Final Speech of the Yirei Elokim

In his final speech, the Yirei Elokim responds to everyone else's philosophies. 

Response to Chacham: Even in your most private areas where you think no one can hear, don't say bad things about others, because G-d can always hear. You think you know better than everyone else, but you don't. G-d has the ability to know man's thoughts and to see into the most secretive and private aspects of anyone's life. You don't have the access to peoples' private lives like G-d does. You are vulnerable - you can be outsmarted by a little bird -> YOU ARE LIMITED. 

There are things you can't know, the human mind is limited. But just because you don't know something it doesn't mean that everything is Hevel. There is nothing wrong with chachma, you just have to realize that it is limited. The sun sometimes enlightens you and allows you to see, but it's not everything. 

Response to Amal: You need to put certain things aside because there will be bad times in your life. There are two things in this world that you will never know: 1. what the weather will be 2. What is going on in pregnancy. Don't wait for the perfect time, because if you wait for the perfect time, you will never do anything. Take the risk, you have to toil. There are factors of this world that you don't know but you need to try anyways. 

Response to Nehene: If you think that living life is all physical pleasure, you won't find meaning because at some point you will no longer be able to experience physical pleasure. There is nothing wrong with physical pleasure, but you need to recognize G-d. If you can recognize the above the Shemsh world, the Tachat Hashemesh world will become meaningful. 

Response to Everyone: The only thing that man can know is that man can't know everything. The secret of life is that there is a G-d and if you recognize that there is a higher power of man, then you will fins meaning in your life. If everything of your life revolves around perfection, you will be stuck and yo won't find meaning. 

If you recognize that you are human, mortal, finite, and there is a G-d out there, then you can use the Chachma, Osher, and Kavod and you can have a meaningful life

THERE IS NOT YITRON TACHAT HASHEMESH IF YOU ARE LIVING AN ONLY TACHAT HASHEMSESH WORLD. 

The Yirei Elokim gives a lot of insight in his final speech. Something that everyone can learn from him. It's hard and scary to recognize that there is something above us that has all the power in the world and can use that power at any second. What he says is like the way that Charlie Harary answered one of the questions two Shabbatot ago. The question was about shomer and why it's so important. The answer that Charlie Harary gave was that in marriage the physical pleasure and the spiritual pleasure become something so meaningful. When you are married, your two souls become one and you are so strong spiritually. He said that if you waste the physical pleasure throughout your whole life, it will feel wasted and there won't be any significance or meaning to it. If you can wait until the time that you can have the perfect mix of spiritual and physical pleasure together and something becomes meaningful. 

The past week we learned the נהנה's last speech before he leaves Kohelet. Both the עמל and the כחם think that effort or wisdom can help make the world a better place. The נהנה responds to that saying man can't save himself through his actions. He realizes that no matter what you do everyone has the same fate- death. The sinners and righteous have the same fate, the good and the bad have the same fate, the pure and impure have the same fate, so what is the point? Once you are dead you are forgotten and lost. Nothing will happen once you die so you might as well eat, drink, and party. The נהנה has some truth to his words. We don't know what will come after this world, if anything at all.

Calvin and Hobbes

Following in Rachel Tsuna's footsteps, I found a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip that seems to encompass the viewpoint of the עמל.
He's happy and building things, and everything is great, but he can't be perfect so it's all worthless...
There you go. Short and sweet.

The Yirei Elokim's Initial Response to the Chacham

In י:כ, we see what could be a potential response to the Chacham's previous rant. He's saying that in his rant he cursed the king and the wealthy. He refers back to what the Chacham said in פרק ז – that everyone curses everyone - and he's telling him that he's not really above that. The Yirei Elokim is telling the Chacham that although he thinks he knows better, he doesn't have access to what G-d has access to (everything). G-d has the ability to know man's thoughts and to see into the most secretive and private aspects of his lief (במדעך and בחדרי משכבך).

In this one פסוק the Yirei Elokim is giving the Chacham a reality check: he's limited by definition. Stop yelling and complaining, you don't have ultimate control! The Yirei Elokim shows the חכם as vulnerable and out-smarted by a little bird. He is limited!

I have a slight problem with this. The Chacham has just proclaimed himself as an agnostic in the previous section. He may not be a complete atheist, but he's not willing to take that leap of faith. How are you going to start talking about G-d if someone doesn't even believe in G-d!? It's not a productive argument! I think the facts the Yirei Elokim are presenting make sense, but only if you are accepting his premise - that G-d even exists and has access to all of these things! I think each person really sees that their own way, but there's something else interesting about this Passuk. It is one pasuk, yet there is so much information in it. So many different thoughts and ideas that come from it. It's pretty fascinating that you can get so much out of 20 words - whether you're an agnostic, atheist, chacham, amal, nehaneh, or yirei elokim!

Is That It?

This week, we FINALLY reached the crux of the Yirei Elokim's philosophy. He FINALLY tells us how to find meaning in life. How do you find meaning in life? Man can follow this basic idea: the only thing that man can know for sure is that man does not know. Man is not in control. In the end, G-d is in control and will hold you accountable for your actions. Man must participate in this world because G-d will hold him accountable. In the end, life is about the journey.

When we first met the Yirei Elokim, I loved what he had to say. In my blog posts, I was literally singing his praises because his philosophy was so human, so real, so tangible. As the other characters attacked the Yirei Elokim's philosophy, I began to doubt his resolve and his "correctness." Honestly, that might be because he has never outright stated his philosophy before now. It has always been said in response to someone else, but never on its own. Now that we know what he's saying, or what he believes the essence of life is, are we supposed to believe what he says without contesting it? Maybe just a little disagreement? Maybe?

I personally agree that accepting the basic fact that man cannot understand is vital to one's search for meaning in life. So what happens when you understand that fact? How are you supposed to behave? You should behave ethically, I hope. If you accept G-d's dominance over man and fail to participate in the world and try, then you have still failed. Although the Yirei Elokim did mention that G-d will hold man accountable for his actions in the end, what about behavior in this world? It seems like morality should be understood, but, alas, some of the other characters in Kohelet clearly seemed to overlook this.

Let's remove this whole idea from the context of Judaism. People of all faiths, denominations, backgrounds, and nations search for meaning in life every day. If you search "meaning of life" on YouTube, you will get a mix of Tibetan Monks, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, and otherwise explaining what they believe is the meaning of life. I stumbled upon this video of the Dalai Lama, one of the world's most recognized religious leaders. What does he say is the key to finding meaning in life? Compassion.

From a global perspective, this sounds amazing. Compassion would help the world out tremendously. Now, given the compassion element, what is the meaning of life? Can this be derived from the Yirei Elokim's core philosophy?

Bacchus and the Smurfy Neheneh

It's funny how you find Kohelet connections in the randomest places. I'm babysitting, and the kids are watching the Smurfs, and there was an episode just now where Lazy takes a nap and dreams of Paradise.
In the episode, he is convinced to go to Paradise instead of gathering firewood like he should be doing, and a big blue Bacchus tells him to "have fun, for life is short." When they take advantage of all that, Bacchus starts trying to trap them to eat them. Maybe this is an indication of what the Neheneh life is really like? Maybe it seems all pretty and awesome and enjoyable, but underneath, once you start living it, it goes bad?
That would make sense... Once you start with one indulgence and then one more and one more, you're on a slippery slope that never stops. It comes to a point where there's never enough. We're never satisfied with what we have, no matter how MUCH we have.
I guess that's the hidden message in the Smurf episode: materialistic paradise might not be quite as lovely as we thought... Just a thought...

We Don't Have to Be Perfect..

From Steinbeck's East of Eden

What does this mean to you?

By Golly, I Think He's Got It!

As we near the end of the book of Kohelet, I am happy to say that I think the יראי אלוקים has the right idea. All we have been struggling with through the whole book is, מה יתרון? How can I find the meaning in life?

