Ecclesiastes Rabbah 2:1

¹“I said in my heart: Come now, I will experiment in joy, and see goodness; and, behold, it too is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 2:1). “I said in my heart: Come now, I will experiment in joy” – Rabbi Pinḥas and Rabbi Ḥizkiyya in the name of Rabbi Simon bar Zavdi: Rabbi Pinḥas said: “I will experiment [ anasekha ]” and I will experiment; to mean anaseh ko , I will experiment with this, and when experimenting one generally investigates different options ( Matnot Kehuna ). I will try matters of Torah and I will try matters of heresy. I will flee [ anusa ] from matters of heresy to matters of Torah, “and see goodness,” the goodness of Torah. “And, behold, it too is vanity” – the verse should have said only: “And behold, it too is joy,” and you say: “And, behold, it too is vanity”? Rabbi Ḥizkiyya said in the name of Rabbi Simon bar Zavdi: All the Torah that you study in this world is vanity relative to the Torah in the World to Come, as in this world, a person studies Torah and forgets. But, regarding the World to Come, what is written there? “I placed My Torah in their midst” (Jeremiah 31:32). And the Rabbis say: The evil inclination will melt before the good inclination. to mean “will melt” [ yinatekh ] ( Matnot Kehuna ). “And see goodness” – the goodness of the World to Come. Rabbi Yona in the name of Rabbi Simon bar Zevid: Any serenity that a person sees in this world is vanity relative to the serenity of the World to Come, as in this world, a person dies and bequeaths his serenity to another, but regarding the World to Come it is written: “They will not build and another inhabit” (Isaiah 65:22).