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Shabbat Sukkot | 5768
| 17 Tishrei 5768 | 10/12/2007
On Chol Hamo’ed Sukkot, we read the megilla of Kohelet, which Chazal unanimously attribute to Shlomo Hamelech. The work, which is philosophical in nature, has certain unique characteristics. One of them, the fact that Kohelet is overall pessimistic about life, helped one opinion in Chazal to date it. R. Yonatan (Kohelet Rabba 1) says that Shlomo wrote Shir Hashirim, which is a metaphorical love song, when he was young; he wrote Mishlei, which contains intellectual parables, in his mature years; he wrote Kohelet, which negates the pursuits of man, in his old age. According to the Magen Avraham (490:8), this explains the fact that it is read during Sukkot. At that time, when there is so much rejoicing, it is necessary to put checks on the happiness with such statements as “joy, what does it do?” (Kohelet 2:2).
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