This past week we read the final speech of the יראי אלוקים, and came to one of his main realizations. This being that there is a power higher in man, and if you believe that, you will have a meaningful and prosperous life.

As I was thinking about this today, I was thinking of all of our avots' יתרון and how all of them up until Shlomo had a lot of meaning in life because they recognized a higher power. Avraham's whole life revolved around Hashem. At the beginning of his life he was an idol worshipper who still tried to find something more complex than a statue. From the day that Hashem came to Avraham, he was hooked and did nothing but listened to Him. Next, we have Yitzchak. He was born into believing in G-d. He was seen as a miracle of G-d in his family because Sarah was so old, she didn't believe she could even have a child. Yaakov, put his faith in G-d during his work in Lavan's field. He trusted that G-d would protect him and give him the wife and children he always wanted. Down the line a little bit, David HaMelech was the king who probably had the most faith in G-d (in my opinion). He led his kingdom in a G-d fearing manner that Shlomo did not. Shlomo got too caught up in materialist life to be G-d fearing like his father.

Through the יראי אלוקים, we see Shlomo's G-d fearing side. It shows us that it does exist, but that maybe he could have focused less on the materials and more on running his kingdom in the eye of G-d.

Is Enjoying al we can do in life???

When I first read the final speech of the Nehene, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How could you say that G-d has no control and that there is nothing after we die. After looking the Perek over, I realized that the Nehene had made some pretty good points. How could one argue with them, If there is no proof, that his points are wrong. We don't know what happens after death.

The Nehene says that all we can do is enjoy, becase bad things are gonna happen no matter what we do. Is this true? There has to be something that can either replace pointless enjoying or bad things.

Appreciation and Gratitude

Well, my friends, we are approaching the end of Kohelet. The island is emptying, and soon only one character will remain (cue The Final Countdown). This week, we discussed the final speech of the Neheneh. The Neheneh's philosophy up until this point was that G-d is in complete control, and therefore, man should eat, drink, and enjoy because it all comes from G-d. The other characters objected to the Neheneh, mainly touching upon the ideas of the responsibility that man has.

So, in his speech, the Neheneh observes this world and the next, and arrives to a conclusion concerning both. He begins by saying that this world is a theodicy. There are bad people that are rewarded and there are good people who are punished. That is Hevel. He then responds to the previous three characters. Both the Chacham and the Amal don't know their fate. No matter how wise or how much you toil, you still remain in oblivion. No one listens to the wise man. To the Yirei Elokim he says that there is chaos and anarchy in the world. He concludes that if G-d were merciful, the bad person would go unpunished and the good person would be rewarded. If G-d were just, the bad person would be harshly punished and the good person would be somewhat punished for any bad. But, the fact that there is both justice toward the Tzadik and mercy towards the Rasha, makes the Neneheh think there is no system of justice and no control by G-d.

The Neheneh then espouses his ideas about the next world. No matter what you do in this world you all have the same fate. Everyone dies. His conclusion, therefore, about the next world is that a living dog is better than a dead lion and that once you're dead, you are immediately forgotten and lost. The Neheneh also offers his own conclusion about this world: that one must eat, drink, and be prepared to part-ay for nothing will happen to you once you die.

The Neheneh carries the following philosophy: Man must eat, drink, and be merry, for once he dies he can no longer enjoy. There will not be an accounting for your actions after you die. He also forms conclusions about "yitron," or purpose. He asserts that there is no "yitron,"as everyone has the same fate, there is chaos and anarchy- a world where G-d is not in control, and man will never know what will happen to him.

The Neheneh has turned into a very drastic hotel guest. How did he transform so quickly? His lack of faith is staggering. I think he needs to take a step back and appreciate what he has. Now that I come to think about it, the Neheneh really resembles Shlomo's quest for perfection. He wants the answer to everything. I'm sorry, buddy, but that's not how it works. We are not G-d. We cannot know everything. Some things we're just not meant to know. That gives us even more of an opportunity to have more faith in G-d, acknowledging that He is all-powerful.

G-d gave the Neheneh a world to enjoy; he should partake in it. The question of why the wicked prosper and the good suffer has plagued us for centuries. It is extremely frustrating to not be able to understand these things, but like I mentioned earlier, we don't need to know EVERYTHING.

This perek made me think of Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, we give thanks and appreciation for what we have. Maybe the Neheneh needs to join a Thanksgiving table or make a turkey filled with things he is thankful for. He needs to have gratitude, and just accept that he can't have/know everything. He may live a happier existence this way.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, folks.

No worries, G-d has it Under Control!!

         G-d is in complete control of this world, and no one else. G-d is the Ultimate ruler! Man is not accountable for his actions. Man is suppost to have a Partnership with G-d. And Man must do his part to make the world a better place. It seems like Man dosen’t really have to do anything in this world, excepet for eat drink, and Enjoy! But man can’t just sit back and relax and watch what bad things happen, and it just occurs. Man has to put an effort in, in everything that happens, little or small. It is Very hard to ignore responsibility, and just to party. Death is also hard to ignore. Man dosne’t know in this world when a person’s death is. The only thing that we can actually really do is Enjoy the World, because it is all from G-d. 


         Both the Amal and the Chcham come about the world and they think that effort/wisdom will help improve the world. The Nehena, Man can’t control Nature (earthquakes, tonadoes, volcanoes etc..) and so can man not control his death. You Can’t save yourself through actions. The wise Man thinks that No one care’s or litsens about what he has to say or does. 


        Everyone has the same Fate, and will never know what will happen to you. You look into this world and you can see all the evil and wickedness that man does. In this world people do evil, and sin. People Don’t recognize that they will be judged. Ultimately, Everyone will be held accountable for thier actions, of what they do, and we have to relize that it is all from G-d

Life, Death... What is this Shtuss?

What is the meaning of all of this business we call life? And what's the deal with death? Do our lives have meaning? If so, how do we find it? Where do we find it? If there's no meaning in our lives... what do we do? Are we being judged for what we do? Are we accountable for anything we do? In which world does it matter- this world or the next? Both? Why do good things happen to bad people? And how can bad things happen to good people, too? How does that make sense! Is life cyclical? Is there anything new under the sun? What makes man different than animal- are we different than animal? So many questions!

 Great questions. Questions we should be asking ourselves at this point in our lives. And yet... how many of you guys feel like you have solid answers yet? Sure, we're not done with the book yet, so there's still hope. But do you really think that you'll have a concrete answer to these questions when you come out of the class? I certainly don't. I think one of the wonderful things about this class is that we're having open discussions about all these ideas. We're thinking about these issues from many perspectives. We're looking at the different debates and having debates of our own. This is exactly what should be happening. If an answer comes out, great. If not, no matter. I guess what I just wrote is pretty reminiscent of the YE. We can't always be obsessed with answers that we can't find, just like we can't be obsessed with perfection when we are limited and imperfect beings. Anyways, just something to consider. Now.. Rav Calvin time. 

_________________________________________________

For those of you who aren't familiar with Calvin and Hobbes, I'm going to have to ask you to read the whole story involving the raccoon. It's really one of the most emotional of the stories. Good stuff. Click here to see the whole series of strips. These two are taken from the very end. (Spoiler alerts ahead!) Calvin is struggling to find the meaning of life. After he invested so much in the raccoon only to have it die, he realized how fragile life is and how powerless we are in the whole scheme of things. 

You know what, guys? I can't figure out this death stuff either! Why do innocent people die early? People have this questions when struggling to accept why God would have let the holocaust happen. What do you guys say about this 'death stuff'? 

Death is a natural part of life. As much as I hate to admit it, I guess I'm going to die too. Though I don't think so. "We don't really understand it, but there are many things we don't understand, and we just have to do the best we can with the knowledge we have." Wise words from Calvin's mom. Kind've reminds me of the YE. What do you guys think? Do you buy this? Or it's not your cup of tea? 

