Nothing New Under the Sun (Apple Orchard)

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Rising this way, going that way, turning and turning. Today in the synagogue, the intermediate Shabbat of Sukkot, from Ecclesiastes chapter 1:

4A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth endures forever. דדּוֹר הֹלֵךְ וְדוֹר בָּא וְהָאָרֶץ לְעוֹלָם עֹמָדֶת:
5The sun rises and the sun sets, and to its place it yearns and rises there. הוְזָרַח הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וּבָא הַשָּׁמֶשׁ וְאֶל מְקוֹמוֹ שׁוֹאֵף זוֹרֵחַ הוּא שָׁם:
6It goes to the south and goes around to the north; the will goes around and around, and the will returns to its circuits. והוֹלֵךְ אֶל דָּרוֹם וְסוֹבֵב אֶל צָפוֹן סוֹבֵב | סֹבֵב הוֹלֵךְ הָרוּחַ וְעַל סְבִיבֹתָיו שָׁב הָרוּחַ:
7All the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place where the rivers flow, there they repeatedly go. זכָּל הַנְּחָלִים הֹלְכִים אֶל הַיָּם וְהַיָּם אֵינֶנּוּ מָלֵא אֶל מְקוֹם שֶׁהַנְּחָלִים הֹלְכִים שָׁם הֵם שָׁבִים לָלָכֶת:
8All things are wearisome; no one can utter it; the eye shall not be sated from seeing, nor shall the ear be filled from hearing. חכָּל הַדְּבָרִים יְגֵעִים לֹא יוּכַל אִישׁ לְדַבֵּר לֹא תִשְׂבַּע עַיִן לִרְאוֹת וְלֹא תִמָּלֵא אֹזֶן מִשְּׁמֹעַ:
9What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. טמַה שֶּׁהָיָה הוּא שֶׁיִּהְיֶה וּמַה שֶּׁנַּעֲשָׂה הוּא שֶׁיֵּעָשֶׂה וְאֵין כָּל חָדָשׁ תַּחַת הַשָּׁמֶשׁ:
10There is a thing of which [someone] will say, “See this, it is new.” It has already been for ages which were before us. ייֵשׁ דָּבָר שֶׁיֹּאמַר רְאֵה זֶה חָדָשׁ הוּא כְּבָר הָיָה לְעֹלָמִים אֲשֶׁר הָיָה מִלְּפָנֵנוּ:
11[But] there is no remembrance of former [generations], neither will the later ones that will be have any remembrance among those that will be afterwards. יאאֵין זִכְרוֹן לָרִאשֹׁנִים וְגַם לָאַחֲרֹנִים שֶׁיִּהְיוּ לֹא יִהְיֶה לָהֶם זִכָּרוֹן עִם שֶׁיִּהְיוּ לָאַחֲרֹנָה:
12I am Koheleth; I was king over Israel in Jerusalem. יבאֲנִי קֹהֶלֶת הָיִיתִי מֶלֶךְ עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּירוּשָׁלָ ִם:

 

About zjb

Zachary Braiterman is Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His specialization is modern Jewish thought and philosophical aesthetics. http://religion.syr.edu
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