Of Laughter I Said It Is Madness and Joy Turned to Mourning

"Of laughter I said, It is mad" (Ecclesiastes 2:2). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: How confused is the laughter with which the nations of the world laugh in their theaters and circuses. "And of joy, what does it accomplish?" (Ecclesiastes 2:2) -- what is the nature of Torah scholars being there? Another interpretation: "Of laughter I said, It is mad." Rabbi Acha said: Solomon said, Matters at which the attribute of justice laughed, I made mad. It is written, "He shall not multiply wives to himself" (Deuteronomy 17:17), and it is written, "And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines" (1 Kings 11:3). It is written, "He shall not multiply horses to himself" (Deuteronomy 17:16), and it is written, "And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen" (1 Kings 5:6). It is written, "Silver and gold he shall not greatly multiply to himself" (Deuteronomy 17:17), and it is written, "And the king made silver in Jerusalem as stones" (1 Kings 10:27). And they were not stolen. Rabbi Yose son of Rabbi Chanina said: They were whole stones of ten cubits and of eight cubits. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai taught: Even the weights in the days of Solomon were of gold, "silver was not counted as anything in the days of Solomon" (2 Chronicles 9:20). "And of joy, what does it accomplish?" (Ecclesiastes 2:2) -- the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: What is this crown doing on your head? Come down from My throne. At that hour an angel descended in the likeness of Solomon and sat upon his throne, and Solomon went about to all the synagogues and houses of study in Jerusalem, saying to them, "I, Kohelet, was king over Israel in Jerusalem" (Ecclesiastes 1:12), and they would say to him, King Solomon sits upon his throne, and you say, I am King Solomon. And what would they do to him? They would beat him with a reed and set before him a bowl of groats. At that hour he said, "Vanity of vanities, says Kohelet" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Another interpretation: "Of laughter I said, It is mad." Rabbi Pinchas said: This laughter is confused; what joy does it produce? There was an incident concerning one of the prominent men of Kavul who was marrying off his son on the fourth day of the week, and he made a feast for the groomsmen. He said to his son, Go up and bring us a barrel of wine from the upper chamber. He went up, and a snake bit him, and he died. He waited for him to come down, but he did not come down. The father said, I will go up and find out what has become of my son. He went up and found that a snake had bitten him and he had died and lay among the barrels. What did he do? He waited until the guests had eaten and drunk; once the guests had eaten and drunk, he said to them: Did you come to recite the wedding blessings for this man? Recite over him the mourners' blessings. Did you come to bring this man's son into his bridal canopy? Come and bring him into his grave. Concerning Rabbi Zakkai of Kavul, who delivered the eulogy over him, "Of laughter I said, It is mad." Another interpretation: "Of laughter I said, It is mad" -- how confused is the laughter with which the attribute of justice laughed at the generation of the Flood, as it is written, "Their bull breeds and does not fail, they send forth their little ones like a flock, they take up the timbrel and harp, they spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment they go down to Sheol" (Job 21:10-13). And once they said, "What is the Almighty that we should serve Him, and what profit if we entreat Him?" (Job 21:15), the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "And of joy, what does it accomplish?" (Ecclesiastes 2:2) -- By your lives, I will blot you out from the earth, as it is written, "And He blotted out every living thing" (Genesis 7:23). Another interpretation: "Of laughter I said, It is mad" -- how confused is the laughter with which the attribute of justice laughed at Sodom and Gomorrah, as it is written, "The earth, out of it comes bread, and underneath it is turned up as it were by fire; its stones are the place of sapphires, and it has dust of gold; that path no bird of prey knows, nor has the falcon's eye seen it; the proud beasts have not trodden it, nor has the lion passed over it" (Job 28:5-8). And once they said, Let us cause the foot to be forgotten from our midst, as it is written, "He breaks open a shaft away from where men sojourn; they are forgotten of the foot, they hang afar from men, they swing to and fro" (Job 28:4), the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "And of joy, what does it accomplish?" (Ecclesiastes 2:2) -- By your lives, I will remove you from the world, as it is written, "And the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire, and He overthrew those cities" (Genesis 19:24-25). Another interpretation: "Of laughter I said, It is mad" -- how confused is the laughter with which the attribute of justice laughed at Elisheva daughter of Amminadab. Elisheva daughter of Amminadab saw four joys in one day: she saw her husband a High Priest, her brother-in-law a king, her brother a prince, and her two sons deputy priests. And once they [her sons] entered to offer and came out burned, her joy was turned to mourning, as it is written, "after the death of the two sons of Aaron" (Leviticus 16:1).