Personally, this is how I like to think about life. This is  the last strip of C&H . Quite fitting. It's a magical world... Full of possibilities. This strip makes me happy. And you know what? After killing our brains with all these philosophical questions, I think it's important to take a step back at the end and say- I don't have all the answers, but the world sure is a magical place. And that's neat. Thoughts? Great or great? What do you think of fresh starts? 

Don't Worry, Be Happy

         This week in Megillot, we continued on from the diplomatic discussion between the Yirei Elokim and the Chacham to the final speech of the Neheneh. We learned in earlier perakim that the Neheneh believed that G-d is in complete control, so man is not accountable for his actions. He then concluded that the only thing we should worry about is enjoying everything. 

         The Amal, Yirei Elokim, and Chacham all responded to the Neheneh and jumped down his throat. The Amal told him that man has a role to play, and you can't just sit back and watch as bad things happen. The Yirei Elokim told him that G-d is in control, but man must do his part to make the world a better place. The Chacham told him that you can't just ignore death and responsibility in order to party.

         Now, in Perek ח and Perek ט, the Neheneh comes back once again to give us one last piece of advice. In the beginning of Perek ח, the Neheneh begins by saying there are bad people who are rewarded and good people who are punished. He concludes from this (shocker) that הכל הבל. He also responds to the Amal, the Yirei Elokim, and the Chacham. 

         To the Amal and the Chacham he says whether you're wise or you toil, you don't know your fate. To the Yirei Elokim, he expands on this idea, saying that he sees chaos in this world and he doesn't see G-d's hand. He comes to this conclusion by thinking that if G-d were merciful, the bad person would go unpunished and the good person would be rewarded. If G-d was just, the bad person would be harshly punished and the good person would be somewhat punished. However, the fact that there is both justice and mercy means there is NO system of justice and NO control by G-d. 

         In Perek ט, the Neheneh continues on his rant, saying that no matter what you do in this world, everyone has the same fate and every dies. He concludes that once you are dead, you are lost and forgotten. We should drink, eat, and be ready to party it up because nothing will happen to you once you die. You can no longer enjoy and there will be no accounting for your actions after death. 

         What light, happy, fun-filled thoughts! Seriously though, the Neheneh is getting on my nerves. Why is he complaining about everything? Now he sounds like the Amal who said that we shouldn't do anything because it's all pointless after death. Who cares!?!? Why are all so obsessed with death? I think that if they would concentrate on the present instead of the future, they would all be a lot happier. 

         With Thanksgiving coming up (the greatest holiday of the entire year), now is great time to start appreciating what you have. An article posted on fundamentalfocusing.com, called "Happiness and Dying", cleverly explains these ideas. The author of the article takes the 5 things that people wish they had done looking back on life and provides some inspiration. The one that I thought really relates to the Neheneh is the last one: "I wish that I had let myself be happier". The author writes that nowadays people are "waking up to the fact that they don't want to be a living dead...the same comment arises when we are ready to die".  I think this will certainly happen to the Neheneh at the end of his life. He'll be wondering why he spent so much time focusing on death instead of on life. 

True, But Frustrating

After finally getting to the final response from the Yirei Elokim, I don't think I'm truly satisfied. There are some interesting points the guy brings up that do restore my faith in G-d and this world after it was crushed multiple times during the course of this class, but I'm still a little shaky on believing everything this guy says. First of all, he says that there will be days of darkness when you feel that everything is hevel. That's pretty realistic, everyone does have their bad days, so it seems like he's stealing from the Chachum's playbook. I'm cool with that. He then says, what seems to be his main point, that man and the human mind are limited and finite. Man cannot know everything or control everything. That does not mean that man just shouldn't try, which were the conclusions of the Amal and Nehena,  but that man should attempt to understand the world and use Chachmah, he just also must realize that when he can't understand something, it does not mean that there is anarchy and chaos and everything is hevel. It just means that there are some things that are incomprehensible for man. The only thing that man can truly know is that man cannot know everything.

The more I think about that line, the more true I find it to be. But it is also extremely frustrating. The Yirei Elokim wants man to understand that he is limited so he should not strive for perfection or to have everything. There is something bigger than man, G-d, and if everything is about man and you can't be satisfied until you have it all, then you can never find meaning. It can't be all about the end goal, because if you're looking for it all then you're not going to reach it and you will never find meaning that way.

The Yirei Elokim makes some good points that really make you think, but the more I think about it, the less I am satisfied with it. It's not because I think this ideology is flawed, I just think as a human, it is hard to think that there are end goals that are simply unreachable because G-d is bigger than us or because we are incapable of reaching perfection. We say it all the time. We can't be perfect, we can't have it all, but when you think about it, it's kind of sad. If I want perfection and that is my goal, I will lose sight of meaning in the world. So can you not have both? Meaning in life and striving for perfection don't seem to mix according to the Yirei Elokim. I would have liked to see the Chachum's view on this response. It's frustrating to be told that we are limited and we are being held accountable for our actions when there still is no proof of any of this.

The Yirei Elokim also strikes down the theory that the cycles of nature make no progress because they just go around and around, ending up in the same place they started. He says that although the water might return to its origin at the end of the day, or that the sun rises and sets in the same place each day, they also accomplish many things during the day. Wind moves seeds and creates new life and the sun gives us warmth and keeps us alive. Along the way, things do happen--new things, even. There is progress. I do like this concept. I think it's another example of looking at the bigger picture, or from a new angle. Instead of looking at it in a negative light--no progress--we can look at it from a positive angle--looking at all that's accomplished while the cycle takes place.

Chacham vs Yirei Elokim

     As we continue through the argument that the Chacham and Yirei Elokim are having They are having a debate. The Chacham disagrees with the Yirei Elokim who thinks that you should live your life and be punished after you  die. While the Chacham thinks that you should not be punished and should continue to live your life. Punishments can come in any form , but these two characters have their own opinions and continue to say what they think.
    
    These two opinions gives me many idea about how this works.
I think that being punished after death is a good idea because at least you can look back and recognize what you did wrong. With this being said the argument continues and there are still many opinions about this topic .

Who Knew That Kohelet Would Be So Involved In Mr. Brame's Class?

        In Mr. Brames literature class we have been talking greatly about Romanticism. Romanticism is setting aside reason/ rationality and is all about using spontaneity, nature, and feelings. Two things in the class sounded similar to something I heard before. Henry Longfellow, a Romantic writer, wrote a poem, "The Psalm of Life." Most of the poem just really sounded awfully familiar to me. In the "Psalm of Life", Longfellow is basically urging the readers to look at life in a positive way and using the messages from the poem as a guide in their lives. When talking about death Longfellow explains the following:

Life is only temporary and everyone dies eventually. Every day people are getting closer to their deaths.  After a person dies though, their soul continues to live. G-d created the world having everyone die. Death should not get you down. 

^ 

It honestly sounds like Longfellow wrote this part of the poem after hearing the Chacham's philosophy in Kohelet. When the Chacham responds to all the philosophies didn't he say that everyone dies? Didn't he specifically say to the Amal that G-d made the world broken? G-d made the world with death, but didn't he tell the Amal not to let death get him down? 

Anyways,

Part of this poem was very similar to the Chacham's responses ( Especially to the Amal) but today in class something else we talked about also sounded very familiar to Kohelet. We were talking about writers like Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman. 

Do you know what all of these writers have in common?

 They are all Transcendentalists. 

Transcendentalists are Romantic writers who try to simplify everything. They try to go beyond, examine nature, and make a difference. 

( Kind of similar to the Amal's starting philosophy before he realized man could not do anything.)

When they die they want to be able to look back and feel like they accomplished something and they want to understand their lives. Thoreau, a famous transcendentalist wrote a book after he faced a hardship which inspired Ghandi. Ghandi then inspired Marting Luther King Jr. and he inspired us.   <-- This is the political part of transcendentalism. They made a difference and helped the world. They also thought, "Are your acquisitions going to make you happy when you die? What do you want to be remembered for?" They lived a simple life and are very involved in nature. They are very optimistic. 

