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Why did Shlomo HaMelech despair over his life's work being inherited by his wicked son Rechavam? The shiur draws from Koheles 2:17-21 to argue that success cannot be measured by outcomes we don't control, since free will is fundamental to God's design. True success lies in creating optimal environments and being proper examples, not in numerical results or external appearances.
Rabbi Zweig begins by analyzing Koheles 2:17-21, where Shlomo HaMelech expresses deep frustration about the apparent futility of human effort. The king observes that all his wisdom, accomplishments, and hard work will be inherited by the next generation, including his wicked son Rechavam, who may destroy or misuse everything he built. This leads to an existential crisis: why work and create if others will take control and potentially ruin it all? The Midrash, cited by Rashi (רש"י), extends this to God Himself - even the Almighty created the world with infinite wisdom, yet humanity largely rejected His ways, as seen in the generation of the flood. The rabbi then shifts to contemporary application, arguing that Orthodox Judaism has unfortunately adopted secular values, particularly the emphasis on numerical success. He critiques the common pride taken in growing Orthodox numbers while Conservative and Reform Judaism declines, calling this a fundamentally non-Jewish approach to measuring success. Using God as an example, Rabbi Zweig calculates that perhaps only 2 million out of 7 billion people worldwide truly follow divine law - making God a 'failure' by secular standards, which demonstrates the absurdity of measuring success by numbers.
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Koheles 2:17-21
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Why does Koheles speak of both zman (designated time) and eis (present moment) in spiritual matters? The shiur develops that zman represents God's invitation while eis represents our response, and their intersection creates moed - actual relationship rather than mere spiritual exercise. True avodah requires divine partnership, just as bris milah needed God's command because covenants cannot be unilateral.
