Parashat Hol Hamo'ed Sukkot

Exodus 33:12–34:26 and Numbers 29:17–22

By Rabbi Avraham Fischer. A publication of the Orthodox Union in cooperation with the Seymour J. Abrams Orthodox Union Jerusalem World Center

The megillah of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), which is customarily read in many synagogues this Shabbat, is - at first glance - an odd choice. How could such a sober and, at times, pessimistic text be suitable for Sukkot, "the season of our joy"?

Vanity of vanities, says Kohelet, vanity of vanities, all is vanity (1:2).
Can this be the message of Sukkot?

Like so much of what King Shlomo/Kohelet observes, simcha also seems worthless and illusory. At times in his life, however, he thought it had value:
And I praised joy, in that a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to rejoice, for that will accompany him in his toil [during] the days of his life that G-d has given him under the sun (8:15).

At other times he condemns it:

I said of entertainment, 'It is frivolity', and of joy, 'What does it [accomplish]?' (UL'SIMCHA MAH ZO OSA) (2:2).

This inconsistent attitude toward simcha is but one of a number of apparent contradictions in Kohelet that nearly led to its being concealed by the Sages, in order to prevent confusion among the people (Shabbat 30b). The Talmud's resolution is to differentiate between two kinds of simcha: Kohelet praises joy that is connected with the fulfillment of Hashem's commandments (simcha shel mitzvah) but declares MAH ZO OSA, "What does it [accomplish]?" for joy that is not generated by doing the will of Hashem.

The expression MAH ZO OSA poses problems for many commentaries, because the verb AYIN-SIN-HEI ("do") has no object. Rashi's solution is to suggest an unstated direct object:

I said of entertainment, 'It is frivolity', and of joy, 'What [good] does it?'

Prof. Mordechai Zer-Kavod (1901-1977), who authored the Da'at Mikra commentary on Kohelet for the Mossad HaRav Kook Tanach, proposes another explanation, based on Saadia Gaon (882-942). With reference to Rut 2:19, he shows that AYIN-SIN-HEI can sometimes mean "remain." Therefore, his translation is:


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