Yet again the Transcendentalists remind me of Kohelet again.

 This time, part of the philosophy reminds me of the Amal's starting philosophy when he says that man needs to make a difference and fix injustice.When it is talking about the materialistic acquisitions it reminded me in the beginning of Kohelet when Kohelet is talking about how he was the wealthiest king and all of his wealth did not make him happy.

Basically I have come to the conclusion that Kohelet's philosophies are not just in Kohelet, but they also appear in all different subjects. I would never expect Kohelet to appear so much in Mr. Brames American Lit class? I just find it so fascinating that parts of these philosophies are what we learn in our every day lives. 

Blast to the Past... and Altruistic Hedonism?

I was talking to Mr Vaughn earlier today, and somehow the topic turned to the meaning of life. It was interesting how what he said reflected what we've been learning about the arguments between the 4 characters of קהלת.

Mr Vaughn made the point that no one ever gets out of life alive, but just because you will die, that doesn't mean your life is worthless. You still have to do the right thing. You can still do your part to make the world a better place in the short term, at least. Think, for example about your 1st or 2nd grade teacher. Do you remember him/her? What did he/she do to make you remember him/her?

Personally, I don't remember much of Mrs Robertson, my own first grade teacher, but I do remember her giving us books at the end of the year to take home with us.  I even remember what books they were! (Pinky and Rex and Henry and Mudge)

My point is, though, that even though I don't remember her well, my first grade teacher basically began my education and got me to where I am at this point. Even though she won't be alive forever, she will, to use a cliche, "live on in me": in my memory and in my being educated and educating others. She had no idea how wide her impact would be, but hey! I still remember her, right? And I'm talking about her to you. Whether that impact visibly lasts a second or a lifetime, or even longer, it's still an impact. In the words of the Tuck Everlasting movie (and possibly the book as well), "...[Y]ou don't have to live forever. You just have to live."

Mr Vaughn also said that, yes, we should enjoy the world while we live in it, and that maybe hedonism isn't inherently so bad depending on the definition and "type" of hedonism. Consider this: What if someone got pleasure from helping and doing things for other people. If that was their form of hedonism, does that still count as hedonism? Can someone gain his or her pleasure solely from helping other people and still be called a hedonist? Or the label of hedonism saved only for the people who gain all their pleasure from selfish materialism?

Voice your opinions in the comments below!

Chacham vs. Yeray Elokim

          In perek Chet we see the Chacham and Yeray Elokim in an intense debate. They are arguing mainly about G-ds involvement in this world and the next one. The Yeray Elokim is upset that he sees evil people in the world and nothing is stopping them. G-d isn't punishing them therefor they keep on doing evil things. The Chaman tries to explain that G-d does punish he just saves it for the world to come. He doesn't punish people right on the spot because he wants to give everyone a time and a chance to repent.
         The Yeray Elokim still doesn't like this and says the system is flawed. The Yeray Elokim ends that even if it seems that people are not being judged now G-d is saving all of his judgments for the next world and everyone will be held accountable for their actions.

     In Perek 8 of Kohelet, the Chacham and Yirei Elokim get in an argument. Their argument discusses G-d's judgment system. The Yirei Elokim says that there is a system and that man has a partnership with G-d. The Chacham says that there is a system, but it is very flawed. The Yirei Elokim explians what he thinks is the judgment system: If you do good than you will be rewarded in this world and if  you do something bad than you will be punished in this world. It was also stated that when you die you are accountable for all of your sins. The Chacham and Yirei Elokim both have some good points here.  

The Yirei Elokim argues with the Chacham about God's judgement. The Chacham thought God's judgement has mistakes but the Yirei Elokim disagrees. The Yirei Elokim think you need to try hard and do what is right, but after you die you will be punished. The Chacham thinks that you do not realize you do bad or when you don't get punished you don't think it is a big deal and continue. He thinks you should be punished right after you sin.

I think the Chacham and Yieri Elokim both make good points. If you do not know you sin it may be good to be punished right away, like a warning not to do this again. But, if you do know you sin, you do not need to be punished right at that time because you know you have done wrong and should try to repent.

The Final Speech of the חכם

In the final speech of the חכם, we see how far he's come since the beginning. At the beginning he was a realist. He told the נהנה that death is reality, asked the עמל why he was so angry, and told the יראי אלוקים he was just far too righteous.

In this section he replies again to the three characters.

First he replies to the נהנה. He tells him that he's loud - he might be able to convince people to follow him but he's an idiot. No one should pay attention to the fool. Wisdom and intellect are what's really amazing. Fools are leaders because their loud, they make their presence known. DON'T LET THEM INFLUENCE! One hit by the fool will destroy the good, just like a dead fly destroys perfume. For חכמה to be heard, it has to be perfect, but there won't be perfection with the fool. Not even the voice of reason can overtake the loud fool.

Then he replies to the עמל. The חכם just blames G-d for how the world is run - that foolishness outweighs חכמה. Everything is all topsy turvy. The יתרון is חכמה. He lists analogies of people who have nothing to show for their work because it was ruined by lack of חכמה. The עמל may want to build - but he's nothing without חכמה and the חכם.

Finally, he replies to the יראי אלוקים. The חכם thinks that the יראי אלוקים's suggestion of a 2-tiered system of justice is foolish because man doesn't know what will be, and who will tell him? The חכם is an agnostic - he's not a complete atheist, but he's not going to act or think differently, he's not going to take that leap of faith. They're essentially in a stalemate.

He concludes by saying that our society's run by fools, there's a lack of wisdom so they can't build. If they had wisdom and insight - society would be successful.

We see he's evolved from before because in פרק ז he was a realist - he turned to all of them and said: don't be frustrated, the world's imperfect, just think, and be smart. Now, they all made him look at the world and he gets frustrated. He's getting angry: "If I were ruler, everything would be good." Now he too is trying to strive for perfection.

The Chacham Is On My Last Nerve

I seriously cannot deal with the Chacham anymore. 

Look, dude, I get it. Life can be hard when you feel like the ones who have a voice are not worthy and the ones who are worthy do not have a voice. I get it. A fly ruins the ointment. That one hits home with me. That one stray mark on my paper ruins the whole thing and I have to write my notes all over again. My room is a disaster if one of my drawers is left slightly open (Lily!!!!!). I take off all my makeup if my eyeliner isn't exactly aligned. But, those are just my own obsessive compulsive issues and most people experience them. I don't let them ruin my entire world! 

The fly in the ointment scenario cannot be applied to the whole world! If one little fly ruined literally everything, we would have a serious problem. "Flies" are everywhere. Bad things happen all the time, but that doesn't just ruin the rest of the world! There would be no world if this was the case. If we went about our lives pointing out every small imperfection and letting it completely ruin us, we would not live at all. 

Yes, the Chacham may be frustrated and feel like wisdom is not being heard, but this certainly is not true in every case! I agree with the Chacham when he said that wisdom should be heard. I certainly wish more wisdom was heard and wisdom was more prevalent among our leaders. I hear that. But not every single person is a fool! Wouldn't the world have totally crashed and burned by now if this was the case? Ugh. This is so ridiculous. 

The Chacham seems to have gone from a realist to a perfectionist pretty rapidly. He starts out by letting everyone know that in reality, mistakes are made and perfection simply cannot be achieved. Now he seems to be saying that perfection is all that matters, and any small "fly" ruins everything! 

The Chacham needs to go back to his original philosophy. It was logical and more relatable. The world certainly is imperfect, and that is okay. Bad things happen and we all die. That is the reality of the situation, and we should accept the bad with the good. The bad is going to happen regardless, so why not accept it as a part of life's journey and not let it ruin all the good in life? The Chacham is grumpy. He needs a nap. 

The "Once-Over"

         This week in Megillot, we looked at the different aspects of the Yirei Elokim. We had already learned about the Yirei Elokim's initial response to the Chacham, where he objects to the Chacham's methodology. This week we looked into his response more deeply and found a troubling controversy.

