Many people have the habit of reading the book of Koheleth (Ecclesiastes) during Sukkot festival. What is the relationship between this book and this celebration?

To understand the connection, let us remember that there are five Megillot (“Scrolls”), which are short stories included in the Ketuvim (Writings or Hagiographers) section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). These five scrolls are Megillat Esther (Scroll of Esther), Eicha (Lamentations), Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs), Megillat Ruth (Book of Ruth) and Koheleth (Ecclesiastes). In turn, each of these five scrolls is related to five days of remembrance and/or celebration in the Hebrew calendar: Megillat Esther tells the story of Purim; Shir HaShirim is a metaphor for the love between God and the Jewish people, expressed in the miraculous departure from Egypt that we remember on Pesaj; Megillat Ruth is the account of Ruth’s conversion to Judaism, which is a reflection of the conversion of the people of Israel in the Divine revelation on Mount Sinai, which we remember on Shavuot; Eicha (Lamentations) poetically narrates the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash (Great Temple of Jerusalem), which we mourn and remember on the 9th of Av. However, the connection between Koheleth and Sukkot is less obvious.

Koheleth is a complex book: it seems to be the most skeptical and critical of the entire Hebrew Bible. Its tone and ideas are so challenging that the Jewish Sages debated whether it should be included in the Biblical canon (Talmud Bavli, Shabbat 30a). In short, Koheleth is the stream of consciousness of King Solomon, the writer, who contradicts himself over and over again in search of the meaning of life. He incessantly finds that all is vanity: neither material riches, nor intelligence, nor pleasure, nor powers are the goal of life. In search of order and meaning, he denies everything that people normally consider the goal of life, or the most important thing in this world. He even goes so far as to question reward and punishment, not with the idea of ​​denying them but of relativizing their importance. After all, we should not do good out of fear of punishment or to win a reward, but because it is the right and noble thing to do.

Koheleth generates a feeling of discomfort and insecurity in the reader: it constantly questions the ideas and prejudices of those who read it. It seems that King Solomon wants to wake up the reader and make him see that what he values ​​is not the only thing that really matters in this world.

Therefore, the connection with Sukkot. On this day, we leave our comfortable home and we are going to live in the Sukkah, a temporary home, without luxuries or comforts. We eat and sleep in a shack with no luxuries to feel some insecurity and uncertainty. The idea is that we realize that much of what we value is transitory and ephemeral. These sensations lead us to relativize material wealth, intelligence, pleasure and power. They make us change our focus and begin to value other more intangible and important things.

The key to understanding Koheleth are his final words: «The epilogue! Everything is understood: the Almighty you have to revere and His precepts you have to take care of, since this is the whole person». When we focus on doing good, then the rest of our life makes sense.