If you married a childbearing woman in your youth, you should marry a childbearing woman in your old age. If you performed charitable acts in your youth, perform charitable acts in your old age. For you do not know which will prosper. Whether the students and children of your youth will survive you, or perhaps only those of your old age will survive. We find19See Maseches Yevamos 62b. that Rabbi Akiva had twenty-four thousand students from Gabas to Antiparis, and they all died between Pesach and Shavuos, and he came to our Sages in the south and taught them. And concerning children, we find that Ivzan “sent thirty daughters abroad, and he brought in thirty daughters for his sons,”20Shoftim 12:9. and they all died in his lifetime,21See Maseches Bava Basra 91a. but in his old age, he begot Oveid, who survived him. ==== Verse 7 And the light is sweet. The light of Torah is sweet.22In Tehillim 19:11, Dovid describes the Torah as “sweeter than honey and drippings from the combs.” And it is good [pleasant] for the eyes to behold the sun. And fortunate are the students whose eyes see a legal opinion whitened and clarified thoroughly. So is it expounded in Aggadas Tehillim. ==== Verse 8 Let him rejoice in all of them. Let him be happy with his lot, provided that he remembers the days of darkness and improve his deeds so that he be saved from them; and these are the days of eternal death, they are the days of the wicked. For they will be many. In those days, more than the days of life.23I.e., the days of darkness, when he will be in his grave, will be many more than the days of his life. (Metsudas Dovid) All that comes. Upon him will be punishment and darkness. “הֶבֶל” sometimes is an expression of punishment and troubles, as in, “for he [the stillborn child] comes with troubles הֶבֶל and departs in darkness.”24Above 6:4. ==== Verse 9 Rejoice young man in your youth. As a person who says to his servant or to his child, “Persist in your sinning, but [realize] you will be punished in one blow for all [your sins].” Here too, the wise man says, “Rejoice, young man in your youth ... follow the ways of your heart,” but be assured “that for all these things,” the Judge “will bring you to judgment.”25Alternatively, the Gemara in Maseches Shabbos 21b states that what is learned in the years of childhood is remembered more readily. This is the time period that one has no distractions or troubling thoughts. (Sforno) ==== Verse 10 Therefore banish anger. [Banish] anything that causes anger to the Omnipresent. And remove evil. The evil inclination. From your flesh. That you should have a heart of flesh.26Alternatively, if your flesh desires to indulge in anything that is evil, remove those desires from your flesh. (Metsudas Dovid) And youth. שַׁחֲרוּת refers to] youth, because [the hair on] a person’s head is black שָׁחוֹר in his youth.27Alternatively, שחר [=dawn] refers to youth which is the dawn of one’s life.