         In the beginning, the Yirei Elokim told the Chacham that he was using the wrong approach to wisdom: he is using his own knowledge and value systems instead of basing is off the Torah and G-d's wisdom. He also tells the Chacham that there is a deliberate system laid out, where man will be held accountable for all of his actions after he dies. The Chacham argues that this is terribly unjust, because if man is only be held accountable in the next world, then he won't know to stop sinning because he isn't punished in this world.

         By analyzing the Yirei Elokim's responses so far, we find the controversy spoken about before. In Perek 5, the Yirei Elokim told the Amal that there is a partnership between man and G-d. He also said that ultimately, G-d is in control and uses His משפט in this world.

          Wait, wait, wait. Hold on just a second. What? Did the Yirei Elokim say that G-d judges man in THIS world? When he responded to the Chacham in Perek 8, he said that G-d judges every action and holds everyone accountable when they die, in the NEXT world. WHAT IS GOING ON??!?!?

         Mrs. Perl explained to us the situation. In this world, there is a partnership between man and G-d. However, since man cannot implement justice and create a perfect society, there are holes in the judgement that occurs. You can't see G-d's involvement, the punishments are physical, not miraculous, and there are collective punishments. If a man sinned, he would be punished with bad crops, no rain, etc. Since G-d didn't make it only rain on one man's land, it was a collective punishment.

         However, there is the next world. And in the next world, there is no partnership with G-d. Man is held accountable for every sin he has ever done. Nothing falls through the holes!

          Being judged does not usually give people a good feeling. When you walk into a room and you're given the "once-over" by other people, you tend to feel self-conscious. You can FEEL them judging you. I find that more people are worried about being judged in this world then in the next world. They're more worried about being judged by others than being judged by G-d. I think this is completely backwards. Somehow, people need to realize that being judged by G-d is way more important than being judged by other people.

"וְהָאֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה שֶׁיִּרְאוּ מִלְּפָנָיו"

I have been reading a book along with an old camp counselor of mine in an attempt to understand the core principles of Judaism. The book is entitled Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Convincing Evidence of the Truths of Judaism, and it is written by Rabbi Shmuel Waldman.

Tonight Rachel and I finished reading the first chapter of the book called "Compelling Evidence of a Creator". The entire first chapter was dedicated to "teleological proof", which aims to show the plan and purpose of all creatures on this earth, which is considered the most effective way of proving the world has a Creator. The chapter went through many organisms- oranges, bananas, carnivorous plants, insects, birds, bats, and the human body- and discussed how the incredible depth of their design cannot be attributed to chance, but must be the work of God.

Towards the end of the chapter was a quote from Kohelet 3:14, from the Neheneh section: "יָדַעְתִּי כִּי כָּל אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה הָאֱלֹהִים 
":הוּא יִהְיֶה לְעוֹלָם עָלָיו אֵין לְהוֹסִיף וּמִמֶּנּוּ אֵין לִגְרוֹעַ וְהָאֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה שֶׁיִּרְאוּ מִלְּפָנָיו
 "I knew that everything God made, that will be forever, we cannot add to it, nor can we subtract from it; and God made it so that they fear Him." 

The book brought in this quote as a way of suggesting that God created this world in such a way that we can see His presence if we simply open our eyes to Him; we have the ability to see the existence of God through the things we encounter everyday, something like a simple banana- "and God made it so that they fear Him."

We haven't brought up the concept of the existence of God in Kohelet,  and this wasn't something I had noticed or thought about when learning Perek 3. I found this to be really interesting.

I've really enjoyed this book so far, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the chapters bring. In case y'all are interested in reading it: http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Reasonable-Doubt-Convincing-Evidence/dp/1583306498

Calvin, God, Kohelet, What's New?

You'll have to excuse me. I am just really antsy about the whole "we're finishing Kohelet" thing. Naturally, I cope  by finding more Calvin and Hobbes comics that I think were meant to be integrated into the text as visual aids. Since the publisher of Artscroll or whatever didn't so it, I feel as though it is my obligation to share the comics with you and relate them to Kohelet.

But first, can we take a second to discuss how the Chacham said adieu? (ha-ha, it's already been a second. You may as well take a few more seconds..) He starts off by essentially calling everyone idiots. He's right and everyone else is dumb. His beginning philosophy was all about realism and accepting reality. Things are changing now, though. Slowly but surely, he starts becoming more and more haughty and ends up with the philosophy of "If I were the ruler, everything would be perfect." He doesn't want to accept reality anymore. Because it's dumb. He needs perfection. It's the only thing that'll do. And you know what else- he's not willing to take that leap of faith anymore. It's too much of a jump and he doesn't want to risk it. The Yirei Elokim is a fool and that's the end of it. The whole world is topsy turvey. Gahh. Why is this happening? Where's the realist we all know and love? (Pow pow, Jamie?) What do you guys think about the transformation of the Chacham? Believable? Unbelievable? Disappointed? Surprised? 

__________________________________________________________________

Finally, more Calvin!

Okay, this one is a bit of a stretch, but bear with me here. This reminds me a little bit of the Chacham at the end. Sort of the whole "we don't actually know what God is and what's going on... God may as well be a chicken for all we know!" That sort of thing. So why just assume the YE is right in his assumptions. What makes his theory any more likely than the "chicken god" principle? (Also, come on, the comic is cute..)

This brings me back to the Chacham/YE debates of the previous chapters when they're discussing the whole system of judgement. Does God account for all circumstances- "extenuating circumstances", as Calvin would say? According to the YE, God does in this world. That's why bad people don't get punished right away; they have mercy. In this system, Calvin will have a chance to make up for his "salamander incident"... 

This is the anti-Chacham. Kind've like the Nehaneh in the beginning- he had this "ignorance is bliss" principle. This principle of "there's no way that we can possibly understand the world anyways.." In the first few perakim, the Nehaneh felt that God controls everything, but we can't understand it, so let's just be happy and go party. 

This is also flashback to what I think I'll now call the "Nehaneh Classic". This was his original philosophy (just imagine Calvin said something about God in the beginning or something). This is the philosophy that all the other people totally demolished. The YE was all like- don't think you're not responsible. That's just an excuse. There's a partnership between you and God but you're still very much responsible for your actions. Do you think that you're responsible for your actions or that everything is predetermined? Or that everything is just chance?

This reminds me of the Chacham in the debates. If we can't see anything happening, then how are we supposed to know that there is something out there? Or not. I can't quite decide who this reminds me of the most.. What do you guys think? Who is this? 

My Struggles with the Chachum.

I clearly had a pretty hard time hearing what the Chachum had to say in his final speech. I had really liked him when he first came into the picture and basically gave everyone a reality check. He told the nehena that man does have a purpose and role in this world. Actions impact your reputation and its time to recognize the reality of the world--there is death. To the Amal, he says that the world is not all about man and man is not meant to be perfect. You can't be angry because you can't control the world and because your expectations are falling short---you have to look at the way things are. Lastly, he tells the Yirei Elokim to stop acting so righteous. Everyone sins. Man can't be perfect.

Finally someone gets in there and tells these extreme personalities what life is all about. Just because everything isn't perfect doesn't mean everything is hevel! I really liked this guy. Then, in perek tet, everything changed.

After hearing from the Yirei Elokim and the Nehena, the Chachum seems to take a closer look at the world. He talks about a little fly that lands in a vat of perfume. Instantaneously, the fly makes the perfume putrid and ruined. Similarly, one tiny imperfection ruins chachmah. For anyone to listen to what the chahum is saying, it must be perfect. The same applies nowadays. If something is proved wrong in a scientific study or theory, then no one wants to hear about it. When you're on the defense side in a court case, you try to throw as much stuff at the wall you can, hoping something will stick. This just means that you bring up as many reasons as possible that can make the prosecution's case seem shaky. You just have to show that there's one little imperfection in their case/story and that changes everything. It ruins their entire case. The same is true with debate. When you're on the negative side all you have to do is point out the smallest imperfections with the affirmative team's plan and you can win.

