Dialogues With Kohelet: The Book of Ecclesiastes : Translation and Commentary

Kohelet is known in world literature as the source of two messages. On the one hand, it is a handbook of world-weariness and pessimism: 'All is vanity.' On the other, it asserts that all things have their right time, 'a time to live, and a time to die.' But these two messages are contradictory, for if all is vain, then there is no need to reflect on the proper time for planting and dancing and laughing.