There is an interview with Prof. Asa Kasher, the author of the Israeli Defense Force’s ethical code, published at ynetnews.com. It begins:
Which biblical character would you like to meet, and what would you say to him?
I would like to meet the author of the Book of Ecclesiastes. I don’t know who he was, but I know what he was. He was amazingly wise and extremely sad. His wisdom was revealed to me in the courageous assessment that “this too, is vanity,” and even more in his balanced teaching that “there is a time for everything under the Sun.” I once taught the entire book, verse after verse, commentary after commentary. Ultimately it seemed to me that the sad spirit of Ecclesiastes is the spirit of a bereaved man. I would like to ask the author about his sadness.
Read the continuation of the interview here.
It’s a silly but fun mind game to play. Would you like to invite Ezra to dinner, and if so what would you say to him? What about Maimonides or Mordecai Kaplan? Would dinner with Ecclesiastes be a bummer?
