Monday 23 August 2021

Koheleth - Ecclesiastes - words of the Wise King Solomon

 The highly philosophical book  Koheleth, which is part of the writings - Ketuvim , constians much wisdom.


A brief quote from Ch. 7 :



טז אַל-תְּהִי צַדִּיק הַרְבֵּה, וְאַל-תִּתְחַכַּם יוֹתֵר: לָמָּה, תִּשּׁוֹמֵם. 
 
16 Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise; why shouldest thou destroy thyself?
 
יז אַל-תִּרְשַׁע הַרְבֵּה, וְאַל-תְּהִי סָכָל: לָמָּה תָמוּת, בְּלֹא עִתֶּךָ.
 
 17 Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish; why shouldest thou die before thy time?
 
 
 
The Torah Temimah - a modern Rabbinic commentary, on v. 16 brings the prohibition of imposing extra strictures upon oneself  and adding laws to the Torah.  This, in fact is cited by Maimonides in his Hilchot Deot - and is a view found in the Jerusalem Talmud - as opposed to the Babylonian talmud.

To me, the Koheleth book includes a number of purposes - one was the author's own attempt to write a guide to good living for himself.  This is interesting, because it means he is explicitly rejecting any concept of Shulchan Aruch - although the followers of the Shulchan Aruch might suggest that all he was lacking was a Talmud or Shulchan Aruch.



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