Chapter 18: Through an Existential Crisis
On “The Good Place” both Michael and Tahani experience their own crises — existential, midlife, and otherwise — and Eleanor and Jason help them through it. On the podcast, Julee Levine and Jon wonder which dimensions of such crises spur us forward, with some help from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes.
From Chapter 1:
The words of Kohelet son of David, king in Jerusalem:
Utter futility!—said Kohelet—Utter futility! All is futile!
What real value is there for a man
In all the gains he makes beneath the sun?
One generation goes, another comes,
But the earth remains the same forever.
…All streams flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is never full;
To the place [from] which they flow
The streams flow back again.
…Only that shall happen which has happened,
Only that occur which has occurred;
There is nothing new beneath the sun!
Sometimes there is a phenomenon of which they say, “Look, this one is new!”—it occurred long since, in ages that went by before us.
I, Kohelet, was king in Jerusalem over Israel. I set my mind to study and to probe with wisdom all that happens under the sun.—an unhappy business, that, which God gave men to be concerned with! I observed all the happenings beneath the sun, and I found that all is futile and pursuit of wind… I said to myself: “Here I have grown richer and wiser than any that ruled before me over Jerusalem, and my mind has zealously absorbed wisdom and learning.” And so I set my mind to appraise wisdom and to appraise madness and folly. And I learned—that this too was pursuit of wind: For as wisdom grows, vexation grows; to increase learning is to increase heartache.
From Chapter 3:
A season for everything; a time for every experience under heaven:
A time for being born and a time for dying,
A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted;
…A time for weeping and a time for laughing,
A time for wailing and a time for dancing;
…A time for seeking and a time for losing,
A time for keeping and a time for discarding;
…A time for loving and a time for hating;
A time for war and a time for peace.
From Chapter 12:
The sayings of the wise are like goads, like nails fixed in prodding sticks
They were given by one Shepherd
…Of the making of many books there is no end,
And much study is a wearying of the flesh.
The sum of the matter, when all is said and done: Revere God and observe His commandments, for this is the whole of humanity; and God will call every creature to account for everything unknown, be it good or bad.
Deeper Dives
Kohelet’s Pursuit of Truth — Rabbi Benjamin Segal talks about his 2016 translation and commentary on Ecclesiastes with Dr. David Kraemer at the Jewish Theological Seminary
“Verses — Where Broadway and Torah Meet” podcast episode on the song “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin, with Anita Silvert and Rabba Rachel Kohl Finegold
Learn more about Julee and Jon and how to connect with or follow them on our Hosts page!