Even though it all makes sense, it means that the chachum is moving to an extreme! Before he was the realist who was the most sensible and down to earth. Now he is striving for perfection just like the rest of them. And this makes me angry. How can someone go from being a realist who tells the others that perfection is not attainable to striving for perfection himself? That just does not seem realistic to me. It's like when you're watching a show and it starts out really good, but then, the more unrealistic it gets, the less you want to watch it.

I've tried to understand how the chuchum could have made such a drastic move in his thinking, and I think I might be starting to understand but am I not satisfied. I guess the more he is hearing about how messed up the world is from the Nehena who just had a panic attack/explosion, the more the Chuchum has been reflecting on the current state of the world. He sees that society is messed up and the leaders are foolish. The leader is a hedonist and money is everything to him. If only the ruler could use wisdom and insight, then the world would be better. He believes that the only way to make the world better is if he is in power. He is clearly frustrated with how the world is run and is no longer satisfied with the reality of the situation. He knows that he can make the world better and since he does not have the chance, he gets frustrated enough to change his whole outlook on life.

And I am not impressed.

Fly in the Oitment

As we were going through an Upfront magazine in History class, she told us to flip through the pages. There is an article called "The Fly in the Ointment" and it reminded me of class so of course I asked Mrs. Kutliroff to give me permission to keep it so I could read it later and use it to write my blog! To my disadvantage, the article was actually about idioms and had nothing to actually do with the fly in the ointment. But, I decided to write something about this subject anyways.

I've noticed many times in our lives we experience the "fly in the ointment." We see something bad and it ruins everything else around it. I've found myself getting upset over such small things, and then finding them spoil my whole night. I could be having a good time, and all of a sudden someone says or does something that makes me upset, and right away the whole night is spoiled. 

This week we found a whole new side of the Chacham. He went from a realist to a self conceded perfectionist. He attacked the Nehene with so many metaphors, one being that he was the fly in the ointment. 

He says that the Nehene walks in and is loud and everyone listens to him and the wise person tries to make some sense, but no one listens to him. He says that even though the Nehene is an idiot, people still listen to him because he is loud. That Nehene is the small piece of imperfection that is so loud, and it destroys everything. 

Life According to Charlie Harary and Legend of Korra

We are very near the end of Kohelet. This week, we began working in Chavruta on the Yirei Elokim's final speech. As of this moment, I do not have enough understanding of what he's saying to whom to reflect on that. However, this weekend has given me a lot to ponder in many different ways.

The first and most obvious way is that I heard Charlie Harary speak. After his speech on Friday night, I approached him with some friends to thank him for giving me an extra boost of inspiration after coming off of an inspirational high this summer. After I was done speaking to him, one of my friends asked a question. I honestly cannot remember exactly what the question was about, but the answer was much more profound than the question. Mr. Harary started talking about how Judaism is the perfect blend of both the spiritual and physical worlds. We cannot have too much physical pleasure, nor can we have only spiritual pleasure. Judaism is constructed to reflect a balanced world in which people have a connection to both the spiritual and the physical. At the time, I thought that this was extremely insightful and is probably the essence of why Judaism is the way it is.

Then, on Saturday night, I was sitting in my room watching the season 2 finale of Legend of Korra. Disclaimer: SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!! 

Anyway, season 2 has been all about how Avatar Korra is the bridge between the spiritual and physical worlds. Korra is the human host for the spirit of light. In this final episode, she has to battle the spirit of darkness. Predictably, Korra succeeds in subduing the dark spirit and restores balance to the world. After the battle is won, Korra ponders closing the entrances from the spirit world to the physical world. The first Avatar closed the portals ten thousand years before. Korra deliberates and finally decides to leave the portals open. In a speech to the world, she claims that her decision not to close the portals will allow the merging of the physical and spiritual world; humans and spirits can now live together in peace.

While this show might seem like some light-hearted children's show, it actually has some deep messages about finding meaning and balance in life. What Korra did when she vanquished the evil spirit and kept the doors to the spirit world open was truly restore balance to the universe. This way, both the spiritual and physical realms can exist in balance with each other. Perhaps this is the way to find the meaning in life. At this point, I don't think I have to point out that the philosophies of the Neheneh, Ammal, and Chacham were rejected because of their extreme views of how the world works. I can only hope that the Yirei Elokim and Kohelet himself come to the conclusion that both Charlie Harary and Korra have: a balance needs to exist or G-d's system will not work. Man is accountable and should work through a partnership with G-d. Physical pleasure, work ethic, and intelligence are all necessary parts of the world, but none alone is the most important. In the end, it is a joining of all of the philosophies (without their extreme conclusions about how horrible the world is) that will prevail.

What do you guys think? What is the meaning of life? Which way will Kohelet turn? Is there more to life than what I have suggested? Is it necessary for G-d to be involved? Can a balance be maintained without G-d's involvement?

The Nehena, Anmal, and the Yarahai Elokim

The Beginning Purpose of Life, Is Understanding How The World Works and the End of the Purpose of Life is Since I can't know Everything הכל הבל. The Three Characters: The ,נהנה,עמל and the ירא אלוקים. עמל - Should be so focused, that you can't take your work with you, because knowledge is more important. נהנה - You should try to gain more knowledge, all that you can gather. ירא אלוקים- Trying to Accomplish, Dosen't matter, it won't get you anywhere, you should focus on understanding everything. Some ideas that The נהנה ,עמל and the ירא אלוקים that are specific philosophy's that they suggest. The נהנה is saying that its better to live a strict life because only fools, live through rafter, and feasts. The עמל is saying Don't try to perfect everything because G-d made it that way, He is saying wisdom will be prophet, It will bring you money and life. Don't long for the past. The ירא אלוקים is saying not to be a righteous, foolish, wicked or wise, There's NO ONE who Dosen't sin!

Sudden Punishment or Punishment at Death?

In perek 8 the Chacham and Yirei Elokim argue about G-d's system of judgment. The Yirei ELokim is defending G-d's system, while the Chacham seems to be saying that G-d's system is flawed.

The Yirei Elokim says that G-d's system is that humans should try and do right, because when they die they will be punished.

The Chacham says that G-d's system is bad, because when people sin and don't get punished, they don't realize they are doing wrong and continue to sin. A better system would be to sin and get punished right away, so man would no what he was doing was wrong.

Maybe in everyday life we use a mixture of both the Chacham's and the Yerei Elokim's (G-ds) systems. 

When we sin in public, we do not usually realize what we are doing is wrong and therefore we are punished on the spot as a warning.

When we sin in private, that means you know what you are doing is wrong, and punishment is not going to stop you from doing it. Therefore, G-d will not judge you for those actions until you die. Many people would say this is unfair, because G-d did not show you that you need to repent, but if you know what you are doing is wrong, there is no need for punishment, because you should know to repent.

Don't mess With G-d! G-d is in Control of Everything!

The חכם Uses his own intellect and experiences to draw a conclusion about the world, instead of using the חכמה of G-d. The חכם: Listens to G-d's Commandments- I'm like the חכם because the source of Wisdom Is G-d, Not man! Man Can't Escape his actions! G-d is the Ultimate ruler- G-d not man determines death. No one can tell him what to do- There will be an accounting for the bad that's done in this world at death. When G-d determines its time for death, Its time! Judgement- Will be given out! Looking at this world and I see the evil that man does, The judgement Isn't fast, its a Flawed System. People don't recognize that they will be judged. G-d is the ultimate Ruler who makes all the decisions in life, and when a person dies, and all the important thins, G-d rules this World!!

