Above the Sun
Yael Eckstein | October 6, 2023
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun? — Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
Today is the last day of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. Please enjoy these devotions, which were prepared for you in advance, about this joyous holiday that immediately follows the High Holy Days.
Every Jewish holiday is associated with a particular book of the Bible which is read on the holiday itself. On Passover, we read Song of Songs; on Shavuot, the book of Ruth. And on the holiday of Sukkot, we read the book of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes is a Latin translation of the Hebrew word Kohelet. Kohelet literally means “gatherer,” but is used to mean “teacher” throughout the book. It is a term that Solomon, the author of the book, uses as the book’s title and also to refer to himself. He has gathered up all this knowledge and is sharing it with us in this epic work. And what is his conclusion? It can be summed up by the well-known phrase which both begins and concludes Ecclesiastes: “Everything is meaningless.”
How are we to understand these words? Are our lives truly meaningless? And what does this have to do with Sukkot?
Above the Sun
The answer can be found in the very next verse: “What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?” The key phrase is “under the sun.” Life under the sun is what the teacher finds meaningless.
“Under the sun” refers to life on earth. The unwritten law of the physical world we live in is “he who dies with the most toys wins.” People dedicate their lives to acquiring the nicest homes, the fanciest cars, and the latest technology. However, at the end of life these things don’t matter at all. You can’t enjoy your toys when you’re dead, and since that is everyone’s destiny, what’s the point of working toward all those useless things in the first place?
Solomon teaches that nothing we can accomplish “under the sun” has real, lasting value. However, there is also life “above the sun.”
Above the sun exists another world, the spiritual world. That is the only place where anything we acquire has true worth. And the types of things we can acquire that have real, lasting value aren’t things at all. They are our good deeds and service to God. Only these things will be with us forever, and only these things have meaning.
On Sukkot, as we sit in our flimsy huts with their insubstantial roofs, we realize how fleeting and vulnerable anything we build in this world truly is. Our vision isn’t clouded by a sturdy, secure roof which blocks our view of the great expanse beyond the sun and moon. We can see past all that and recognize that life “under the sun” is only a corridor. Above the sun is where we will ultimately live, and it is only there that life earns its meaning.
Your Turn:
If you haven’t already, submit your prayer request to be brought to the Western Wall during our “Live Prayer at the Wall” event on Wednesday, November 1 at 11 a.m. EDT/10 a.m. CDT/8 a.m. PDT.