זוהר ויקרא — דף מז ע”ב
Summary
Rather, thus we learned: who is wise like Solomon, who through seven levels of wisdom is called as above? Six days above, the seventh supreme over them. Six days below, the seventh over them. Six levels for the throne, and he himself upon the throne, as it is written, "and Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king." Seven crowns of days above, and then, corresponding to them, seven names for Solomon, to show in him the holy wisdom. And therefore he is called by seven names: Solomon, Yedidyah, Agur, Ben Yakeh, Lemuel, Itiel, Kohelet.<br />
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And he said seven vanities. And what he saw, no other man saw, and when he gathered wisdom and rose to the levels of wisdom, he was called Kohelet. And he said seven vanities, corresponding to the seven crowns above, and from every breath a voice is made, and the world endures only through breath.<br />
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And we learned in the name of Rabbi Shimon: the breath produces a voice through the air and water within it, and there is no voice except with breath. And we learned: through seven breaths the upper and lower worlds endure. And Rabbi Yitzchak taught: come and see, the world endures through breath, for if there were no breath coming out of the mouth, man would not endure even a single hour.<br />
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In the same way Solomon spoke his words, through which the world endures, for through this breath the world endures. And this breath through which the world endures comes from the breaths above. This is what is written, "vanity of vanities" — vanity from the vanities above, and all his words were so. And of the breaths above it is written, "for by every utterance of the mouth of the Lord man lives." What is "the utterance of the mouth of the Lord"? These are the breaths above.<br />
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And we learned: "and I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly." From folly itself comes benefit to wisdom, for if foolishness were not found in the world, wisdom and its words would not be known. And we learned: it is an obligation upon a person who has learned wisdom to learn a little of folly and to know it, because through it benefit comes to wisdom, just as benefit comes to light from darkness — for if darkness did not exist, light would not be known, and no benefit from it would come to the world.<br />
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We learned that there is an advantage to wisdom, to wisdom in general. For Rabbi Shimon said to Rabbi Abba: come and see the secret of the matter — the wisdom above neither shines nor is illuminated except through the folly that awakens from another place, and without this, there would not have been so great and abundant a light and splendor, and the benefit of wisdom would not have been revealed. And because of folly the light shines more, and more light is given to it. This is what is written, "that there is an advantage to wisdom, to wisdom in general, over folly in general." And so it is below: if folly were not found prevalent in the world, wisdom would not be found prevalent in the world.<br />
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And this is why Rav Hamnuna Sabba, when the companions would learn from him the secrets of wisdom, would arrange before them a chapter of words of folly, so that benefit would come to wisdom through it. This is what is written (Ecclesiastes 10), "more precious than wisdom and honor is a little folly," because it is the repair of wisdom and the honor of wisdom. And of this it is written, "and my heart conducts itself with wisdom and holds onto folly."<br />
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Rabbi Yossei said: "more precious than wisdom and honor" — that is, the honor of wisdom and its beauty, and the preciousness of the honor above — what is it? "A little folly." A little folly shows and reveals the honor of wisdom and the honor above more than all the ways of the world.<br />
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Like the advantage of light over darkness: the benefit of light comes only from within darkness. What is the repair of white? Black. Were it not for black, white would not be known, and because of black, white is elevated and made precious. Rabbi Yitzchak said: this is like a parable of the sweet within the bitter, for no man knows the taste of the sweet until he tastes the bitter. Who makes this sweet? You must say, the bitter does. And this is what is written (Ecclesiastes 7), "God has made the one as well as the other." And it is written, "it is good that you should take hold of this, and from that also do not withdraw your hand."<br />
<br />
And he said seven vanities. And what he saw, no other man saw, and when he gathered wisdom and rose to the levels of wisdom, he was called Kohelet. And he said seven vanities, corresponding to the seven crowns above, and from every breath a voice is made, and the world endures only through breath.<br />
<br />
And we learned in the name of Rabbi Shimon: the breath produces a voice through the air and water within it, and there is no voice except with breath. And we learned: through seven breaths the upper and lower worlds endure. And Rabbi Yitzchak taught: come and see, the world endures through breath, for if there were no breath coming out of the mouth, man would not endure even a single hour.<br />
<br />
In the same way Solomon spoke his words, through which the world endures, for through this breath the world endures. And this breath through which the world endures comes from the breaths above. This is what is written, "vanity of vanities" — vanity from the vanities above, and all his words were so. And of the breaths above it is written, "for by every utterance of the mouth of the Lord man lives." What is "the utterance of the mouth of the Lord"? These are the breaths above.<br />
<br />
And we learned: "and I saw that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly." From folly itself comes benefit to wisdom, for if foolishness were not found in the world, wisdom and its words would not be known. And we learned: it is an obligation upon a person who has learned wisdom to learn a little of folly and to know it, because through it benefit comes to wisdom, just as benefit comes to light from darkness — for if darkness did not exist, light would not be known, and no benefit from it would come to the world.<br />
<br />
We learned that there is an advantage to wisdom, to wisdom in general. For Rabbi Shimon said to Rabbi Abba: come and see the secret of the matter — the wisdom above neither shines nor is illuminated except through the folly that awakens from another place, and without this, there would not have been so great and abundant a light and splendor, and the benefit of wisdom would not have been revealed. And because of folly the light shines more, and more light is given to it. This is what is written, "that there is an advantage to wisdom, to wisdom in general, over folly in general." And so it is below: if folly were not found prevalent in the world, wisdom would not be found prevalent in the world.<br />
<br />
And this is why Rav Hamnuna Sabba, when the companions would learn from him the secrets of wisdom, would arrange before them a chapter of words of folly, so that benefit would come to wisdom through it. This is what is written (Ecclesiastes 10), "more precious than wisdom and honor is a little folly," because it is the repair of wisdom and the honor of wisdom. And of this it is written, "and my heart conducts itself with wisdom and holds onto folly."<br />
<br />
Rabbi Yossei said: "more precious than wisdom and honor" — that is, the honor of wisdom and its beauty, and the preciousness of the honor above — what is it? "A little folly." A little folly shows and reveals the honor of wisdom and the honor above more than all the ways of the world.<br />
<br />
Like the advantage of light over darkness: the benefit of light comes only from within darkness. What is the repair of white? Black. Were it not for black, white would not be known, and because of black, white is elevated and made precious. Rabbi Yitzchak said: this is like a parable of the sweet within the bitter, for no man knows the taste of the sweet until he tastes the bitter. Who makes this sweet? You must say, the bitter does. And this is what is written (Ecclesiastes 7), "God has made the one as well as the other." And it is written, "it is good that you should take hold of this, and from that also do not withdraw your hand."<br />
Torat Emet / Rav Pinhas Reuven — CC BY-NC-SA 2.5
in Hebrew