It's My Way, or the Highway

This past week in Megillot, we learned about the final speech of the חכם. As always, he starts his speech by responding to each of the other characters of Kohelet. He first responded to the נהנה. He tells his that he can scream like a fool and stomp his feet, but in the end everyone is going to listen to my quiet words of wisdom. He goes on to tell him that though he is loud, and that may get people to follow him, he is still an idiot because he doesn't have the wisdom. We can learn from this that we cannot be led astray by a loud, and "idiotic" leader.

Next comes the response to the עמל. He tells the עמל that no matter how hard he works to reach perfection, he is not going to because he doesn't have the wisdom. Lastly, we have the response to the יראי אלוקים. The חכם questions him. He asks, how do you know that there will be justice in the next world and it is served when you die. You do not have the ability to look further than life, because only I can do that with my wisdom.

After the חכם responds to everyone else, he gives his final opinions. He tells us that a leader should be noble, but money is also the answer for everything. We see that at the end of the חכם's speech he comes full circle back around, like all the other characters, and says that everything is hevel. He became all of the characters combine and said that once one finds MY wisdom, MY intelligence, and MY insight the world will be perfect.

The חכם did have a realization and in the realization I would like to focus on how much he used the words "I" and "my." He told all of the characters that the only way they can achieve perfection is by finding and applying wisdom to their lives. Nothing else will work. It was either the חכם's way or the highway.

Was G-d Actually Involved Or Is The Chacham Not Noticing Him?

   At first I completely sided with the Chacham. I thought his philosophy made sense. Although I still agree with him, there was one thing he said that made me change my views of how I have always learned Torah up until now. Up until Thursday I believed that G-d was always in people's lives standing by their sides. I thought G-d was always walking next to the people. I thought that G-d's miracles and punishments always appeared in his people's lives. But if that is the case then why did the Chacham say that G-d made a flawed world?
      The Chacham says G-d made a flawed system of punishment because people sin then are punished in the next world instead of this world, causing them to repeat their bad actions. A person sins then continues to sin because no one is stopping them or doing anything about it. What confuses me is that back then wasn't G-d extremely active in people's lives like I learned from kindergarten up until now? 
           What is the Chacham saying that G-d did not punish them in that life? What about all the other punishments people got right after they sinned? 
         This makes me think that the Chacham is a little unappreciative. Back then G-d was very active in their lives. If that is the case then why does the Chacham say that it is a flawed system of punishment if they WERE punished on the spot and G-d played an active role in all of the people's lives? If only the Chacham stated his philosophy in this era where it is very difficult to see G-d's involvement in our lives. It seems like the Chacham based his philosophy off of this time period and our involvment with Hashem. So now the question is was G-d not really involved in people's lives back then and was that all a lie or is the Chacham just not seeing G-d in the lives of the people and does he think his involvement is not enough? 

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

In this week's Megillot class, we approached the climax of the "creative discussion" between the Chacham and the Yirei Elokim. First, let's review the key points the Yirei Elokim brought up throughout the duration of his side of the debate up until now. The first statement is: "I am like the Chacham, but the source of my wisdom is G-d, not man. Second: "G-d and not MAN determines death. And third: "There will be an accounting for the bad that is done in this world at death. The underlying concept of all three: The Yirei Elokim, and man in general, cannot escape their actions.

Next, we focused our spectator gazes on the Chacham. He says the following: I am looking at this world and I see the evil that man does. "There is a flawed system here," the Chacham retorts. People still do evil in this world and don't recognize they will be judged!

However, the debate does not end here. The Yirei Elokim replies and says that there is a system. The point of allowing evil people to continue is in order to give them an opportunity to repent. Ultimately, everyone will be held accountable. The Yirei Elokim is imploring the Chacham to realize that he must try to follow all of G-d's commandments because he will be judged if he doesn't! G-d judges every action and holds everyone accountable when they die!

In this section, we see that the Yirei Elokim seems to advocate a two-tiered system of judgement and accountability. In this world, there is a partnership. If man does good, meaning he follows the mitzvot, he will be rewarded with crops, rain, no enemies, money, expanded borders, etc. If man does bad and does not fulfill the mitzvot, he will be punished. He will have no crops, no rains, enemies, and if he sins excessively, will be exiled from the land and Hashem will hide His face. The Yirei Elokim then suggests the following three things: 1) we can't see G-d's involvement 2) the reward we receive is physical, not miraculous 3) reward and punishment comes as a collective. However, in the next world there is ultimate accountability. Everything is done by G-d. Nothing falls through the cracks! Man will be held accountable for all actions.

The Yirei Elokim is an interesting character. His thoughts remain unchanged, for the most part. Time and time again, he makes sure to emphasize that G-d is in control and uses mishpat in the world. He judges every action and holds everyone accountable when they die.

I think the Yirei Elokim proves a very critical point in what he implies in the pesukim. Yes, G-d and man do have a partnership. And because of this partnership, man must try to improve the world. But, G-d is always in control. That's something we have to realize. Many a time, we don't truly think about what the extent of our actions are. But, everything leaves an impact. So, if we choose to be good and make positive choices, we will be rewarded. If not, we will receive punishment.

And in the next world, there is ultimate accountability. We will be held responsible for all our actions. This gives us a tremendous responsibility, but also the opportunity to try to be the best that we can be.  Although it may be difficult to see G-d's involvement in our lives, we need to know that we will be judged for what we did in this world. This means that we really have to focus on what the impact of our actions will be before we actually do them. This is not easy; but we can lead a more meaningful life when mastered.

  

I came across this conversation on a post on Facebook, and I was amazed at how connected it is to our class.
Most of the points expressed are from the "viewpoint" of the עמל, as far as basing one's arguments on his or her own logic and experiences, but the first claim is what really got my attention: "You should give up on religion like I did. It makes life a lot happier." This reminded me of the viewpoint of the נהנה at the very end of his speech, when he basically gives up on G-d and becomes a hardcore hedonist.
After that, both participants of the discussion (borderline argument) turn to debating the existence of G-d. The discussion itself is not necessarily directly related to our class, but their method of argument definitely is. We said in class that the יראי אלוקים thinks that the חכם's method of relying on his own intellect, morals, and experiences for his view of the world is bad and that his intellect telling him that something is true does not make it so.

I don't know if that made any sense to anyone, but either way feel free to throw in your two cents, whether on this "foreword" or about your opinion on the discussion/argument itself. Enjoy!

The Chacham Is No Longer My Bro

I'm really starting to dislike the Chacham. The more and more he keeps blabbing on, the more I have come to dislike him. Yes, I agree that we should use logic and critical thinking to make important decisions and guide us in life. I think it is crucial that we use logical thought on a day-to-day basis. I certainly agree with the Chacham here- it is important to think logically. Sure. That's awesome.

Here is what I don't like. As the Chacham seems to develop his philosophy, he seems to have this idea that people who are NOT extremely intelligent are simply inferior doofuses. He pretty much seems to be anti average intelligence. It is as if people who do not have superior intelligence, and are more on the average side, serve no purpose in this world. He basically seems to hate stupid people because he thinks his own intelligence makes him superior to everyone else. He sees no value in people who are not highly intellectual and deems them all foolish.

Now, I certainly get frustrated when stupid people make stupid decisions and say stupid things. Yeah, it irks me. But the Chacham seems like he just wants to send everyone even of average intelligence to the moon forever. Sure, these people are not my favorite to be around, but you cannot just call them al fools and disregard their place in the order of things. That's not cool.

Also, smart people do and say dumb things literally all the time. The Chacham seems to think he's all cool and perfect all the time and could never possibly do or say anything unintelligent. I beg to differ. Everyone- LITERALLY EVERYONE- does stupid things every once in awhile. And that's fine!! That's basic human nature. We mess up. But, the Chacham seems to think we should just put him in charge of the whole entire universe because everything he could ever do and say would be correct and perfect. Ugh.

Calm down, Chacham. No one likes a know-it-all. If you're a person, you do dumb things. It's that simple.

That's what makes me angry about the Chacham. I used to like him, but now he's just not as chill as he once was. Such a shame. I had high hopes. If everyone was smart all the time, the world would be super boring. Just think about that.

Here are some reasons why it's okay for everyone to be stupid ever once in awhile:

http://shrinkingthecamel.com/2008/11/23/its-okay-to-feel-stupid-sometimes/

The נהנה's final speech

The נהנה seems to have a drastic change in philosophy in his final speech in Kohelet. Previously he believed that the reason הכל הבל was because G0d controlled everything, so what was the point of doing anything if G0d is going to give you what you need. You might as well eat, drink, and be merry. But now he is claiming that there is no G0d at all and that nothing matters in world because there is no after world, so there is nothing to accomplish. Do whatever you want because there is no משפט after death. 

He also mentions something that I do not agree with. He says that everything is הבל because good things happen to the wicked and bad things happen to the righteous and this is why the world is הבל. This implies that he does not believe that there is a G0d to regulate and control the world. 

I understand his reasoning why he thinks there is no G0d, but it could also be interpreted as there being no משפט in this world. According to the statement above about unfair treatment, it doesn't eliminate the possibility of having משפט in the next world. Why does the נהנה go straight to the conclusion that there just isn't any G0d at all? 

The נהנה seems like a pretty lazy character. He doesn't seem like he wants to put much effort into anything. I think he went straight to this conclusion because he didn't feel like having to work towards anything or to exert anything he doesn't think is worth it. If he believed there was a reason to be good he probably still wouldn't, and he would be given a bigger sin for knowing he needed to be good but ignored that. 

SORRY IF THAT LAST PARAGRAPH IS CONFUSING.... 

     This week in Kohelet we learnt about the new character, the Chacham. The Chacham is focused on wisdom and is a realist. He argues with what has already been said by the Amal, Nehene, and Yirei Elokim. To the Nehene he says that you cannot run away from death and party and you should make your life meaningful. To the Yirei Elokim he says that everyone sins so you cannot be perfect. Finally, to the Amal he says that you cannot do anything about death because G-d made the world a certain way and you cannot fix that.
     The Chacham also says that it is better to go to a funeral than a party. At first I could not understand this. At a party you can enjoy yourself in the moment. At a funeral you realize what is important, and you think about life and death. He says that you cannot go through life without thinking about death, which is one of the problems that he has with the Nehene.
     So far I really like the Chacham. He does not go to any extremes. He has good points. Everything he is saying really makes sense. The Chacham excepts reality and does not bring up Hevel like everyone else has.

The Final Speech of the נהנה

Bad things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people. It's the statement that drives us all crazy, we all want to know G-d would create a world where this could happen.

This is what really leads to the downward spiral of the נהנה. Once he sees this, he sees that if there was G-d there would be none of this theodicy. Additionally, he finds that the only thing left for him to do in this world is to experience pleasure. He also sees that in the next world we are nothing - if we're nothing now, then we won't be anything there. He therefore takes it to it's end: it doesn't matter if you're powerful if you're dead. There's no more reward in the next world - you're forgotten forever. This is it. He also concludes that in this world all there's left to do is party! At death there's no accountability - we should just party because there's no G-d here or in the next world.

For the נהנה, the יתרון to life is hardcore hedonism - no G-d, there's just man and he can't accomplish - he gives up on everything!

Although I definitely see how the נהנה got to this point, I think it's fair to say that we don't all have to get to this point. There are different answers that appeal to everyone when it comes to the question of why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good things happen to bad people? But I think it's up for us, on our own quests to find the meaning in life, to find the answers that most appeal to us. Maybe we will come to the conclusion of the נהנה, or maybe we will come to some different conclusion.
What's your conclusion?

Chacham

     The new character, Chacham,  is very sure of himself and critisizes all the other character. The Neheneh, Amal, and yiray elokim are criticized and get some strong feedback. AS the Chacham continues he obsesses over education and being a realist.
     The Neheneh gets criticism from the Chacham about how he is wasting is life and partying is not the answer. This shows that the Chacham has a very strong opinion and is able to say what he wants. The Amal is told that he is not perfect and won't ever be. Lastly, the Yiray Elokim is told that everyone is not perfect. The Chacham is a big impact on the topic and has some good opinions. He loves education ,but may not need to be that obsesed The Chacham adds some good impact on this topic. He is like a teacher in school and is a god remodel. he is very true and realistic himself. This character is very nie and has some good advice.

The "People" Inside All Of Us

After reading through the blog, I had an idea that could change the way we understand the book of Kohelet, or perhaps provide different options for understanding the sefer. Or maybe a mix of the two. Anyway. All of the different personalities in Kohelet are supposedly Shlomo, and/ or different things he went through in his life. As we read through the book, we tend to think of these personalities as totally different individuals who are "right" and "wrong" about different things, or people that share different ideas.This would be all very well and good to teach us if the purpose were to show us how to act or who not to be, but it doesn't seem like this is it, because there are points in each philosophy that ring true. So maybe, the point of Kohelet analyzing these different voices is to show us how to react to all the different ideas that come up in life and in all different types of situations. Maybe the point is to show us how to deal with all the different voices, personalities, and ideas inside each of us. Think about it- we are all pulled in different directions all the time. We have crazy thoughts and confusion 24/7. Perhaps Kohelet is trying to show us how to balance all our different ideas, break them down and see where they are coming from, and then figure out what the best thing to do is. The analytical skillset learned from Kohelet can be used as a valuable tool for life- to not always do what we want or to not do something that we aren't sure about. With the help of Kohelet, we can learn to make the decisions that are the best for us in any situation.

Ulterior Motives behind Kohelet

As we near the end of Kohelet, it is evident that there are a few motives behind Shlomo's writings. We see different examples of how different things in life are valued, how life itself is valued, how to live our lives, how to find meaning from our lives, etc. However, over the last few classes I have had a lingering thought; are these points what Shlomo is really trying to get us t takeaway from this sefer? My answer is no. What else is mentioned in Kohelet, one might ask? Well, I don't think the takeaway idea is necessarily mentioned in the Sefer, but rather is alluded to throughout all of the various viewpoints. The main focus is making use of your life and being thankful for the opportunities and time on this earth that has been so generously given to you.
How have I come to this crazy conclusion? Even though we always say "hakol hevel," the idea of appreciating life is not as far fetched as one might think. Yes, every character makes arguments about how life is meaningless/illogical/ephemeral, but the text is structured in a way that the reader almost always is shocked by what is being stated. and goes "What? Are you crazy?" I think this is the intended reaction from this Sefer. I think Shlomo wants you to see how there is so much more out there for people, and that life does not always have to be totally hevel. So, the next time you hear an intense argument explaining why there is no purpose in life, analyze the argument critically, remember you have so much to do and see in life, and realize that with the right perspective, nothing in life is hevel.

        We have recently been introduced to a new character in Kohelet, the Chacham. The Chacham comes in and sees everyone's problems, and unlike the Amal, he responds to all of them.
        He tells the Nehene, who wants to spend all day doing what ever pleases him, that he is wasting his life. All day and All night he does anything he wants and he makes no progress in life. The Chacham know that's not how we are suppose to spend our time.
       The Amal who has an obsession with perfection and thinking life is pointless if it isn't perfect and he will die, the Chacham teaches in a different method. He tries to explain that G-d made the world imperfect and that the Amal can work as much as he wants to make it perfect but the world is not suppose to be perfect. He also tells him to stop worrying about death because it's part of the world and the way G-d made it. It's a reality, it's not anything bad it's just the way G-d thought things should be
       The Yeray Elokim needed to be put in him place, and that is what the Chacham does. Since he believes that we just should not sign ever the Chacham gives him a bit of a wake up call. He explains that everyone sins even you! We sin because we are human and humans sin.
       So far I like the Chacham, he doesn't go to any extremes and he makes everything make sense. He is bringing reality to all the theories of the other characters and giving them and us a more clear view of the world.